Hi! I am a first year student and I was placed in a house that was not my first choice. How hard is it to switch houses as a first year? How soon can I? know it must differ based on houses, but is it generally pretty easy? Are friendships between people from different houses often or are we restricted to our house? How common are friendships between people of different ages and different houses? Sorry I know that was a lot of questions I’m just really concerned about the social aspect of Smith.
Hello! Hope that some of these questions have been answered since you’ve arrived at Smith, but if not here’s what I can tell you:
Room changes are not prioritized based on class year, it’s prioritized based on who submits the room change form first. Otherwise, having accomodations with ODS or other extenuating circumstances will bump you up the list.
There is a room freeze for the first 2 weeks of classes. The house freeze ends on Sept 20th this semester.
It depends on how specific your room change request is. If you’re trying to move into a specific house, it might take some time depending on how full the house is, and the movement within the house. Not going to lie, the more specific (e.g. single in Lawrence house) might take until the next semester when people leave for study abroad and stuff. I know that larger houses the quad usually have a couple singles open up during the year for people to move into, but even then, getting into a specific house is hard.
You’re allowed to make friendships with anyone you choose! Some of my “best friends” don’t live in the same house I do, and I have to cross the campus everytime I visit Agnes.
Friendships across class years and across houses is very common. You’ll meet people you bond with during orientation, extracurriculars, sports, clubs/organization, and of course, in classes.
Hope that covers everything!