Smith College Top Questions

To a certain extent. There is certainly a vibe of girl-power on the campus, but it's not full of bitter "femi-nazis." There is also a large group of Smithies who prefer women, are proud of it, don't attempt to hide it, and even flaunt it. But they are still a minority. I think Smith is just a safer place to be proud of whoever you are, or to figure it out, than many other colleges and universities. In terms of the "my daddy's a banker and I wear pearls and cashmere sweaters" girls, Smith also has it's fair share. But people change in college, and not everyone is waiting for a Yale man to come propose.

Though Smith is definitely a community where everyone is celebrated, I would say that the belief that everyone at Smith is gay is inaccurate. Most of the women who come to Smith would consider themselves feminists, but there is definitely not any man-hating going on.

Well there are SOME people who fit the description, but certianly not everyone.

There is a larger percentage of lesbians here than in the general population--for one thing, that's what you get just by having more girls, and for another, the idea of an all-girls school is pretty appealing to any lesbians applying, as is the fact that the school is situated in a very liberal, largely gay-friendly state. But orgy? While the student body uses as many excuses as it can (convocation, for instance, and celebration) to wear as little as possible, there are no orgies (no school affiliated ones, anyway), and no one is pressured to be any sexuality besides the one they are most comfortable with. Very tolerant, very nice. And yes, we study like crazy.

Nope! There are plenty of straight smithies!

Of some students- sure, but everyone is different here, I never feel like there's a typical smithie

I think our school is extremely politically active (or at least in comparison to most other campuses). You can see this as Smith wins more Fulbright fellowships than any other school, and you can also see this in the amount of organizations and activities going on, on campus. I like this a lot about Smith. It shows how much students care about the world, want to make a difference, make it better, and if you will ?save the world.? I don?t think the first stereotype mentioned is true. Yes of course some people exist that fit some part of this stereotype, as would occur at all schools, but this is not the majority of the population of students by far. I think that Smith is extremely diverse in every sense of the word, especially economically, and that the students at Smith are extremely supportive and loving of each other. So what is so great about Smith is that you have the freedom and support to be whoever you want to be, or try whatever you want to do and accomplish. This supportiveness and openness at Smith might lead to some of the stereotypes that are placed on the school. This stereotype only comes out though because no one has to hide who they are at Smith, and no one is ever held back from achieving their dreams, unlike at other institutions. So yes at time things that are normally hidden come out at Smith. This also means at times crazy hopes and dreams and activities to reach these hopes and dreams actually take place at Smith, whereas at other schools students wouldn?t even entertain the thought of putting one of their hopes or dreams into action. The support that is given so that all Smithies can go out and try new things and put ideas into action I think at times comes out to look as if we?re hippie dippie like or something, but I think it is more of an overall complex of everyone wanting to ?save the world?.

no

For the most part, the stereotypes are hyperboles of real situations. Smith's history and reputation make it an attractive place for legacies and sometimes wealthy families fit into this category. Smith also has a way of redefining femininity that creates a wide array of gender expressions, however it's a much wider spread than many assume. As for hating men, I'm sure some Smithies do. However, once again, it's a vast exaggeration.

of course not. in some cases yes, but not accurate for the whole school obviously.