<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>Through some, er, unusual circumstances I found out yesterday that I was admitted to Smith at a transfer student for the fall. Smith has ALWAYS been my dream school. I've been reading and re-reading threads in this forum, reading descriptions in every college guidebook I've gotten my hands on, and exhausted pretty much every student review website since I was waitlisted as a senior in high school, so trust me when I say I've some pretty thorough research already! The problem is, when I thought that I was not going to be able to attend Smith (again, really strange circumstances that, quite honestly, made me really bitter about Smith for a while) I got quite comfortable with the idea of attending Agnes Scott College in Decatur, GA. Obviously I know no one can tell me where to go, but I would like some input about how transfers tend to fit in socially and academically at Smith. </p>
<p>Mostly, I'm worried about the social aspect. I know all colleges are fairly cliquey, but I really would prefer if people did not ONLY stick to their cliques, or at least had some involvement with people outside of one normal social circle. And then a good chunk of my fear comes from an academic perspective - at my current school I have a 3.75 GPA and it's been fairly easy for me to maintain all As this semester despite huge family problems. I'm really, really worried that if I get to smith I will not be able to keep up. Again, obviously I don't expect anyone to tell me how I will do, but it would be nice to get some opinions on how people have adjusted to the workload. </p>
<p>Any and all input would be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I was not a transfer student, but one of my best best Smith friends did transfer to Smith after spending one year at a SUNY. I felt like she did not have any problems integrating into the social landscape at Smith. She did everything the rest of us did and she was active in the theater department. She studied abroad. She was the only one of my friends actually to do an honor’s thesis, so I would say she did not have problems keeping up. </p>
<p>You have to remember that there is a lot of upheaval particularly between first year and sophomore year. People move out of houses that didn’t suit them and into new houses where they don’t have established relationships yet, people transfer (so you won’t be the only transfer student), and friendships made in first-year don’t always last until sophomore fall. So don’t feel like everyone else will be in established networks and you’ll be out in the cold, that certainly isn’t the case. </p>
<p>My best piece of advice (this is what worked for me as a first year), put yourself out there and introduce yourself to everyone you see in your house on the first day. From your next door neighbor to the housekeeper. If someone has a door open, pop in and say “Hi, I’m Suzie Window, I just moved in down the hall.” Make sure to attend your first house meeting, and try to join a few clubs/organizations/plays/musical groups right off. Run for a position on House Council, it’s the best way to get to know people in your house and be involved in planning and other activities. </p>
<p>And don’t worry too much about the academics. If Smith thought you couldn’t handle it, they wouldn’t have accepted you, so try to jus trust in their judgement. Also, listen to yourself and don’t be afraid to admit if something is too difficult or if you need help. There are always ways to help you with tough classes, either through extra tutoring, taking the class pass/fail, or just recognizing it’s not the class for you and dropping it. There are tons of resources at Smith if you are honest enough to ask for them.</p>
<p>Radiosonde, How did you find out that you were accepted? Did you apply by the February 1st deadline?</p>
<p>SmithieandProud - thank you SO much for you input! I definitely plan to get involved and put myself out there, I just wanted to be sure that such efforts would be appreciated at Smith (as I am kind of getting the feeling they would not be as welcomed at ASC).</p>
<p>Hula11 - I found out because of a terrible mix up in financial aid and admissions that Smith apologized profusely for. So no, I did not apply by the Feb 1st (I thought it was the 15th?) deadline. I don’t feel quite comfortable sharing the details, as even though I am accepted now I don’t want to put TOO much out there about what happened. As I mentioned, though, Smith was lovely about apologizing for the mix up and offered very kindly to send me my acceptance letter early.</p>
<p>I will second what S&P said. I know a whole bunch of transfers at Smith and they all seem to love it. At Smith, transfers get to come for all the orientation stuff and get to know people a week early, which can help with making new friends.</p>
<p>Also, people at Smith are generally very friendly and as long as you make the effort, you will not be shot down</p>
<p>Radiosonde, congratulations on your acceptance as a transfer student! If you do as S&P says, be friendly and become engaged in house and EC activities, you’ll truly be fine. Two of my daughter’s good friends are transfers and they have been integrated right into the social life of the house and they’re busy with musicals, clubs, etc. One of them who transferred in as the equivalent of second semester, sophomore, was going to study abroad at a one-semester non-Smith program and discovered she couldn’t after all because she would have been shy of the required number of Smith credits for her to graduate in the time frame she wanted; she just stayed at Smith and added an Archives minor instead, something she’d already been considering. I only mention this situation in case you’re thinking of studying abroad–you need to think carefully about satisfying your Smith credits. Otherwise, the transfer students are fully integrated into the social life of the school and do everything that the full four-year students do!</p>
<p>Academically, if Smith thinks you have the abilities to do well, you can.</p>
<p>This is third hand information but I’ve heard the academics at Agnes Scott is not nearly as high quality as Smith. My daughter knows two students from her high school (both part of an accelerated public school program) who are currently juniors - one is a Stride scholar at Smith and one went to Agnes Scott on a full scholarship. Through the parent of the Smith student who I’ve been talking with as my daughter made her decision (Smith 2015!) I heard that the student at Agnes Scott was disappointed in the academics and tried to transfer, but didn’t get into the school of her choice. On the plus side, though, she’s been very involved in drama and music and had a chance to perform some amazing roles that wouldn’t be likely at a larger or more competitive school.</p>
