Smith is a women’s college in Northampton, Massachusetts known for an open curriculum with few required courses outside of your major, allowing students to focus on their deepest passions with minimal distraction. For many students, this is a dream situation — and Smith is their perfect fit! There are over 1,000 courses across more than 80 areas of study, and the acceptance rate is a little below 21%.
Smith attracts free thinkers, driven academics, and passionate changemakers. Former Smithies include Gloria Steinem, Julia Child, Sylvia Plath, and so many more icons of art, literature, politics, and academia. About 2,500 undergraduate students call the campus home, and Smith has had a test-optional policy since 2009. While many schools have implemented test-optional policies in response to COVID-19, Smith has had their policy in place long enough to really make their application review process work without ACT or SAT scores. Only about 48% of first-year students admitted and enrolled in the fall of 2023 had submitted scores. This illustrates to us that test scores aren’t crucial to the application consideration process, and shouldn’t be something that stresses you out. But, if you feel your scores are representative of your academic record and potential, you should submit them. If you want your scores to be most helpful for your application, aim for an SAT above 1470 or an ACT over 33.
In this post, we’ll break down the best way to differentiate your application from other aspiring Smithies, though. No big surprise: it’s the supplement.
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The Smith supplement is an important tool for them to efficiently and succinctly determine if you are cut out for their unique offerings. This means that every word counts, and you need to show who you are, not who you wish you were or want to be. They can flag inauthenticity fast, but respond well to students who are comfortable with themselves — especially if you want to use your skills to build the community.
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, backgrounds 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)
The housing system at Smith is something special. Students across all classes live, eat, study, and socialize together. Instead of only living with fellow first-years, young students are immersed in the thick of Smith from day one and have the opportunity to learn from students who’ve thrived through the Smith experience. The unique aspects of this environment benefit most from students who are open to sharing their backgrounds and experiences with those around them. So, how do you show them that you are just the type of student they are looking for?
There is no one right answer to this question, and it isn’t a request for a trauma dump. If you have faced significant challenges that aren’t addressed elsewhere in your application, this may be an appropriate place to share them — but that isn’t the only thing to write about. Maybe you are a passionate scrapbooker who could help your classmates remember their best experiences together, or maybe you treasured Friday night family sing-a-longs around a piano and would love to share similar moments with new friends. Wholesome is good here, as is earnest and kind and open to new experiences.
You only have 250 words, but you also need to reflect on what you hope your neighbors would share with you. This only needs to be a sentence or two, and should be similarly wholesome — and can even be a little bit silly. Maybe you want to learn how to study more efficiently, or how to make the perfect microwave tortellini (hint: the secret is steam).
Smith looks for exceptional young women who want to make a different on a macro and a micro level. They seek out applicants with vision for the future, but who are also grounded in the now. Students with their heads so set in what’s next to miss where they are aren’t interesting to them, so remember that Smith wants to see you, truly.
As Smith is an all-women’s institution, it’s also important to verify that you meet their guidelines before applying.
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