<p>The STRIDE program appears to provide a wonderful and unique opportunity for selected students to learn about research. Is there a correlation between the STRIDE students and the recipients/applicants for post-grad fellowships (Fulbrights, Truman, others)?</p>
<p>My question could be generalized to general consequences of the STRIDE program. Do the STRIDE students go on to post grad education at higher rates?</p>
<p>Is a consequence of the STRIDE program the existence of an "elite" group who get more than their share of opportunity?</p>
<p>I can only speak for my d. - but her STRIDE linked directly, both to her Kahn Fellowship senior year, and her 5-year graduate school fellowship.</p>
<p>Is it an extra opportunity? You bet! Do other Smith students get other opportunities? You can bet on that as well.</p>
<p>Not neccessarily. For some, whose STRIDE research happens to be in an area that appeals to a student's current and future interests, it will obviously be a boon to their resumes and future applications to have early research experience and to have received a previous fellowship. </p>
<p>But many of the STRIDE scholars I know are doing or did projects that weren't really of interest to them and not in the field that the later on studied. </p>
<p>There's no, "elite STRIDE corps" really, and I doubt there's a correlation between STRIDE and receiving post-grad fellowships like fulbright or truman. Like mini said, having that early experience can help in getting research fellowships for grad school, but plenty of non-STRIDE people have the chance at research opportunities at Smith, and since they get to pick their own projects, they might actually get a better experience. </p>
<p>Don't get me wrong, STRIDE is great. But it's not everything.</p>
<p>I got into Smith (with Stride), Wellesley, Amherst, Williams, and several other top tier public school (cal, umich, ucla).
Probably not interested in the big schools. Anyway, did another turn down Wellesley, Amherst, or Williams for Smith other than financial reason and why? The Stride program is very attractive but after reading this thread I get a bit nervous.
Which school is grade inflated among the 4? Which has more research opportunities? </p>
<p>Stride has been a wonderful opportunity for my daughter who is a first year student She started off her first year of college with a great mentor. Her lab experience has been a wonder to behold and she is attending an international conference in Barcelona this summer with her prof. all expenses paid </p>
<p>If you choose your mentor carefully, you will have an experience that is not easily attainable elsewhere.</p>
<p>I didn't turn down any of the schools you mentioned (didn't even apply there) but I did turn down schools that were more selective and higher ranked than Smith in order to do STRIDE. I know others who turned down Ivies and top LACs and absolutely thrived at Smith. It was the right decision for them--but your mileage may vary. In the grand scheme of college's cost, STRIDE alone probably isn't a big enough savings to choose one school over another; just find the place that's best for you.</p>
<p>Many STRIDE kids do end up with fellowships, prestigious jobs, excellent grad school acceptances, etc. but it's certainly possible to be successful at Smith without being a STRIDE. I loved my STRIDE project and professor--the work I did for her didn't tie directly into what I ended up studying, but it was very interesting and good preparation for doing my own research.</p>
<p>"Anyway, did another turn down Wellesley, Amherst, or Williams for Smith other than financial reason and why?"</p>
<p>Mine turned down Williams primarily because it had clearly inferior academics in the areas in which she was most interested (foreign languages and study abroad options, especially Italian, early music, opera, - her STRIDE was with the 5-college opera consortium), because of her reaction to firsthand experience of the alcoholic culture there, and because of the wonderful town of Northampton. </p>
<p>Her STRIDE project (as well as superior language opportunities) directly linked to her graduate fellowship. I know of NO paid ongoing research opportunities for first-year or second-year students in the humanities at ANY other colleges - not Harvard, not Yale, not Chicago, not Williams, not Amherst, none. (In fact, having once taught at Chicago, I knew of no paid research opportunities in the humanities for juniors or seniors.)</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your valuable input.
