The best thing about Smith is the small classes. It's also wonderful to have dedicated and available professors who will go to great lengths for undergrads. Sometimes it's a little trying not having men around, because they are generally a pretty stabilizing presence. However, whenever I go to a co-ed school, I remember that men can also be immature, gross, and condescending, and I'm glad I don't live with them.

Every one of my professors knows my name. I have a few classes where this doesn't necessarily have to be the case because of the big size, but in that instance, I make a point to go to my prof's office hours and get to know him/her. Either way, professors are overjoyed to have students display interest in their field, so they welcome casual conversations, or questions about coursework.

Smith classes are hard. They are tons of work. There is so much work that it is impossible to have a social life and also get all of your work done all the time. But, professors know this, and I only know a handful of students who read every single word for every class. Sometimes things can get stressful, but it's all worth it because most of the classes are absolutely phenomenal. In general, you can get any Smithie talking about her academic pursuits, because each person is so invested in their education. It's great.

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.

At least in my house, everyone leaves their doors unlocked and oftentimes open throughout the day. It's a pretty trusting environment, and it feels like a family. Most people live in the same residence all four years, so it becomes a very tight-knit community with all sorts of quirks and traditions. For example, my house does Big Sis/Little Sis, First Snow Party, Assassins, No Talent Show, and a host of other things every year. It's great.

People say that Smith is a place that breeds radical feminists, and that Smith students are mostly all lesbians. People also say that Smith is just the place that rich girls with pearls hang out until they get married. Clearly, there are some different accounts going on...

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.

This survey is for Tyler House!