Spring Transfer

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

I’m interested in transferring to Smith from another Seven Sister - I have loads of questions, but right now I’m mainly worried about admissions.

So I’ll get my admissions-obsessed questions out:
Does anyone know about how many transfer students Smith takes in the Spring?
Are there any sort of statistics out there?
What about the average GPA? Since I go to another Seven Sister college, I have a lower GPA than some applicants (though of course, I don’t mean to say that it’s easier at other colleges, and that other applicants with higher GPAs didn’t work for their GPAs - my college just has a bit of a rep of grade deflation). It’s a 3.6something, to be specific.

Alright, now that I’m done with all of the admissions questions everyone hates to hear, questions about the school:
Housing - I know a bit about the housing system at Smith. For transfer students, how does housing work?
Are transfer students welcomed, in general - any personal experience?
Study abroad - how hard is it to study abroad? I’ve looked into it quite a bit on Smith’s website, but from personal experience, do students who want to study abroad generally study abroad?
Northampton: How is it? What is there to do?

2

I’m also applying for this spring semester! I believe I read that Smith takes about 30 transfers for the spring semester, 80 for fall - found that somewhere on their website but I have not found any other statistics. Look up Smith’s Common Data Set though, that may have some more information on percentages of transfers accepted and so on. I can’t be sure, but I think being in another Seven Sister may give you a leg up since they are generally considered prestigious colleges.

I think that studying abroad is fairly simple, I visited the college 3 times and every tour guide I had plus a few other students I spoke to had already planned trips. Certain programs - I believe the Paris and Madrid programs, and a few others I can’t remember - are harder to get into, as I THINK they require some kind of language fluency test? Other countries you don’t need to know any of the language to visit. I also think that the price of a semester away is the same as the price of tuition at Smith, but don’t quote me on that. I’m going to be going to one of the other Five Colleges for the first time this semester, and Northampton seems like a very nice college town. You can walk into the town right from Smith’s campus and there are a lot of stores, places to eat, coffee shops, and so on. It also seems like it’s a fairly safe place to live.

3

One other detail about transferring that’s negative, though, is I read that it’s pretty difficult to transfer to small liberal arts colleges because of how small the population is and the limited space, even with the spots that Smith puts aside for transfers.

4

My daughter transferred within the Five Colleges, and began Smith in January as a second semester sophomore.

A 3.6 is NOT a terrible GPA to transfer into Smith. Kpanks’ stats were pretty accurate. Get a strong recommendation from your prof and a good interview, and make it clear that you want to be at Smith (if, in fact, you do).

The interview and on-campus visit are essential before you decide whether you really want to be there. Stay overnight. Sit in on some lectures.

Because she was already a Five College student, my D was really lucky–she took a course at Smith AND a course at MoHo in the Fall of sophomore year (while applying to both), and the professors at those schools actually wrote the respective recommendations. She truly had a unique opportunity to compare the teaching, student interaction, etc., and she felt fully prepared when she made her choice. Her style was best suited to Smith; another student could have been happier at MoHo.

The Study Abroad issue–will you be coming in as a 2nd or 4th semester student? It’s hard to come in as a Junior, complete all the credits and still graduate on time, while still doing Study Abroad. You might consider Study Abroad options for Jan Term or Summer, instead. Definitely make it clear when you talk to the admissions office, that Study Abroad is part of your interest, and get a realistic picture.

IF YOU ARE ACCEPTED: Housing at Smith is very good…remember that many students study abroad 2nd semester, Junior year, so some nice housing space opens up for Jan admits. There are four different residence areas, and each house has its own character, so try to coordinate with the housing office to get a better “fit”. My D focused on wanting “sub-free,” and later regretted it–they put her in a very quiet, sub-free house. Through clubs and classes, she met other students who, though not exclusively sub-free, were closer to her in temperament and interests, and switched into their house for junior and senior years. (She notes that the most “derelict” of Smith students are very tame compared to where she came from).

Re. the concern about integrating into a small LA school–Kpanks is INCORRECT on this point. Colleges WANT transfers who are capable of becoming part of the community. Having seen what didn’t work at their first school, transfers are generally more mature and are often ready to hit the ground running in their new place. Many even take on leadership positions. My D found activities and classes that she loved, and (as I said, after the bad housing match that first semester) has been fully integrated into the campus.

Northampton? It’s pretty much one of the most Feminist/hippie/vegan places in the world. Here’s a hint: Rachel Maddow used to live there. Lots of boutiques and interesting shops and restaurants. Warning: not very ethnically diverse. As I said, above, you MUST visit the campus, have an interview—best to stay on campus and sit in on a class, and REALLY see the place for yourself. If things didn’t work out at your first school, you don’t want to make the same mistakes again, right??