Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts is an all-women’s liberal arts college that is deeply beloved, academically rigorous, and highly-respected. Smith is grounded in a few things: long-held (and often quirky) traditions, a commitment to the liberal arts, and an occasionally contradictory prioritization of independent and personalized educational journeys. Smith is built on intellectual freedom and exploration, and the liberal arts curriculum is nearly completely open. All students have access to every subject, and there is only one required course outside of your major: a writing intensive. They emphasize the practical application of what you learn, and students have access to research opportunities, internships, and even employment. The acceptance rate is 19%.
Smith is one of the five colleges in the Five College Consortium, which also includes Amherst, Hampshire, Mount Holyoke, and the University of Massachusetts. The schools in the consortium share resources and provide students with access to a massive selection of courses — over 7,000. Despite these vast resources, it’s an intimate collegiate experience with a unique residential structure comprised of 41 unique ‘houses.’ This intimate perspective on a college experience extends to how they review your application. Smith is test optional, and has been since 2009. You are able to submit SAT and ACT scores if you’d like, but not submitting scores won’t be held against you.
If Smith sounds like your perfect fit, send us an email. We’re experts at helping students get into their dream school.
The Smith supplement is simple. It’s one question, and it isn’t even a long one. This doesn’t mean you can rush through it though. A short supplement can often take even longer, because it requires a lot of editing to fit as much as you can into a compact amount of space.
Smith has a unique housing system, where students of all class years live together in 41 different houses. With our Residential Curriculum, students will become critically aware global neighbors, exploring their self-identity by living in community, engaging in reflection and challenging their own beliefs.
What personal experiences, background or abilities would you bring to this residential environment to share with your neighbors and what would you hope your neighbors would share with you? (250 words)
First, you should learn as much as you can about the Smith residential program and housing system. Take the time to read about the program on the Smith website, watch YouTube videos on student experiences, and ask family friends or relatives about their experiences if anyone you know is attending or has attended Smith. Learn about the 41 different Smith Houses, which are home to between 10 and 100 students each, and consider which houses and neighborhoods you’d be interested in living in.
Once you have a strong understanding of the Smith residential program, it’s time to start brainstorming how you are going to respond to this prompt.
This is a celebration of who you are, not a competition for who has faced the most hardship — so don’t jump to listing the ways you’ve persevered in the face of extreme adversity. Instead, they want you to share a piece of yourself that you celebrate (although, yes, it may have developed in response to a challenge). As you brainstorm, it helps to have a housing community that you learned about earlier in mind. Mentally holding onto a place where you would want to live, including a theme or special interest house, even though many are not open to first years, will help you narrow down how you want to contribute to the community, and what you want to learn.
For example, if you are passionate about the environment and vegetarianism as a way of living a lower-impact life, you may write about an experience you’ve had since becoming a vegetarian where you felt particularly affirmed or confident (but not smug) in your beliefs and sharing them with others. Then, transition into a recipe you could use for a communal dinner with your housemates in Tenney, a vegetarian special interest food co-op house where all the students cook and eat together.
Don’t forget about the last part of this prompt, though, where Smith asks what you hope to learn from your neighbors. Living communally in any dorm at any college is hard, but the Smith housing system is centered on making it easier by creating pillars of support through tradition, culture, food, and history.
Smith College is a highly respected women’s liberal arts school that has a deep history in offering an exceptional education in a close-knit residential setting.
If you’re excited about Smith, send us an email. We help amazing students get into equally amazing schools.