<p>these 2 colleges are so similar. i heard smith has a better campus but wellesley has better academics. it is so hard to pick. any1? HELP!</p>
<p>I don't know if this is the greatest reason or not, but I prefer Smith because there aren't any rigid distribution reqs. So, other than the required courses for my major, I can either just take classes that appeal to me or have plenty of room in my schedule for a minor or even a double major.</p>
<p>Wellesley has a higher US News ranking but to say it has tougher academics is very debateable. And if you have any interest at all in the performing arts--orchestra, dance, etc.--whether you want to major in it or not, Smith's opportunities are far better.</p>
<p>Laureldj, my D is a first-year and has declared a double major...she, too, likes the options.</p>
<p>It really depends on what you'd like to do once you're at college. Research the respective departments you might be interested in. While Wellesley does rank higher on the US News and World Report list, I'm sure there are departments at Smith that are better than their counterparts at Wellesley.</p>
<p>As far as the campuses go, Wellesley feels as though it was modeled after the great English colleges: lots of stone in the architecture. To me it felt like a medieval fortress, but other people might like that style. Smith feels more 19th century in much its architecture, at least in the center of campus. It has a terrific art museum -- one of the best I've seen at New England LACs. Both campuses have pretty ponds but I think Smith's is nicer. Overall, while Wellesley has an impressive-looking campus, Smith feels more approachable or homier to me.</p>
<p>As for the towns where they are located: Wellesley is a very upscale suburb of Boston where you will probably be able to find Talbotts and the like. Northampton feels far more bohemian and diverse in every way. </p>
<p>If you are at all interested in athletics, I can't speak to the quality of the program at Wellesley, but I can rave about my daughter's experience at Smith. She is good at her sport, but not a star, and didn't think she would be good enough to do sports at the college level. Fortunately, she decided to try anyway, and has received so much personal attention and individualized training from her coaches at Smith that she has been able to improve her performance dramatically. What's more, she has remained uninjured the whole year because of their holistic approach (lots of cross-training and attention to diet etc.).</p>
<p>Good luck with your decision. We're all Smith fans here, of course.</p>
<p>I have a vague "feeling" of the atmosphere as more liberal at Smith and more conservative at Wellesley. However, I havent really visited neither of these colleges yet. How do these vague words play into the feelings of the actual reality? Exactly in what aspected liberal or conservative or if neither and it is just a stereotype? Even stereotypes however, carry a ring of truth.</p>
<p>From what I've heard with Seven Sisters. Smith and Wellesley are on the opposite ends of the political spectrum even though the majority of the student body is apathetic. Though both campus do practice PC but Smith's SGA to trying to stop that and get Smith students to open up. From what I've heard from a Wellesley alumna, she says that it's very PC when it comes to touchy issues like sexual orientation.</p>
<p>Architecture - Wellesley has some modern buildings but most of the campus looks like an old English campus. I believe Smith has a policy to build according to the style of the times so there are a variety of building styles throughout the campus. I would also say that Wellesley appeared to be better maintained when I toured both campuses a year ago. newer paint, slightly more manicured lawns. Wellesley appears wealthier with its golf course and other amenities.</p>
<p>I think Smith is closer to a community that a student would want to venture into on a regular basis. Northhampton seems more user friendly than the town of Wellesley and although Boston is only a half hour away, it is still away from Wellesley and it might require an effort to get there and back again. I understand many students ride the Student bus to MIT and Boston for weekend parties and events. Some students at both schools take courses at other schools but I have heard this is time consuming and requires planning.</p>
<p>I don't recall the stats but I do believe Wellesley leads in graduate school admissions, but stats are stats and who wants to consider their child a statistical norm? I believe Wellesley is ranked fourth in the nation for Liberal Arts Colleges, but rankings have their limitations.</p>
<p>Both schools have limited access to males, but there are opportunities to meet them if you want. Both schools have open Lesbian communities, but Smith appears to have a reputation for a more active Lesbian community. Students are expected to be and most are accepting (not just tolerant) of sexual diversity at both schools. </p>
<p>I suggest you decide by the quality of the departments you are interested in and the feel of the school. Is there any way you could get to see these schools? Perhaps you could email some students who are not part of the admission team. I don't know if you posed this question at the Wellesley site also but you might consider doing so. Good luck.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>There's a significant difference in who attends (which accounts pretty for the entire difference in grad. admissions, and SATs, and likely political differences as well). 28% of Smith students are on Pell grants, the highest of any prestigious private college or uni. in the country, which means that more than a quarter of all students come from the bottom 35% of the U.S. population economically speaking. Institutional aid per student attending per year is roughly $2k higher at Smith than at Wellesley. These are very large differences.</p>
