<p>Any insights? My daughter just received an application. I don't believe SHE'S heard of Smith College, but I'M pretty excited. She does like the idea of going somewhere with "seasons" (we're in California), and I think this is a great opportunity to see how the east coast does college. The brochure say's it's very Competitive; does anybody know the acceptance rate? She's got her share of essays to write and she needs to prioritize.</p>
<p>I don't know how competitive it is, but I do know that I did it and I enjoyed it generally. I was already pretty set on going to Smith, but I figured, free trip, right? I remember my host was a bit of a let down, but that wasn't the school's fault really. </p>
<p>The nice thing about WOD (at least this is my theory) is that if you get accepted to that, you'll basically get accepted to Smith, since the application is a mini-Smith application and their looking for the same kinds of people (I don't advocate that this theory works in reverse, not getting into WOD doesn't neccessarily mean no Smith). So if your daughter's thinking about coming to Smith (or you want her to), it might be worth it. It's free, it's fun, it's interesting. </p>
<p>Of course, if she'd rather wait, Smith offers a similar program for accepted students in the spring (two actually, one for everyone and one for students of color). </p>
<p>Might as well try is my opinion, it worked out well for me.</p>
<p>Congratulations and thank's for the prompt reply! With regard to competitiveness, do you know how many and who gets the application, how many apply, and how many get accepted?</p>
<p>My D also went to the program 3 years ago. I don't have any statistics on acceptance or anything like that. We live on the east coast and it was one of several trips my D made to the school to confirm that it was the right school for her. She eventually decided that Smith was her number 1 school and applied ED and got in.</p>
<p>SR, if you want a California (albeit SoCal) perspective on any "cross-country" issues or West/East culture shock, feel free to PM me or ask here.</p>
<p>I believe that last Oct about 30 students participated in WOD, but I'm not sure about the size of the applicant pool.</p>
<p>'nother West Coaster here, though more recently issues have been transcontinental rather than cross-country. ;)</p>
<p>TheDad, I didn't see your post until today. I may take you up on your offer, but having grown up in New York, I have a few ideas. One idea is that NYC is not New England.We are currently in N. Cal, BTW.</p>
<p>Woot! Woot! DD was selected for the Women of Distinction Program!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your D.</p>
<p>Congrats! I'm from N.CA as well and while I didn't attend the Women of Distinction Program, I did attend Discovery Weekend. If you'd like, feel free to PM me for my email address if you have any questions :)</p>
<p>My friend's WOD application got turned down. The letter says not to interpret this as no chance for her real application to Smith, but you have to wonder if it's true. If they don't even accept her for this program, what chance does she have?</p>
<p>I'll pass on the congrats ( DD does not do CC).
Chrism; I'm sure there are way more than 30 girls in the freshman class. (I'm referring to post #6 which describes 30 WOD participants).</p>
<p>It is now dawning on us she'll be on a redeye going; and leaving after 12 noon Sunday to arrive in Cal tired I'm sure. Fellow west coasters, any reccomendations about best timing or places to change planes?</p>
<p>One more thing....
