<p>just as a note, at smith we call it SWAG(it’s cuter like that).</p>
<p>I think SWAG can be a good basis for a number of careers. Some SWAG majors go onto law school, I know a SWAG major doing pre-med requirements. It’s all in what you like and what you want to study.</p>
<p>Also, if she likes cog sci, Smith has neuroscience and participates in the 5 College Cognitive Neuroscience certificate, so she’d have lots of class opportunities in that.</p>
<p>Yeah, we’re a Study of Women and Gender school vs. a Gender and Women’s Studies school (though the change is relatively recent. When I started at Smith it was still just Women’s Studies). One of my friends majored in SWAG and Psych and now she’s doing a research assistantship in a university lab, but she’s planning to go to grad school to get a Master’s in public health, and she wants to focus on women’s health issues (reproductive rights, maternal health, HIV prevention, etc.) </p>
<p>I know a bunch of SWAG majors that go on to the peace corps or looking for jobs in international development that will allow them to work with needy women in other countries, and many that look for jobs that allow them to help women here in the US. Especially if they speak a foreign language (or can learn one) there can be a lot of roles they fill in social work, health care, government, medicine and law with a degree studying women and gender.</p>
<p>Yes, my d is interested in psych and sociology and I think the intersection of all these disciplines can make for a really interesting life. She worries she won’t be prepared for a job when she leaves college (which is one reason she clings slightly to Northeastern with its co-op program). Peace Corps is her back-up plan.</p>
<p>We did notice that somewhere in Smith’s literature, that the number of women graduating with psych degrees was large but with SWAG small. To her, that reinforced the notion that it wasn’t practical. Of course, those numbers do not reflect what those students minored in.</p>
<p>upstatemom: I wouldn’t say that SWG is a small department or major by any stretch. I would, however, say that psych is huge on most undergrad campuses, including here, so that’s not surprising. Did you look up the numbers of majors for all departments to get a more general sense?</p>
<p>Are those numbers online? I’d be interested to see the distribution of students across all majors.</p>
<p>I have a hard copy of the course catalogue and it lists the majors for members of Classes of 2010 and 2011. But I have not seen it on line. The top majors are economics, government, and psychology. Art is close behind along with English.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity, where does neuroscience fall for the class of 2010? And is engineering holding steady or increasing?</p>
<p>I don’t have it right in front of me now as I’m at my local library but I could post it later on. ;)</p>
<p>According to the Common Data set, Languages and Area Studies are among the top majors, but they aggregate them together;</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.smith.edu/ir/documents/CDS2010_2011_Smith_001.pdf[/url]”>http://www.smith.edu/ir/documents/CDS2010_2011_Smith_001.pdf</a></p>
<p>Engineering is holding steady at around 15-20 students a year and neuroscience is similar</p>
<p>@MWFN, there were 34 neuroscience majors in the Class of 2010. 19 Engineering in 2010 and 16 in 2011. Biology, Sociology and History come after the ones I mentioned below(Psych, etc.). From the 2010 Catalogue. </p>
<p>BTW SWG was at 27 and 21 for 2010 and 2011, respectively.</p>
<p>Upstatemom, one of my daughter’s friends, a SWAG major, last summer interned in Atlanta at a well-known black women’s program (I’m sorry, the name escapes me right now, but I could find out if you want) and this summer she’s working/interning (I don’t know if she’s getting paid) “doing direct service” in a Cambridge, Mass. women’s shelter. If your daughter is worried about having enough world-of-work experience, she can use the summers interning and use her $2000 Praxis for one of them.</p>
<p>I think I’ll cut and paste some of the comments on this thread about SWAG and email them to my D. Thank you all for the helpful advice.</p>
<p>Can someone tell me more about the math forum?</p>
<p>The math forum is the 3rd floor of burton. It’s a little lounge and a good number of math professors’ offices look out onto it. There’s a few computers, some puzzles, math books, and tables and chairs. There’s normally people from all levels working through hw or studying, and normally a professor or two lurking about, helping quietly, or using the blackboard to show something cool. Also, Sunday-Thursday nights, there are math tutors available to help you with your hw in the math forum</p>
<p>R6L, can i pm you?</p>
<p>sure, go ahead!</p>
<p>How is the Engineering department , specifically environmental engineering , I am really looking towards that ? And also the on campus food and recreation ?</p>
<p>As far as I know, we don’t specifically have environmental engineering per se. We have engineering, and you may or may not be able to focus on the environmental aspect of it. However, there are environmental science classes that you can take in conjunction with engineering to give you both sides of the coin. </p>
<p>On-campus food is… well, on-campus food. Sometimes, it’s absolutely delicious. Sometimes, it is entirely unimpressive. But as far as food prepared for masses of hungry college students goes, it’s quite good and better than most other colleges I’ve visited. Smith is good about offering options for many people, including vegetarians/vegans, gluten intolerant students, and those practicing religious eating restrictions (such as Kosher and Halal food). The Smith Campus Center Cafe is, in my experience, consistently delicious and a nice place to treat yourself to dinner or lunch. Unfortunately, you only have a small amount of money given to you by the college to spend there as part of your dining plan; the rest you’ll have to supply yourself. </p>
<p>We have a really great gym and ample places for walking and outdoor activities, as well as a variety of sports teams at various levels and intensities. There are frequently parties on the weekends, and often times houses will get together to watch a favorite television show or movie. The campus also hosts viewings of films and occasional craft events, and clubs will regularly have some interesting event going on, ranging from nerdy games (my favorite!) to boating. In other words, you’ll never be bored when you’re not doing homework!</p>
<p>Although you cannot specifically major in environmental engineering, almost all engineering classes discuss environmental impacts of engineering. The department as a whole is very environmentally focused. If you have any specific questions, feel free to PM me.</p>