<p>The second major difference is in the arts - in music, theatre, dance, and visual arts, there just is more, of everything (studios, professors, majors, courses, etc.) at Smith. This multiplied by the 5-College thing. </p>
<p>The third major difference is what the schools look like on weekends. Smith and Northampton are a mecca for the Five-Colleges. The place is hopping (from what my d. tells me.) Wellesley (from what I've been told) usually becomes rather sleepy.</p>
<p>You can get a great education at either! But other than the fact that they are all women, they really are NOT that similar relative to other schools. Town vs. suburbia, open curriculum vs distributional requirements, heavy emphasis in the arts vs. less emphasis, differences in student bodies, etc.</p>
<p>i have not yet received financial aide package from smith yet, but wellesley gave me a 38k grant, so that covers the majority of the expenses. i am still curious of how smith students interact with other surrounding boston area colleges. i heard, since wellesley itself has no socia life, they are very very very active in other schools, such as MIT frats or harvard events. </p>
<p>thanks for the responses! it's very helpful!</p>
<p>Pesto, Mr. B., and Mini all say things that resonate with my take on Smith. I particularly like Pesto's comparison of Smith being "homier" than Wellesley...that's a bingo! from my subjective experience visiting the schools.</p>
<p>Xok...how come you've got two screen names? </p>
<p>Anyway, Smith students rarely go into Boston. They've got the Five Colleges, they've got Northampton, and Boston is a good 2 hours each way. Mini says it well: on weekends, Smith/NoHo are hopping, Wellesley gets sleepy.</p>
<p>I too agree with the comments above. From our visit to Wellesley, my personal reaction to the school/community was "intense/uptight." My reaction to Noho was "funky." </p>
<p>Wellesley is a very upscale suburb, immaculate and homogeneous. Noho is a college town with lots of personality and individual style - street performers, etc. It is considered the arts center of the area. My Smithie D told me she was going to three theater performances this weekend -- one at U MASS, in which a friend of hers from Smith was performing. I don't know what the other two were, but imagine one might have been on Smith's campus, and another in the town.
I DO hope she is fitting in some schoolwork!</p>
<p>thanks for the input! it really helped me sort of understand the two schools better. the last i think i will do is ask my counsellor, but it's been great help!</p>
<p>An added datapoint: my favorite sister in-law has worked at senior levels in top private prep schools for more than 30 years. She was disappointed that D didn't choose Wellesely...but after talking to D about her experience of Smith, etc., she has come completely on board.</p>
<p>i had the same exact question as you did...smith or wellesley?</p>
<p>it seems like wellesley has greater alumni network and resources than Smith, b/c its near boston, and more well-known women have graduated from there, but i may be wrong. The campus at Wellesley is absolutely gorgeous!! but it does seem kinda of sleepy and isolated at times, whereas Smith does feel "homier" and more relaxed/open</p>
<p>Smith gave me a better fin aid (full tution) than Wellesley, i love Noho, and the school is also closer to home...so those came down to the reasons why i am most likely goin to smith this upcoming fall</p>
<p>Good Luck on on your decision making! choose wat feels RIGHT and most confOrtable for yoU! :)</p>
<p>mydzung, I can't really speak beyond SoCal but the Smith alumni network here is ferociously good. Networking may be one of Wellesley's strong points but Smith can't be far behind...I've hear alum after Smith alum talk about it. It can't be phantom.</p>
<p>Sometimes the difference and preference can't easily be identified and so it surfaces in different ways. I picked this school because I liked the dorm room, or the food, or I thought the kids smiled more. Our subconcious mind picks up a lot of information, revealing its preference sometimes in very cryptic ways and so each student needs to see a campus, get a feel and make a decision. As Johnny Cochran said, "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit" </p>
<p>Incidentally, after being waitlisted at Smith my daughter visited UCDavis and UCSanDiego and has chosen Davis for the feel, the food, the fit. I hope everyone finds what they are looking for.</p>
<p>I'll echo the subconscious fit comment. D is visiting Smith today for accepted student event and will likely make decision based on a multitude of small factors that go well beyond and are different from USNEws ranking criteria. With her at least, the friendlyness of students is a big deal and hard to assess without visiting and interacting with folks.</p>
<p>Smith and NoHo are a rare and unbeatable combo among LACs. I am not aware of any such combos any place else. I don't know that there is a difference in academics between Smith and Wellesley. The salient intangible for me is the college town. Drive to NoHo and you know immediately and viscerally it's not a bad place to spend four years of college. Drive to Wellesley and you are in a picturesque and, for me, repellingly super-manicured town. Itd be hard for me to live in that town for four years. I'd hate to have to catch a ride to Boston every time I want to have a night out. That said, Wellesley is a school that will give you an excellent undergraduate education. If you like the feel of the town, Wellesley is a great choice.</p>
<p>Zuma, there may be a match for the Smith/NoHo combo but I haven't found it. Amherst isn't too far off...in all sense of the word. But Williams, Vassar, Middlebury, Oberlin, Grinnell don't match well. </p>
<p>I don't know enough about Carleton or Wesleyan.</p>
<p>Middletown is typical MainStreet America, nice and livable but not CollegeTown. Carleton is a busride to the Twin Cities and Mall of America, nothing happening in town.</p>