<p>thanks S&P…there were lots of happy tears at my house today!!!</p>
<p>Apologies for the lack of spelling folks! that’s what happens when you try to type responses on an iPhone. But seriously Rocket, congrats. I’m glad it all worked out.</p>
<p>You make a good point Crew Dad:) People are not to happy with the President of MIT either.</p>
<p>Rocketlouise - that’s great!!</p>
<p>And Smith can give good financial aid packets to regular admits to all the rest of you!</p>
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<p>Mini, you’re playing loose with the facts
You have no knowledge what transpired behind the scenes. Insulting Ruth and the very hard working and dedicated employees in the development office is uncalled-for.</p>
<p>Ruth and the development staff were engaged on numerous fronts raising funds for the engineering building.
Shortly after beginning the engineering building project, Ruth left for Brown before she had the opportunity to complete her goals.</p>
<p>It’s curious you believe Ruth was an incompetent fundraiser, considering she raised a record $1.4 billion at Brown - the largest in Brown’s history.</p>
<p>Ruth was also responsible for largest gift by an individual in Brown’s history-- $120 million. If Ruth were still president, Smith quite possibly would have a significantly larger endowment due to her fundraising prowess.</p>
<p>As an aside, under Ruth’s tutelage, the share of African-American and Hispanic-American students almost doubled from 7.1 percent in 1994 to 13.9 percent in 2000.</p>
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<p>You’re misinformed. Smith’s endowment wasn’t managed or controlled by Harvard.</p>
<p>Although, a number of years ago, Smith did make investments in a management firm that was run by a former Harvard investment manager who was also managing money for Harvard.</p>
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<p>In published interviews, Audrey Smith, the college’s dean of enrollment, has said Smith began placing less emphasis on SAT scores in 2000. I have no reason the doubt Audrey’s veracity. Ruth Simmons was president in 2000, not Carol. If you want to attribute the optional SAT/ACT mandate to Carol, that’s another story and discussion.</p>
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<p>The largest increase of Pell Grant recipients was during Ruth Simmons’s tenure. Pell Grant recipients rose from 484 in 1992 to a peak of 716 in 2002. Last year there were 645 Pell Grant recipients.</p>
<p>NB, the number of Pell recipients has been slipping slowly but steadily since 2002. No doubt Carol has an explanation. :o</p>
<p>MHC, although having a lower percentage of Pell Grant students, is doing a much better job attracting and enrolling low income students, if you factor in the fact MHC has an endowment less than half of Smith’s</p>
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<p>To facilitate the construction of Ford Hall and mitigate lawsuits, you conveniently left out Smith had no alternative but follow the recommendation of the Smith-Northampton Affordability Partnership and assist displaced tenants.</p>
<p>Mini, I don’t have an issue with Carol, but please don’t skew facts to suit your agenda.</p>
<p>Rocket6louise, I am so absolutely thrilled for you! My first-year daughter has absolutely ADORED her STRIDE project, so much so that she’s considering steering her profession in that direction. She’s been working in the Sophia Smith archives, which has the largest collection of women’s studies archives in the world. She’s been considering that she’d be an English major for quite a while, but the idea of a concentration in archive work is a brand new outgrowth of her STRIDE work. I hope you have the same deep satisfaction with your STRIDE project that she has had so far. I am so excited for you!!!</p>
<p>“To facilitate the construction of Ford Hall and mitigate lawsuits, you conveniently left out Smith had no alternative but follow the recommendation of the Smith-Northampton Affordability Partnership and assist displaced tenants.”</p>
<p>You conveniently left out the fact that Ruth Simmons sited the engineering building with no consultation with, nor any funds set aside, for mitigation regarding the displaced tenants, and made no other efforts to assist low-income housing more generally speaking.</p>
<p>As to the impact of endowment decisions, all you need to do is look at the losses experienced by Williams and Amherst to see how much better Smith did as a result of Christ’s decisions.</p>
<p>And yes, while she was at Smith, Simmons was not an effective fundraiser.</p>
<p>TD, mini, can I suggest that we take this discussion either to a PM or to a separate thread? It’s interesting, and I think you both make valid points, but it’s off topic.</p>
<p>^^I agree with S&P. Prospective students and parents, there are some very devoted and knowledgeable parents who are extremely passionate about Smith; they deeply love the school and want it to continue to flourish. You can count on many Smithies to have opinions and you can count on their parents to have them as well and to back them up with facts and appropriate information. 
