<p>Just got offered a spot off the Williams waitlist, and I dont know what to do. Any comments on differences between the schools socially, academically, etc. would be helpful!</p>
<p>Both are wonderful, but in my opinion Williams has the edge. I have not been to Bowdoin, but I have been to Williams, and I believe it offers a great college experience. It has a strong athletic focus, though. Bowdoin does, too, in some sports, but Williams to a greater degree. If you care about prestige, Williams has the edge, but both are excellent.</p>
<p>I do not play a team sport, but I am definitely an outdoor enthusiast. However I've heard that Williams' social life is very centered around team sports... does anyone know how true this is?</p>
<p>I must say, unequivocally, that Williams is the best choice. Nothing bad about Bowdoin, but Williams has a further reaching and more prestigious reputation on the national level.</p>
<p>I know this from firsthand experience.</p>
<p>Prestige is not very important to me, so Altair, do you have any other reasons why Williams would be the best choice?</p>
<p>if u dont care about prestige, or possible placement after graduation then its a wash, so why not jsut choose Williams...</p>
<p>They are very, very similar. Williams is a bit more isolated. The vast overwhelming majority of people, including employers, will not have heard of either (I'm a Williams grad, and have worked on the east coast, midwest, and west coast, and in 35 years, I've never had an employer in any of those locations who'd ever heard of it). There are certain programs at Williams that are superb - art history is famous, math, astronomy/astrophysics. Languages are sub-mediocre (I doubt they'd be in the top 30 of LACs). Both schools will be strong in the humanities, social sciences, and basic sciences. (You already knew that.) Counting JV and intercollegiate club sports, roughly 50% of the Williams student body is involved in competitive sports. </p>
<p>Go where you'll feel most comfortable, and challenged.</p>
<p>I'm trying to choose the place where I'll have the best experience... I care a lot more about the quality of the 4 years I'll spend college then being able to impress people with its name.</p>
<p>Although you may not like the reasons for going to Williams, I can't really think of any for going to Bowdoin, so...</p>
<p>For what it's worth, people at Bowdoin are extremely friendly. More so than any other place I've seen.</p>
<p>I definitely got the same feeling when I visited</p>
<p>Maybe you should visit Williams.. Didnt you originally do ED there?</p>
<p>this thread has been funny so far. the wisdom presented has, for the most part, been: if everything is equal go to williams. but everything isn't equal. </p>
<p>williams is more prestigious. this is true. but they are both two of the most well regarded LACs in the country. the difference is likely equivalent to that between harvard and columbia. both, however, garner nothing close to the name recognition of those two. williams, while sitting on a better reputation is nevertheless an LAC, and will raise no more signs of recognition in the general population than bowdoin. </p>
<p>location. bowdoin, i think, wins here, although this is a personal preference. the size of brunswick and bowdoin's proximity to portland provides far more opportunities than williamstown. they are both schools of outdoor enthusiasts, however. when i think of outing clubs, i think of bowdoin as having one of the best in the nation up there with the dartmouth outing club. i don't think the same about williams. again, if this is an interest, you should do some comparison shopping. </p>
<p>athletics. williams wins here, as it will against any DIII school in the country. it is indisputably the best balance of academics and athletics anywhere in any division. the result is a sports heavy community, but remember that the students are athlete scholars. </p>
<p>student body. this will be entirely subjective. i went to bowdoin, so please take my opinions with a grain of salt. i looked at williams but didn't apply. i liked the community at bowdoin and have always been happy to say i went there. i think it is a special community and people like bowdoin for specific reasons, not just because it's indisputably great or the best. i'm sure there are people who think the same about williams. nevertheless, i think bowdoin is a uniquely authentic place. </p>
<p>ultimately you should visit, but if prestige is not important to you (in the hair-splitting way in which it makes a difference between these two schools) i would recommend you go with the place you feel most comfortable. i had friends at bowdoin who got into williams and were very happy with their decision. try to choose on what's right for you. </p>
<p>i hope you're happy wherever you end up. :)</p>
<p>oh, and congratulations!</p>
<p>Williams' outing club is, without a doubt, equal to Bowdoin's.</p>
<p>However, with that said, I agree with pb2002 on almost all other counts. Williams will open a couple more doors from you than Bowdoin (and my experience couldn't differ more than Mini's--I graduated last spring and already have had 3-4 jobs and opportunities become available solely because of Williams' name and the alumni network), but for the most part, your experience in and after college will be shaped far more by things like who your friends are and what extracurriculars you participate in, than by anything else. </p>
<p>Bottom line: go where you feel in your gut would be best for you.</p>
<p>Mini you haven't operated in circles where Williams is known, without being rude. Its not Williams fault. In my world (we have a Williams guy) there's a great reputation around the school.</p>
<p>Excuse me, but how would you know? (The circle must be AWFULLY small not to have included me, given my employment history, including major cities on the east coast, Chicago, and the west/northwest.) But no, it isn't Williams' fault, and I received a terrific education there. </p>
<p>The closest I ever got was an employer in Philadelphia who said, "Ah, yes. William and Mary. My wife and I once went to Williamsburg."</p>
<p>I am make no claim that Bowdoin would be any better (and there isn't any "Bowdoin and Mary"). Both virtually unknown outside very small circles.</p>
<p>Even in Texas many people know Williams, so your experience is not typical. I have met more than hundred people who knew Williams since my son was accepted ed to Williams 3 years ago. (Therefore, you don't need to 'boast' your experience. You'd better find some nice ways to explain your alma mater.) After my son was accepted Williams, some of my friends sometimes did 'research' on Williams, and they said afterwards that they realized how great the college was.
This year S2 was accepted to Middlebury, so they had to 'google' Middlebury.
And they asked me how I found the college.
Obviously it's not better than boasting big college names, but it has its own virtue and fun.</p>
<p>If you look at a very small circle of relatively well-heeled, well-educated folks, with children who are looking at out-of-state private colleges, you will find them. (though you won't find anywhere near that level of knowledge among public school guidance counselors, though it will be higher among private schools). You will also find a small number of folks in banking/investments (who serve the same families) who know of the school. And you will find folks at graduate schools who know, because Williams grads are very adept (as they would be had they attended other schools as well.)</p>
<p>But this is a tiny, tiny slice of the population, and of potential employers. </p>
<p>Luckily, I haven't found a need to "explain" my alma mater. It has never been an issue - neither in the publishing world, non-profit human relations world, public health world, or state government, where I've spent the past 35 years. Occasionally, when I tell friends where I live now where I went to school, they think I said "Whitman", and since Whitman has a great reputation where I live, I don't disabuse them of the idea.</p>
<p>Then why do you "disabuse" the idea of people who think Williams has name recognition of its own? Do you remember your previous post (maybe posts) with the same topic?</p>
<p>Bowdoin has better food, while Williams has a nicer campus (in my opinion).</p>