Smith College Top Questions

The only students who would feel out of place at Smith are those who are just academic robots with no outside interests. The typical Smithie takes a large variety of classes, is involved in all sorts of sports, student orgs, or musical groups, and also finds time for socializing. There is a little bit of everything at Smith, so it really just depends on who you hang out with whether you get the jocks, the super-activist hippies, the music-fanatic hipsters, the studious intellectuals, or any number of combinations of theses and others. People are pretty accepting of each other, though there can be some unintentional grouping of students in social groups by race and/or socioeconomic class.

Smith is a very open and accepting environment. That being said, I think that people with very conservative views who aren't open to change and understanding others would have a really hard time fitting in. Most students are fairly liberal and well informed.

Ugh, everyone assumes you are a lesbian because most people are and it gets annoying.

This school is ridiculously diverse--except for men. Smithies span from caucasian to african (literally from africa) slovakian to chinese, jewish to hindu. As a result of it being really diverse everyone seems to be pretty open about things.

The only sort of tension I could see developing between students might be in matters of politics--many people here are very politically active, and though I can't speak from experience, I know this is a predominantly liberal campus. Those with views farther right might find that a bit oppressive, I imagine. Other than that, there's such a wide range of racial, sexual, gender, socio-economic, and religious diversity, that I haven't seen problems arise.

Smithies tend to keep to themselves and are often friendly when you talk to them, but most often, we keep to ourselves when we are busy. House community, I realize, diminishes as time progresses.

It is so diverse here in terms of the types of people you meet and the friends you make. I honestly feel that the common denominator of almost every student is willpower and friendliness. I can't imagine anyone feeling out of place unless they want a typical college experience but anyone that opens their mind will find support and friends.

What are your experiences with racial, religious, LGBT, socio economic, and or other groups on campus? There is a sizeable LGBT population on campus who are very well supported by our student population. Our campus is extremely diverse when it comes to socio-economic status. Our religious and racial groups on campus in general segregate themselves from the rest of campus – but this is by self choice, and defiantly not due to campus climate or any other factors. This isn’t also to say that many individuals who are racially or religiously diverse don’t interact with the rest of campus, just groups that exist based on these two factors of commonality choose to segregate themselves. What kind of students would feel out of place at Smith? Students who are extremely conservative, religious, and judgmental and not open to other forms of life styles, diversities, and just other forms of existence feel out of place at Smith. If you are judgmental of other people in some way or form, and want everyone to be homogeneous towards your way of conforming – Smith is not right for you. Also – students who aren’t willing to interact with others who are different than them due to some factor, and really just want to be surrounded by others just like them, don’t do well at Smith. What do most students wear to class? Students are pretty casual. Clothes range from smart casual (jeans) to sweats and pjs. Do different types of students interact? Yes. Our housing system which isn’t based on any factor of commonality whatsoever ensures that individuals from different backgrounds, age ranges, races, classes have to interact. There are four tables of students in the dining hall. Describe them. The four tables would probably be four tables of four different houses. We all generally try to eat with our houses at meals – which are completely diverse in every way and are not based on any commonality. If there were additions to sitting by house, then individuals would be sitting perhaps by academics – like the theatre kids sitting together, by sports, or possibly language or once in awhile you catch the Christian kids segregating themselves or the black students segregating themselves. Where are most Smith students from? North East America – middle class or lower. Many students are from very urban areas or extremely rural. What financial backgrounds are most prevalent? Smith is the most economically diverse private school in America. Over 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student population is on need based financial aid. I would say the majority of the population is from middle class or lower. I have never met someone I’d really consider rich, and the rich students at Smith that exist hide the fact that they are. Are students politically aware/active? Students are extremely politically aware, and extremely active for a college campus, but not always as knowledgeable as they should be for what they’re saying. Are they predominantly left, Right, or center? Predominately left. But students from all perspectives certainly speak up. Do students talk about how much they’ll earn one day? Never.

no experiences....I republican would feel out of place these days...students wear anything and everything to class....I feel that athletes just interact with athletes and non atheletes interact with non atheleters, there should be more support between the two. Four tables-Athletes, Engineers, House tables, Orchestra/glee club.....some are politically active I AM NOT. predominantly left. yeah i better make millions to pay of this education

Students wear whatever they want to class. Some prefer to dress up, others come in pajamas. Sometimes the dress represents a social group, but more often it doesn't. Smith is a pretty heterogeneous mix of politically aware and sporadically active women. Most face politically leftward. Racial diversity is something of a challenge in the area surrounding Smith. While the college tries to recruit people of all races, the area makes it unattractive for some people of color so the racial diversity is sometimes lacking. It might also be uncomfortable for a very right-wing student in a very left-wing school. However, the brave own their beliefs, back them up, and end up being left alone about it.