DUKE vs. WILLIAMS?!!!

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Please put forth any opinions because i am close to akldjfalsdkfj due to my indecisiveness and confusion :)</p>

<p>DUKE: coming year i will only have to pay $4700 due to fin aid package, but it will be different for the future because my total family income will increase by like $15000 in the coming year.</p>

<p>WILLIAMS: coming 4 years i will have to pay $4000 a year due to Tyng scholarship, but i must maintain that with at least a B average and i think they also review you financial status each year. though apparently this covers 3 years of my grad school too in w/e field i choose to study.</p>

<p>ME: I have no idea what i wish to pursue in college or beyond that. I am a Chinese American and I can care less about weather, how pretty a campus is, amount of Asians on campus, or what not. I care about where the college is going to get me in life, ie. grad school or jobs, and i care about if I will have a good time/awesome college experience in college as well. Not much of an athlete or an outdoor person, um, yeah.</p>

<p>So, any comments would be incredibly helpful. THANKS!</p>

<p>Oh and I am trying to get a better understanding of this LAC thing, like would my personality fit it?</p>

2

<p>uri, If you said northpole and equator you couldn't get two more different physical environments! </p>

<p>Have you visited Williams and Duke? If yes, then you have a good idea of the differences between the two. If not, do so, right away.</p>

<p>I think you would get a comparable eduation and come out of the experience healthy, wealthy and wise either way. I would say that Williams would be more personalized just because it is smaller and the teacher to student ratio is lower. Duke offers a lot, but you may have to jostle a bit for preferencial treatment that is guaranteed at Williams.</p>

<p>The Tyng is a fabulous opportunity. The Williams name plus the Tyng distinction will not disappoint no matter what field you pursue. Employers and graduate school admissions will recognize the accomplishment. Networking and internship connections are stellar.</p>

<p>Bottom line, you will do the best in the environment in which you feel the most at ease. This goes for student body, geographic location, teaching style -- the whole ambience. Surely, one of these two wildly diverse schools "speaks" to you more than the other. Pick one and don't look back. You can't make a bad decision.</p>

3

<p>hey! I'm also selected as a tyng scholar and is currently making my decision about where to go. I was accepted at Duke also, but I'm mainly deciding between Williams and Dartmouth. </p>

<p>Were you at the dinner for Tyngs for the previews? </p>

<p>Academically, or career-wise, i believe Williams has absolutely no problem competing with Duke. Duke may offer more courses/breadth but williams definitely has the personal attention going for it. So unless you plan to study something Williams doesn't offer, Williams will take you as far/ farther than duke.</p>

<p>Now, Duke is a larger school, in the south, warmer climate, and in not the best city. All of those should be taken into consideration.</p>

<p>Both schools will take you far.. But given the Tyng, i would take it. Things to remember about the Tyng is that it's need based. But it could also be used toward things like purchasing a camera/ laptop if you never go to graduate/professional school, or if it's fully funded.</p>

<p>Good luck w/ your choice.</p>

4

<p>No brainer. The Tyng is an awfully big chunk of change postgrad.</p>

5

<p>This seems like a no brainer in favor of Duke for me. Academically, both schools are top-notch and offer very similarly fantastic post-graduate and job opportunities. However, the difference to you between these schools boils down to the college experience.</p>

<p>Duke will provide you with the better and more wholesome college experience hands down. Duke offers an extremely strong D1 athletics scene, incredible school spirit, a strong Greek community, a more diverse student body in terms of intellectual/career interests and a great social scene in general.</p>

<p>Both schools are amazing academically and if it boils down to the "college experience" for you, then it's Duke hands down. There's a reason why Duke has the 3rd best alumni giving of any school in the country. It's because the quality of the undergraduate experience is matched.</p>

6

<p>I was going to say hands-down Williams. I think Williams offers the best combination of academics and athletics in the country- even though it is D3. The personal attention, beautiful campus and size is ideal. Don't pass it up.</p>

7

<p>Go to Williams.</p>

8

<p>Duke > William without Scholarship</p>

<p>Since you are getting that distinction, I think Williams would be a better choice in this situation.</p>

9

<p>"Duke > William without Scholarship"</p>

<p>Why? It's definitely not a no-brainer. I would probably go the other way; there is really no definitive answer</p>

10

<p>
[quote]
There's a reason why Duke has the 3rd best alumni giving of any school in the country.

