Smith VS Mt Holyoke

College Search & Selection
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<p>Can someone please explain the differences between these two schools? I know about the requirements at each, so I am more hoping to hear about the student body and which areas the schools are especially strong in. </p>

<p>It is important to me that the school I attend is strong in the arts,history, and literature. Any information is helpful and appreciated! Or if you could suggest other schools that might better fit my wants (Bard College is my #1 right now, if that helps with the kind of things I'm looking for), that would be great, too! Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Smith is a bit more science-y. They have engineering, which MoHo doesn’t.</p>

<p>I think (and I could be wrong, but this is kind of what i’ve gathered), that MoHo is stronger in the arts and lit. Not that both aren’t strong, but I think Holyoke has the edge. </p>

<p>The student bodies are rather similar, but Smith is normally stereotyped as more…um…strong willed and PC…</p>

<p>hope this is accurate/helps</p>

3

<p>I would not say at all that Moho is stronger in the arts or in literature. I would say that Smith has a much more developed theater program for example (Smith is the host of the New Century Theater, a professional Northampton-based theater company, every summer in addition to its term time amateur offerings), and Smith is the central college for the Five College major in dance (and a well respected school for those interested in an MFA in Dance). Not sure how their music programs compare (Smith is strong in a capella, choral, orchestral, I would say it’s definitely weak in jazz, don’t know about Moho’s musical program). Art history is a very strong department at Smith, one of our biggest, and of course, the Smith College Museum of Art is the second best collegiate art museum in the country (after Oberlin college). </p>

<p>In history and literature I would say that both schools are exceptionally strong. I’m biased towards my own of course (woo, Smith!) but I honestly have to say that both have really good programs. </p>

<p>Smith does offer engineering and has a brand new engineering and bio-molecular sciences building. </p>

<p>If you are a rider, Moho has far and away the best equestrian program in the area. Really, the facility is amazing. </p>

<p>I think one of the big differences between the schools is their location. Northampton is a busy town, and much bigger than South Hadley (though Noho still feels pretty cozy to me). You get a lot of the big city perks in Northampton (GREAT music scene, so many excellent concerts, varied and unusual restaraunts, and indie movie theater and awesome indie video store, many many good bookstores, funky shopping) without being in a big city. South Hadley is sleepier. </p>

<p>All of the valley schools are connected by free bus, but since Smith is on the Smith-shopping Mall-UMASS-Amherst busline, I think in terms of Smith women visiting Moho, it’s much more of a “I’m going out of my way to do this” thing, not something we did that often (though I’m sure Moho students feel the same about Smith. You might run into them in class, but we are not conveniently co-located).</p>

4

<p>Forgot to mention study abroad, though in this way Smith is and is not different from Moho. Both offer great study abroad programs, but Smith was just ranked #1 nationwide amongst baccalaureate institutions for sending the most number of juniors abroad for a full year. We were also #1 last year. </p>

<p>Smith also is #2 (missed out on #1 by just one scholarship!) nationally among baccalaureate institutions for having the most Fulbright fellowship recipients last year (and for several years prior. Pomona College keeps edging us out though :-)). So if you’re interested in maybe pursuing an arts fellowship after college (basically you get paid to pursue a research project of your own design, usually overseas, for one year), that is something to consider.</p>

<p>Stats are usually silly (especially when they try to rank hard to quantify things like colleges), but these kinds of stats are kind of neat.</p>

5

<p>I copied the quote below from the MHC website. As a 1981 MHC graduate, I am clearly biased, but to say that because Smith offers engineering they are stronger in the sciences is misleading. Both schools are great academically. IMO, the biggest difference is between the two schools is the personality of the “typical” student and location. Northhampton is a cool town which offers more than South Hadley. The two schools are, however, so close that it is an easy and quick bus trip to Northhampton from MHC.</p>

