<p>How does Williams compare to regular schools? Is it on the same level academically as Harvard? Columbia? NYU? etc.</p>
<p>What about Wellesley? And Swarthmore? </p>
<p>Thanks! It's hard to know how they compare to other schools because they're not ranked together.</p>
<p>top LACs compare to top uni's academically. mediocre LACs compare to mediocre Unis academically. crappy LACs compare to crappy unis academically.</p>
<p>bout it. you cant compare williams to harvard/nyu/columbia - they're immensly different.</p>
<p>however, do note there are more top unis than top LACs. i think the drop off of quality is greater in the LACs than in the Unis as you go lower in rankings.</p>
<p>A top LAC will be rewarding and is certainly respected. The ones that you mention would certainly be considered among the best by the general public, CCers and academics alike.</p>
<p>"top LACs compare to top uni's academically. mediocre LACs compare to mediocre Unis academically. crappy LACs compare to crappy unis academically.</p>
<p>bout it. you cant compare williams to harvard/nyu/columbia - they're immensly different.</p>
<p>however, do note there are more top unis than top LACs. i think the drop off of quality is greater in the LACs than in the Unis as you go lower in rankings."</p>
<p>Spot on.</p>
<p>Williams and its immediate LAC peers (Swarthmore, Amherst, Pomona) are generally seen as being on par with the group of schools clumped behind HYPSMC - schools like Duke, Columbia, Dartmouth and Northwestern. So I suppose you could say that, at the undergraduate level, Williams isn't quite as good as Harvard, about as good as Columbia, and better than NYU. However, there are many factors to consider in picking an undergraduate institution. Academics are just one. If you feel like the environment at Williams is one you'd enjoy and one in which you'd thrive, then aim to go to Williams. If not, then go somewhere else. If you've got "what it takes" you'll succeed at any good university.</p>
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Williams and its immediate LAC peers (Swarthmore, Amherst, Pomona) are generally seen as being on par with the group of schools clumped behind HYPSMC - schools like Duke, Columbia, Dartmouth and Northwestern.
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<p>I don't think so. WAS are definitely on par with HYPS. </p>
<p>By what criteria are you making this statement?</p>
<p>its just personal preference really. some students wouldnt be caught dead at a small LAC, whereas others couldnt be paid to attend a larger university.</p>
<p>As far as prestige, that's pretty much completely subjective...I chose a top LAC over top universities because I heard all of this emphasis on "small class sizes". I honestly didn't really see the advantage. As a first-year student though, the advantage is made quite obvious: my professors LOVE seeing students during office hours and constantly make themselves available. My "first year academic adviser", a leading scholar in her field with a full professorship and a research fellow at Harvard, met with me to talk about how college was going so far: that's not so likely to happen in a big research university. Friends at equally prestigious universities go to "office hours" to meet with TA's...usually grad students that have trouble explaining things clearly. On the other hand, I have to take a bus to another university to participate in ROTC & I already know most of the people in my class (which for me, is a good thing, but for others may not be). As difficult as this may sound: don't concern yourself too much with prestige: go to the school where you'll get the best education for YOU! The people that matter are just as impressed by a graduate from Williams or Wellesley as they are by a Yale graduate.</p>