Smith College Top Questions

Professors definitely make an effort to know everyone's name. They really care about your education and want you to understand the material. My favorite class is my yearlong introductory Portuguese course. The professor is amazing and very kind. She invited everyone to her office for one on one meetings, just to chat. She wanted to get to know each one of her students on a personal level. Generally, class participation is very common. Students definitely have intellectual conversations outside of class. Smithies are most certainly not apathetic, and are passionate about their beliefs. The most unique class I've taken is a first year seminar about the history of midwifery. I love it! We sit around a big round table and talk about pregnancy, and home birth, and watch videos with cute babies in them. Smith has no general academic requirements, which is amazing. The only requirement is that every first year student takes a writing intensive class. And writing "intensive" really isn't that intensive.

The academics are overrated. I have been to several other colleges, and you do not learn any more here nor are the tests/papers any harder (yet somehow at the end of the semester a lower grade seems to appear out of thin air). The libraries are poorly organized and most resources can not be found in the computer/card catalogue. Most all professors will expect you to "make use" of the resources on campus (Archives, etc) however the hours are so limited on most everything at Smith, (if you actually go to your classes) you will probably will not be able to use these resources. Most of the professors (especially the math department) are simply not meant to teach- they are terrible at it.

Every single professor I've had during my 4 years here, knows my name. The best professor I've had was Roisin O'Sullivan (Economics). But really there was only one that did not live up to my expectations during my entire time here. Students study every day. Class participation is not only common, but frequently part of your grade (no worries though for shy people, as professors are generally pretty understanding) Absolutely. You would be amazed what kind of ideas can develop over lunch. Students are competitive, but mostly with themselves. It's not about being bette than your friend, it's more about being better than you thought you could be (if you are not competitive with yourself yet, you'll probably become it, once you get here). The most unique class? That's a hard one because there were so many great classes I've taken. I guess the Seminar in Central Banking was phenomenal, but that was also thanks to the amazing class mates I had. The Economics department is awesome! And so is the Italian Department. Sometimes I meet professors outside of class, be it during office hours, to have coffee or lunch, or because they invited me to their house. Most of the academic requirements are reasonable, and the curriculum is very flexible. For example the economics major does not require many math classes, but the schedule is sufficiently flexible to include a lot of math, and discover many other departments as well. The education is definitely not geared toward getting a job. Take Accounting, which is the only class that is directly applicable to the "real world". However, you learn many useful things in the other classes, that will indirectly help you on the job: writing, critical reading, ecc.

Despite any of my troubles or problems with the school, the academics are the reason that I've never given up on it. The open curriculum means you can pursue any and all of your interests. Every semester you get to try four new things, or focus your education on a favorite subject. Instead of taking core classes that I would merely have to survive, I was able to branch out and try new things, discovering classes in diverse departments and finding new talents and interests. As a member of the English Department, I can speak for our faculty, most of whom are amazing, challenging, and interesting. Of course, you will not like every class or every faculty member, but most classes are rewarding if you and the professor both put in the effort. My advisors and professors have been invaluable to me in choosing courses, working on assignments, and even personal issues. BUT, and this is a major but, you have to be committed to working on your education when you come here. The workload at Smith will be more intense than that of your peers at other schools, and even on the weekends you will not be done with work. It is very intense, but rewarding.

Yes Chemistry. Wonderful Teacher I absolutely love all my classes though some are much more work than others Students study very very often Dinner tables are all about world events, intelligent?...smith???...You got it Not very competitive....very collaborative Chemistry 111 Undeclared major Yes, I go to talk to them and they are always ready to chat Rigorous requirements but totally doable Learning for its own sake- the joy of knowledge

Smith is good for cultivating "ways" of thinking. We learn how to communicate (relatively) effectively, research, think "outside the box", but not a ton of specific job skills. Although, by the time you're ready to graduate you have a ton of experience that you should be able to put on your resume, especially if you go abroad or do a Praxis internship. (Do a Praxis internship!! Easy way to get a paid summer job, and you can make it apply to almost anything you want to do!) It seems like there is just a lot of learning for its own sake, but while you are doing that, you are really learning a lot of other things along the way. The Career Development Office is pretty useless for very specific things, but they're pretty good for prepping you for interviews, polishing your resume, etc. I haven't found it to be true by experience, but apparently the best thing about graduating from Smith is the Alumnae Network, which is supposed to be a great way to tap into a job opportunity. I think it sounds like mooching, but that's life.

