Smith College

Responses from the Student Interview

From a student  who identifies as Major: Computer Science
Minor: None
Student Self Identifies as: Vietnamese Female

Summary

My first two years I participated in the Debate and Consulting Clubs.

Background

Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Vietnamese

High School Experience: Public high school in Vietnam with a graduating class of about 150 students. There was not a culture of going to college in the United States.
First-Generation College Student: Yes
Major: Computer Science
Minor: None

Extracurricular Activities: My first two years I participated in the Debate and Consulting Clubs.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience? In what ways?
I think both of them are very impactful. For the Debate Club, I got to debate with native speakers. Every weekend I’d travel to a different school and participate in the debate tournament. Through that activity, I met a lot of friends from different schools. They are all advanced English speakers, so I got to improve my English, my ability to think on the spot, and my knowledge of the U.S. and the world. It was also a good getaway from Smith.
I was the coach for the Consulting Club, and it’s helped me understand the consulting industry. It’s good preparation for the future, but I also got to practice my leadership skills. The two activities are good in their own ways.

Academic Experience

Can you describe the weekly coursework for your Computer Science major?
There are usually small weekly assignments. Some classes have labs as well, but if so, they are small enough for students to complete within several hours. However, if the class doesn’t have weekly assignments, they will have four or five projects for the whole semester. These take 15-20 hours or more to complete. Usually my Computer Science classes also have a midterm and a final exam or project.
Is there anything you feel the Computer Science department does especially well or poorly?
One thing they do well is having tenured professors. They are the professors who founded the department, or who’ve been here for a long time. They’re very good. They understand the material, they explain it well, and because they’ve taught the class so many times their material is well developed. The TAs are also very helpful, but they’re usually only available for the lower-level courses. Students who study Computer Science at Smith should take advantage of the Five College Consortium, which includes UMass, Amherst, Mount Holyoke, and Hampshire. You can take classes there.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
I think the learning environment is very healthy. I can’t find anything bad about it. Most people are very collaborative, and it’s a supportive environment because it’s all-girls. You can sit in class and ask any question and no one with care or judge you. They encourage people to ask questions and raise their concerns. I think this helps boost students’ confidence, even when they get out of school.
How accessible have the professors in your department been?
Very accessible. I can’t imagine having professors be this approachable at a bigger school. You can ask questions in class, they’ll stay after class, or you can come to their office hours. Because the school is small, they have a lot of open hours where if you can’t go to their office hours you can send them an email asking for a different time. If you miss class they help you catch up on the material.
How was transitioning academically from the high school education system in Vietnam to Smith? Were there any systems in place to helped you adapt?
There is an International Students and Scholars Office (ISSO), and they are responsible for doing the international student orientation. Before orientation there’s a period called pre-orientation when the international students fly in early for a training program that gets them used to campus, their personal finances worked out, and they receive help to buy necessities. There are even fun activities to get to know the culture and make friends. I think the program is very cool and helpful. It’s become better and better every year.

Reasons to Attend

1) There are very good academics, especially in the Humanities.
2) The student body is very diverse and culturally aware. It’s a welcoming and warm environment to grow in.
3) I think everyone will become better people because everyone else is very receptive to differences, so we learn to grow in the same way as well.
4) The professors are very supportive. If you have concerns or want to extend a deadline, you can just inform them ahead of time, and they’ll work with you through your problems.

Reasons Not to Attend

1) If people like cities they won’t like it here, it’s pretty boring.
2) If you really care about the food, or if people hate the weather and want somewhere warmer.
3) If you study STEM majors. I think Smith has good Biology and Chemistry majors, but for Engineering of Computer Science, it’s good for people who have no idea what they like. Smith gives you an opportunity to try because of the open curriculum.