From the letter my parents received, it looks like I will id 4 professors/projects that I might be interested in and the program will try to match the projects to the Stride scholars. Anyway, the process of picking is around mid summer, thus, leaving us no opportunity to actually interact with the professors & learn more about the project other than the abstracts that they give us.</p>
<p>According to Smithie, this concerns me.<br>
"But many of the STRIDE scholars I know are doing or did projects that weren't really of interest to them and not in the field that the later on studied."</p>
<p>I believe I'm more of a Smith girl than a Wellesley girl (from previous experience with high school students accepted before me). I do not know anyone first hand from Amherst or Williams so I'm not too sure how different the environment will be. My major will be biology, btw.</p>
<p>I was just trying to make the point that STRIDE can help, but doesn't garauntee a major academic, employment, or grad school boost. With biology you shouldn't have to worry, there are lots of bio projects that will probably spark your interest. </p>
<p>My friend who I was referring to, did her first STRIDE project transcribing vietnam war veteran's stories for a history prof who's writing a book. But she's really interested in early latin american history, and that became her eventual major. So in that instance STRIDE didn't really seem to do much for her except provide her with a steady salary. </p>
<p>I think with the sciences however, the direct correlations are easier to make. Don't stress too much about finding "the perfect STRIDE".</p>
<p>"Anyway, the process of picking is around mid summer, thus, leaving us no opportunity to actually interact with the professors & learn more about the project other than the abstracts that they give us."</p>
<p>In theory that's true. In practice...On the Accepted Students days, my d. made it a point to meet with professors in what she thought her major interests were. She discovered one who required a STRIDE professor whose project she wanted to work with. It was wired in by the time she returned home.</p>
<p>Now that's not a common occurrence, but on the other hand, the College makes it a point to have professors on campus and accessible during the Accepted Student Days (something we didn't find elsewhere). Since, in biology, there tend to be lots of STRIDES, you probably can do a lot of homework just by showing up in their offices.</p>
<p>I am the parent of a student who has been offered a STRIDE scholarship and I am trying to evaluate this opportunity relative to other school choices where such a program is not in place. I am not sure what comparisons to make.</p>
<p>Is the work with a professor as a STRIDE scholar different in scope than the work that would be assigned to a non-STRIDE scholar? I guess that funding for independent work and conference attendance would not be as readily available to non-STRIDE scholars.</p>
<p>It is apparent that for some students the STRIDE experience has been the distinguishing feature of the undergrad education. For some it seems to have been a determining influence on the immediate future. Does the other side exist (and how prevalent is it) - where the STRIDE is merely a pretty cool work study grant?</p>
<p>Is it common for students at other schools, who are early in their college careers, to work with professors in research, whether for pay or not? How common is it for upperclassmen?</p>
<p>Like I said, for my friend who had a STRIDE, the project was really just a means to have a steady salary come in, rather than a defining experience. The nice thing about STRIDEs unlike regular work study or other on-campus jobs, is that you get paid each week regardless of how many hours you work, whereas with work study, your pay rate is based on how much you do. This was great for my friend who didn't always have STRIDE work each week, but got paid anyway. </p>
<p>This is not to say that STRIDEs cannot be a really defining moment, it just depends on what the project is and how much work there is to do. The nature of the work, I'm assuming varies by project as well. I'm not sure STRIDEs get better assignments than any other research assistant, but the other research assistants (if there are any) might not be as well paid or paid at all. </p>
<p>As for your last question, it depends on the school and the discipline, but the short answer is no, it's not common. At large research universities like Harvard or UMASS, undergrads don't engage in this kind of close research relationship, if they have any research opportunities at all, which they usually don't. At some smaller univerisities it might be more common, but Smith really goes the extra mile in terms of offering research experiences, particularly in sciences, but there are other opportunities too (working for the Kahn institute, a humanities research insitute on campus, for example).</p>
<p>I wouldn't exactly call the Kahn Institute a "humanities" research institute -- one of the research projects has a physics professor as an organizing fellow! I'd consider it to be more of a "liberal arts" or "multidisciplinary" program, but I'm sure mini can chime in more as his D is participating this year!</p>
<p>Hi everyone, how many of the students actually become coauthors in published research paper by the end of their second year? I'm asking because it's a concrete evidence how much actual work a person put in to outsiders like potential grad schools.</p>
<p>D didn't get to choose her STRIDE professor as she is international and couldn't go to admitted weekend. On the other hand, her program was chosen to fit her specific qualities and to fit the needs of the professor. As a result, she has worked very closely with him on translation, editing and research (not science). She will very probably get credit in the resulting book, but more than that she has had the opportunity of understanding more of the demands and techniques of academia than I could have imagined. Some students may look upon STRIDE as a steady student job rather than the above, but I believe this is more related to the student's own motivation and involvement than the professor's attitude. D's advisor was very good at understanding the need to adapt to college for the first month or so, letting her set her own pace at first. As for most things, including college itself, STRIDE is neither a garantee for the future or an end in itself, but rather a key which can be used to open doors or else be left in one's pocket.</p>
<p>Thanks mini for the link and everyone else for your input. I'll do my homework before coming to the Open Campus and talk to some professors while I'm there.</p>
<p>I'm going to be a freshman at Amherst this fall. Is there any way I could work with Smith's Kahn Liberal Arts Institute on any of its projects? Or are all of Kahn's research projects open to Smith students only? I'm really interested in the Undergrounds/Underworlds project.</p>
<p>starshooter, from what I can tell the Institute is limited to Smith community members, but I'm not sure if there are exceptions to this. The programs do change from year to year (there's a future projects list on the web site) and you have to be a junior or senior to participate.</p>
<p>I think that the Kahn fellowships might be open to Smithies only, since you must be invited to apply by the director of the program, and each fellowship carries a stipend with it, and there are probably issues with paying students from other schools. </p>
<p>If it is possible though, it isn't for this year's projects, as they give out the fellowships in the spring for the following year's project.</p>