<p>I am absolutely torn between Haverford and Williams and am on the verge of doing ini mini minee moe (flipping a coin is so passe') to determine my fate. I live five minutes from Haverford and my bro goes there so i know quite a bit about the school and love the campus' feel and have yet to find a community that I love more than the Haverford one. However, I plan on majoring in history or possibly econ and as I looked through the course catalogs, I can't help but notice that Williams' class offerings are simply more enticing and cover more areas that I'm interested in (don't get me wrong I've also looked at Bryn Mawr courses). Regardless of the course offerings, academically these two schools seem identical to me and I will have to work real hard. Haverford already feels so comfortable for me and I feel that I will be taking a big risk by going to Williams (a school I know less about). I really don't know what to do and some comparisons and contrasts between these two schools would be very helpful to me and I would appreciate it (especially comparing the student bodies and social atmosphere). Thanks so much</p>
<p>I don't know anything about Williams, but one thing to keep in mind is that you may change your mind about your major. :) I know I did! So don't pick your college based 100 percent on how strong it is at your choice majors. It's something to consider, of course, especially if you're pretty sure what you're interested in, but you never know what you'll actually end up doing.</p>
<p>Yep, it's not wise to settle on a major now, and regardless of what your major may be, you will very likely end up in a completely unrelated field of employment.</p>
<p>I really think Haverford is unique among the excellent liberal colleges, because of the size and quality of its community and campus.</p>
<p>Both are academically rigorous, as you noted.</p>
<p>Socially, both Williams and Haverford are campus-centric.
But, if you've learned enough about Ford, and its love of honesty, integrity, respect, then you'll know that all those values are manifested in its students. At no other school is such crazy emphasis put on these ideals, so I personally think it makes for an awesome community.</p>
<p>How important is location to you? </p>
<p>HC is an easy train ride away from a major city and is in the north east corridor (NYC-PH-DC). This greatly expands one’s college experience beyond the campus and the ivory tower. Educational and life experiences can be obtained off campus more easily and resources such as visiting speakers/artists/politicians/scholars add breadth/depth and new perspectives to what you can learn in the classroom. Location is one of HC’s greatest and most unique resources given BMC and the NE corridor. </p>
<p>Regarding curriculums, if you were strongly considering a major like theater, I’d recommend Williams as its theater program is tops and significantly better. However, econ and history are pretty bread and butter and, in this setting, things like campus culture and location distinguish the 2 schools more significantly. </p>
<p>Some don’t mind remoteness… others will.
Some don’t think HC’s (Quaker) traditions will enhance their college education… others do.</p>
<p>I don't know that much about the two schools--but HC Alum makes a good point about location. Williams is really in the middle of nowhere (beautiful, from all I've heard, but in a tiny town not near any city--it also doesn't have the benefits of, say, Amherst, which is part of the 5 colleges.). From some posts in other threads, the transportation also seems to be a bit of a pain. Haverford has much better access to cities/transportation, etc.--if that's important to you.</p>
<p>Of course, Williams also has some things in terms of setting that Haverford may not. Skiing, for example, and breathtaking natural beauty.</p>
<p>I wouldn't think location is a make-or-break choice, but it's definitely something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>Did you get to visit/spend some time at Williams? I would think that would help your decision, as well.</p>
<p>Good luck deciding! :)</p>
<p>Just to complete my line of thought as I have more time now…</p>
<p>What does “education” mean to you? </p>
<p>I think you have to really think hard about this as it means different things to different people. If you define an “education” solely on “academics”, “book learning”, the course catalog, and what can be learned in a classroom… there are a few other colleges that can be argued to provide as good, if not better, “academic” experience than HC (please note I’m being generous with this as, in terms of academics, numerous departments at HC, BMC, HC/BMC hold their weight with any LAC comparison and alums include the current dean of faculty at both Williams and Princeton and the current head of the biomedical research program at Hopkins)…</p>
<p>However, I believe a college education should (and can) go beyond this conventional definition. HC has 2 large (+)s going for it to enhance “education”. Like I said before, location is a tremendous asset for academic learning and also for life learning. </p>
<p>If you search the academic calendar at HC, you’ll see that HC draws a spectacular # of visitors to campus who provide fresh perspectives to students to complement what they learn in their classes and add context. In the last semester alone, physicians from Penn and Temple have come to speak about their research, faculty from Princeton, Columbia, NYU, Georgetown, Harvey Mudd, Yale, ect as well, Nobel laureates, diplomats, artists… double this cause BMC is next door. It’s much harder for a school many hours away from a major city (and snowed in ½ the academic year) to attract such individuals to campus. </p>
<p>Life learning… I think one weakness of elite colleges is that the experience can sometimes promote an “ivory tower” mentality. If your daily contacts are academic professors with PhDs from elite universities and classmates who graduated top 10%, are NMFs, with great SATs, there are certain skill sets that you will not develop… namely how to talk/relate to 99% of people in the US without such credentials and how to bridge academic theory to practice. Given HC’s location, opportunities are readily available for students not to be cloistered away… work in an HIV center, teach at a prison or an underserved high school, go down to DC for a political rally, or just go to Philly for a club, concert or First Friday and hang out with normal people... you know, people who don't know what "HYP" means. Seriously.</p>
<p>Finally, campus culture is the other educational resource… I want to address this too as it's important, but later... or have you already decided?</p>
<p>Thanks HC alum,</p>
<p>Actually both Williams and Haverford gave me a few more days to make a decision (has to do with fin. aid which was turned in late) so im still in the deciding process; however, your posts along with everyone else's posts have been very informative and helpful, thanks again.</p>
<p>did you decide?</p>