<p>Thank you all so much for your input! The decision I have to make has only gotten harder since I’ve last posted - I just found out I was also accepted at Bryn Mawr. I’m 99.9% certain Smith will still be my choice, and all these informative answers have really helped me. </p>
<p>proudmadre - Congrats to your daughter, and thank you for providing info about ASC! I haven’t had an opportunity to visit Georgia (I’m from PA) and I’ve basically been going off other students’ reviews (some favorable, some very honest and open about how hard it can be for transfer students there) and some admissions counselors. I kind of assumed ASC’s academics were not as good as Smith, but I was afraid that my idealization of Smith (and of northeast schools in general) was clouding my judgment. However, since ASC is still partially in the running, every anecdote helps!</p>
<p>Random question - can anyone tell me about the newspaper at Smith? Is it easy or hard to get involved? Is it very active? At the school I’m currently attending now I was apart of the journalism program and I tried really hard to get involved with the paper but it was incredibly cliquey (I ended up doing multimedia work instead though it was only marginally better as it was a total “boys club”, if you know what I mean), and though I no longer want to pursue journalism as a career it’d be nice to write for a school paper as a hobby and as a way to meet other people.</p>
<p>Radiosonde, would it be helpful for us to comment, if possible, on whatever department your potential major might be in? Regarding the newspaper, my understanding is that there is a whole cadre of students who write for the paper and they are welcome to participate as much or as little as they want, so I don’t think there’s a problem with being excluded. It publishes with fair regularity, but it’s not always weekly. Current students, is this an accurate picture?</p>
<p>I will definitely pursue the Study of Women and Gender major, and will either double major with Psychology or minor in Neuroscience. When applying, I was sure I would double major in SWAG and Neuro, but we’ll see how things go when (and if) I actually start officially choosing my courses. Right now I’ve planned out a tentative first semester Sophomore course load based on the assumption I will double major in Psych and SWAG, so those are definitely the two departments I’m most interested in.</p>
<p>The newspaper is VERY easy to get involved with. They are always looking for staff and are super open t o new members.</p>
<p>Well, psych is the number one major at Smith right now; it’s always been popular but I understand that it has edged out government this year. Of my daughter’s friends, one is a SWAG major, another a psych major and still another a bio/neuro double major (pre-vet). They love their majors! The SWAG major has had fabulous internships both last summer (Atlanta) and this summer (Boston). So you’d be in good company and have lots of departmental resources available to you. Sorry I can’t give more detail than that, but perhaps someone else can. I know that MomWaitingForNew’s daughter was a neuroscience major and she’s at an amazing PhD program at UPitt now, so perhaps she can chime in.</p>
<p>I have some questions about internships, SWAG in particular–can students do them between freshman and sophomore year? Can they do them over multiple summers? Does Smith help students find and secure these internships and housing, if not near their homes?</p>
<p>With regard to the Praxis grant, I assume one can be used for one of the internships. Do they make it easy to actually secire the grant or is it a cumbersome process to get an approve internship for it?</p>
<p>The neuroscience program is excellent. I understand that the minor is much easier than the major, simply because it doesn’t require all the hard sciences (organic and regulal chemistry, intro and cell bio), making it much easier for a psychology major or other non-hard science major to add it. I believe that you can do an minor without any math, chemistry, or biology by basing all the required courses in the psych department, although that may have changed. </p>
<p>The year my daughter graduated, I believe the top majors were English, psychology, and government, not necessarily in that order.</p>
<p>Praxis is really easy to get approved as long as the internship meets the requirements. I have yet to hear to anyone whose was denied.</p>
<p>You can do internships between first year and sophomore year, but you cannot use your Praxis money for that. Praxis can only be used the summer after your sophomore or junior year. It’s very easy to get Praxis, you have to fill out an application which is a teensy bit annoying (“explain your goals for this internship” kind of stuff) but it’s not hard, it’s just a little paperwork. Everyone is given the grant as long as the internship is legitimate, is unpaid (if you get a paid internship, you can still get Praxis, but you receive a modified amount depending on how much you are paid) and meets the number of hours required. </p>
<p>Smith has a lot of resources to help students with finding internships, but it’s really up to the student to be responsible for getting their own internship and also to find housing. The CDO for example has binders with the contact info of alums in all different fields, arranged by field, so you can flip through, find ones you’re interested in and get in touch with them to see if their are internship opportunities available. The CDO will also offer workshops to polish your interviewing skills, and provides one on one review time and edits to your resume and cover letter (EXTREMELY HELPFUL). They may also be able to put you in touch with the Smith club where you will be doing your internship, sometimes Smithies rent rooms. But it’s up to the student to take advantage of the resources, and also to find their own housing (using craigslist is key).</p>
<p>@radiosonde – it’s very easy to get involved with the newspaper, but just keep in mind that it’s not going to be as formal or frankly as high quality as a newspaper program at a school with a major journalism program. The Sophian (that’s what the paper is called) is much more relaxed, it’s a weekly paper and usually the way it works is that editors email a list of topics around once a week and writers on the email list volunteer to write and email in their pieces when they are done. Sometimes it’s hard to get people to volunteer, so people that make a habit of writing every week are appreciated and often get noticed when it comes time to pick editors or assistant editors for the next year. They also need people who can or are willing to do layout or sometimes photography. The editors meet once a week in the newspaper office to discuss what will be in the upcoming issue and also to write the April Fool’s comedy issue (traditionally the final issue of the year). </p>
<p>So basically, you can be involved as much or as little as you want, depending on what your schedule and personal interest allows.</p>