<p>I’ve recently been accepted to all three schools, and I have no idea which to choose. I plan on majoring in the Classics (6 years of latin in HS) and Gov, and I’ll probably be picking up a few languages in college as well. I’m an outdoorsy person, sort of athletic but not enough to play a sport (just intramurals). I definitely need somewhere with a vibrant social scene. Any feedback?</p>
<p>Willams and Bowdoin are both liberal arts colleges (LAC), so comparing these two first would make more sense. Personally, I think Williams is better. It is ranked the #1 LAC and has great departments in almost every major, though the mathematics department is the true standout star. It is a very outdoorsy and sporty school, as students tend to take advantage of the great Berkshire mountains Williams is situated in. It is D3, meaning all the varsity athletics are no where near comparable to the Ivy League, but about half the campus is involved in either varsity or intramural athletics. Bowdoin is a great school, and no disrespect to it, but almost everything about Williams outshines Bowdoin… including in grad school and job placement. </p>
<p>Now - Williams v. Brown. What do you plan on doing after college? I’d say Williams provides greater career prospects, as alumni of Williams tend to show preference to fellow grads. The alumni giving rate is testament to this fact. Also, on Wall Street, Williams is often though of as an HYP equivalent, so if that’s the path you want to take, there should be no question. Brown has a stronger anti-institution and establishment culture, so entering many supposed greedy or corrupt professions is looked down upon by the student body, though not incredibly so. </p>
<p>Socially, it depends on what you’re looking for. Brown kids are very liberal, so pot-smoking and naked dance parties do exist. They don’t at Williams. Both are very socially vibrant student bodies, but do remember that Williams is in Williamstown (population 8,000) while Brown is in Rhode Island’s only city and capital, Providence. </p>
<p>If you plan on picking up a few languages, I imagine you’re going to have to take a lot of language classes. If that’s the case, Brown’s open curriculum will suit you. There are no requirements to graduate besides those that your major asks for, so the you have a lot of freedom in terms of class choice. </p>
<p>Congrats on your success. Acceptance at these great schools is no small feat! Good luck on making final decisions.</p>
<p>Congratulations on being admitted to three fantastic schools! Years prior, I faced the choice between Brown and Williams, among a few others. I am now at Brown, so obviously I will be more knowledge about what is distinctive about Brown, but I will do my best to be as objective as is possible; two of my friends ended up at Williams, so between that and Previews I have a pretty good understanding of Williams. My first piece of advice would be to attend Previews and ADOCH if at all possible. In all likelihood this will very much help your decision. I know at Brown, ADOCH is entirely planned by the students, not the admission office, so it is quite a good window on life at Brown.
But, if you cannot attend both, here are three key distinctions between the schools, from my experience.
- Academics: Williams is a small Liberal Arts College, with 2000 students, all undergraduates. Brown is sort of a hybrid between a research university and a LAC with 6000 undergrads and just under 2000 graduate students (indeed College Board groups Brown as a “A medium-sized… private university and liberal arts college”). This means Brown is going to offer a greater variety of classes and the like, whereas Williams will probably offer you a bit more hand-holding. Brown is going to offer more flexibility in determining your courses with the Open Curriculum, whereas Williams has general-ed requirements and offers its distinctive Tutorials. Both colleges require all professors to teach undergrads. Both have superb academics overall. While Brown as an Ivy has more “street-cred,” when push comes to shove, both offer you a fantastic foundation for either grad school or a move straight to full-time employment.
- Student Body: Both schools are overwhelmingly residential. Williams has a much, much higher percentage of athletes due to its smaller size and its pride in being Div III’s athletic ‘powerhouse’ (a bit of an oxymoron to be sure). Williams has a reputation as more preppy and Brown as more quirky, but there are plenty of quirky people at Williams if prep isn’t your thing and visa versa at Brown. Brown, as a larger school in a city, has in absolute terms more diversity of students in regards to interests as well as background - this gives it a much more ‘liberal’ feel. As noted above, if your idea of fun is a naked party, there will be people at Brown for you to do that with. If you would rather go on a Model United Nations or Ice-climbing trip instead, Brown has enough similarly-interested students to make that possible as well.
- Location: Williams is in a BEAUTIFUL, remote valley in the far corner of Massachusetts, with easy access to mountains and skiing. Brown is located on the I-95 corridor, with super-easy train access to Boston and reasonably easy access to NY. While Providence is by no means a metropolis, it dwarfs Williamstown. This means there are many more off-campus social opportunities at Brown, and by contrast social life at Williams is much more college-centered. Put bluntly, at Brown the phrase “night on the town” has meaning. At Williams, it does not.
Sorry if this post is a bit long, I was trying to be as thorough and equal-handed as possible. At the end of the day, while the schools certainly have some large differences, they are similar in that you can get a fantastic, transformative education at both. Hope this post helps! Good luck with your choice - it’s certainly a happy one to have!</p>