Smith is good for cultivating "ways" of thinking. We learn how to communicate (relatively) effectively, research, think "outside the box", but not a ton of specific job skills. Although, by the time you're ready to graduate you have a ton of experience that you should be able to put on your resume, especially if you go abroad or do a Praxis internship. (Do a Praxis internship!! Easy way to get a paid summer job, and you can make it apply to almost anything you want to do!) It seems like there is just a lot of learning for its own sake, but while you are doing that, you are really learning a lot of other things along the way. The Career Development Office is pretty useless for very specific things, but they're pretty good for prepping you for interviews, polishing your resume, etc. I haven't found it to be true by experience, but apparently the best thing about graduating from Smith is the Alumnae Network, which is supposed to be a great way to tap into a job opportunity. I think it sounds like mooching, but that's life.

Like any college, you need to work hard for a professor to get to know you. Get good grades, go to department lectures, ask questions...all that good stuff. However, it is much easier than big universities! The class sizes are TINY compared to public schools! My Russian class had 10 people in it. I learned a lot from classes like this. Smithies are definitely spend a lot of time outside of classes having intelligent conversations. We tend to make TIME to do things mindless; TV, movies, video games. (These are almost unheard of in our houses!) Students are not competitive with their class work; most of us tend to know that we're talented, capable, and intelligent women. What we do compete for, unfortunately, is our stress level. We all too often play the "I'm more stressed than you" game. Smith's academics, at least for my major, was geared toward academia rather than getting a job after college. When approached for grad school recommendation requests, professors (whom I worked with for three years) wouldn't write me a recommendation since I was only pursuing a Master's degree and not a Ph.D. Much of introduction to Psychology is learning to write in APA style for journal submissions! Lectures outside of class are held, explaining to students how to prepare for Grad school; which schools to apply to, prepping for GREs etc. Students are expected to contact the Career Development Office if they aren't interested in going to grad school after college.

The academics at Smith are very good. They are difficult and can be challenging, but that is what we pay for. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed however, as most professors have high expectations and they also tend to forget that a student has other classes with other assignments. The work pile-up happens quickly and when classes start, they hit the ground running. That being said, most professors are willing to help out in anyway they can. The lack of core courses make it easy for students to take whatever strikes them and creates less stress in those first years. Classes themselves vary by the people who are in them, most often classes are a discussion with sporadic lectures. They can be peppered with what Smith terms "that girl" which refers to a student which talks a lot but doesn't say much. Students are very used to being correct so any statement contrary to their own can be met with hostility.

By the end of the semester, all of my professors know my name. Many even remember it as I pass them on campus several semesters after I've had their class. My favorite classes are within the environmental science and policy program. I love this field and so any class I take ends up being a favorite. Students study a lot. I think we need to work on that though. It's sad seeing students studying in the campus center or library on friday and saturday nights! Some believe we have a "culture of stress" at Smith. I think this is self-perpetuating. If we decide it doesn't exist, then we won't have it anymore. Students need to stop trying to "one up" eachother (i.e. i have 5 exams and 12 papers to write this weekend, what about you? oh well, i have 10 exams and 15 papers, so there!) However, in the classroom, I wouldn't say students are very competitive. I've always felt comfortable asking classmates for help or clarification during or after a lecture. I do spend time with faculty members outside of class, particularly my adviser. It is generally spent working on other projects. Many of our faculty members are truly amazing and really care about students and our education... but not all! Smith only has one academic requirement and that is a writing intensive course to be taken your first year. I think we should also have a quantitative requirement and a social justice/multicultural competency requirement. These could be filled by a variety of already offered courses. Our liberal arts education is less focused on vocational pursuits. However, we do have a specialized engineering program that is very successful and rigorous.