<p>Hi! I'm a prospective neuroscience major and possible premed student and I've been interested in Smith. What especially intrigues me is the STRIDE program, where a student can work with a faculty member. Research/internships are very important to me, and having experience right off the top is very ideal.</p>
<p>I was wondering if there are any STRIDE scholars here and what your stats were? My GPA isn't Ivy League quality but I believe my SAT Subject scores and my heavy science-focused courseload could help me. I also plan to write my essay about my experiences in my zoology class.</p>
<p>Boxofcereal-- My Daughter is a STRIDE student going into her sophomore year. STRIDE is the BEST! D is a biology major working in a full profs lab for the work study piece of STRIDE. She receives the 15K merit piece off tuition. This has permitted her family to afford an expensive private education. D had/has the academic tickets to go pretty much anywhere but specifically chose Smith over Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, Mount Holyoke, and the University of Florida. She is thrilled with the Smith profs. Science at Smith is strong-- you would be pleased as a pre med student. </p>
<p>Northampton/Western Mass seemed like a fine locale to spend 4 years of a student’s life. It has worked out just fine so far. Cool town for sure!!</p>
<p>My daughter is also a rising sophomore in the STRIDE program. It’s a great program. It’s also flexible; if your first-year experience wasn’t what you were looking for or if your interests change, it’s easy to switch projects at the end of the year. It’s nice getting paid for your research the first two years. The program was a big reason she chose Smith over Bryn Mawr, Wellesley, and others, but there were a number of other reasons as well.</p>
<p>That said, there are plenty of opportunities for research outside the STRIDE program, though I think it’s more difficult to do so your first year.</p>
<p>Smith has an end-of-the year research conference where students create and present posters about their research. The most popular subjects at the conference this past year appeared to be biology, biochemistry, neuroscience, and psychology. The conference isn’t limited to extra-curricular research; there are some research-oriented classes that present their results. For example, there’s a year-long biology research-oriented biology lab (you can take it instead of two normal half-year labs, typically first-year or sophomore year) where the students collect and do genomic analysis of previously unidentified bacteriophages. As part of this class the students produce a poster and present it at the conference.</p>
<p>Dad of a rising Junior who has been a STRIDE scholar. Aside from the rare merit bucks (pretty damn good) you have identified the amazing part -research with a prof from day 1. I invite you to contact the STRIDE admin and see if you can get a view of some of the projects… I stood and listened while a young women explained something wayyyy over my head, but noted she was presenting along with grad students from top notch schools at national conferences… pretty cool. My D got a great adviser, became very interested in a wholly new area of concentration, and now is on ANOTHER scholarship to go to Paris for Junior Year abroad… Boxo’cereal, you have hit upon a very unique and valuable part of Smith… Pursue it, even if you go to a different school!</p>
<p>The STRIDE $$ aside, there’s a pretty nice chain of causality from her STRIDE work to, coupled with her DC experience junior year, both her first job at a think tank after college and then getting into what’s a Top 5 program in her field for a PhD.</p>
<p>I loved being a STRIDE for the reasons above, it was a great experience for two years. That being said, I think your question was about stats? (If you want to know more about my experiences, feel free to PM). Plus, my roommate was a Zollman. Her stats were comparable
It’s been a while, so if I don’t remember I’m sorry
4.0 UW GPA
Class rank 2/440ish
34 ACT
ECs: President of Theatre, Stage Crew, Debate, copyeditor of newspaper, editor of yearbook, captain of quiz team and debate team
APs: Psych, APUSH, Gov, World, Calc AB, Stats, English Lang plus a college class thorugh University of Pittsburgh. 5s on all AP exams</p>
<p>Normally, STRIDEs are people Smith thinks they might lose to places like Williams, Amherst, etc.</p>
<p>And from another perspective, I was not STRIDE but still heavily involved in research while at Smith. I got in contact with a professor in my department during the fall of my first year which lead to a position in her lab starting the summer after my first year. This was a great experience and eventually lead me to the lab that I worked in for my last two+ years at Smith and was where I wrote my thesis. I also completed an internship in industry (R&D wing of a large company), which was a direct result of research I had completed at Smith.</p>
<p>Moral of the story:
STRIDE is a great opportunity, but even if you do not get it, there are many fantastic research opportunities available to you.</p>
<p>My d. was a STRIDE, and they specifically created a position to match her interests. She chose Smith over Williams, etc., etc. She parlayed that long-term to a dual Ph.D, fellowship in musicology/Italian studies at Princeton, and is currently a fellow of a foundation where she lives in a pink palace in Venice. <a href=“http://www.cini.it/en/visite-guidate[/url]”>http://www.cini.it/en/visite-guidate</a></p>
<p>DD also received her t-shirt in the mail yesterday. I really hope all this attention (parent letter too) translates to a nice scholarship as otherwise it’s quite a tease! And it’s already a big, happy stressful weekend for DD. So if it’s not going to be good news, I hope it waits until after the weekend!</p>
<p>Same here, I got a t-shirt earlier this week and my mom got a letter like a week and a half ago. I am really hoping that this is a good sign for STRIDE (it is such a great program)…</p>
<p>My D just received a STRIDE scholarship offer today! Letter postmarked 3/13 & we are on east coast. Smith is definitely looking affordable now! :)</p>