<p>Hi, I just can't decide.</p>
<p>I want to double major in political science related areas and visual art, also interested in philosophy and language studies. And I'm really not sure about what kind of people I want to be or what kind of life I want to have. </p>
<p>BMC's dining is pretty awesome, smith is a wonderful school and I do like my major in LSE, Philosophy, logic and scientific method. </p>
<p>Thx guys!</p>
<p>So how do you intend to major in visual art while at LSE?..</p>
<p>Hi vienneselights, that’s one point why I struggled…if I go to LSE then definitely I won’t take art classes again…but on the other hand London is an amazing city and LSE is really strong in politics.</p>
<p>littleartemis, I’m curious that of all the comments you could have made about Bryn Mawr (if that’s what the letters stand for), you chose to mention their dining. (Am I off base here?) There’s a huge difference between Bryn Mawr and Smith with Smith twice the size. What size school do you want? My daughter was accepted at both schools and easily chose Smith over Bryn Mawr for a number of reasons which basically boiled down to size: more classes, more majors, more student diversity, etc. </p>
<p>As for the London School of Economics, I don’t know much about it, but I can imagine visual arts are simply not on the radar. If you really want to incorporate visual arts into your college experience, take a look at this:</p>
<p>[Smith</a> College: Brown Fine Arts Center](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/bfac/artdept.php]Smith”>Smith College: Brown Fine Arts Center)</p>
<p>Political science, known as Government, at Smith is one of the school’s most popular majors. It’s very, very, very strong. I’m sure SmithieandProud may chime in at some point as she was a Government major and she’s now living and working in DC and loves it. There’s the Picker Semester in Washington (I can’t link it because it’s a PDF file) in which she participated; she’ll happily sing its praises for you (or you can look up her many comments).</p>
<p>At Smith because there are no distribution requirements (unless you want to go the Honors route) and half your credits need to be your major, you can dabble to your heart’s content, if you want. Smith is very, very strong in languages (ask Mini about his daughter’s experience in Italian; she’s at Princeton now in a very select PhD program), so you can’t go wrong there, and there are all kinds of wonderful languages offered at the other Five College Consortium schools (ask rocket6louise about Turkish). </p>
<p>My daughter’s abroad at Oxford right now for her spring semester, so I’m going to suggest you could have your cake and eat it, too, if you go to Smith and take your junior spring semester at LSE. My daughter’s already been invited back to do a Master’s at Oxford, so perhaps the same sort of thing could happen with you as well.</p>
<p>One of my daughter’s friends is majoring in Logic, a major she created with mostly (I think) a mathematics orientation, but she went to Cambridge for spring semester last year and was also invited back to study law. She may be receiving a Fulbright to study in Malaysia, but in any case, she’s quite sure she’ll be back at Cambridge but it may now be in linguistics! I’m telling you these kinds of details because you never know how things will turn out; there are wonderful, interesting twists and turns when you have a variety of interests such as yours.</p>
<p>If as you say, you don’t know who you want to be and what kind of life you want to have, I can think of no better reason to go to a liberal arts college such as Smith with intelligent, lively, curious, self-motivated young women who will befriend and support you in your journey of self-discovery and empowerment. That has been my daughter’s experience and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Good luck with your decision!</p>
<p>@CarolynB, thx a lot for all the details. It’s amazing that your daughter could spend a semester in Oxford. I was rejected by that actually. Your comments are really helpful.</p>
<p>littleartemis, glad to help. Have you visited Smith? Just wanting to be thorough. </p>
<p>Just because you were rejected by Oxford as a regular student doesn’t mean that you would automatically be rejected for the spring semester abroad. I’m not sure my daughter could have gotten into Oxford either as a regular student, but with the strong course preparation, experiences, internships and professor recommendations from Smith, she was accepted as a visiting student. When she worked for admissions last summer, since she’s an English major, as part of her job she started a blog. You might be interested in reading it as she talks not only about Smith but also some of her time as a Smithie at Oxford (I know she’s behind in her entries, but you’ll get a good general picture).