<p>"Mount Holyoke College ranks first among all liberal arts colleges in producing women who went on to receive U.S. doctorates in the life sciences (356) and in the physical sciences (109) from 1966 to 2004. This places Mount Holyoke in the top 2 percent of all colleges and universities–even major research universities with at least double the enrollment and faculty. "</p>

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<p>^^ I would agree with swimming. Both schools are very strong in arts and sciences, and I think with fairly similar results/curriculum. Though I don’t know how I would describe the “typical” Smith student, much less compare her to a “typical” student from another college. </p>

<p>This is always a hard question, comes up a lot on the boards. There are some good threads that cover it on both the MHC and Smith specific boards.</p>

7

<p>I think academically they are pretty similar. My D liked Smith better for the following reasons (although she also likes Mt. Holyoke):<br>

  1. Smith is a little larger
  2. Smith has a more open curriculum.<br>
  3. Northampton is more “happening” than South Hadley.
  4. Smith has the house system.</p>
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<p>I think qialah nailed all the major factual ones. I visited both in September and while MH was alright, I loved Smith completely. I’ve heard similar things from other students who visited both in a short amount of time; when you visit, you’ll feel the differences easily and you’ll just know.</p>

<p>One more difference is the campus style. MH has a very traditionally beautifully campus; lots of red brick, the library’s a cathedral, there’s lots of green space and distinction between the academic part of campus and the residential part. I found MH’s campus very easy to navigate but rather boring, but that’s just my opinion.
Smith’s, on the other hand, is much less traditional and straight-forward. It’s much more meandering and feels, though this might sound weird, sort of stream-of-consciousness; buildings of very different architectures and ages find themselves on the same part of campus, the roads are curved rather than straight, and the houses (at least the ones on the Quad) are spread out among academic and administrative buildings instead of grouped together. I found Smith’s much more interesting, honestly, but, again, MH is much more traditional, red-brick, New England, so that’s something to consider.</p>

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<p>Mt Holyoke architecture is definitely beautiful, and more cohesive than Smith. It might sound superficial, I mean, I’m not saying looks should be your ONLY reason to choose a college, but there’s nothing wrong with wanting to study and live in a place that is beautiful and inspires you. </p>

<p>Moho architecture is more cohesive, where as Smith architecture is all over the place. That’s because there’s a rule at Smith (well, not a rule precisely so much as a heavily entrenched tradition) that all new buildings must be built in the architectural style of their time. That’s why our campus center looks like a spaceship and Cutter House (my old stomping grounds) looks like a cinder-block Howard Johnson…er… I mean it’s an excellent example of mid-20th century International style. IMO having the mix of building styles makes the campus more dynamic and it also makes for a fun “architecture through the ages” walk. But some people prefer the clean and cohesive look of buildings done in one style, or at least in one material.</p>

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<p>Thank you all for your responses! </p>

<p>I’m still stuck. I’m only going to apply to one, Smith or Mount Holyoke, I think, just because I don’t have enough time for all the supplement essays. So, if I really like a school like Bard College which school atmosphere will I prefer? Smith or Mount Holyoke?</p>

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<p>^I say Smith, but i’m biased</p>

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<p>Depends. What do you like about Bard?</p>

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<p>Is it possible for you to visit the two schools? It’s going to be hard for you to get an objective opinion about what the student body is like on these boards, since I imagine both schools have more similar student populations than they’d like to admit, but both see each other’s population very differently than those that actually attend that school probably do.</p>

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<p>It’s impossible for me to visit both schools before applying. I like many things about bard. The beautiful, though isolated, location. The strong fine arts program. The Language and Thinking seminar for all incoming freshman. The moderation process and the senior year thesis project. What’s most important to me is that I’m surrounded by intelligent, creative people that like to think. I also want to be engaged by my teachers and know that they truly care. I’m sure I would find both of those things at Mt Holyoke and Smith. I’ve heard Smith is a bit more “well-known”? But I also heard Mt Holyoke gives more aid - merit/need, which is also important to me. </p>

<p>I don’t know how I will choose!</p>

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<p>Is there a set reason you can only apply to one? If you really think both would be good fits (and it sounds like they would be), maybe you could take a different school off your list and apply to them both?</p>

