Smith Houses: the best of sororities without the Greek

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
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<p>There are periodic outbursts in the Parents Forum about Sororities/Fraternities, Rush, the pros and cons of the Greek system, etc. Occasionally the discussions resemble the Civil War in tone and ferocity of maintaining positions.</p>

<p>I'm no fan of the Greek system but it has occurred to me more than once that the Smith "House" system has some of the best aspects of sororities without the downsides: no "rush," no exclusiveness, no petty values about looks, weight, family wealth (i.e., surreptitious inspection of clothing labels, discussions about summers at the Cape and skiing in Aspen). </p>

<p>But you do have a residential community, blending all four years, that often knits together the way a sorority does. And the women really do seem to look out for each other. (I thought it was endearing the way D looked after her little sister when she was a first year. Her little sister's family, in turn, provided some much appreciated back-up when D was in D.C., including, but not limited to, a "home for Thanksgiving.") And as I've mentioned in another thread, the House is a great resource for getting opinions about profs, etc. I was also bemused by the fact that during D's first year, several of her housemates said, "Oh, you'll get along great with X. She's abroad right now but you'll meet her next year." And next year X in fact became one of D's best friends.</p>

<p>One of the few downsides of the large number of "away" programs is that often you get to live with someone you like for only one year if they're not the same year as you, e.g., they go away, then you're away, then they've graduated. But D has accumulated friends ranging from those who were seniors when she was a first-year to those a year behind her...she won't meet most of this year's first-years until she gets back in the Fall. But I digress.</p>

<p>I had been a complete agnostic when first exposed to the House system but I've got to say, with the exception of the occasional House that suffers from an excess of drama in a given year or two, I like what I've seen and heard.</p>

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<p>What are some of the steroetypes of the different housing areas?</p>

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<p>I think they've been hashed enough over the months that we probably don't need to do it again. Green St. is not the abode of joyless drones whose idea of entertainment is to sit in their rooms knitting, alone and in the dark.</p>

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<p>"Green St. is not the abode of joyless drones whose idea of entertainment is to sit in their rooms knitting, alone and in the dark."</p>

<p>Why "joyless"? ;):)</p>

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<p>Friend, does't Thee want a brick on thy head?</p>

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<p>(It's "Thou" - ;))</p>

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<p>Re: Smith Houses, my daughter did not apply to Smith. I must say it was one of the most poorly organized visitor systems I'd seen. The person who conducted the info session - didn't have lots of stats- even if not her thing,
s he should have had some with her for those who ask...The tour guide was notpermitted inside most edifices (it was a Summer Sat. morning-but if the tour is on, the guide should have access) except a house that was in such poor condition it was about to be renovated 3 days hence. Not the best way to show a school to advantage. A pretty campus and a fun town. Brandei I would say had the best run- interview, info session, tour day.</p>

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<p>Mini, I've seen/heard the idiomatic (though grammatically incorrect) "Thee" too many times to count. I'm pretty sure it's in FRIENDLY PERSUASION, which--unless I'm mistaken--was written by a Friend. If I'm mistaken, I'm sure you'll let me know. ;)</p>

<p>NYCMom, that's too bad. Most Smith tours are much better than that. Luck of the draw...D disliked the NYU info session so much that she refused to go on the tour, what can I tell you. But your story also underscores a fundamental premise of mine about tours: if at all possible, go during the school year. Summer is a <em>lousy</em> time to get the feel of most colleges, whether Smith or UCLA. I understand that sometimes family schedules don't permit otherwise...but you can get a very misleading or incomplete sense of a school when the actual students (as opposed to students from elsewhere in for summer programs) aren't on campus.</p>

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<p>I agree with TD, I visited Kenyon over the summer and though it was a nice school and my tour guide was very friendly and informative I didn't really get a feel for the atmosphere of the college because it was pretty much empty. The worst part was seeing the dorm rooms, I'm sure it was simply because it was summer and since no students were living in the rooms there were no decorations or anything, but all I could think from the moment I set foot in the room was "this is like a really run down prison cell." Needless to say, though I liked the school for the most part, I had some serious reservations about Kenyon after that. (Luckily I never had to apply, ED is awesome.)</p>

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<p>NYCmom makes an excellent point - and one which I hope borgin and others take back to Gold Key. If you cannot see a dorm room and a classroom, you don't feel as though you've seen the campus.</p>

