<p>After pouring over a plethora of reviews regarding Smith, I am left apprehensive. The concensus seems to be that the food is gross, the campus has too many rules regarding partying, and the houses are unkempt. I know these things seem trivial, and really shouldn't be the make or break, but when you go to a college, your paying for the entire <em>experience</em> and I don't want it to be the same as my life now. Also, how vibrant is Northampton, exactly? What kinds of things do they have? And how easy is it to hop on the PVTA? How are the library hours and dining hours? I heard there also quite restricting...</p>
<p>The food is quite good for college food (it’s not a five-star restaurant, but there are a lot of options so if you can’t find anything you want to eat you forgot to go to the dining website). </p>
<p>There are rules regarding partying, but there are still many parties on campus. What are your concerns? </p>
<p>The houses are very well maintained. Each has a housekeeper and a custodian, who are frequently considered to be part of the house community. And if something breaks, a quick call to phys plant usually takes care of it.</p>
<p>Dining hours are more restrictive, but they work well around the class schedule (there are no classes between 12 and 1, for example, so dining halls are mostly open for lunch from 11:30 to 1:30, with a few exceptions). There is a dining room that stays open for dinner until 9 on weeknights.</p>
<p>PVTA is easy to hop on - the stop is right outside JMG, so it’s fairly centrally located. </p>
<p>I grew up in a college town where the shops close at 5 pm, aren’t open on weekends, and they wonder why no one goes there. Northampton isn’t open that late (but there are stores that stay open until 9 during the week), there are tons of restaurants, and if you’re into music there are quite a few places to go to see live shows. It’s not the same as being in a big city, but I consider anything that’s open past dinner to be open late.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that the parties can be pretty lame and students go to UMass and Amherst to party because of all the rules. Alcohol consumption, for instance, is a little hard to do at Smith. I’m not a partyer or anything, but hardcore rules such as these ussually reflect how the administration veiws its students. Apparently, there isn’t much.
As for the food, I’m extremely worried about their meal options…do the have any rules regarding what you can bring outside of the dining room and food limits? </p>
<p>How are library hours? I haven’t been able to get any info on them?</p>
<p>Does Smith have a veiwbook? I haven’t EVER recieved one, even after requests and emails. Their publicity department doesn’t seem to be doing a great job getting the word out about Smith…Are there any efforts to improve this?</p>
<p>I’m glad to hear PVTA is easy to use for a Smithie, but how often do they come?</p>
<p>Also, if you can bring a microwave and fridge, do you rent them from the school or what? I heard you can rent bikes to get to Norhthampton and around campus. I guess that makes things better…How easy is it to get to Boston?</p>
<p>Sorry I have so many questions, but you seem so well-informed. :)</p>
<p>Forgot about the library - the main one is open 8 am to midnight (I think a little later during final exams). Same for the staffed computer labs, but there are two 24-hour computer labs on campus that are not staffed but do have printers.</p>
<p>There are three or four different bus routes (B43 to UMass and Amherst, M40 to UMass, one that goes to Mount Holyoke and Hampshire) and they run every 20 minutes during the day, maybe 30-40 minutes in the evening. The PVTA web site has the full schedules, I haven’t taken the PVTA in over a year.</p>
<p>Boston is 2 hours by car, a little longer on the bus. There’s a Peter Pan station in town - it’s roughly $40 for a round-trip ticket, I think.</p>
<p>You can bring a fridge or rent one (you might also be able to rent a microwave/fridge combo - if so, this is new since I graduated). No microwaves are allowed in your room otherwise, but there’s one in your house’s kitchenette. Possibly more than one. Your house will also have a communal fridge.</p>
<p>There is a Smith view book. Did you contact the Office of Admission? If you’re in the area, you can just walk in and take one.</p>
<p>As for parties/drinking - it is possible to drink alcohol as an underage student (and it’s pretty easy to get alcohol as an underage student if that’s your concern). It’s also possible to drink at a registered party as an underage student. I don’t know if the rules are more strict at Smith than at other schools, but I know that a few years ago the policies weren’t clear and many students were afraid to report their sick friends to res life for help for fear that one or more of them would get in trouble. But no, I don’t think it’s hard to do at Smith - but if you’re underage or your event isn’t registered you’re probably stuck being very discreet or drinking in a closed room. </p>
<p>I never really cared about parties, so I didn’t go to them. I don’t know if they’re lame or not.</p>
