<p>woah woah woah--"toxic advice???" Talk about speaking in hyperbole...
I didn't think that my post really had much in it that could be considered toxic. The idea of "fit" being incredibly important in college decisions is, well, a very widely accepted idea. Sure, tons of students will be happy at tons of schools--"fit" is rarely exclusive. However, there are also tons of people who could be potentially very unhappy at many schools. Consequently, ignoring "fit" altogether is foolish; not every student will be happy everywhere. I did my best to fairly characterize the two schools--two schools that happen to be fairly different from each other. What in my post do you find to be "toxic," davida? </p>
<p>Now, on to the subject at hand: Williams is not in the middle of nowhere; it is in the middle of the beautiful berkshires, one of the most beautiful and culturally vibrant areas of the country. It's not a particular urban area, but there is tons around Williams (Mass MOCA, the Clark museum, Tanglewood, Jacobs Pillow, just to name a few). Like I said, there are fewer clubs, bars, restaurants, live shows, etc around...but there is plenty else to do. </p>
<p>With regards to student happiness, of the COFHE schools exit surveys (which I believe include Duke), Williams ranks first or almost first in nearly every category related to undergraduate satisfaction. Williams students are plenty happy. </p>
<p>Additionally, there are 2,000 students at Williams at any given time. Every year, 500 graduate and another 500 enter. This means that there will be approximately 3,000 students over any four year period at Williams. Good luck getting to know 3,000 students. For that matter, good luck getting to know 500 students over four years. While there will be significantly more "familiar faces" at Williams than at Duke, there will always be tons of new people to meet at either school. Davida is correct in one element about Williams, though--because of its size, there isn't much anonymity...if you're going to get drunk and shout obscenities around campus, people will probably let you know about it the next day at Williams. Perhaps you'll get away with it at Duke (although if I had to bet, it's an insular enough place that it would be difficult there either).</p>
<p>Davida1, I don't know what makes you think that Duke would be better for grad school or professional opportunities. In the WSJ ranking of feeder schools that you love so much, Williams outperforms Duke. Williams is known as being one of the top feeders for ibanking and consulting nationally, and has not only the country's first alumni network, but arguably the strongest. However, I think both Williams and Duke do so well networking and placement that you'd be mistaken to base your decision on that. The difference between Williams outperforming Duke by 2% in the feeder school ranking or Duke outperforming Williams by 2%, is negligible. My original point was that the only regions of the country where you'd see a noticeable difference in networking are the South (where Duke is better) and the Northeast (where Williams is better). </p>
<p>You'll find that your opportunities will be just as wide open whether you go to Duke or to Williams. Basing your decision on very minimal differences in grad school placement or fairly arbitrary notions of "networking" would not be wise, especially when there are fairly significant differences between these schools that will undoubtedly affect your experience and future success far more than a 2% difference in grad school placement or a 4% difference in alumni giving rate.</p>