<p>Princeton doesn't show the inside of ANY building - and all the tour guides do is drop names and tell stories (which are usually not true). Brown did a little better - but not much. We did get to see the inside of one of the smaller Smith houses, and my d. feel in love with the at-home feel. You aren't going to get that same small private house feel with the Quad, for example. In fact, on a tour, you won't even see the Quad.</p>

<p>The houses at Smith do tend to be a little run-down, but you often get that at the older colleges in the Northeast. The students don't mind, though; they love their houses and their housemates. The most amazing thing about Smith houses is their character: each is different. My d. has met several Smith alums, and their first question always is, "Which house are you in?" And next, they say, "I lived in _______."</p>

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<p>Run down may be in the eye of the beholder, for Smith routinely scores highly in PR's "Dorms Like Palaces" ratings. D's House is a three-story Victorian built in 1878 and it's absolutely charming. She stayed in Haven, I think it was, for a part of her first summer when she stayed on for a job. Haven needed some work but that was supposed to happen that summer.</p>

<p>Cutter-Ziskind are about the newest dorms and for me they're architectually among the least appealing...I call them "Soviet Modern." But I think some C-Z residents would rap my knuckles for that.</p>

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<p>Quirk, welcome to Smith (almost). I think we overlooked congratulating you on your ED admittance. What made you choose Smith for your ED choice?</p>

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<p>Summer tours are not really a part of Gold Key - those guides are hired for the summer, are paid, and work in the admissions office full time (they do office work when not giving tours). I've never been at Smith for a summer, so I don't know what buildings are open or their hours. Saturday mornings are hard year-round. Before 10 in the morning you can't get into the library - and many other buildings - even during the school year (I've found myself locked out of buildings during my own Saturday morning tours).</p>

<p>During the school year, dorm rooms are a neccessity, as are academic buildings and the library. We try to tailor our tours to the student (many tours are small, only one or two families) so you might spend a lot of time in the art building in one tour but see a lot of the gym in another.</p>

<p>Oh, and Haven is being renovated completely this summer, as long as the trustees approve the decision. I have no idea what they've decided, though.</p>

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<p>Borgin touches upon a good point: most of the tours at Smith are small & intimate...we were one of five families and they apologized for how crowded it was. Compared to some of the cattle calls elsewhere, it was nothing.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
In fact, on a tour, you won't even see the Quad.

[/quote]

This is very true! We didn't even know there was a quad on our first visit. I made the recommendation to the admissions dept. during our 2nd visit. They said that the quad is too far removed from the rest of the campus. lol I think that's a crock! Outside of this issue, our tours (2X) were great! The second much better, as we were the only three people on the tour, and got to look inside buildings and classrooms (particularly labs), and spent a good hour just having a 1 on 1 conversation with our 4th year host.</p>

<p>Brown was too impersonal and large, and Williams didn't cut it for us. D didn't even want to get out of the car there. Amherst did a nice job though, and broke the crowds into much smaller, manageable groups. Wellesley was o.k., but the alcohol bottles strewn all over the campus left us and our D with a very bad impression. </p>

<p>These tours mean a great deal to serious students, and colleges need to spend more time deciding on a route and going over what to say, and what not to say. These can make or break a potential admit.</p>

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<p>See, if you stay at the Autumn Inn, you can see the Quad, starting at King/Scales, during your brief walk on the way to the admissions office.</p>

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<p>Luckily, we can just drive there in an hour and a half. ;) I really do think they need to include the quad in the tours; I mean, why leave out the best part of the campus. ;) Just kidding, TD, just kidding.</p>

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<p>BJM8, the Quad is hard to get to - the only guides who usually go there are the ones who live there (because they have to show their rooms). I have pointed it out and walked out there once or twice, but it's hard to visit in a one hour tour. It's about 10 minutes of the tour just walking there and back from admissions.</p>

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<p>I understand that and appreciate the time conflicts. It would be nice if they at least pointed in that general direction to let people know it exists (maybe visitors would drive over there after the tour). We toured twice, and never got to see inside a house or dorm room. Is that normal procedure?</p>

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<p>Brown was not <em>nearly</em> as bad as Princeton, in part because Brown divided up into groups of 10 or so. We did the tour twice at Princeton, and both times we couldn't half of what the tour guide said because the group was so large. </p>

<p>At MHC, we were the only ones on the tour. It was very personal. The same thing happened at Haverford - and at Haverford, the president of the college even stopped to talk to us. At Smith, there were about five or six families, which was fairly large compared to the usual LAC tour. Fortunately for the girls, the parents were content to hang in the back to let the prospies hear everything. For my daughter, the tour and the interview with the admissions officer brought Smith from a dreaded place to one of her top choices.</p>