<p>I love Smith's proximity to Amherst, the academics sound great, and the housing is interesting as well. But I'm a little wary about the general feel of the student body - I'm fairly shy, so my question is, are a lot of Smith students very bold/outspoken, and would I feel uncomfortable there? I know it's a subjective question, but if anyone has any input it'd be greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I would definitely say that Smithies are very bold and outspoken. The students here aren't afraid to debate, question or challenge and they tend to be pretty opinionated. </p>
<p>There are also plenty of introverted Smithies. A lot of them started out as shy people, but found the supportive atmosphere here allowed them to really blossom and start to find a voice that maybe they hadn't used much in high school. This doesn't mean they're not introverts, they're still very reflective people, and they still tend to speak after careful consideration rather than in frequent outbursts, but Smith certainly made them less shy. </p>
<p>That being said, I think from the title of your post that what you really want to know is if Smith has some kind of scary "feminazi" hyper-militaristic atmosphere. Which I would say is not true. There are a lot of different kinds of opinions here, and while I think all Smithies are feminists, we represent feminism in all its many variations and types.</p>
<p>I would HOPE they're all feminists, heh. But then, I'm a flamer in that respect, so.... =P</p>
<p>"This doesn't mean they're not introverts, they're still very reflective people, and they still tend to speak after careful consideration rather than in frequent outbursts, but Smith certainly made them less shy."</p>
<p>Ahh thank you! That helps a lot. </p>
<p>(And I have nothing against feminism, I was just nervous about a really outspoken kind of environment that I may have unfairly associated with women's colleges.)</p>
<p>No worries, it's a common concern!</p>
<p>S&P's #2 should be kept in a "Best of Smith" file.</p>