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Summary
Smith College is a private institution that was founded in 1871. It has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,588, its setting is urban, and the campus size is 156 acres. It utilizes a semester-based academic calendar. Smith College's ranking in the 2012 edition of Best Colleges is National Liberal Arts Colleges, 19. Its tuition and fees are $40,070 (2011-12).
Smith College is located in Northampton, Mass., two hours from Boston and three hours from New York City. Smith is one of the largest liberal arts schools for women in the country. The school has more than 120 student organizations, which range from Bad Seeds, a botany group, to Crapapella, one of several a cappella groups on campus. The Smith Pioneers have 14 NCAA Division III varsity sports that compete in the Eastern College Athletic Conference. Unlike other schools, Smith does not have dorms or Greek life but rather 36 separate houses that range from 18th century to modern in style. Each house is home to between 10 and 100 students, allowing for socialization among students from all classes.
Smith is part of the Five Colleges consortium, which includes Amherst, Mount Holyoke, Hampshire, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Smith is also part of the Seven Sisters colleges, a group of seven northeastern liberal arts schools that were originally for women. Smith’s graduate programs are coeducational and offer master’s and doctorate degrees. Traditional events on campus include Rally Day, which celebrates alumnae and students, and Otelia Cromwell Day, which honors Smith’s first African-American student. Commencement traditions include Ivy Day, during which seniors plant Ivy on campus, and Illumination Night, when the campus is lit with colored lanterns. Notable alumnae include former first lady Barbara Bush, chef and author Julia Child, poet and author Sylvia Plath, former first lady Nancy Reagan, and author Margaret Mitchell, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Gone With the Wind.
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What draws students to Smith College is the intellectual challenge and rich extracurricular experience offered by an outstanding top-ranked liberal arts college. The rigorous academic program is demanding yet flexible. Smith's broad open curriculum - anchored in the sciences and the humanities and arts - allows unlimited choices. Although each first-year student is required to complete at least one writing-intensive course, there are no other required courses outside a student's field of study. With more than a thousand course offerings in more than 50 areas of study, the curriculum is rich in cross-disciplinary explorations of issues and scholarly conventions outside the Western standard. A host of unique study abroad programs in addition offer opportunities for students to expand their liberal arts curriculum. The Smith environment promotes faculty-student collaboration, and some of the research projects borne of that teamwork are legendary. For every 9 students there is a Smith professor to encourage, guide and inspire. Smith professors are a world-class group of scholars who are engaged and accessible who consider teaching undergraduates to be their most important job. In 1999, Smith became the first women's college in the nation to offer a program leading to a degree in engineering. At Smith, students are trained as engineers and at the same time educated broadly in the liberal arts. As with its engineering students, Smith is devoted to developing the best in each student. The college gives Smith students the ability to harness their skills and knowledge in a wide variety of opportunities that, in addition to academic coursework, includes internships, study abroad programs and leadership positions. Smith's New England campus is located on 147 acres of tree-lined paths and streets. Larger than most liberal arts colleges in the United States, Smith provides unique resources and outstanding facilities including: Ford Hall, the new science and engineering building with a gold-level LEED certification; the Smith College Museum of Art, widely acknowledged as one of the most important art collections at an American college; a new campus center; the largest undergraduate library system of any liberal arts college in the country; extensive performance facilities; and a multi-building science complex of teaching and research laboratories and classrooms. All of Smith's resources, unlike those at many universities, are primarily for undergraduate students. Smith is a partner in the Five College Consortium, one of the nation's most notable and successful collaborations of higher education institutions. Through the consortium - which includes Smith, Amherst, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke colleges and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst - students may choose from more than 4,500 additional undergraduate courses offered at the nearby campuses, all within a 12 mile-radius of one another. |
General Information
| School type | private, women's college |
| Year founded | 1871 |
| Religious affiliation | N/A |
| Academic calendar | semester |
| Setting | urban |
| 2010 Endowment | $1,243,560,827 |
Applying
When applying to Smith College, it's important to note the application deadline is January 15, and the early decision deadline is November 15. Scores for either the ACT or SAT test are due February 1. The application fee at Smith College is $60. It is more selective, with an acceptance rate of 46.9 percent.
For more information about the tests, essays, interviews, and admissions process, visit the Applying to College knowledge center.
| Selectivity | more selective |
| Fall 2010 acceptance rate | 47% |
| Application deadline | January 15 |
| SAT/ACT scores must be received by | February 1 |
Academic Life
The student-faculty ratio at Smith College is 9:1, and the school has 67.6 percent of its classes with fewer than 20 students. The most popular majors at Smith College include: Social Sciences; Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics; Area, Ethnic, Cultural, Gender, and Group Studies; Psychology; and Visual and Performing Arts. The average freshman retention rate, an indicator of student satisfaction, is 90.5 percent.
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| Student-faculty ratio | 9:1 | ||||||||||
| 4-year graduation rate | 78% - High | ||||||||||
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Student Life
Smith College has a total undergraduate enrollment of 2,588, with a gender distribution of 0.0 percent male students and 100.0 percent female students. 95.0 percent of the students live in college-owned, -operated, or -affiliated housing and 5.0 percent of students live off campus. Smith College is part of the NCAA III athletic conference.
See what students are saying about life at Smith College.
| Total enrollment | 3,113 |
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| Collegiate athletic association | NCAA III |
Campus Info & Services
Smith College offers a number of student services including nonremedial tutoring, women's center, placement service, day care, health service, and health insurance. Smith College also offers campus safety and security services like 24-hour foot and vehicle patrols, late night transport/escort service, 24-hour emergency telephones, lighted pathways/sidewalks, and controlled dormitory access (key, security card, etc). Of the students at Smith College, 16 percent have cars on campus. Alcohol is permitted for students of legal age at Smith College.
| Students who have cars on campus | 16% - Low |
| Health insurance offered | Yes |
| Students required to own/lease a computer | No |
More About Campus Info & Services
Paying for School
At Smith College, 64.0 percent of full-time undergraduates receive some kind of need-based financial aid and the average need-based scholarship or grant award is $31,705.
Paying for college doesn't have to be difficult or devastating. Go to the Paying for College knowledge center to get advice on raising cash and reducing costs.
| Tuition and fees | $40,070 (2011-12) |
| Room and board | $13,390 (2011-12) - High |
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* Overview details based on 2010 data