[/quote]
It's true that Duke has an impressive alumni giving rate. But the high ranking cited above is only in comparison to other US News "National Universities" -- not all schools in the country.</p>

<p>US News ranks "Liberal Arts Colleges" separately, and the competition there is significantly tougher. A number of LACs have even higher alumni giving rates than Duke, and Williams is one of them.</p>

11

<p>The Tyng scholarship at Williams is one of the most attractive deals offered by any school in the country.</p>

<p>The Tyng not only includes funding for Williams, but also funding for 3 years of postgraduate school after Williams. This will make a serious impression on any postgraduate program that you might care to apply to in the future.</p>

<p>Graduate and professional schools certainly respect Duke degrees. But if you can show them a Williams degree, plus 3 years of outside funding, it will probably impress them even more.</p>

12

<p>"I care about where the college is going to get me in life, ie. grad school or jobs, and i care about if I will have a good time/awesome college experience in college as well."</p>

<p>The price range is slightly different, so I wouldn't even take that into account.</p>

<p>If you want to make lots of connections and have access to MORE top employers, go to Duke. If you want a really LAC-centric education in a small environment, go to Williams.</p>

<p>You'll have more people to be friends with, more extracurricular opportunities, more classes available, and likely more access to networking and recruitment opportunities not available at a smaller school like Williams. </p>

<p>In terms of pure academic strength, they are probably the same. I didn't hesitate to choose Duke (and wouldn't have hesitated to choose another top Uni) over Williams because I was looking for the biggest name...you might be looking for something different.</p>

13

<p>The Tyng will make you very attractive to graduate programs because they will not have to worry as much about funding you with a complete package, instead they can supplement your scholarship. Also, if you got into Williams a "B" average will be no problem as you are obviously a stellar student. Plus you will need a higher GPA just to get into a quality grad program anyway. I say hands down go to Williams. If you can visit I would do so but it sounds like a wonderful opportunity and you don't have to worry about your family income rising. Good Luck and Congrats.</p>

14

<p>Duke, for all its strengths, is often criticized for having a booze-soaked, non-intellectual culture:
newsobserver.com</a> | Duke grapples with 'culture of excess' </p>

<p>You'll also find a more pre-professional climate there. For me, it'd be Williams, even with the money even.</p>

15

<p>
[quote]
Duke offers an extremely strong D1 athletics scene, incredible school spirit, a strong Greek community, a more diverse student body in terms of intellectual/career interests and a great social scene in general.[\quote]</p>

<p>
[quote]
Duke, for all its strengths, is often criticized for having a booze-soaked, non-intellectual culture[\quote]</p>

<p>Two different views of the same experience. You have to decide where you fit in better. Williams, although it has no frats, also has a reputation of a frat-like culture. </p>

<p>Different, but probably equivalent, on average, for your criteria of getting ahead in life, and good college experience. However, there are some students who would love one place and dislike the other.</p>

16

<p>Having a son a Williams I can confidently say that it does NOT have a frat-like culture. In fact, it has an artier culture than it is given credit for.</p>

<p>Williams adcom seems to select for well-rounded kids so kids there do an amazing array of activities, and the student body is not short hair, popped collar preppy at all.</p>

<p>You see plenty of beards, long hairs, etc.</p>

<p>OP: Funded grad school? Go for it. I had to choose a less stellar grad program than I wanted because first year was not funded and had no TAships. So I went to a fully funded grad program, but it was not the Ivy I was accepted at.</p>

<p>I would say the same if the situation were reversed and your scholarship was for Duke.</p>

