<p>{I mean, there are also things I love about Smith. So please don't think I am bashing Smith for the sake of bashing Smith, without real, genuine concerns. But Smith is barely harder to get into than Dickinson or the University of IL. So HOW does Smith have this reputation for being in the top-20? I feel like it should just have the reputation of a college like Dickinson, except richer. That would make more sense to me based on my experiences there. Even my friends, who are not as good students as me and very sweet people, will say there are a lot of idiots at Smith.}</p>
<p>This was said under the title "Someone wanna defend Smith." Sounds like sour grapes to me. For someone who says that you do not mean to bash Smith, it's interesting that your title caption should be so demeaning to those attending such a fine institution.</p>
<p>Obviously, you have no intentions of defending Smith...so LEAVE Smith! I don't get your point, other than to think you are just harassing Smithies and their parents on this site.</p>
<p>{But what struck me the most as I wove my way through the room and kept an ear out while listening to conversations was the passion and excitement that all of these young women displayed as they talked about their college experience. What really brought it home was nearly an hour after the party was "over," several of the current students were still clustered talking about how much they loved various professors (vehemently disagreeing about one), what research methodology they adopted in writing such-and-such a paper, the quotes used as prompts in such-and-such a final. One of the senior alumnae and I just looked at each other: the enthusiasm and the passion they displayed as they burbled just can't be faked. And that, o stranger who passeth by, is one of the best unsolicited testimonies I can forward about Smith.}</p>
<p>{{I think you're softening up a bit much. Please refer to your quote above. Right after you asked Ecape to stop criticizing Smith, she goes right back at it in her next post.}}</p>
<p>Im tying to act mature. Besides, I cant say what I want to because I already had one post pulled by <em>the man</em>--- Roger had every right to do what he did. I was partially quoting an ad hominem commentary another poster made on the parents thread regarding ecape, but it didnt fly. C'est la Vie</p>
<p>{{I think you're softening up a bit much. Please refer to your quote above. Right after you asked Ecape to stop criticizing Smith, she goes right back at it in her next post.}}</p>
<p>I had a thought---some of us out here may very well be Middlebury, Bowdoin, etc alums to the aforementioned colleges ecape wants to transfer to.
Im sure if an alum to any of the colleges directed admissions to ecapes posts they might take pause when considering admission. It wouldnt be hard for admissions to figure out who she is in the transfer app pool. After all, why would Middlebury or Bowdoin want to take the chance of admitting a student who may in a short period of time start disparaging the college, for one reason or another, on the CC boards?</p>
<p>Its a small universe. I had my wedding reception at Middlebury College and one of my daughters is named after a former Dean of Women, who also has happens to have a dorm named after her. Interesting small fact, dont ya think?</p>
<p>WHY would you do that to me? I am not disparaging Smith. I have said I think I would do better at a college closer to Smith than a college as competitive as UChi. I also enjoy the intimate nature of liberal-arts colleges. Of course Smith is a good school, "good" being relative. Of course there are people at Smith smarter than me, and smarter than the majority of people at UChi. Please, unless one of you has attended two schools of various selectivity, do not accuse me of having a skewed view. TD, why don't you ask your daughter to ask her friend if she notices a difference between the student bodies of Smith and of Brown.</p>
<p>I titled my post the way I did to catch attention, primarily. You can ask any of my friends at Smith and they will not tell you I am a generally unfriendly or incompetent person, or that I HATED Smith, or that I thought I was the smartest person there. They will likely say the opposite.</p>
<p>You could as easily go to the regular college admissions and search board, and see students saying that the average Brown student is more academically proficient than the average Bowdoin student. I would not call this disparaging Bowdoin. I would call it stating what they perceive to be a fact. I would still choose Bowdoin over Brown, because I realize I like small schools.</p>
<p>In a previous thread, rlt, you encouraged me to continue questioning. Have you so quickly changed your mind? If I'm disparaging Smith by what I have said, then aren't those of you saying Smith is more selective than U of I, or stronger academically than the U of I, disparaging the U of I? Both my parents were alum of that solid state school. Actually, if you ARE a Middlebury alum, I would love to pm you with some questions about the college.</p>
<p>Furthermore, you can contact grad-schools, and they will tell you that Smith is easier than UChi. Not easy, per say, or easy compared to all the colleges in the country. Just easier than UChi. I have also explained that Smith is easier to make As at than was my high school. That's a neutral comment, not a negative one. It's just a fact. You can threaten me all you want, but I have enough morals and gumption not to back down from a fact that could be helpful for students to know. </p>
<p>Furthermore, I was not saying Wellesley WOULD be more challenging to make As at than Smith. Rather, I think this MAY be the case. After all, a Wellesley professor who was a Smith alum told me that Wellesley was a little harder. I was questioning the possibility, as frankly I would like to know.</p>
<p>Oh yes, I think all of you on this thread who are worrying about me should check out the "Observations from current students" thread on the Smith board. Since you here have been getting such a one-sided view of my thoughts on Smith, I discuss many of the things I like about Smith in more detail in a post on that thread.</p>
<p>I NEVER said I would contact admissions. And you can be assured I wouldnt do anything to jeopardize your future. If Im unable to win a legitimate argument, Im much more of gentlemen than to resort to cheap underhanded tactics.
