<p>Smith is known for its housing, specifically the house system.</p>
<p>It appears that, they have Houses, and then the Quad area has more traditional style dorms.</p>
<p>How do freshmen get placed into the dorms?</p>
<p>Is there a different feel to living in the Quad than living in a House?</p>
<p>What are the personalities of the different living options?</p>
<p>I’m sure real Smithies will chime in soon, but I thought I’d give you an answer based on my daughter’s experience.</p>
<p>In late spring, after everyone has accepted their offers of admissions, you will get a form to fill out. You list the areas of campus you prefer, in order, and then write some information about you to help them find a compatible roommate. (Just a note, though: my daughter got probably the most INcompatible roommate to start.) Although there’s no place on the form to specify individual dorms, some write it in anyway. The Housing Office then tries to process everything.</p>
<p>Here are some past threads you might find useful:</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/smith-college/616732-current-students-whats-your-house-like.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/smith-college/616732-current-students-whats-your-house-like.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/smith-college/705339-smith-house-quiet-student.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/smith-college/705339-smith-house-quiet-student.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/smith-college/720238-academic-honors-vs-area-housing.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/smith-college/720238-academic-honors-vs-area-housing.html</a></p>
<p>Thanks for the thread references, MomWFN - was your daughter happy with her dorm assignment (roommate issues aside)?</p>
<p>My D got the sweetest roommate imaginable. Moreover, like quite a lot of her friends she has chosen to remain in the house she was first assigned to. After sharing the 2 first years, she now has a single which she hopes to keep senior year. It’s one of the quietest smallest and most non-party houses. Personally, I think they did a good job of matching D with house and roommate.</p>
<p>It’s important to note that the Quad Houses are not like traditional dorms. They are just larger versions of the houses that exist in other parts of campus. In fact, Quad houses make probably a bigger deal out of house traditions and community than some of the mid-sized houses and even some of the smaller houses. </p>
<p>Quad houses are a slightly different feel, there’s more people so there’s somewhat more noise. Quad houses have a reputation for partying that I think some years is deserved, but other years not deserved. The nice thing about a Quad house is you have a much more wider circle of students that you live with, so it increases the chances you’ll find a group of friends that will suit you. Also, Quad houses tend to have more single rooms (King/Scales for example is made up entirely of singles with a couple of suites that are snatched up by upperclasswomen wanting to live en suite with their friends), so if you want some privacy that’s a big plus. And they are beautiful houses with really good dining rooms, so you will eat well. </p>
<p>THe obvious drawbacks though are that you are the farthest houses from main campus. Some people like that, and I know most Quad residents ge to where they don’t mind it, but I preferred living on Elm street just for the proximity to classes and the Gym.</p>
<p>Also, I don’t know if you’re just a prospective student or if you’ve been admitted yet, but if you’ve been admitted and you’re planning on enrolling, I really recommend starting to adopt the Smith College vernacular now. For example, “House” not “dorm”, “First year” not “freshman”, women’s college not girl’s school (you probably have that one down already). It’s just a lot easier if you get comfortable with the terminology now, it will help you fit in when you arrive on campus and it will save you annoying reminders from upperclasswomen :-)</p>
<p>
Yeah, only the luckiest 15 percent or so get to live on Green Street.</p>
<p><sidles away,=“” whistling=“” tunelessly=“”></sidles></p>
<p>Fendrock, my daughter did not dislike her house, although she moved out after only a month in one of those mind-boggling roommate swaps that must drive the housing office crazy. I believe it involved three different rooms in three different houses – and six different students. 
She has stayed in that second house all four years.</p>
<p>My daughter, like TD’s daughter, is a Green Street person, and she loves it because she’s not a party girl and because, as a science major, most of her classrooms are nearby. If necessary, she can hop out of bed and be in her 8 am class in five minutes.</p>
<p>MWFN, also as D observed, go to the parties in the Quad and then leave the noise and the mess behind when you’re ready to.</p>
<p>I suspect the get-to-class-in-five-minutes thing may have been useful more than once but that’s filed under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
For a class in Seelye, it could have been in as little as 90 seconds but by luck of the draw she didn’t have many classes in Seelye.</p>
<p>SmithieandProud, my daughter is a high school junior and we visited Smith yesterday.</p>
<p>We live near Boston and spend a week every summer near the Pioneer Valley, so we were already familiar with Northampton.</p>
<p>My d sat in on a class and met up with a crew team member as well as the crew coach. She had a good first impression of the school. She said she thought one of the Green Street houses would be good for her because she likes quiet.</p>
<p>fendrock - My D is a first year living in the quad - i was pushing her towards a quieter area of campus but this is what she wanted and she is very happy there. She does do most of her studying out of the house but I think she just prefers that. She did get a single but all the first years in her house have singles so it is the norm. There seems to be a lot going on and a really good connection between new and old students. As an added bonus she actually seems to have lost a bit of weight and avoided the freshman 15. Also the Quad houses are not all the biggest on campus - there are definitely bigger houses elsewhere.</p>
<p>Thanks overwhelmedma, my d would adore a single, so it is good to know that freshmen singles are at least within the realm of possibility.</p>
<p>TD, I don’t think they do the pajamas-in-class thing anymore, so the 90 second rule would be cutting it close. You need an extra two minutes to pull on clothes, one minute to comb hair – and ten seconds (!) to brush teeth.</p>
<p>Ah yes another bonus of D’s quad house - huge closet - twice as big at least as the one at home - our hope that college would inspire her to get rid of a lot of clothes completely backfired plus her house has a free clothes box that seems to add consistently to her wardrobe</p>
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<p>Not all rooms in Wesley have large closets, but I had a room with two very, long narrow closets that spanned the length of the room (one on each side). I also had a huge closet in Haven (right outside my room, so it didn’t take up any space in the room!) but that was pre-renovation (that room and rooms like it got new closets and the rooms are now a little smaller).</p>
<p>The closets at Smith are almost as unique as the houses themselves. One of my friends had a closet that was kind of hard to get into - narrow entryway, no door - but the size of the closet almost made up for the smallness of the room (the room was so small that the college-provided furniture didn’t even fit inside it!). </p>
<p>(I never had to share a closet, but yes, some students in doubles do share.)</p>
<p>I asked about the housing selection during my interview, and the adcom said that you get to select an area where you would like to live (Quad, Upper/Lower Elm Street, Green Street), but she didn’t remember if you actually got to specify which house you’d like. </p>
<p>Personally, I hope one gets to list which dorms they would like. I am currently in love with Sessions and Park, and would love to live in either of those (annexes included!)! Being stuck with one of the modern dorms would be terrible, as I find their architecture terrible. Do not want! =)</p>
<p>You only get to specify campus area although there is a comments section where you might be able to list a preference</p>
<p>@ the OP, sorry I didn’t realize you were a parent! </p>
<p>@nightpwns, you can really only list your area of campus preference, and it can turn out much different than you think. I asked for Center Campus, hoping for Haven/Wesley and I ended up across the street at Cutter (the ugly looking house), but I had three extremely happy years in Cutter, was house president, and learned to love it for all its flaws. They try to accommodate you if you put your preferred house in the comments section, but they can’t promise. I would recommend not to get too attached and to give whatever house you’re assigned a fair chance.</p>
<p>S&P, I was really impressed at the good-natured joshing Cutter was getting at a prospect party and the spirited defense that a Cutter member or two were making in response. “Yeah, it’s ugly but…”
They represented well.</p>