Can you please chance me at Williams and Hamilton? I am trying to decide whether to ED1 Williams or Hamilton. I have a lot of legacy at Williams (Father, Grand father and Aunt on my Mom’s side) but have coach support from Hamilton. The coach at Williams said I can walk on if I get in, but would not do a pre-read for me. It is nice to be wanted at Hamilton and I really like the school, but would love to go to Williams but am worried about an unsupported application. I am also nervous because I had a negative pre-read at Bowdoin.
ACT (taken October Junior year) 34
GPA 3.70 unweighted (all AP and honors courses) 4.10 weighted from a fairly well known prep school
Decent ECs- editor of school newspaper, Eagle Scout, part time job throughout school year and summer, lots of volunteer hours through Boy Scouts and other non Boy Scout related organizations
Should have decent recommendations
Honestly, I think it was my unweighted GPA. Unweighted, freshman year was a 3.75, sophomore year 3.5 (rough) and junior year (when I got my act together) 3.86. I don’t know if they really looked at my transcript to see all honors or AP. My school does not rank.
In my opinion, as presented in this thread, you are a very well qualified applicant for both Williams College and Hamilton College. Applying ED is the key.
I would also worry about an unsupported Williams ED app, especially because of the surprising (IMO) Bowdoin negative pre-read.
Beyond the legacy connection, have your dad or other family members regularly donated money, or supported the school in other ways?
Would you be happy taking the Hamilton recruiting spot, or would you also wonder what if if you didn’t apply to Williams? Would the Hamilton coach support your app in the EDII round?
Both my father and grand father have been very active alums- my father has chaired his reunion several times, has been an Alum Class President, etc. Neither has donated large amounts of money (probably $500-$2000 a year) but regular donators. Initially, Hamilton said they would support ED1 but I do plan to ask if they would support ED2.
Congratulations on a strong record and test scores. You are definitely in the running for Williams, so should apply ED. Your record is strong enough that Hamilton is a very likely accept, so no need to use the ED1 slot, you are likely to be accepted in the regular round.
You did see the part about the negative pre-read at Bowdoin, correct?
The only way that OP has ‘a very likely’ chance of admission at Hamilton, a school that is a reach for all with an 18% acceptance rate, is as a recruited athlete with full coach support. OP has to find out if that full coach support would extend to ED2 or RD. Typically the quid is for EDI, but this year there may be more flexibility. Only the coach knows.
What do Naviance and your College Advisor say? You are a strong candidate, but Williams rejects many strong candidates. It would be helpful if you could compare yourself to other applicants from your school.
It sounds like Williams is your true first choice and given your legacy status, I would recommend that you apply ED. FWIW, my D (not an athlete nor a legacy, unhooked, from an overrepresented state) was accepted RD to Williams last year and rejected by Bowdoin, just one of example of the vagaries of holistic admissions. D had a 4.0 UW GPA, 1460 SAT (770 V / 690 M) which she submitted to Bowdoin and applied as a humanities student. We toured both schools and she did the optional Bowdoin video question and had an alumni interview.
Also, D was accepted to a competitive SLAC where she is a double legacy, whose parents have been similarly involved as your dad. Again, you can’t leap to conclusions from one school to the next, but I do think legacy status at SLACs is different than at bigger schools. Good luck!
As something statistical to consider, in U.S. News Williams and Hamilton tied by their selectivity rank this year, at #5, with Bowdoin appearing at #8. Based on this, in deciding between between Williams and Hamilton, most potential applicants might want to ignore strategic considerations in planning where to apply. In your case, however, legacy and athletic recruitment aspects might give you a significant advantage at one school and a near-guarantee at the other.
Do you care about playing your sport? Do you actually like Williams or Hamilton more or are you twisted up with Williams because it’s been the “best” for so long?
If you want to play. Apply to Hamilton. If you LOVE Williams because you’ve been going to homecoming since you were 2 apply to Williams.
Please don’t try to make a choice on the name brand of either school. Both are prestigious enough that you won’t have any issue getting your first job.