DD was also invited to and attended a diversity program at Scripps. She loved it ( as she seems to love everything right after a visit, apparently especially an overnight.) Anyway for those of you who know Scripps, how would you compare them? Of course one is quite a bit smaller, and closer. The "consortium" at Scripps shares bounderies rather than busses. From the catalog, Smith seems to offer more classes/majors and activities. I am particularly curious about Biology majors.</p>
<p>Yeah, about the no WOD, no Smith thing, that isn't true. The WOD thing is very selective, and if you do get into WOD, that's a very good sign that you're going to get accepted to Smith (Shrinkrap, your D may notice the WOD people constantly going "when you get to Smith", never if). </p>
<p>BUT just because you're not accepted, doesn't mean you won't get into Smith. Like Shrinkrap said, they only take 30 people for WOD, whereas the entering class is usally 600-700+. What could she possibly lose by applying again (it's common app, it's free)? </p>
<p>Shrinkrap- yeah, WOD is an exercise in sleep deprivation. But the good news is that your D won't have that much time to adjust for time zone, so likely she'll be okay (I don't remember it being that bad, but I did sleep the entire flight home to Seattle). </p>
<p>Best airports to travel through from the West Coast (I'm a junior, trust me, I do this four times a year), in order: 1) Detroit (awesome, awesome airport, who knew?), 2) Dallas Fort Worth (most common, fairly easy to find outlets to plug in your laptop for a recharge), 3) Las Vegas (you will have the best seat-mates on the flight home. They will be drunk, they will be newly married, they will be hilarious). </p>
<p>Chicago O'Hare is the WORST, if you have to route through there, make sure you have a lot of layover time, or you're good with prayer, because you're going to run into problems. </p>
<p>In general, long layovers are not bad for cross-country flights as a college student. You'll fly always during the high traffic, bad weather times (if it's not blizzards, it's hurricanes or windstorms), so having a longer layover means that when you are inevitably delayed for weather or something, you don't have to stress about missing your flight and being stuck in some godforsaken podunk airport where there are no extra flights or hotel rooms. Just the voice of experience speaking.</p>
<p>SmithieandProud, Thanks! Just what I needed ( although I think the travel agency thay want us to use will have something to say about this!!). Assuming she gets east at the crack of dawn, does Smith find her a place to sleep until the program starts at 4?</p>
<p>Shrinkrap, I'm pretty sure you are correct about the travel agency, my DD left today for Amherst DIVOH. We just had to tell them what airport whe would be flying out of, then the rest is up to them, (as it should be!) Congrats to your daughter. Are they flying her into Bradley? My DD daughter has been there for 11 1/2 hours now and I got one, 1 minute phone call, and one 4 minute phone call, so I'm sure that means she's having a great time. It is the first time for her seeing the foliage this time of year in that part of the country!</p>
<p>Yeah, I don't remember WOD travel arrangements being in anyway up to me, but Smith is a professional place, I'm sure they'll handle things easily. </p>
<p>She'll fly into Bradley, and then they'll have a van pick them up. I think they try to arrange it so that everyone arrives around the time that the program starts, cause they get you going right away and you don't meet your host until later that day. </p>
<p>But in case she does end up at smith, you can file that stuff away for future referece.</p>
<p>The biggest difference that I've heard cited between Scripps/Smith is that the women's college aspect of Scripps is 'watered down' by the rest of the consortium. I hesitate to use that phraseology, because I don't mean that Scripps doesn't feel like a women's college, but in a way, such a statement is true. To an extent, Scripps can feel as much or as little like a women's college as students want, while the same is not necessarily true of Smith (and most other women's colleges in general). </p>
<p>I don't know if the above will make a lot of sense to those who aren't familiar with the atmosphere of one campus or the other. I have zero firsthand knowledge about Smith (I wanted to stay in CA), so everything I say should be taken with a greater-than-average chunk of salt. But my info comes from a Scripps student who spent a semester studying at Scripps. And in general, those I know who looked at both schools said that they felt similarly (and this comes from students who liked both environments and ended up at a variety of schools, not just those who ultimately chose Scripps).</p>
<p>Most Scripps students that I know did at least look at Smith (and I know of people who've transferred both directions), so as different as they might be, there's still plenty of overlap within the pool of prospective students :)</p>
<p>Someone on CC had a daughter look seriously at both schools and would probably be very helpful...I want to say that it was either mini or curmudgeon.</p>
<p>We thought Scripps was WONDERFUL, and as far as I am concerned, they have the best core curriculum in the country, bar none (and I am including Columbia and Chicago). The "problem" at Scripps is that if you have strong academic interests that are outside the mainstream, faculty, advising, and, even with the Consortium, courses are somewhat limited. One of the disadvantages of a consortium without a graduate school (as opposed to an Honors program inside a larger university) is that many of the classes taught at each of the schools are duplicative, so that the range of offerings (even when you can access them) is not necessarily as enhanced as it might be otherwise. (If you are interested in what I'm saying, check out, for example, the Italian Dept. at Scripps v. that at Smith - or for that matter, virtually any of the area studies. You'd be hard pressed ANY department at Scripps that has the depth or breadth that you'd find at Smith - but what you will find there is wonderful.)</p>
<p>The other major difference is that the student body at Scripps is much wealthier (only 41% receive need-based aid) and substantially less diverse.</p>