<a href=“http://smithhousetea.■■■■■■■■■■/[/url]”>http://smithhousetea.■■■■■■■■■■/</a></p>
<p>Good luck with your decision! Let us know what you decide to do.</p>
<p>idk I had to choose LSE v Smith as well, and, whilst I was swayed by financial matters, one factor of the decision was that LSE is essentially a trade school. It is well-respected in its field and 90% graduate with a job lined up, but there is little personal developmentl I’m now double majoring in literature as well as my vocational interests, and find that it keeps my options endlessly open.</p>
<p>Don’t get too stressed; you’ll enjoy yourself wherever you go.</p>
<p>CarolynB, I just spent the whole hour reading your daughter’s blog. That’s really attractive! I haven’t visited Smith but I know that it’s among the most beautiful schools in US. I think I’m going to be a smithie!</p>
<p>Thanks vienneselights. One main reason is just like you said, the financial factor. LSE requires 3 years and tuition is much less expensive. But I guess I can’t forgo my art dream. I guess no one knows what will happen and I shall enjoy my college life anyway.</p>
<p>Good luck with your dream!</p>
<p>Hi</p>
<p>I’m very interested in apply to Smith and think it’d be a great school for me. I’m looking for a school with the following… </p>
<ol>
<li> great teachers who make time for their students. i dont need or want to be coddled. However, it’d be great to have professors that care about their students.<br></li>
<li> good sense of community </li>
<li> environment where I can study (no party schools)</li>
<li> happening social life on and OFF campus (if I so chose)</li>
<li> good financial aid </li>
<li> good for pre meds and biochemistry majors </li>
<li> strong alumni network and school pride </li>
<li> study abroad and good language programs</li>
<li>job, internship and research opportunities </li>
<li>small, discussion based engaging classes </li>
<li>few academic requirements</li>
<li>people with different perspective and from different walks of life</li>
</ol>
<p>It seems like Smith has all of these characteristics. However, I’ve never heard anything about what the premed experience is like at Smith. I would also like to know about Noho and what the campus life at Smith is like. I don’t mind being stuck in a bubble for four years, it just can’t be a bubble of boredom. </p>
<p>I’m also considering Wellesley. Does anyone who has experience with both schools compare them?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Bingo on all counts. Of course, no student attends Wellesley and Smith at the same time, so real comparisons are difficult.</p>
<p>Three differences:</p>
<h1>4 - NOHO is a happening place, with 9 bookstores, multiple coffee houses, restaurants, shops, etc., all within easy walking distance. The town of Amherst (slightly less bustling) is 20 minutes away. Five colleges in the area. Wellesley is within weekend distance of Boston/Cambridge, which is great. The town of Wellesley is an oxymoron.</h1>
<h1>12 - Smith has no distribution requirements. Wellesley (I think) still has them. The reality is that many Smithies fulfill similar distribution requirements for Latin Honors. But the lack of distribution requirements also makes it somewhat easier to double major.</h1>
<h1>13 - Through the ADA Comstock program, roughly 10% of the student body is made up of older students - ages 25-66. Since Adas entire as juniors, this is more pronounced in the upper-level years.</h1>
<p>Med school admit rates for both schools are terrific. Probably current students would give you a better perspective on program itself.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>littleartemis, I’m so glad you enjoyed my daughter’s blog. She loves writing and she loves Smith–it’s a great combination! If my daughter’s blog convinced you to go to Smith, she’ll be tremendously pleased as she’s also one of the Gold Key guides at Smith, the students who are given the coveted honor (seriously!) of walking backwards and talking to prospies and their parents about the school they love. Let me know if you decide on Smith, so I can pass the news on to her. </p>
<p>littleartemis and hopefulIU, I’m sorry you haven’t visited Smith. Here’s what you’d see: a lovely green, well-maintained, gracious campus snuggled into the lively small city of Northampton. The campus is sizable not because it’s spread out, but because it accommodates 2700 women as the largest women’s college in the country (the world?). Whenever I visit the campus (we live 1-1/2 hours away), I’m always stuck by the number of women walking purposefully. That’s not to say that on a beautiful spring day there aren’t students catching a few rays! But even then, there’s a vitality there that’s quite palpable.</p>
<p>I love Northampton. It’s a smaller version of Cambridge, Mass. where Harvard is, with fabulous restaurants(!), pubs and bars, interesting shops, useful businesses (e.g, CVS), and Herrell’s ice cream. Need I say more? 
