Student Opinion

How Do You Feel About High School?

Scroll through some work by the winning students and educators who participated in our “What High School Is Like in 2023” multimedia challenge. Then tell us how well the collection captures your experiences.

 By

Are you interested in Smith Career Connect? 
Smith Career Connect is the college’s new online platform where alums can share career insights directly with students and empower them in their careers.  

To sign up:  
1. Log on to The Network and make sure your profile is up to date. 
2. Click on the "Raise Your Hand" tab and select "Open to Connect About My Career."  
3. Watch for an email from careerconnect@smith.edu with instructions on joining the platform. 

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact us at alumnae-support@smith.edu or read this FAQ for more information.

How do I access The Network? Do I need a login and password? 
Search “Smith College Network” or use the links below to obtain the mobile app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

You can also access it directly using a web browser.

Access it on the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.

If you know your Smith College Network or Smith Alumnae Directory login information, you can login through your browser or the mobile app. Your current username and password will remain valid. If you are not sure, use the 'Reset my Password' link for a self-help option. Current students and alum employees may choose to use their college login credentials.

What is The Network? 
The ability to forge connections within the Smith alum network is a considerable asset to alums. To enable those kinds of connections, the college has always supported a Directory where alums could find and contact other Smithies. The original "Smith College Alumnae Directory" was printed and mailed to alums. It later moved to a secure online platform. In August 2022, the Smith College Alumnae Directory was updated and renamed The Network. The Network is a private alum directory and communication tool for Smith alums and students. The primary purpose is to support alums connecting with other alums and students connecting with alums. The college is proud to provide this service (an industry standard) and know that many alums and volunteers utilize and rely on it. Watch a video tutorial about The Network.

What’s new about The Network? 
The updated Directory remains available via the Smith website but is now also available as a downloadable app via the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. It has a new look, is fully accessible, and offers more user-friendly navigation. The Search functionality has been enhanced, directly in response to feedback from alums. Users also have the ability to Raise Your Hand and help us understand the various ways you would like to connect with the college and with each other. Alum contact information is hidden unless an alum chooses to share it, but you can use the in-app Direct Message feature to connect.

How can I ensure that my records are correct? 
We encourage you to login and click on the My Profile tab to ensure your information is up to date and your privacy settings are in place to match your interest in connecting with other alums and with current students. You can review your settings at any time and should update the directory whenever a life change happens that you want to share with the college and the alum community. This could be an address, marital status, employer or job title, and more. Updating alum records will now be more easily completed at your convenience.

When you land on your My Profile page, you will see what other alums and students can see if they find you via Search. Click on ‘View your Profile in Edit Mode’ at the top of the page to hide or unhide your information and to edit any information. Click on ‘View your Profile in Public Mode’ to confirm your changes match your intentions.

How do I update my Privacy settings? 
You can control what data is visible to other users in The Network. Simply click on 'My Profile' in the top navigation bar or mobile app menu. You will see your record as others can see it. Click on 'View your Profile in Edit Mode' to make changes to any data or adjust your privacy settings. For maximum privacy, click on 'Edit Details' in the first box and select the 'Hide Full Profile' checkbox.  If you would like some information to be visible to others but not all, select the privacy checkboxes next to the relevant data throughout the page. All addresses, phones and emails are hidden as a default but can be shared by unchecking the appropriate box. If you have any questions about your privacy settings, email alumnae-support@smith.edu.

How do I search for other alums within The Network? 
You can start by typing a keyword.  It can be a name, part of a name, a year, a location, an employer, etc. This will generate a list of categories that the keyword can be applied against. Click on the category. Additional search terms can be added to further filter a list. Individual search terms can be removed by clicking the ‘x’. All search terms can be removed by clicking ‘clear all.’ The search results will respect all privacy settings. Results can be sorted A-Z or Z-A by Name, Class or Location.

What if I don’t want to be findable in a search? 
If you have previously hidden your record, you remain hidden. To remove yourself from search, go to the My Profile tab and click on ‘View your Profile in Edit Mode’. In the About Me box, click on Edit Details. Check the Hide Full Profile box. When this box is checked you are not discoverable in The Network directory in any way. You are not discoverable via Search, you cannot be direct messaged. To reverse this, repeat the steps and uncheck the Hide Full Profile box. If you have any questions about your privacy settings, email alumnae-support@smith.edu.

What is Raise Your Hand? 
Alums can opt-in to being open to inquiries from other alums or students regarding: job or internship opportunities, their career path, where they live and work, or identities. These choices are then reflected on their Profile page. Alums can also opt-in to being open to volunteering for Smith across our various roles. To Raise your Hand, simply click on the box that interests you. To withdraw your interest, click the box again to deselect it.

Who should I contact with questions or feedback? 
We will continue to refine The Network and welcome your feedback or questions at alumnae-support@smith.edu.

In law schools, generations of students have been taught the IRAC model to answer legal questions. First, students must spot the issue–what legal doctrine do the facts implicate? Second, students must state the rule–what particular legal precedent, statute, or principle governs this conflict? Third, students must then apply the rule to these facts–under a particular legal standard, how should the court rule? Fourth, students must state the conclusion–who wins, the plaintiff or the defendant?

Of course, there are many variations of IRAC, and invariably, many students stop using it rigidly at some point during the second year. But the basic process–applying a rule to particular facts is a cornerstone of legal education.

That background brings me to the NextGen bar exam. I have written about this new formulation of the multistate bar exam, which will launch in some states in 2026. Justice Jay Mitchell of the Alabama Supreme Court already expressed a concern that the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) is placing DEI concerns over competence. (Critics contend that the bar exam is racist, and should be eliminated). I have another concern, which may be related–the NCBE seems to be making the exam substantially easier.

