Smith vs Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Carleton, Vassar?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
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<p>ugh, if she’s not into drinking/partying, she won’t like Williams on Friday nights. The campus reeks of alcohol.</p>

<p>Anyway, as a current Smithie, I would warn against Smith’s math department (small, not all the professors are excellent, and there have been some funding issues recently - but the selection of classes is quite on-par), but I would say Smith is one of the stronger LACs in the sciences, including in terms of lab equipment available for student use. There are lots of research opportunities, funding, and many students write theses. </p>

<p>The intro studio art classes are indeed hard to get into, but as long as you start in your first semester and swear upon your heart that you’re considering a studio major/minor, they’ll let you in. The professors are all hard graders, but the dept is small with a lot of support, and the art majors especially tend to stick together. It’s a great community.</p>

<p>Smith accepts AP credits as proof that you can take advanced classes (in lieu of placement tests), but they’re only used as college credits in extreme situations (not enough credits to graduate, etc). </p>

<p>I’m not biased myself, since Smith wasn’t my first choice, and I would have enjoyed a school with a more vibrant night life, but if she’s into the artsy small-town vibe, NoHo can’t be beat (even my mother, who hates small towns, loves it). It’s not as deep in the woods as Middlebury, but it’s still out of the way, so she has to be sure that she loves the atmosphere, otherwise, there aren’t a lot of options on weekends. And, of course, Smith has the most particular social scene of all her choices, so please be aware of that when making your decision. Overall, it’s a great place for an academically-minded, contemplative student.</p>

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<p>I am a current Smith student. I looked at a lot of similar colleges during my college process (visited all you have listed except Carleton, applied to Williams and Bowdoin, as well as many other small liberal arts colleges in NE). Smith stuck out to me as the place I felt most comfortable. Part of that was the women’s college environment and the lack of a drinking culture, but those were also true at Bryn Mawr and Wellesley, the other two schools I ended up making my final decision between. I felt so welcomed on the Smith campus and I felt like Smithies worked really hard but enjoyed the work and didn’t feel that it was a burden. Smithies also seemed really diverse, so I got the impression that there is a place for everyone at Smith and that people feel comfortable being themselves (not an impression I necessarily got at the other schools). My gut told me that Smith was the place for me, but I did revisits at Smith and Bryn Mawr to confirm my decision (I received comparable scholarships from both schools so my decision was entirely based on my fit). I ultimately chose Smith because that is where I felt the most comfortable and welcome. I think the housing system is a big part of that. It also has the strongest science programs of any of the liberal arts colleges I looked at. Even with the combined resources of Bryn Mawr and nearby Haverford, Smith had so many more resources in the sciences. Even though I am not an engineer, I think it is really awesome that Smith has an engineering program, which is pretty rare for a liberal arts college (It also happens to be the first engineering program established at a women’s college). The newest building at Smith is the beautiful Ford science and engineering building, which houses the engineering, computer science, molecular biology, biochemistry, and chemistry departments. All of this just goes to show how committed Smith is to the sciences and how many resources there are at Smith. I also found that it seemed easier to get involved in research at Smith. I would recommend that once your daughter has her acceptances, she revisit a few of the schools to confirm her gut instinct. However, I highly recommend Smith and based on what you say about your daughter I think she would be very happy here. I hope to see her on campus!</p>

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<p>Thanks so much, Smithie55 & VienneseLights, for your in-depth & really helpful comments. </p>

<p>My daughter will visit during the Admit Days, and see how it all feels. Very much appreciate your comments about the science department & studio art, and you have great suggestions.</p>

<p>Mini, thanks for your thoughts about Smith being the only open curriculum school, and about how Smith is a women’s college that teaches liberal arts education to women. Wonderful distinction.</p>

<p>Have you all heard of situations where a woman just doesn’t “fit” in her particular house, and how that is handled? </p>

<p>The housing situation at Smith is something that both my daughter and I think is a huge plus at Smith, and we love the “family”-type feel that living in the same house can generate for the women in the house. </p>

<p>Do most incoming students fit in fairly well at the various houses? </p>

<p>Do you all have recommendations for how the incoming students can figure out which houses might be the best fit for them?</p>

<p>Thanks!
–Lucia</p>

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<p>Dad3400–</p>

<p>Congrats on the wonderful choices for your daughter, and our daughters do sound very similar and, interestingly enough, have very similar choices.</p>

<p>Middlebury, Smith, Mount Holyoke, Wellesley,Carleton, Bates, and Haverford.</p>

<p>I concur with Doonerak’s comments: </p>

<p>Middlebury and Bates are like Amherst and Williams, except Middlebury VT is gorgeous & Bates ME is a very depressed town with difficult town/gown issues. We visited all of them. Didn’t apply to Bates (depressed town & the town resents the students) or Amherst (doesn’t have strong studio art), applied to Midd, Bowdoin & Williams (all similar).</p>

