<p>Hello,
I am interested in learning more about Smith and Wellesley in regards to their economics and East Asian Programs. Honestly, I don't know what I want to do specifically but I managed to narrow the choices: East Asian Studies and Economics. I am interested in pursuing Grad school and working either as an investment banker or a foreign service worker (diplomat). </p>
<p>So my question is which school is better for Economics or East Asian Studies? In addition, is there a considerate number of alumnae at Smith working at Wall Street or the US govt? Same question appiles to Wellesley also. </p>
<p>I cannot speak to the East Asian studies aspect but I know a little about Economics.</p>
<p>The Econ. department is considered to be among the best at the school. There are several well-known professors, including Andrew Zimbalist, who is quoted in the press on a weekly if not daily basis about issues relating to the economics of sports; Roisin O’Sullivan, an expert on international finance, who was recently named to the advisory council on economics of her native Ireland; and Randall Bartlett, who has written many well-known economic treatises.</p>
<p>As far as alumnae are concerned, we can start with Laura Tyson, former Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Clinton; Farah Pandith, special representative to Muslim communities, U.S. Department of State; former White House adviser and current campaign staff to President Obama Stephanie Cutter; Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin, who is now running for Senate; and Shelly Lazarus, Chair of Ogilvy and Mather, one of the top advertising agencies in the world. There are many more who have become successful in business and government who I could list if you’d like. But you get the idea.</p>
<p>My daughter is an Econ PhD program at a Top Five school (of which there are seven) and gushes about the Econ courses she took at Smith and the faculty there, including, Roger Kaufman and Mahnaz Mahdavi. She was a double in Math and Government and I think one of her few regrets is that she didn’t take an Econometrics course in undergrad; the Math department’s Stats course was weak porridge in comparison.</p>
<p>They are both great choices. I expect, but am not sure, that you will find more East Asian opportunities at Smith, if only because of the addition of the Five-College opportunities (I believe there is even an “East Asian Certificate” program.</p>
<p>But you might want to decide based on the feel of the two campuses.</p>
<p>(Julia Child was a diplomat for many, many years.)</p>
<p>As an East Asian Studies major, I can say that the EAS program here at Smith really is outstanding for a small liberal arts college - one of the best programs among Smith’s peer institutions. I love the interdisciplinary approach it takes and it’s not unusual for students to double major with another discipline - the most common being Government or Economics. The faculty that advise the program directly cover premodern Chinese history, early modern Japanese history (especially women’s history), the anthropology of East Asia, comparative colonialism between Taiwan and Korea, art history, and Japanese government and foreign policy. Many other faculty also participate to include overviews of East Asian religions, Chinese government, comparative literature, and of course the needed language courses. The faculty love designing quirkier courses or courses on history that is not studied quite as often - classes on Korean film and pop culture, for example, or classes studying the transformation of Edo to Tokyo, or a premodern Japanese women’s history class that was one of the highlights of my college career thus far. They are also great at encouraging interdisciplinary approaches to events: in March, for example, we had a panel on remembering the 3/11 ***ushima disaster that had professors from not only government, history and East Asian Languages but also from Geosciences, Chemistry and Physics.</p>
<p>The faculty in particular are phenomenal - three of my favorite professors here at Smith have been members of the EAS program, and they are just so wonderfully interesting to talk to and are so willing to go to bat for you - they have helped me find funding, get into classes in other disciplines that were difficult to get into when I was a first year, and overall just been a great source of support. I can’t say enough good things about them! If you know a particular aspect of EAS that you would be interested in, let me know and I can put you in touch with the right people; I am always, always up for answering questions about EAS!</p>
<p>There are many Smithies working in the US government, though I’m sure there are also many Wellesley grads going the same way. Since most people don’t join the foreign service until they’re at least 32, if that’s the way you want to go, you don’t have to worry about it for a bit. </p>
<p>Smith has a great Semester in Washington program, which I am a veteran of and it led directly to the work that I do now in DC. You spend a summer and a fall semester in DC, interning full time and going to class at night and work on a long research paper. They don’t provide housing, but they do help you find some, and your room and board fees are waived for the fall semester to support that. You also get a stipend for the summer that is equivalent to the Praxis stipend, so essentially if you participate in the Semester in DC program, you get Praxis twice (once during the program, and then you can still use your regular Praxis funding for a different summer). It’s really a great program that allows a lot of flexibility to shape it around your own personal interests. </p>
<p>The Praxis program itself is also a great program. Wellesley has something similar, though from what I understand, it’s not garaunteed for each student like Praxis. Because of my Praxis funding, I was able to extend my study abroad semester into a summer internship overseas. </p>
<p>Smith also hosts many recruiters every year for the large investment banks and their internship programs. I know several Smithies who went that route and are very successful in it. I know Wellesley hosts the same recruiters, I doubt there’s a lot of difference in who is more successful with them. </p>
<p>Re: departments, the problem is you can’t really go wrong with either school. However, if you’re interested in the philosophy side of East Asian studies, Smith’s philosophy department has a great relationship with the Central University of Tibetan studies and takes a group of students to India every year for intensive Tibetan studies. It’s because of this relationship that the Five Colleges have with the Center that the Dalai Lama came to address Smith and Hampshire college a few years ago. Smith also used to run a program for first years that studied Japan and then took them to Kyoto for January Term, though not sure if that’s still going.</p>