Around Campus

Where have you lived on and around campus?
Freshman: Park House with one roommate.
Sophomore: Park House with one roommate.
Junior: Duckett House in a single.
Senior: Duckett House in a single.
Do you like the residential house system at Smith?
Yes, I think so. I wish they had more consistent amenities between the houses. Different houses do have an elevator and kitchenette. The inconsistency makes me feel like I miss out on something. I feel that it’s a little unfair, but at the same time it’s understandable because the houses here are pretty old and haven’t been renovated recently.
How was transitioning from your hometown in Vietnam to Northampton, MA?
In Vietnam, if you want to go to anything you’d usually use a motorbike. Everything is very approachable, even if you want to go to the main cities you can catch a bus. I feel like everything in the U.S is spread out. One reason is because it’s a huge country compared to Vietnam, which is a small country where everything is closer together. Also, in Northampton they only have the Peter Pan bus as the main transportation. It’s very inconvenient, so if you want to go anywhere you have to walk downtown, and you’re limited to the options there. If you want to go beyond that, you have to catch a bus. People usually go to Boston, which takes three or more hours.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I think it’s very safe here. I haven’t heard of any real incident. Sometimes things happen, but it’s usually a false alarm. When something does happen, the police send an email out to the whole campus to keep people up to date.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
I think I like Oriental Taste the most. People can also catch a bus for 45-minutes to go to a Vietnamese restaurant at Amherst.

Social Opportunities

What kind of nightlife or weekend activities do you participate in at Smith?
I don’t go out much. Usually when I go out, I have bubble tea or I go to restaurants. Other people can catch the bus to go to the mall for shopping, or they can go to a movie theatre.

Campus Culture

What have been your favorite times at Smith?
For the seasons, I like the Fall and the Spring the most. Coming from a very tropical country, one thing I don’t like about this area is how it gets cold quickly, and it stays cold for a long time. When the weather is nice here, the scenery is very pretty. It has a Botanical Garden with lots of trees and flowers. For events, the clubs at Smith have events all year round. Every week you’ll see some club having activities, mostly cultural. There’s Japanese night, where you can learn more about their culture and their cuisine. For me, I don’t hang out that much. I like the pre-orientation for international students. This year I came back as a past student to help out the new students.
How did you meet your closest friends?
From my classes. We happened to sit in the same place and talk to each other when we do problem sets. That’s how we learn about each other. Or, through mutual friends.
Usually we study together, so even if we don’t have the same class we sit together and each person does their own work. We just like sitting together.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
In general, I think Smith is a little bit nerdy. Most of what people do all the time is study, but we have something called the Quad, which is a little further from the main campus. The people who live in those houses usually throw parties because it’s so beautiful and it’s away from the other houses so they can be louder. I feel like the house community there is usually a little more bonded. Other than that, people just hang out and do activities with people they know. I think the social scene isn’t that dynamic.
To what extent do you feel international students mix with domestic students?
What I’ve heard is Smith has a good percentage of international students. It’s a very diverse student body. Every year 70 countries represent the Smith campus, but I think people just hang out with different kinds of people. International students can be a bit cliquey because they go through the pre-orientation program together and they’re the first people they know out of the country. After a few weeks when they get more used to the environment, they start making friends with domestic students. [33% of the undergraduate population are Students of Color, 18% are Underrepresented Minorities, and 14% are International.]
Were there parts of Smith, or American college as a whole, that surprised you?
One thing that is very different is how people here are particularly liberal and politically correct. I think it has more pros than cons, but sometimes people are too sensitive to everything which I don’t like very much. Most of the time they’re reasonable, and I like the liberal people more than a lot of people in my country who are patriarchal because we have a patriarchal system where they don’t respect women that much. Because Smith is an all-women’s college in the Northeastern area, it’s very liberal. Here, I can see the different kinds of women and how they dress and break the social stereotypes, which has really opened my eyes. I think the college system here encourages people to ask questions. When I go to school in Vietnam, people take down whatever teachers say, but here you can challenge what professors say if you think it’s not right, or you can ask clarifying questions.

Careers

Financial Aid

Have you used financial aid? If so, accommodating was the office to your needs?
Overall, Smith gives very generous financial aid to international students, and I appreciate that. The office makes it very smooth.