Give me more credit.</p>
<p>I was making a point that everything on the web is freely distrusted and you never know who is reading what. OK, I used a little shock therapy. Sorry. </p>
<p>But simply because I will never do anything, can you be sure someone like interestedad, the Swath alum, wouldnt should you reapply? You see my point.
Ill stress this point one more time so you can sleep well and not have a coronary. You have my promise nothing we argue about or you say will ever make it past this board because of me.</p>
<p>{{In a previous thread, rlt, you encouraged me to continue questioning. Have you so quickly changed your mind?}}</p>
<p>Nothing has changed. The last thing I have the right to do is squelch your constructional freedom of speech.</p>
<p>You're free to state your views and opinions without fear of repercussions from me.
But a friendly word of advice; think about your comments and present them in a manner that offends as few people as possible. Youre a smart woman and write very well so I know you're capable.
And if you want to enter environmental policy, youll need to massage numerous disputes between very opinionated lobbyists, environmental groups<br>
and business factions. Now is a good time to practice.</p>
<p>Btw- as much as I hate to admit it, I had friends at Midd who drank 5+ nights a week at their frat house or in town ( Vt used to be an 18 drinking state) and bsed their way through college and had others do their papers at times. There are slackers at /every/college.
College is what you make of it regardless of what the selectivity ranking is.</p>
<p>Yes, well your post did make me think twice or thrice about how open I have been on this board. So I guess you were successful :P One of my faults even in real-life can be TMI (too-much information). I'm afraid it has something to do with being a writer, that I'm used to telling stories with ample details. I'll try to can it until I go back to school, at which point I doubt I'll have time to post anyway. I hope if any admissions counselors DO find their way onto these threads, that they read my most recent postings. I'd of course prefer that they only judge me on my application, but I shouldn't be ashamed to be honest, whereas it would be horrible for them to only see part of the story.</p>
<p>One of my D's best friends, X, is at U/Chicago and in fact D is stopping by to visit next week while on the way back to Smith for a J-term class. The minute X brought up U/Chicago as a possibility, I saw it as a terrific fit for her...a "best fit." Also, the D of one of the other Dads here on CC who I've gotten to know fairly well attends U/Chicago and is loving it. The point of this prologue being that I have a great respect for U/Chicago and it would be one of my choices for bright-but-quirky academically oriented students looking for a big research university and okay with living in Chicago.</p>
<p>U/Chicago, Reed, and possibly St. Johns are a small collection of colleges that have a very distinctive environment. They are not for everyone, any more than a womens college is. U/Chicago also appears to have serious grade deflation (cf., Cornell) and is challenging in that regard is challenging as well. </p>
<p>However, it's quite a leap from acknowledging U/Chicago's strengths and particular atmosphere to suggesting that Smith is overrated, on the par with a good state school, or on the level of Dickinson.</p>
<p>Smith isn't your cup of tea. I think anyone who reads your posts gets it. I wonder that you even consider grinding out your second year. I'd have a hard time staying someplace where I regarded my classmates with such smug superiority and condescension. Certainly my D, who was a stronger applicant out of high school and has a significantly higher GPA now, doesn't regard her classmates that way at all, nor deos she find the academic environment unchallenging, her only nod in that direction being--after being bombarded with the "Green St. is more studious" mantra--choosing housing in that area.</p>
<p>Umm... I could as easily accuse you of being smug and condescending towards good state schools. Everyone in my family attended good state schools. Quite likely, your daughter is one of those students at Smith I would consider brighter than me. I explained the reasons my expectations were probably different is because I attended high school with generally higher-caliber students. I have also explained there is plenty I enjoy about Smith and I did learn some in my classes so staying there for awhile is fine. If you have difficulty with anyone acknowledging Smith is not perfect, I think that's a weakness in you. A little fascist even, maybe. Smith is still a good place. There are things about it I will always appreciate and I have even defended it against people making fun of all-girls schools.</p>
<p>No school is perfect, particularly for everyone. And I've discussed problems of Smith, including the pervasiveness PC-ness. But I'm the grad of a state school, married to the grad of state school, so your dog doesn't hunt. I also recognize something superior when I see it. But thanks for playing.</p>
<p>Okay, well I've really exhausted my desire to debate the fine points of Smith's student body. With no slight meant to Smith, I'd just like to be able to ask questions on CC about other schools that offer a strong environmental studies department, and not to be jumped on by angry Smith prospies and parents for including the less-important question of whether Wellesley, Wesleyan, etc. students are in general a little higher-caliber than Smith students (a possibility which is bolstered by the input of a Smith alum now Wellesley prof, as I've cited). Thank you TD, for your more experienced frank comparison of Smith and State U's.</p>
<p>You yourself discovered rankings, admission selectivity etc., do not correlate to harder working or a higher caliber student in many instances. The more you post, the more you contradict your assumptions. </p>
<p>How is any student from another college going to be able to compare Smith with their college when they have never attended Smith? Ask your questions, but including your opinion of the Smith student body is irrelevant and there is no need to bring it up on other boards.</p>
<p>{{Wesleyan, etc. students are in general a little higher-caliber than Smith students (a possibility which is bolstered by the input of a Smith alum now Wellesley prof}}</p>
<p>Bolstered? Do you honestly believe a Wellesley professor would put a college that was a direct competitor for students above or equal to their own? If she had the administration would have been furious</p>
<p>You have a lot to learn about politics and college recruitment competition.</p>