<p>I've been trying to decide what to write about in the 'why smith?' essay and I feel like I have too much to say in too little space! But more than that, what I wanted to ask is, are the reasons supposed to be academic reasons or can they be any? I had previously focused on the homely houses/traditions/people-know-each-other thing and how it appeals to my background but recently, someone ridiculed that and told me that we're to write about the academic departments, professors, etc because supposedly, they try to get a sense of your future goals through that essay. </p>
<p>I'm sure no one knows for sure but is the function of the 'Why X?' essay that or is it just to see if the applicant knows the college well enough? Also, do my reasons sound too 'cutesy?' 'Cause I know they won't like that. </p>
<p>I hope someone can give me a bit of advice!!</p>
<p>I think you should stick with your original essay; I don’t recall what I wrote about exactly, but it was more of what Smith was rather than Smith’s academics, if that makes any sense. If you wanted to write about academics, you could, but you know what? We all know that Smith is a strong school. There are also many other strong schools that could be interchangeable with Smith. If the houses, traditions, etc. are what set Smith apart from others for you, go ahead and write about them.</p>
<p>Smithiegr is right, use reasons that are honest for you. Trust me, the admissions people read plenty of essays where students write what they think they’re “supposed” to write and those tell you nothing about who the student is and are therefore about as helpful as beans. They really do want to know, “why are you choosing Smith?” they want to see that you’ve thought seriously about the school and you made a connection with something there that you think will really develop you as a person. If that’s the tight-knit community found in the houses and the students, the sense of tradition in which people take pride and try to add to with their own achievements and the connections the women make, then hey, that sounds like a great essay. </p>
<p>By the way, don’t say that the houses are “homely” that actually means plain or ugly, as in “That is young man is certainly homely.” :-)</p>
<p>My D wrote about the connections she made with students when visiting - I think both Smithies are right that you should write about what you feel. Few people will apply to a school like Smith if they aren’t interested in academics.</p>
<p>I wrote a bit about the academic and social offerings of Smith, but also about my connections and interactions with alumnae and current smithies.</p>
<p>My d. wrote about how she was concerned that a well-known composer in the music department had just retired, and she therefore had to make sure that Smith would still meet her needs, and how she then wrote to other music faculty and was pleased with their helpful responses.</p>
<p>Sorry, I’m a little confused—the supplement I found at Common App.org doesn’t have a why smith? essay, it just has a space for a paragraph on why you’re applying. Did I miss something here?</p>
<p>sarucane: Yup, that’s the one I was talking about. Are you applying to Smith ED or RD? [assuming that you’re applying!]</p>
<p>To everyone else, thank you sooo much! Smith’s my first choice and even though I’m not too optimistic about getting in, I’m praying for the best. Thank you! =)</p>
<p>Aww man is it that time already…? I feel old and I’ve only been here for 4 weeks, lol.</p>
<p>Well good luck to all of you! Smith is a fabulous school and I could not imagine to be in any other place. Don’t let senioritis get you for a little while. :)</p>
<p>The academics should be pretty important imho, anyway. I mean, this is Smith College, not Camp Smith you’re applying to here. But it doesn’t JUST have to be about academics, either. Like a small bit about how you want to attend a college with a strong history/traditions + a friendly atmosphere like you mentioned could be worked in successfully, for example.</p>
<p>When I applied, I didn’t mention academics at all in my essay. My impression is that they just want the truth, what made you want Smith, whether the academic opportunities were a major factor or not.</p>
<p>The best advice I can offer is to just be sincere. Don’t stress over saying the “right things”. Smith is an institution that prides itself on being rich with diversity and individuality. In my opinion, they don’t expect any certain response; they just want to get a feel for you and your interest in them.</p>
<p>Best of luck! Hope to see you here next year.=)</p>
<p>I seem to recall there was only space for 2-3 sentences in the online application? My D. wrote something lighthearted about her first encounter with a Smithie (she had purple hair and wrote with purple ink) and that after hearing about the great science and academics, she was hooked. Is there room for more?</p>
<p>I second upbeat. I remember that I had a difficult time talking about why I wanted to apply to Smith because I ended up only being able to write about 30 words.</p>
<p>The **best advice **I could give is to look at your other essays for Smith and see if you already mentioned why you wanted to go to Smith: the friendly environment, the great academics, the inspiring campus, and etc. Try to come up with something new, if you can.</p>
<p>Try telling a “short story” (yes I realize it’s something like 30-50 words but just keep that mind-set) because “I want to attend Smith College because…,” I believe, probably gets a bit boring by the 200th application. </p>
<p>But ALWAYS be sincere. They’re looking for specific reasons for “why smith” instead of just another top notch school. </p>
<p>My advice goes for the other supplemental essays that you have to do. </p>
<p>Personally, I wrote about reading Gone With The Wind in 6th grade and finding out that Margaret Mitchell attended Smith College as well as learning how many great women also attended Smith.</p>
<p>Hope this helps! <em>now off to get ready for my classes</em></p>
<p>The word-limit is a real killer! I have sooo much to say with absolutely no space to say it. I don’t understand how they expect us to explain in 100 words the reasons why we would pack our bags and move a thousand miles away from home.</p>
<p>composer: I had originally written an essay similar to that… it was 215 words long. lol. I will keep all the advice in mind though. Thank you!!</p>
<p>Thanks to everyone else too! Everyone’s advice helped incredibly! </p>
<p><em>really hope to see some of you someday!</em></p>
<p>That’s okay, Quasi, this CC forum is a veritable Smith love fest…and it helps me a little bit in dealing with my D (first year Smithie) being away from home
BTW, I’m from India too.</p>
<em>now off to get ready for my classes</em></p>