<p>What do you think about about Smiths work-study program?</p>
<p>As far as parties go, Smith definitely isn’t what I would classify as a party school at all. Parties in the Quad can be decent though, as far as “rules” go, Smith enforces (or is supposed to enforce) the underage-drinking policy. It’s the usual no drugs/alcohol to minors rule that every college enforces. But as borgin noted above, there’s leniency on drinking. Our parties are regulated by Residence Life and Campus Police is on hand… but honestly I feel like Smith parties are a lot safer than any other parties I’ve ever been to. Plus, who really wants to go to a party where there’s beer up to your ankles?</p>
<p>Work study is great. Although as a first-year, you would mainly be working in the dining halls. Only people with work-study are allowed to apply for jobs during the first month of first semester and the first week of second semester, they also get priority over people without work study even outside of this time. A lot of my friends worked in the dining halls during our first year. It’s not the most glamorous job, but after first-year the majority of my friends were able to get work in other places (the library, our child care center, etc). </p>
<p>Oh! To add on to borgin’s comment about the Library, the hours for Neilson are as follows: Mon-Thurs: 7:30AM-1AM; Fri: 7:30AM-9PM; Sat: 10AM-9PM; Sun: 10AM-1PM</p>
<p>During finals all of our libraries open later, if I remember correctly, Neilson closed around 2AM during finals. We also have two 24-hour computer labs, so even if the library closes you can go to one of the labs to keep studying (though I’ve never studied past 2AM during finals…)</p>
<p>First of all, college food =/= gourmet restaurant food, I’m sorry. That being said, I’ve eaten at several other colleges, including 3/4 of the other Five College Consortium School and Smith has the best offerings, hands down, though, again, standards are pretty low as it is. There are several smaller dining halls serving one meal vs. the large-foodcourt-like set-up at other schools, but you can eat wherever you want as much as you want. Breakfast is super early (7-9AM) but many folks I know do their own breakfast because it’s much more convenient timewise + there’s a dining hall right next to all the academic buildings that serves breakfast until 11AM. Lunch is from 11AM-1PM with two houses having “grab n go”, serving things like sandwiches that are made to take on the go vs. a sit-down meal. Some people get irritated with dinner being from 5:30PM-7PM, thinking that’s kinda early, but it’s not like you don’t have to options to 1) get some tupperware and take some food with you to heat up for when you actually are hungry, 2) eat at the campus center or downtown or 3) cook something for yourself.</p>
<p>Every house has a housekeeper who comes every weekday. If the houses are messy it’s often because the students don’t pick up after themselves. There are a few houses who need some renovation here or there, but there’s a reason why our housing system is regarding as one of the best housing systems in country by folks like the Princeton Review. I’ve been to colleges where dorms were literally falling apart.</p>
<p>Yes, if you want to go to your typical “animal house” frat parties, you won’t find them at Smith. Students hardly party every night of the week, but room & hallway parties with alcohol etc. are extremely easy to come by. It’s annoying that the registered house parties are so heavily regulated (which if you heard complaints about restrictions is what was likely what was being referred to) but it’s not like there aren’t fun room & hallway- some of which serve as pregaming sessions before the registered ones- and even the registered ones can be pretty decent on a buzz sometimes. Like at most schools, if you’ve been to one you’ve kinda been to them all, but you have four other “party scenes” to be a part of if you so choose as well. Again, even though Smith is hardly “ZooMass” or whatever there are parties that go on, reslife staff that are willing to look the other way, and if one get in trouble, it’s often because of that individual’s questionable judgement (like doing something you shouldn’t be doing in plain view of Pub Safe)</p>
<p>Northampton is a cute little arts town with a good offering of shops & restraurants. Granted it’s nowhere near a city, but it’s in my opinion a great college town if that’s what you’re looking for. As another user noted, the PVTA runs quite regularly, and lines that run to the other 5 College Schools drop off/pick up right at the center of campus. I live Boston and on the weekends, the PVTA runs longer than the MBTA runs here. Oh, and the library is open till 1AM every weekday, even later during finals week.</p>
<p>I’m not saying Smith is perfect. Like every other school, it’s not for everyone. (ex. it’s single-sex, not in an urban area, a liberal arts education, etc.) Like every other school it has it’s flaws- you’re not going to find The Perfect School without any whatsoever- and if an individual is thinking of attending, it’s up to them to decide whether or not they can accept these flaws. Clearly, I love Smith at the end of the day, and I’m sorry if I come across as snarky, but in my opinion, anyway, your description of Smith is in many ways off.</p>