17

<p>The biggest difference, career-wise, between Duke and Williams is not that one will offer you better networking opportunities than the other. Rather, they each offer fairly equivalent networking opportunities, but focused in different areas of the country. Duke is better networked and connected in the South. Williams is better networked and connected in the Northeast. Everywhere else, it's somewhat of a toss-up.</p>

<p>However, unless you're absolutely positive you want to live and work the rest of your life in one of these two regions of the country, this wouldn't be a great way to determine which of the two schools to go to.</p>

<p>Instead, I would think about fit--which school would be best for you? Williams will provide you with a more personal education--more contact with professors, smaller classes, more opportunities for research/co-publishing/etc. Duke will provide you with a greater breadth of classes and departments--overall, a greater diversity of academic focuses. Both schools have a large amount of school spirit and really come out to support their teams. However, Williams is D3, so the teams will be filled by your friends and classmates. Duke, being D1, will have a little more of an athlete-nonathlete divide (but--depending on the sport--somewhat better quality of play). Socially, Duke is definitely affected by being in the south, just as Williams is affected by being in New England. Both schools have a vibrant social scene, although Duke--being larger--will have a greater number of "raging" parties than Williams (however you want to define that). You won't be bored by either school's on-campus social scene. That brings us to what i believe is the last major difference. Duke is located in a much more urban environment than Williams. This means there is more to do off-campus by way of clubs, bars, restaurants, etc, and less in the way of hiking, canoing, skiing. </p>

<p>I hope that helps--I tried to be as fair as possible in the comparison. I think you'll find people who will tell you that Duke is "way better" in one way or that Williams is "way better" in one way. In reality, the schools are surprisingly on-par with each other in just about every category...sure, there are little advantages or disadvantages, but the biggest differences are geographic and cultural. Ultimately, you should be thinking about which college "feels" better to you, and not try to over think which is the better school (as there really is no clear answer to that). </p>

<p>The Tyng scholarship is clearly a better financial package than what it seems you received at Duke; don't underestimate the benefit of having help with grad school. While this should certainly factor into your decision, it shouldn't be the sole factor--if, after thinking this through, you feel a lot better about going to Duke, you should probably go to Duke.</p>

18

<p>"I am a Chinese American and I can care less about weather, how pretty a campus is, amount of Asians on campus, or what not. I care about where the college is going to get me in life, ie. grad school or jobs, and i care about if I will have a good time/awesome college experience in college as well."</p>

<p>This is smart. I wish more students felt like this.</p>

<p>Anyway, this is a VERY tough call because your financial aid package for Duke is quite good (if it weren't I would go with Williams because of the Tyng. Based on what you have said though, I think you should pick Duke. LAC's are not for everyone. When I visited Williams I was totally turned off by how secluded it is. It is literally in the middle of nowhere and because the school is so small there are less things to do, the campus feels less vibrant (it was almost dead when I went there), and the people didn't seem very happy. Also, everyone kind of knows everyone at Williams (with some exceptions obviously). In terms of post-graduate opportunities, it is a wash, but I would give the slight edge to Duke.</p>

19

<p>Again, abl is giving his toxic advice. There are PLENTY of people that would be happy at both so fit is not the poster's focus and that is perfectly rational, and all of the top schools attract a similar array of students with slight differences (some have more liberals/conservatives, more social people and parties vs. hermits and bookworms, etc., etc.) but I think your line of thinking about which school would be best for graduate school and jobs is CORRECT. Also, Duke will give you better networking opportunities than Williams (ignore that other post). This is both due to size and the industries Duke students tend to gravitate towards. If you want to work at a private secondary school or boarding school as a teacher or dean Williams with give you an edge but for business, law, medicine, engineering, etc. Duke hands down (and in NYC Duke > Williams for sure for networking not just the South, and everywhere else for that matter except Boston).</p>

20

<p>^^ I disagree with this. Williams has a tremendous network all over the northeast in particular. Besides, the OP is likely to go to graduate school, so the undergraduate network loses a lot of its importance. The campuses are so different as are the surroundings. The prestigious scholarship at Williams trumps, if the OP thinks he can be comfortable at the smaller school in the middle of nowhere.</p>