College Profile: Southern Methodist University

While visiting colleges in person has not been an option in the past year, our team has been busy with virtual conferences and webinars with college admission professionals and faculty. Here is an overview of our recent virtual visit to Southern Methodist University.

Southern Methodist University

PC: Michael Barera, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

A beautiful green campus near the heart of Dallas, Southern Methodist University hosts 6710 undergrads, 37 percent hail from Texas and five percent are international. It is not a religious institution; the name reflects its founding. There are five schools within the university—engineering, business, education and human development, humanities and sciences, and arts.

Except for business, students are admitted to the overall university. Prospective business majors are first admitted to the university and are then notified about business admission a week later. If not admitted into business, students can indicate another major, and the minor in business is open to all. Note that if students are not admitted to business out of high school it is rare that they would successfully transfer into the business school once at SMU. Economics is an alternative option to business.

The engineering college has 28 specializations in engineering, any of which can be turned into a four-plus one bachelor/master combined program. The BFA programs in visual and performing arts (portfolio and auditions required) are highly regarded. There are a range of disciplines within communication arts, as well as a BA in film with no portfolio requirement. Education majors must double major with the subject they want to teach. There is a new major in data analytics, and human rights is considered a hidden gem major. There are study abroad options for all majors, and each college has its own career center.

Greek life is prominent attracting 40 percent of the student body. Students are required to live on campus for the first two years. Residential Commons include both freshmen and sophomores and represent all majors. There is a faculty member who resides in each common, and they host weekly events, typically around food, and develop relationships with students as mentors.

The middle 50 percent of admitted students have a GPA of 3.44 to 3.93 unweighted on a 4.0 scale, with an SAT of 1300 to 1450, or ACT of 29 to 33.