<p>For us, Haverford was too small and the students seemed to be a bit fused and enmeshed with each other. Liked the professors quite a bit. Friendly, interesting, talk & some faculty were meeting with the students at the dining hall where we ate.</p>

<p>Are you going to visit Carleton? It’s quite different from the NE LACs both in location, landscape & outlook of students. I wish it were located in the NE near the mountains or ocean, but it’s in MN, it gets quite cold in the winter, and it is also a wonderful school with bright, creative, studious, playful students. Students also are friendly & seem to be intellectually interesting. </p>

<p>Both the Smith Admissions staff–including the Director of Admissions—and the Smith students seemed more warm, caring and friendly than most of the NE schools. Noticeable difference in our experience, anyway. </p>

<p>We didn’t look at Mt Holyoke (wish we had), and while we thought Wellesley would be a perfect fit prior to our visit, the vibe was not all that great for us. But, lots of people have great experiences at Wellesley, it just didn’t work for us. </p>

<p>Good Luck,
–Lucia</p>

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<p>Great thread about Smith. DD is not interested in applying. She feels that an all girls environment will not be a good fit. We will visit next month during the open house. She also has Williams on her list but not sure if that kind of environment is a healthy one. I’m guessing that there is so little to do there that they drink to fill their time? I hear that the campus is quite remote. Is there any night life at Smith?</p>

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<p>NewHaven mom - my D felt the same way coming out of high school (not interested in all female environment). She didn’t apply to any all women’s colleges, wouldn’t even look at any. Then she actually attended a coed LAC freshman year and was dissatisfied with the overall environment, including the heavy emphasis on drinking. She found Smith, visited, loved it, and is thriving as a soph transfer. What she likes best of all is how seriously every student takes her academics, yet she has a wonderful social life, loves the house system, and loves Northampton. And she does feel special as a woman there.</p>

<p>P.S. when we visited Williams during high school, she said as we got in the car to leave, “Get me out of these cow pastures!”</p>

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<p>Lucia, the best way to figure out what houses might be good fits for her would be for her to talk to current students when she visits for Open Campus. Most people find good fits in their houses; the percentage of students who live in the same house all four years is somewhere between 60 and 70%, if I remember correctly. However, moving out of one’s house, especially at the end of first year, is not uncommon, and no one will dislike or judge her for it.</p>

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<p>Thanks, Teenage_Cliche. Sounds excellent. Perfect. Very excited for her to visit. Pleased with how the house system seems, and the flexibility is not a fit.</p>

<p>NewHavenCTMom, I think your daughter will know what fits best. We love many things about Williams, Middlebury & Bowdoin, and, like many LACs, there’s a strong drinking culture. But, great schools where you can find your niche in spite of the drinking.</p>

<p>When visiting Smith, though, my daughter & also us, her parents, all felt a “fit” there. That was two years ago, though, so she’ll revisit in a few weeks to see if she still feels as connected with Smith.</p>

<p>Teenage cliche–Thanks again. You’ve really relieved my concern about the possible downside of the houses. </p>

<p>–Lucia</p>

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<p>Regarding the question about “fitting in” with your house:
The statistic that I have heard is that about 50% of Smith students stay in the same house all 4 years. From my experience, most people like or love the house to which they are assigned as a first-year. However, if a student doesn’t like their house community or finds another house they would rather move to, that is possible after the first two weeks of school. About half of students change houses at some point. Some students find another house they prefer and move there, while some students just like to move around each year to experience different communities. Since all of the houses have their own character, you’re bound to find some that you like even if you happen not to like the one you were originally in.</p>

<p>On the topic of women’s colleges:
I highly recommend visiting Smith, even if you have doubts about attending a women’s college. Some students will visit and confirm that Smith/a women’s college is not right for them, and that’s fine. However, I think the majority of students who visit realize that the “women’s college feel” is different than they expected. I hosted one prospective student overnight who came in thinking she definitely did not want to attend a women’s college. After her visit, she told me that she was so glad her mom made her visit because it wasn’t “weird” like she expected. She really liked the people she met and felt like she fit in on campus. Even if she ultimately doesn’t attend Smith, at least she has a more open mind about women’s colleges. So I definitely recommend giving it a try, even if you are reluctant!</p>

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<p>We are all set to visit Smith on Saturday. I am very excited as I have heard amazing things about the school and the surrounding area…dd is gearing herself up to hate it. Lol. Asks why we have to visit…</p>

<p>I told her because it won’t hurt and I also think I threw in a “because I said so”…yes, she may hate it, but she was also dead set against visiting Wesleyan and I took her kicking & screaming and she fell in absolute love with it!! Maybe she will love Smith as well.</p>