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<p>I would also add that both are FREE applications, so why not do both?</p>

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<p>Okay, first off, apologies for the long post. I’m going to get a reputation CC for being long-winded, but there’s just a lot to type whe it’s about Smith. </p>

<p>Well, if it’s possible for you to visit one of them, Mt. Holyoke is just over the hill from Smith and vice versa, so you might be able to fit in both (very likely). Also, I know you said you don’t want to apply to both because you don’t want to do supplemental essays for both, I would say (not having looked at the supplemental essay prompts, granted) that those essays are pretty short and quick if I remember correctly and you might be able to make one essay work for two? </p>

<p>I think this is a really tough call and really, I can only speak to what I know about Smith, so when I say these things, it’s not to say that Mt. Holyoke doesn’t have them, just that I know Smith does. </p>

<p>It’s art program is top-notch, and with the nation’s #2 college art museum right on campus, an amazing digital image archive in the beautiful, modern art library. The art facilities at Smith are also amazing. Besides the usual things (dark room, drawing studios, sculpture, etc) We have a state of the art print-making studio (and the print-making professor is really nice! He was always the most friendly to prospectives when I would bring them in to tour), an incredible wood-working shop (also run by super nice prof) where you can make wood art and frames for your work, and a really great kiln/metal working studio. And of course, video and multimedia classes. Student artists display their class work in a rotating basis in the gallery of the art building. </p>

<p>BUT you should be warned that you have to go through all the basic classes before you can often get to some of the cooler things. You have to take drawing I, painting I, etc. And you have to do a portfolio review before you can become an art major. The art building is open 24/7 because art majors actually have a pretty demanding schedule, but the facilities are pretty much just open to art majors or people in art classes (friends can tag along with their friends who are permitted to use the facilities, but can’t use the dark room for example unless they’re in a photo class). </p>

<p>So even though Smith has the open curriculum, the sequence for art classes can be pretty rigid (Photo I, Photo II, Photo III, no skipping ahead!). </p>

<p>In terms of beautiful, but isolated, Smith has a gorgeous campus, but Mt. Holyoke’s is definitely located in the more isolated spot (not that South Hadley has nothing going on, but it’s a quieter town). Also, Smith is the largest women’s college, so while it’s still small, it’s bigger than Mt. Holyoke. </p>

<p>Not sure what it’s like at Mt. Holyoke, but at Smith not everyone does a senior thesis. It’s not possible because you have to have a prof advise you who works in your thesis area and each prof is only allowed one thesis student. Many Smithies opt to do special studies classes instead, and produce a thesis like paper (or in the case of fine arts, a thesis-like project) at the end. You don’t have to be a senior to do a special studies however, that is any class or program of study that the student creates either alone or with a couple other students and gets a professor to agree to supervise for the semester. So basically, if you can conceive it, you can study it, even if there’s no set class for it. </p>

<p>There isn’t one class that all first years take, but most first years take one of the First Year Seminars, very small classes just for first years on very interesting topics. Nearly every department offers at least one, they’re very popular. </p>

<p>Financial aid between the two schools is likely to be very similar. I think they both pledge to meet 100% of the student’s need (as calculated by them, of course). In terms of which is more “well-known”, well, I would say Smith is a little more well-known, but that could just be because I went to Smith. I’ve never spent a day going around saying “I’m from Mt. Holyoke” to see how people react. It’s not like Moho is obscure, and being “well known” is not neccessarily a hugely important indicator. </p>

<p>SO in summary, I think if you like Bard, you’ll like Smith, but I can’t say if you’ll like Mt. Holyoke MORE than you’ll like Smith, at least just based on what you’ve said about your interest in Bard. Maybe a coin toss :-)?</p>

18

<p>

A moment while I check my phrase book…ah, here it is: You go, girl! </p>

<p>You needn’t be apologetic about being longwinded. You’re one of the most informative students on the board.</p>