Smith College

Smith College is one of the Seven Sisters, the prestigious consortium of East Coast women's colleges once seen as the female counterpart of the predominantly male Ivy League. The school currently has about 2,450 undergraduates on its Northampton, Mass., campus. Smithies come from 48 states and some 60 countries. The college's undergraduates are all women, but it admits both women and men to its graduate programs. Smith offers more than 1,000 courses in more than 50 majors, and because it is part of the Five College Consortium, students can also take classes at nearby Mount Holyoke, Amherst, Hampshire, and UMass. The proximity of those other schools means that Smith's social life also extends onto their campuses, which are only a short shuttle ride away. Instead of living in dorms, Smith students reside in one of 35 beautiful houses and have traditions like Friday afternoon tea and weekly family-style candlelit dinners. The school is also devoted to empowering women before and after college, with summer programs for high schoolers and executive education course for aspiring business leaders. Smith's alumni include chef Julia Child, poet Sylvia Plath, and journalist and activist Gloria Steinem.