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Report on Back to School Survey
Smart girls decide for themselves™.
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a whole lot of questions about going back to school. They had a lot to tell us - here's what they had to say.
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1361 SmartGirls shared their thoughts with us.
22 Boys responded to the survey.
People from 31 different countries responded to the Back to School Survey.
Most of the SmartGirls who responded are the oldest child in their families
515 are the oldest child
244 are the middle child
446 are the youngest child
164 are an only child
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While SmartGirls of all ages took this survey - more 13 year olds took it than any other age!
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| Age of participants in Back to School Survey |
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Most SmartGirls are attending the same school. Almost 1000 SmartGirls will be going to the same school while 422 SmartGirls are attending a new school.
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| Are you attending a new school? |
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a lot of SmartGirls graduated. Congratulations! Other reasons why SmartGirls are going to different schools are that they've moved, or are changing from public to private schools, or vice versa. Some lucky SmartGirls are now going to special schools.
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Other popular types of schools are private schools, or all-girls schools. Some of you are even homeschooled!
Most SmartGirls said anyone could attend their school. Others said prospective students had to apply, take an exam, or audition to get in.
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| What type of school do SmartGirls attend? |
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count | percent |
school type
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| private |
201 | 13.4 |
| public |
1095 | 73 |
| boarding |
13 | 0.87 |
| military |
1 | 0.07 |
| specialty |
12 | 0.8 |
| charter |
9 | 0.6 |
| magnet |
26 | 1.73 |
| homeschool |
19 | 1.27 |
| all girls |
74 | 4.93 |
| all boys |
2 | 0.13 |
| other |
48 | 3.2 |
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7% of SmartGirls live at school.
29% of SmartGirls live just close enough to walk.
46% of SmartGirls live too far to walk.
19% of SmartGirls live faaaaaar away!
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| How close SmartGirls live to their schools |
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Most SmartGirls' schools hold about 500-1000 students. That's a lot of people!
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| Number of students in SmartGirls' schools |
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Seems like a lot of SmartGirls don't care about going back to school at all. Still, the rest are pretty excited!
Here are some reasons SmartGirls gave about why they're excited to go back.
47% Friends
14% New People
8% Getting Out of the House
8% Other
7% Learning
7% New Clothes
5% Performing Arts
3% Sports
.008% Clubs
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| How excited are SmartGirls about going back to school? |
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When we asked SmartGirls what their biggest fear was, we got a lot of different responses.
"I'm afraid about taking so many AP classes this year, writing my college applications, getting accepted to college, and trying to still be able to handle after school classes, work, and friends."
"That everyone will have in no way progressed and still be sheep, that I'm still taller than all the guys. That my teachers will still be unpolitically correct, meaning I will have to endure racist, sexist, homophobic and socially deprecating comments from teachers and I'll be the only rebel to correct them. UNIFORMITY-the fact you are penalised for wearing a innocently coloured scarf whilst half the girls are free to wear high heels and minis."
"That I will get lost trying to find my classes and riding the bus."
"That I won't find my classes."
"The teachers."
"Not having any classes with friends."
"Grades!!!"
SmartGirls are most anxious about FAILING!
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| Anxieties |
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Again, it looks like most SmartGirls really aren't all that happy OR sad about going back to school. Still, a good percentage of respondents were, in fact, happy--but even more were anxious or nervous!
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| Emotions About Back-To-School |
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33% of schools do nothing
37% of schools hold an assembly
10% of schools have a dance
5% of schools have a pep rally or do other things
3% of schools have a party
.006% of schools do something with food
.005% of schools have orientation or church or homecoming!
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SmartGirls do lots of different things before school starts! Here are just a few:
"I jog around the neighborhood, put on make-up, and stretch. Also study my map."
"Traditionally, we spend a lot of time buying new clothes/shoes/supplies, and save them in a special bag until the night before school starts. The last day of summer vacation my family spends the day together, goes on a day trip or to a movie and out to dinner, something special. Then we all sit down and put together our backpacks for the morning, and my younger sisters mark their names on their supplies. Also, they pick out a special cereal for the morning. In the morning we all put on our "first day of school" outfits and take pictures in front of our house. My sister and I also like to get back-to-school haircuts. This year, however, I am merely an observer in the process. My first day of school will pass with little fanfare. I'm buying few new clothes and only the supplies I really need. I'm moving into the dorms two weeks before classes start, so how my "first day" will pass is anybody's guess. I'll be so busy with marching band that I probably won't even notice."
"I iron my uniform and set it on the bed. I call some friends to make sure we all can walk to school together. I also get my books and other supplies in my bookbag."
"I listen to my favorite mix CD to put me in a good mood."
"I get ready to work hard so I can pay attention in class, get all A's and get all my home work turned in on time and getting ready to do some serious studying."
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Overwhelmingly YES!
Here are some things that SmartGirls like to buy before school starts.
20% School Supplies
16% Shoes
15% Clothes
14% Backpack
8% Makeup
7% Planner
5% Purse
5% School uniform
3% Sporting goods
3% Lunchbox
2% Other
>1% Computer
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| Back-to-School Shopping |
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Many SmartGirls don't really have to think about what to wear on the first day of school because they have to wear uniforms - 376 SmartGirls to be exact.
Most SmartGirls rely on their own fashion sense when getting ready for the first day of school - 641 SmartGirls to be exact.
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| Who helps you figure out what to wear on the first day of school? |
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SmartGirls are busy people! Here are just a few of the extra curricular activities that they participate in!
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| Extra Curricular Activities |
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SmartGirls will be taking a wide variety of courses this year. You will find over 1000 SmartGirls taking math and science classes!
SmartGirls have a variety of favorite classes. Art and Drama are pretty popular classes! 166 SmartGirls listed art as their favorite class, followed by drama with 145 votes, followed by physical education with 117 votes.
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| What's your favorite class? |
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SmartGirls are busy people! They are taking a bunch of classes!
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| How many classes will you take this year? |
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these are the courses that SmartGirls have to take! They don't get a choice!
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| How many required courses are you taking this year? |
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SmartGirls get to choose some of their classes. Here's what we found out when we asked SmartGirls how many electives they get to take this year.
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| How many electives do you get to take this year? |
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Here's what we found out . . .
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| Class Rank |
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It may come as no surprise that SmartGirls are most motivated to do work at the start of the school year. We asked SmartGirls when they were most motivated to do school work:
893 SmartGirls - Beginning of School Year
269 SmartGirls - Middle of School Year
176 SmartGirls - End of School Year
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Smartgirls were asked how they would respond to a bully picking on their friend on the bus. Here are some of your responses...
"I would walk over, introduce myself to them, and try to change the subject. Then, when everyone's friendly, I would tell them not to make fun of my friend anymore."
"To tell the truth.....I would be scared!! I would probably just stand there for a little bit....then after a couple of minutes I would look at them and say to my friend in a loud voice "JUST IGNORE THEM...THEY HAVE THE POPULAR JERK SYNDROM" and try to make her happy again."
"I would ignore them and tell my friend she looks great in front of the popular kids."
" I would Stand up for them. I mean the popular kids aren't perfect either."
"I might have connections with the people who are picking on my friend, so I'd try to talk to them. I'd also try to give my friend tips on solving the problem."
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Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts
with us!
Please remember that all web-based polls
are not scientific because the pollsters cannot randomly select the
respondents to participate in the surveys.
All our surveys are anonymous; check out our privacy
policy. All data copyright 1996-2000.
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