Academics
Smith College is “an incredibly prestigious, diverse, academically rigorous, socially liberal, and well-respected institution,” located in the consummate college town of Northampton, Massachusetts. A Smith education is all about “finding and pursuing your passions.” Offering “academic freedom,” “Smith doesn’t have course requirements” beyond the major, other than a writing-intensive course for first-years, and “self-scheduled finals” allow students to take exam week at their own pace. “One of the most prominent women’s colleges in the country,” Smith “builds the self-confidence of smart women,” and “most classes, even in math and sciences, are very interdisciplinary and often have a feminist bias.” Classes are “engaging and promote critical thought,” and professors are “inspiring, dynamic, accessible, and brilliant.” Smith professors “care deeply about students” and “take the time to get to know you on a first-name basis.” Smith also offers fabulous academic facilities and “countless resources” to augment your education, including a “wonderful study abroad department” and ample opportunities for research. There’s “a large number of undergrads doing serious scientific research” in addition to course work. If they can’t find what they need amid Smith’s ample course selection, students “can take classes at the other four schools nearby (UMass Amherst, Amherst College, Hampshire College, and Mount Holyoke College)” through the Five College Consortium. When graduation approaches, Smith students benefit from the school’s “excellent alumnae network.” “The Career Development Office will do everything in its power to help you get a job.”
Student Body
“Smithies are passionate about everything they do,” especially academics. Throughout the semester, undergraduates are known to “study hard” and get “ridiculously stressed” about course work. “It’s the nature of Smithies to be driven, but we all want to see our friends and housemates succeed as well.” Smith’s unique environment attracts “a great mix of nerdy, edgy, [and] traditional” students, including “hipsters, WASPs, crazy partiers, international students, and the average New Englander.” Fortunately, there’s a “strong sense of community,” and “students fit in easily, even if they have different interests.” Despite diversity, “one thing all students have in common here is the will for women’s empowerment and acceptance of any gender or sexual preference.” On that note, many students “love the queer life on campus,” where some students are either gay or have “a fluid perception of sexuality.” Though there’s some political diversity on campus, most Smithies hold “very liberal views,” and many are “very conscious and aware, not only of their community but the world in general.”
Campus Life
Smith attracts hardworking and idealistic students, who are “striving to succeed in our classes, as well as make a difference in the Smith College community and the outside community.” There’s a decided “focus on academics” at Smith, and most students “study, write papers, rehearse, or practice the majority of the time.” Students augment course work with “lectures and symposium on campus,” as well as “involvement in community service and activism for global issues, women’s rights, LGBTQ rights, the environment, and pretty much anything that fights oppression.” When they want to relax, Smithies can attend “free movies and concerts, plays, speakers, sports events, and dances,” as well as “school-sponsored house parties almost every weekend.” When they want to branch out or rub elbows with the opposite sex, students “go to other college parties at surrounding campuses,” or head out in Northampton, which is “always bustling” with “concerts, restaurants, and cute shops.” The “quality of life is outstanding” on campus, where “the dorms are not dorms but beautiful houses,” and cafeteria food is a cut above the average.
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