Oh, there’s a shopping mall a bus ride away. If you want more detail, ask away!</p>
<p>hopefulIU, here’s some recent information about alumnae that’s relevant to pre-med:
[Smith</a> College: Admission: Alumnae Statistics](<a href=“http://www.smith.edu/admission/alumnaestats.php]Smith”>http://www.smith.edu/admission/alumnaestats.php)</p>
<p>One of my daughter’s good friends is pre-vet and as you probably know, it’s even more competitive to get into vet school than med school, but she’s getting great experiences with her courses, labs, research and internships.</p>
<p>@hopefulU – Any chance you could go and visit Smith and Wellesley? They offer many of the same benefits, so it may come down to just how you feel personally about each. As mini says, Noho is a really fun town. It has lots of good restaurants, bars, galleries, bookstores, and plenty of cultural events. If you like music, it has one of the best music scenes in the area, with multiple venues right in town where you can go to concerts for any price range. </p>
<p>On campus there’s also usually plenty going on, or at least, I felt that way when I was a student there. We would watch free movies, go to parties in the Quad, see shows at the art museum, go to concerts put on by the student council (we had Feist, Vampire Weekend, and Boys Like Girls in my years). There were carnivals at the beginning and end of every year, student cultural festivals, and lots of theater, dance, and a capella to attend. We’d do things with our houses like apple picking, snowball fights, and just hanging out/watching TV/seeing what general mayhem we could get up to. Also, the campus and the area has a lot of natural beauty with good hikes, walks, and bike rides. And the campus has many active student organizations, so most students are busy with that at least some of the time.</p>
<p>Hi</p>
<p>Thank you so much for your advice. I’m going to visit Smith in the fall before I decide officially, but I think I’m going to apply ED. I really seems like an amazing school. </p>
<p>Last question: What are Smith’s strongest majors?</p>
<p>@littleartemis
Actually, Smith gave me aid. And I was like, STUDY WHAT I WANT FOR 4 YEARS FOR FREE? FOSHO. That said, all things equal, if not for this I would have stayed in England - glad I didn’t. Smith really broadened my horizons, career-wise and socially. Also, if you end up going to Smith and pursuing studio art, be warned that drawing I (prereq for evwrything in the ARS dept) is offered fall only, and always oversubscribed. Also, don’t take it with meyersohn.</p>
<p>@hopefulU all my premed friends complain about how hard it is. That said, the academics at Wellesley are about the same, but it’s much easier to sock a Harvard/MIT guy. And the girls are preppy to a T. That is literally the only difference.</p>
<p>@vienneselights I don’t want to hijack the thread but I’m a rising junior who is signed up for Drawing I (as in I’m officially registered) and I’m taking it with meyersohn. Is she bad??</p>
<p>@vienneselights
Thanks for the info. Undergraduate study in England focus more on career, I suppose.
How about the film study at Smith? I heard from current students that the resources are very few. Plus it seems that taking film major would end up in taking lots of classes outside Smith.</p>
<p>As a film studies person, you likely would take a bunch of classes at Hampshire, and you’d want to. They have an especially fine department. And Smith students take classes there all the time.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.hampshire.edu/hacu/5262.htm[/url]”>http://www.hampshire.edu/hacu/5262.htm</a></p>
<p>Agreed on Hampshire, great department. Film Studies was originally envisioned as and can still be taken as a “Five College Major” versus a Smith major, so you get to take advantage of all the offerings of the area. Also, Smith’s department is more focused on the academic study of films, whereas I think Hampshire has more resources for film production, if that’s what interests you. I loved my film studies class at Smith, but I only took one and did not major in that area.</p>
<p>@CarolynB I’m going to Smith this fall!</p>