As a mother of a first-year, I don’t know the details of leadership of current President Carol Christ and her predecessor Ruth Simmons. I suppose one could tease apart the details of the process but I confess, at the risk of alienating the other parents, I’m not entirely sure what it would accomplish. Each president has had particular agendas, issues and circumstances to deal with and each has functioned as she saw fit, with the welfare of the school in mind. No president is perfect. What one contingent of the Smith community may see as an accomplishment, another may see as a disaster. </p>
<p>As prospective students, this discussion doesn’t affect you a whole lot. Smith is thriving, offering a stellar education to women with many wonderful opportunities. That’s what you need to focus on. Yes, the current economy is having an impact on how the school is run but pretty much the same issues are plaguing every other college these days. So please don’t see this lively discussion as a reason to be worried about Smith. It’s a testament to the college that these parents are so dog-gone passionate! :)</p>
<p>Now, let’s get back to the Class 2014 RD results!</p>
<p>I started this thread and now I’m feeling crappy. I have this feeling that I got in, but there’s absolutely no way I’m getting the financial aid I need to get in, especially when my dad screwed up our FAFSA (I told him that redoing it only makes it go up higher). 
Smith was my number one, but I need to get used to the idea of going to my state, public college.</p>
<p>Well I wouldn’t fall into the valley of despair just yet. You haven’t gotten your financial aid information and nothing is over until it’s over. But just so you know, if your dad did screw up the FAFSA, it is important that he submit accurate paperwork. Even if it makes your EFC go up, submitting inaccurate financial info is a big no-no.</p>
<p>I’m sorry Chimichonga. Are there alternates for scholarships? I suspect those who got scholarships have several options to choose from and will wait till about mid April to make a decision (I know that is the case with my daughter who is very confused with all the options). I suspect they’ll award those scholarships not taken to others. </p>
<p>What is your state college? We’re in NC and UNC is still a great option.</p>
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<p>Merit awards are not reallocated.</p>
<p>Chimichonga, listen to S&P. It’s not over.</p>
<p>I agree, Chimichonga. Don’t lose hope! </p>
<p>Anyway, since this is the official RD thread, how about the STRIDErs start posting some stats for posterity? I’ll go second.</p>
<p>alright phanatic, I’ll bite</p>
<p>STRIDE recipiant</p>
<p>STATS:
ACT: 34
GPA: 4.0uw, 4.2 w.
AP’s: Calc AB, Stats, World, Psych(5) USH(5), English Lang(5), Gov
Rank: 3/441</p>
<p>Major Awards/Activies:
NFL-3 time Nat Qual, 2nd place in State at PF junior year, 3rd place in state in Parli senior year
President of Theatre Club
Captain of Quiz Team
Captain of Math Team
Editor of Yearbook
Newspaper columnist and copyeditor</p>
<p>1000 volunteer hours
Worked part time</p>
<p>Obviously, anyone posting at this point is accepted, so we’ll see a lot of green for a while. And hopefully, that trend continues! </p>
<p>If you want this to look quite pretty, remember to remove all blank spaces between brackets. </p>
<p>There’s a way to post so people can just copy and paste, but I’m not getting it. </p>
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<p>Please re-post your results on the sticky official results thread. Because of the chatter, I’ve made this the UNofficial results thread. :)</p>
<p>Posting on a new thread, as per MWFN’s instructions.</p>
<p>I’m sorry but what is a STRIDE?</p>
<p>It’s a research opportunity with scholarship money attached that Smith gives to some of its accepted students.</p>
<p>Are Ada prospies supposed to put their decisions in the RD thread or in a different one? What about Transfers?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>