<p>Seriously, MeredithBelle, borgin, and arashic, when I read your posts I actually felt really excited. Finally, someone is answering my questions. Also, you must know that I actually love Smith. I think its by far one of the best girl schools I’ve come across…I’m just a prospie looking for answers. I’m unable to visit (African parents are WAY cheap) so I can’t visit. All I have to rely on is the Smithie opinion, so if I sound negative, my apologies. My description comes from **<strong><em>…or, atleast, the consensus of the Smithies on </em></strong>. </p>
<p>How much can you potentially earn through work-study? What are your options? How flexible is work-study?</p>
<p>What is the main difference between the quad and the houses?</p>
<p>I keep on hearing rumors about the unorganized library. Is this true?</p>
<p>How do you feel about the Praxis program? How many students typically take advantage of Praxis? Crossregistration? 12-college exchange?</p>
<p>What kinds of things can you do if you participate in Praxis?</p>
<p>What are some inexpensive transportation options to Boston? How much?</p>
<p>How often are Smithies allowed custom-made food in the quad?</p>
<p>What are the gym facilities like? How long are they open?</p>
<p>Thank you SO SO much for all your answers. :)</p>
<p>Work study usually has a max of 10-12 hours/week at something like $8.50/hour (I don’t know the current campus minimum). The max that you can earn per year is part of your financial aid package. It’s not a ton of money. Most first-years work in the dining rooms, but you can work pretty much anywhere else on campus (for departments, in the computer labs, in the library, etc.). Most work-study jobs have a set schedule every week but you can (depending on where you work) usually choose them yourself. You don’t have to work 10-12 hours/week if you don’t want to.</p>
<p>The quad is a group of houses. Campus stereotypes say that this is the “loud” and “party” area of campus, but that’s not entirely true. Pretty much everywhere on campus tends to be quieter during the week and louder on weekends.</p>
<p>Praxis is an option to supplement an unpaid internship. It’s available to everyone (there is no maximum number each year, so as long as you have an internship and your application is complete you can get it). You can do pretty much with Praxis as long as the minimum number of hours is there and you complete the application (which asks you how the internship supports your learning goals). I don’t know numbers for any of these questions, but a good number of students cross-register and fewer do the Twelve-College Exchange. The 12-College Exchange is an option (and I was accepted for it) but it’s not a very popular one. I decided I’d rather be at Smith than at another liberal arts college on the east coast.</p>
<p>Cheapest way to Boston (other than car) is the Peter Pan bus. It’s somewhere between $40 and $50 round-trip for a student ticket.</p>
<p>What do you mean by custom-made? The dining room makes something special just for you?</p>
<p>The main gym is open from early morning to about 9/10 at night. The facilities are very nice. There are also two 24-hour satellite gyms on campus.</p>
<p>The library is organized, but it takes awhile to find things due to the numbering system BUT if you know the call numbers of what you’re looking for there are maps all over to help you find where to look (this number is on the 2nd floor in the north section, etc.). Once you know how to find things, it’s not hard to navigate.</p>
<p>On the Smith video, it says some of the students got custom sushi in the quad. Is this true? Can you ask someone to make you something? </p>
<p>Thanks for all your answer :)</p>
<p>One of the dining rooms in the Quad is a themed dining room where they serve Asian food. Sometimes this dining room has special food nights such as sushi night or the very popular stir-fry night, where they’ll have a bunch of ingredients out and you can customize your own food. It’s not an every day thing, maybe a once a month thing. </p>
<p>The dining staff will only make special food for you if you have a dietary restriction (like you can’t eat things with wheat/dairy/nuts, etc) and usually the special food is not that special. If you’re a vegan or a vegetarian there are always vegetarian options at dinner and there’s a whole dining hall just for vegans, so you can always go there. </p>
<p>Otherwise, you have to make do with what they’re making in the kitchen, what you can cobble together at the salad bar, or what you want to order from town and pay for yourself. </p>
<p>I don’t know who’s telling you the library is disorganized, but that is untrue. They’re organized and the staff is very helpful, especially the research librarians. </p>
<p>Praxis a really great program, and the best part about it is that you can use it to do whatever you want. As long as you can prove you have an internship that meets the time requirement (220 hours) then they just give you the money to spend as you wish. So you can save it, use it for rent, spend it, whatever you want. You can only use Praxis once, and you can’t use it the summer after your first-year, so basically you have the summer after sophomore or junior year to use it or lose it. </p>
