I say dump both these horribly poor and unsatisfactory law school feeder schools. Re apply to the top three listed for next year. I say Go big or go home.
You’ll be happier.
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I appreciate the candid feedback and psychoanalysis (lol). The decision is mine and I have some great insights and reassurances from the group to move forward! I was wondering if any of the contributors in this discussion were grads of Williams or Bowdoin. Thank you.
I am close to someone who went to Williams and then (after working for a few years) to UPenn law school. He didn’t love Williams but mostly bec he thought it was too jocky and preppy - as an athlete you may like this of course. As a lawyer I agree with all that college you go to doesn’t matter to law firms.
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I am assuming that the coach at Williams is offering support during the upcoming application cycle. Do you have a likely letter or positive pre read from Williams? Without that you could be taking on risk that you will not get accepted to Williams. The coach could decide to leave and put you on a tough spot.
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I definitely know more Williams people than Bowdoin people in my daily life, but that may have to do with the generation I’m part of (cough, Boomer.) I’m just baffled by the fact that you don’t seem to have a personal favorite irrespective of where they stand in the rankings.
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This is negligible.
Both schools are very prestigious. If an employer has heard of Williams, they have heard of Bowdoin.
If you want to take a gap year, go to Williams. If you don’t, go to Bowdoin. There is nothing else that factors in here, apart from personal taste. You are not comparing Williams to East Podunk State U, in which case most people would say wait a year for Williams.
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For now, I want to keep the incoming feedback unbiased from my personal opinions and focused only on the one question I stated in the original thread (does the any academic delta between the two schools justifies a gap year). I think it has been clearly answered by this group.
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This is an important point to consider. If the coach leaves Williams you may not have a spot on the team anymore.
And just to be clear, you would apply to Williams this cycle, then ask for a gap year (assuming you are accepted)? Or will you not apply until next year?
There is definitely more risk in waiting a year to apply.
Note that none of the NESCAC schools give likely letters.
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We see this a fair amount around CC: the idea -the hope! - that there is some data that will give you a strong, objective assessment that will help you identify the “right” answer. What pretty much every post on this thread has done is tell you the opposite: there is no objectively “right” - or wrong!- answer. You have two very strong choices, and the only meaningful differentiating metric is the one you don’t want to face: your personal reaction to each of them, your personal preference for one path or the other.
It is hard and scary to be on the high dive, making a decision that has been held out to you for years as a life-defining decision. It has been both over- and under-sold to you: oversold in that it will not make or break the rest of your future, and undersold in not making it clear how much what you actually do during those four years will matter so much more than which one you go to. Any student who can field these offers already has everything they need to succeed.
So again: trust yourself, dive in and don’t look back. You’ve got this!
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Actually psychoanalysis would be trying to identify the root causes for your seeking anonymous third party advice on CC or deferring to rankings to make a personal decision of consequence. Telling you the schools are peers academically and reputation wise and suggesting you be introspective and follow your gut is simply advice.
Once again good luck.
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If you apply this year, then ask for a gap year, that’s one thing. But if you are waiting to apply, that’s hugely risky in terms of athletic recruiting. The nescacs get only a certain number of recruits across all sports each year, and you don’t know what next year’s landscape will be.
That aside, I happened to sit by former Williams Dean (now president of another university). He, his wife, and their kids all went to Williams. They love Williams. But they said they’ve seen a change over the years. It used to be that kids picked the school for fit. Now, more are choosing to attend because of it’s #1 ranking, even though it might not be the best fit. Which has changed the character of the school, as well as the satisfaction of the students.
You seem like you are falling into that bucket.
Because the academics are a wash, people are rightly telling you to focus on other things.
My own athletic recruit in the end was choosing between Williams and another school. One thing we did was look at surveys of student happiness etc. Williams is fine but not that highly rated. I realize the surveys are flawed but the sheer numbers do provide a data point. I believe that’s because many students there don’t pay as much attention to fit, so they aren’t as happy.
Williams seems to me to be a very particular kind of school, that for the right student would be unparalleled. And for one that’s not quite right, an ok experience, but not one as good as they might have had at another school.
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I know I am not replying to your original question, but as a recruited athlete where do you fall within the team? Have you visited and met the coach in person, team mates, viewed practice facilities? Do you have a complete understanding of the practice schedule and does either school put restrictions on courses (ie: no labs) during season? I presume the gap year request is due to a full roster - maybe I am wrong?
Your sport will take up a large amount of time and most likely the other athletes will be part of your friend group. Where do you fit? Balancing a sport and high academics is viewed very positively by employers and I would think by graduate programs too - but don’t know for a fact.
You have 2 amazing - but different choices (location being a big one) and I would think there must be a preference for 1 program (for your sport) over the other.
A sport gap year is no guarantee and others have pointed out the potential risks. If it is a risk worth taking, then you have must have a backup plan with communication to other programs, imo.
As a recruited athlete, I do hope your intention is to contribute to the team and not just looking at this as an admission bump.
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Overall they are peers, so initially I would say to go ahead and choose Bowdoin if the gap year is a big deal to you.
But just to be sure:
- Are the tutorials at Williams – the ability to have an occasional course with just one other student and the professor – something you would value highly?
and
- Does Williams have a considerable advantage in terms of available majors and courses/curriculum?
If the answer to both is “no”, and you dislike the idea of a gap year, I’d go ahead and enroll at Bowdoin.
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Thank you. All good valid points. In this thread I am only trying to gauge if there is any significant academic quality difference between the two schools. It does not seem to be the case.
Thank you. Out of curiosity, why Williams is a very particular school and Bowdoin is not? I understand the location might play some (significant) role, but honestly Williamstown you get to fully explore in a week and Brunswick in a month. Yes, Portland is relatively close but requires traveling. I live my whole life in a big city, so I find both towns small and smaller and therefore location is not a huge deciding factor because both fall in the “small” category.
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You need to do more research about the vibe of each of these schools. They aren’t the same. Williams is a bit more of an “old money” environment, though definitely less so than it used to be. I’d say that Bowdoin is probably a little more relaxed. I’m sure others have different opinions though.
The bottom line is do you want to wait a year for something that may not happen? I can tell you that virtually everyone who has responded here has seen more than one athletic recruiting situation fall through. Personally, there is no way I’d wait a gap year for Williams if Bowdoin is a sure thing.
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Thank you. Both are sure. I am under the gun though as I need to reply to one of them very soon.
Forgive my pessimism, but a bird in hand is worth two in the bush. I’d take the bird in hand over waiting another year and possibly having to start over again.
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I agree with the proverb if one of them was not 100% sure. Now the question is if I want to take a gap year (for which I am not super thrilled about although parents say it could be a great experience if it’s planned well).
What are your academic interests? This could make a difference, but ultimately, you may need to resort to the coin flip. If you feel disappointed about the result, there’s your answer. Quite frankly, I think it’s clear that you prefer Bowdoin. Unless Williams offers something that you absolutely can’t get at Bowdoin, you will not be compromising by going to Bowdoin.
FWIW, my D goes to Williams and did not get into Bowdoin and has a friend who had the opposite result. They’re both happy at their respective schools. This is just to reiterate that while the schools are different, there is tremendous overlap in the applicants and quality of students.
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