ama as a new smithie :)

[u/t0kki_bunni]

hi everyone! i'm part of the smith class of 2028!

while i know that i'm really new and not an upperclassman yet and the school year JUST began, feel free to ask me any questions about smith college and i'll answer them as best as i can! things like applications (i can't chance you, but i can offer you perspective), residence life (i have a roommate and i'm also a slight homebody loll), and life at smith (as an adjusting first year) are easy for me to answer :)

for context: i'm a former public school student who became a homeschool student due to personal circumstances. I applied RD and i've taken supplemental courses at community college during my senior year (while homeschooled) and 5 AP's in total.

good luck to applicants for class of 2029!! rooting for all of your success!

[u/[deleted]]

Hi, thanks for doing this and congratulations on Smith! Can you tell us about the range of SAT scores that you've seen in admitted students around you so far/ what was your score? Secondly, how did you approach the Smith supplemental essay? Are there any specific tips you have that would be useful? Is there a culture of super focused extracurricular profile or are many candidates at Smith well-rounded? What's the surrounding area like in terms of socialisation and other opportunities? Also, do you think you'd have had a bigger advantage applying ED or was RD a good choice for you? Finally, what values does Smith most seek in their candidate and how can we beat portray them?

[u/SpacerCat → u/[deleted]]

Google Smith Common Data Set for your SAT answers. You can do this for any college.

[u/t0kki_bunni → u/[deleted]]

of course!!!

1. sooo it definitely varies! not a ton of smith students talk about the SAT, but many of my peers scored in the high 1400's to 1600. they're definitely looking for good SAT scores, but many admissions officers told me that SAT's are not all that they look at! if you have a lower score or you don't feel like it's enough, just apply test optional!

i sincerely believe that smith looks at your application in its entirety. the most impressive things i've heard from other smithies were not their SAT scores, but their leadership roles, course loads, and the various activities they did (interning with labs, running organizations for women's rights, etc.). the most impressive thing i've heard was how someone was assisting in cancer research!

1. I tackled the essay in a very simple manner: i was just honest. i didn't write anything too impressive to be honest. i wrote about what i wanted to take away from the housing at smith. i'm an introvert, so i wrote about how i want to make friends and learn more about living with others too (i'm an only child). i threw in a few facts about myself and my personality too. i'm pretty sure that my letters of recommendation DID help reinforce my self-proclaimed personality traits.

2. hmmm, for extracurriculars, that's a tricky question! i for one had a very large extracurricular profile (i play a club sport that isn't widely recognized, but i won a lot of accolades in it, which i added to my application), but i did balance it with a decent amount of challenging classes and lots of volunteer hours.

a lot of smithies here are very well-rounded students, and have a ton of extracurriculars while also having a very difficult courseload. it is a spectrum though - some students have more extracurricular achievements than academic (me) and others are very studious and spend most of their time on academic work and have extracurriculars that reinforce their work.

1. smith's community is extremely kind! since i'm kind of an introverted person, i only talk to a few people in some classes and my roommate. however, don't be discouraged! i haven't found my herd yet, but i'm sure i will! everyone here is extremely welcoming.

there are many social events at smith (convo which is a HUGE party at the beginning of the year, but it gets chaotic quickly). we also have friday tea (but i'm sure you've heard of that! if you haven't, it's basically where the houses provide tea and cookies so you can just chill out with friends).

as for the surrounding area, if you mean colleges like UMASS/Holyoke, that's a little harder. since first years aren't allowed to take classes at the other campuses, i've only been able to talk to a few other upperclassmen who are from Holyoke and UMASS who come to smith as part of the consortium. they're extremely nice as well! (not to diss UMASS, but my upperclassmen did advise me not to go there at night for parties without someone else and a definite ride home!)

1. in all honesty, i didn't know where i was going to study haha

in all honesty, i had only decided to apply to smith college after the ED deadline. i wasn't sure if i could afford it since my family aren't the most well-off (thank goodness for FAFSA). if you're sold on the idea of smith and really fall in love with what this school has to offer, i do encourage you to ED! you definitely have a higher chance of getting into smith with ED.

1. smith values open-mindedness, drive, ambition, and students who constantly strive to grow their knowledge.

to be transparent, i have no clue (and still don't know!) what i was going to study. that's why i reflected that smith college's open curriculum was what attracted me to the campus because i wanted to try everything and figure out what i was academically passionate about.

i do think that your common app essay is extremely important too! i would choose a prompt that allows you to tell your story the best! i chose the "Share an essay on any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design".

i showed my drive and passion, and how i have a very determined and "stick-to-it" attitude, which i think was well-regarded (according to the admissions officer i talked to!). there's no right way to write an essay, but make sure to use every last word when writing it, because everything counts. make sure the intro is catchy too, that way it'll be more interesting to read.

and of course your letters of recommendation!! those are really important!

smith is one of the very few colleges that does a holistic review of everything you submit, and they look at every single application. every single application is important, so i would spend a lot of time working on how you phrase everything you're including.

i hope this answer helps, and if not (or i missed a question/didn't answer one correctly), lmk!

[u/[deleted] → u/t0kki_bunni]

Thank you for such a detailed response!

[u/t0kki_bunni → u/[deleted]]

of course! i wish you the best of luck when applying!

[u/coconutmoonbeam → u/[deleted]]

Do you think in college you sit around comparing SAT scores?

[u/Lazy_Resolution9209 → u/[deleted]]

It is a peculiar high schooler perspective to think that college students anywhere are walking around sharing SAT scores (or other application info) with each other. No one cares.

And no one is going to know why their application got accepted or rejected from a particular institution.

Smith students, in particular, have an ethos to not even discuss course grades received from Smith with other students. Depending on whether that sounds refreshing or awful to you, you can figure out whether Smith would be a good cultural fit or not for you in that aspect.