Intl here. Long story short, I have (1) not visited either campus, (2) received national-merit scholarship so money is not a problem, (3) interested in studying cognitive science, IR, and PoliSci (4) I like relatively small environment (both schools qualify this i think)
Based off this, could you all share me some pros and cons each school has? I know there is a thread that compared this, but that is like almost a decade ago, so I kinda want a new more accurate info. Thanks in advance!
Ok let’s start with a easy one do you like hot weather or cold bc Texas is damm hot a good part of the year and Mass. is damm cold a good part of the year. Rice is more in a big cit (Houston) vs Williams and if you care about sports Rice has better sports. IIRC Rice has a medical center as part of the school so that may help you with you major.
Your academic needs can be met at either school.
As for size, it depends on what you mean by a relatively small environment. Rice is a research university with 7000 students (4000 undergrads + 3000 postgrads). Rice is a small liberal arts college of 2000 undergrads.
Both campuses are beautiful but the comparisons stop there. Rice is in a big city while Williams is in a small town in the rural Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. Great if you love the outdoors and embrace winter but unquestionably isolated.
Rice fosters community within a university setting with its residential colleges. Williams is a small community by definition, a college which focuses on undergraduate education in some unique ways. It’s January semester offers some unique learning opportunities. It is one of the rare American colleges which offers tutorials.
You can’t go wrong with either
@Gyosamonster, I would agree with @Bill Marsh’s comments. You’ll get a wonderful education at either one, but the overall experience will be impacted by location and size.
Williams students who seem the happiest are those that choose Williams because of its mountain village environment not in spite of it.
The scenery is spectacular and the rural location fosters a close-knit relationship on campus, among students and with faculty. The first year entry residential system creates an instant social group.
Williams students do get to Boston or New York once or twice a semester and the Berkshires are a sophisticated summer playground with several excellent arts venues. I’d say it’s more insular than isolated, but it is a completely different environment from Houston.
40% of Williams students double major and experimentation in different academic area is encouraged. Cognitive Science and Global Studies are inter-disciplinary concentrations. Political science and Political Economy are popular majors. The Center for Economic Development is a one year masters program, but undergraduate students can draw on its resources. If you need to know how more about any of these programs, contact the departments directly. I’m sure they’d respond to your questions/concerns.
Williams offers small class including those famous tutorials, nurturing professors who are there for the sole purpose of teaching undergraduates and a remarkable network of alums. The downside is that although Williams is well known to graduate school admissions and to east coast employers, its international name recognition is low.
Another difference is that Williams has far more varsity sports teams – and thus more varsity athletes – than Rice, despite being about ½ the size in terms of undergraduates (2,000 at Williams vs. 4,000 at Rice). I’m guessing 35-40% of undergrads are varsity athletes at Williams vs. about 10% at Rice. By way of example, Williams has 32 varsity teams, the vast majority of which are recruited athletes, with highly competitive teams in the Division 3 NESCAC. Williams is historically the most successful Division III sports program as measured by Directors’ Cup titles. Rice, in contrast, has only 14 varsity teams (most not especially strong) and plays Division 1.
Some non-athletes may prefer Rice, as at some LACs there is an athlete/non-athlete divide or at least a social hierarchy/party culture dominated by athletes. Both are outstanding schools, just different types of schools.
Rice has a much higher percentage of Asian students, Williams has a much higher percentage of white students, and the percentage of black and Latino students are fairly similar between the schools.
We visited both and their campuses both were very nice. Rice students seem very nice and happy. We saw Williams in the summer after graduation, so we did not meet too many students. Both had extremely impressive information sessions and tours.
Where do you think you might want to settle after college? Do you like cold weather?
Weather, location, and size of student body are the obvious factors which distinguish these two prestigious schools.
If you would like a small-college experience in the traditional U.S. sense, then Williams (only) from your alternatives qualifies for this distinction.
Congratulations on your two fantastic options. There is no right or wrong choice from those schools. Here are some ideas of things you can do to help you decide:
–See if there are any online accepted student day events, any facebook groups to meet students etc.
–I would suggest going through the websites and online course catalogues of the two schools and see if either one has more courses or more professors who interest you.
–I’d also look at the school newspapers online to try to get a sense of what is happening on campus.
–And if you can get your hands on some good college guide books (ex. Fiske, Princeton Review) then read up on the schools.