The NCBE released a batch of questions to demonstrate how the NextGen exam will function. The multiple choice questions reflect a new approach. Rather than forcing students to memorize particular rules, and then apply them, the new questions only ask students to spot the issue. The thinking is that practicing attorneys do not actually have to memorize particular rules, or even know how to apply them. So long as they can recognize what doctrine is implicated, a quick query on WestLaw, Lexis, and (lord help us) ChatGPT can locate the particular rule, and then the lawyer can figure out how to apply that rule to the facts (or just ask ChatGPT to do it). In short, bar examinees will not have to know the rule, apply the rule, or conclude the case. They only have to spot the issue. Only I, not RAC.

Consider this Criminal Procedure question:

You are a criminal defense lawyer representing a client who has been charged with fentanyl possession. The police found the fentanyl in the guest bedroom of the client's uncle's house when responding to a noise complaint at the house. Before entering the house, the officers knocked on the door. When the uncle answered the door, the officers asked if they could look inside the house, and the uncle agreed. The client did not live in the house and was not there at the time of the search. The client had stayed in the guest bedroom of the house two nights prior to the search. The uncle told the officers that the client was the last person to have slept in that room.

You are considering filing a motion to suppress the fentanyl under the Fourth Amendment.

Which of the following legal Topics are the most important for you to research to determine the likelihood of success on a motion to suppress? Select two.

A. Consent search.
B. Exigent circumstances.
C. Hot pursuit.
D. Probable cause.
E.Reasonable suspicion.
F. Standing.

The correct answer here is A (Consent Search) and F (Standing). Those are the legal Topics that are "most important" to research. First, would the Uncle have authority to consent to the search? Second, would the criminal defendant have standing to challenge the Uncle's consent? Now the examinee does not actually have to answer whether the motion to suppress would be granted. Who cares if the Uncle could consent to the search? It doesn't matter if the defendant has standing. The test taker doesn't even have to know the relevant rules for consent searches and standing. All she has to do is spot the issue. I suppose the NCBE thinks that a first-year lawyer can simply enter "consent search" and "standing" into ChatGPT, knowing nothing more, and obtain the answer. I am not confident anyone can figure out these doctrines on the fly.

Let's try a Property question.

You are representing a client in a dispute with a neighbor. The client owns a single-family home with several acres of surrounding land. Recently, the client noticed that his neighbor had built a fence that extends onto the client's land. The client is unsure when the fence was built because that part of the client's land is obscured by large trees. When the client contacted the neighbor about the fence, the neighbor claimed that she did not know the location of the property line. The client has shown you a exact survey of the property that confirms the encroachment and has asked you whether he has a claim against the neighbor.

Which of the following legal Topics are the most important for you to research before advising the client? Select two.

A. Adverse possession.
B. Conversion.
C. Implied easement.
D. License.
E. Negligence.
F. Trespass.

The answers here are, once again, A (Adverse Possession) and F (Trespass). The question presented is whether the neighbor's fence encroaches (trespasses) on the client's property, and if there is an encroachment, has the neighbor acquired the right to do so through adverse possession. This question is complicated, because trees obscure the boundary (affecting the open and notorious prong), and the neighbor may not have even known if he was obtaining land through adverse possession (in the lingo, did he have the right claim of right?). I could see a student struggling with applying the rules to this question. But on the bar, an applicant only needs to spot the relevant doctrine, and pray they can figure stuff out when in practice.

I worry that these questions are far too simple. If the states end up adopting the NextGen exam, they should increase the cut score (the relevant percentage needed to pass the exam). Finally, I worry how this exam will trickle down to law school pedagogy. Will professors shift their coverage to no longer require memorizing and applying the rules–only spotting issues? It's true that all lawyers have sophisticated tools at their disposal to research different topics. This new format seems to be a surrender to this technology–don't require students to do what they don't have to. I, for one, do not plan to change how I teach for this exam. And state supreme court justices should take a very long pause before adopting this new exam.

An exam proctor will begin studying exam instructions approximately 15 minutes before the exam start time. Students must be in the exam room with their exam at this time. If taking the exam on a laptop, it must be booted up and have passed the security check. Hand writers must not have a laptop with them in an exam room, unless otherwise allowed according to the professor’s instructions. A student entering the exam room after the proctor begins studying instructions will not receive additional time for booting up their laptop, passing the security check, and/or studying exam instructions.

When instructed by the proctor, write your exam number on the cover page of your exam, bluebooks, and any scratch paper you turn in as part of your exam. Handwritten exam answers must be written in blue books in blue or black ink. Number the bluebooks you use (1 of 1, 1 of 2, 2 of 2, etc.). Proctors will allow time to read the professor’s instructions. Other than counting the number of pages of the exam, students are not permitted to turn the page of an exam past the instructions page until the proctor instructs them to do so.

When taking a closed-book exam, no books, outlines, book bags, purses, or scratch paper (other than the scratch paper provided) may be at your seat during the exam. These items must be left outside of the exam room or in the front or sides of the exam room. Students may not begin to write anything, including on scratch paper, before the proctor begins a closed-book exam.

Students taking in-class exams are prohibited from having any electronic communication device, other than a laptop as allowed per the professor's instructions, during the exam. Cell phones and smart watches must be turned off during the exam and placed in a bag or backpack. Violations of this rule may be considered an Honor Code violation. A clock in each exam room will be the official timekeeper for the exam.

Non-alcoholic beverages are permitted in exam rooms; however, the container must have a lid.

After the exam instructions have been read and the exam begins, the proctor will remain in the room. Any student who has a question or problem during an exam should see the proctor.

Students may use the restroom or take a break during an exam. However, all exam materials must be left in the exam room and no additional time will be given. Students must sign in and out at the front of the room with the proctor.