<p>Most students take at least one class off campus during their four years, but it really varies a lot depending on major. People in larger majors don’t need to take a lot of off campus courses because there are already a lot of good courses and professors in that subject at Smith. People from some of the smaller majors or the five-college majors spend more time away from campus. </p>
<p>As for 12-college exchange, I don’t know the exact number but I would say it’s probably small. 12-college exchange is like a junior year abroad program, and many students who go away for Junior year would rather go to a foreign country than just another college. That being said, a few students every year take advantage and seem to enjoy it.</p>
<p>Also, not to nit-pick, but Smith (and the other all-female schools you’re looking at) is a Women’s College, not a girls school. It’s a good idea to get in the habit of saying it right now, it will save you a lot of grief later.</p>
<p>Sometimes for breakfast at dinner it will be omelette night and you can choose which offerings are in the omelette, but that’s as custom as it gets (well, that and Asian food in the quad I guess) unless you have special dietary needs.</p>
<p>Man, I didn’t see an actual omlette maker person at breakfast at night all last year. They just made us eggs and then you could top them with various fixings. But yes, my first year they had an actual guy making you custom omlettes right in front of you and that was awesome.</p>
<p>Really? That was my favorite part. They did it all the time in Chapin in 2007-08. (And the line was long. I’d frequently show up 15 minutes early and still have to wait.)</p>
<p>There are omelet makers every Wednesday night in Morrow/Wilson. :)</p>
<p>Well I guess they just stopped having the omlette makers in Chapin then (I too enjoyed them in 06-07). So if you want your omelettes made to order by hand you gotta hit the quad. Still, breakfast at night at Chapin remains pretty good even without the omelettes.</p>
<p>I’ve decided I would love to pursue Creative directing for a magazine in the future. For those who are unaware, Creative Director’s oversee all creative aspects of putting together a magazine such as, Nylon or US News (to name a few). In the past, I definitely considered Smith a strong choice, but now that I have a direction I’m unsure. One thing I fequently hear Smithies say is, " Smith is a place with limitless opportunities and helpful advisors who take you seriously". In the past, do you feel like your advisor steered you in the right direction? Also, how connected are the advisors to current opportunities for their students?
Because becoming a Creative Director is such a huge risk compared to becoming a lawyer or a Doctor, I guess I’m looking for some sense of security. In the end, I know it will be up to me to take advantage of opportunities made known to me. However, I want to know if these opportunities will be made available.</p>
<p>I think you might be confused about the role of the advisor. Their primary role is to advise you about academic questions, make sure you’re fulfilling your major requirements, encourage you to pursue a wide-range of topics, and so on. They help you pursue your academic passions, like if you want to design a major or do a special studies and they are very good at that, but helping you find internships or career opportunities is not their primary purpose. For some students however, who want to work in fields closely associated to what they study, advisors can and do provide career advice. Like if you were an archaeology major, your archaeology professor could link you up with opportunities. If you studied music, your advisor might have contacts in the professional music world. But it doesn’t work that way for everyone (not everyone’s major is closely associated to what they want to pursue as a career). Smith does have great advisors, but that doesn’t mean they’ll necessarily know a lot about your chosen career.</p>
<p>Essentially, it’s up to you to pursue your goals and create your own opportunities, where ever you go to college. The benefit of going to a place like Smith is that it’s a lot easier to connect with the alum network to establish connections and uncover opportunities. It offers more resources for internships and close guidance from the Career Development Office. But those things only matter if the student puts in the effort to go to the CDO, to network, and take advantage of what is offered. </p>
<p>One note too is that it’s really normal for people to think they want to do one thing before they get to college and then completely change their ideas and priorities. At this point, I wouldn’t worry too much about finding the school that best supports your career goals as much as one that supports your academic desires and feels like it would be a good fit for you. When you get to college, a lot of things will change.</p>
<p>S&P noted:
Words of wisdom that bear repeating.</p>