<p>Are there any other LAC with a physics program which is as good as and send as many students to top graduate schools as Williams? or at least comparable to Williams.. other than the likes of Bowdoin, Harvey Mudd, Swarthmore and the most selective (top 10 LACs).. </p>
<p>Williams is not easy to get in.. so i need more colleges</p>
<p>I am sure Harvey Mudd has a strong physics program.Donno if it is as good a feeder as Williams as Williams physics placement has been ridiculously good for the past 5 years or so....but harvey mudd shouldnt be too far behind. I know someone who is majoring in physics at Bowdoin....they have a good program but not nearly as intense as Williams'. Swarthmore should also have an excellent program.</p>
<p>Carleton and Reed should certainly also be considered. They are actually the only other top tier LACs keeping company with Harvey Mudd in top 10 listings of undergraduate producers of physics PhDs. Your schools posted, other than Mudd, are very Northeast heavy and I don't know if this is a requirement/preference for you. If not, you may want to consider the small but strong programs at Grinnell and Oberlin. Out east, I'd also certainly add Haverford and Wesleyan for consideration. All of these schools are quite competitive, but probably slightly less so than Williams.</p>
<p>Actually I'm an international needing tons of aid.. I don actually mind where the colleges are located.. good physics and good aid for internationals are crucial..
I'm considering Oberlin too.. they give good aid.. great place too.. their physics shouldnt be too bad because they won an Apker last year.. but are there any other options?..</p>
<p>hmmm...you need aid and you are an international. Only Williams is need blind in admission for ints amongst those colleges. So it may mean Williams may be easier for you to get in with full aid than the other places. Butthe acceptance rate for internationals have been hovering around 7 or 8% for the past few years. But your chances of admission depends a lot on the country you are from. Williams tends to accept internationals from a wide range of countries..so instead of accepting a lot of students from China (from where they get the most no of applicants i guess) they try to accept a few students from each and every country. So your chances of getting accepted may be higher if you are from a country from where there aren't too many applicants (maybe an African country? or a Latin American country) rather than somewhere like China or India.</p>
<p>I'm from a Southeast Asian country named Brunei.. But i don't think i'm as outstanding as those from China and India or Singapore.. Does it matter.. Am i contending with them?</p>
<p>yeah...implicitly you are. I dont think there is an international student from Brunei yet at Williams and that's probably good news for you. Williams likes international diversity as i have told you before...so if you are a strong applicant you have a great chance of getting accepted. I dont really know your stats..but you should consider ED.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I am sure Harvey Mudd has a strong physics program.Donno if it is as good a feeder as Williams as Williams physics placement has been ridiculously good for the past 5 years or so....but harvey mudd shouldnt be too far behind. I know someone who is majoring in physics at Bowdoin....they have a good program but not nearly as intense as Williams'. Swarthmore should also have an excellent program.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Harvey Mudd is actually the number one LAC "feeder" for physics, ahead of Williams. That is if we are going by percentage of students going on to receive a PhD.</p>
<p>Hmmm....yeah Harvey Mudd and Swarthmore have a greater percentage of physics majors going into PhD. However its hard to beat Williams when it comes to putting those physics majors into the very top grad schools.
Last year, out of the 14 physics majors, 8 decided to go to grad schools. Here are the grad schools they went to (not physics grad school in all the cases though):
MIT: 2
Caltech:1
Princeton:1
Cornell:1
Stanford:1
Chicago:1
U Illinois:1</p>
<p>source: Williams physics department website - <a href="http://www.williams.edu/Physics/%5B/url%5D">http://www.williams.edu/Physics/</a></p>
<p>There may not be as many applicants from Africa and Latin America as from China/India obviously because of differences in size, but even many of those who get in choose HYPSM and other top schools over Williams. Williams admits a 100 or so international students every year, and only about 40-50 choose to attend. China will still continue to top the list though. We have seven coming this year. Regardless of efforts at international diversity, majority of the countries represented keep coming every year. But yeah, you might be a Brunei first. A friend of mine from Albania was probably the first in Wiliams' history. However, I'm not sure how Williams evaluates international diversity. For instance, Amherst looks at other nationals who are US citizens, and that also counts. On their website, you'll see 10% international, 7% non-US. Here at Williams, you'll be amazed at how many other countries are represented when you start delving into the lives of such people.</p>
<p>About aid, the fact that Williams is need-blind doesn't mean you'll get in any easier than at a school that isn't; not all the time. While you should choose carefully, you shouldn't be deterred when you see "non need-blind". I got far more aid at Wesleyan [non need-blind] than at Williams.</p>
<p>Physics at Williams seems so tremendous! So what other schools should i apply?.. Other than Williams, Oberlin.. How's Vassar?..
Mayb i should pray that no other from my country is applying to Williams.. I know i cant prevent others from applying but What if 2 including me are applying.. Would it greatly reduce my chances..</p>
<p>Do i need to have HYPSM credentials to get into Williams?..</p>
<p>No disrespect to Williams.. I know Williams is very selective But is it as selective as HYPSM?</p>
<p>more in line with brown and dartmouth.</p>
<p>No you don't need HYPSM credentials to get into Williams. I don't think I had such. Acceptance rate for international students is about 1 in 9. It's much worse at the Ivies because they're more popular [i.e. far more applicants than you get at Williams].</p>
<p>
[quote]
I dont think there is an international student from Brunei yet at Williams
[/quote]
Actually Williams has quite a history with Brunei. I can't remember all the details but several years ago a member of the sultan's family (his son maybe?) attended Williams. He lived off campus but caused quite a stir because of his body guards and other appurtenances of rank.</p>
<p>He was speaking on campus last year when I was visiting so evidently he's kept in touch.</p>
<p>jhl, I don't know anything about your qualification but I think your geographic/cultural background could be of interest to Williams exactly because it's not China or India. If you are Muslim then you might want to include that in your essays. Or, if you're not Muslim, writing about what it's like being an outsider in an Islamic country would also be appealing. Diversity of all kinds is important to U.S. colleges. You need to make sure that your application communicates what you could contribute to the campus community. You don't want to do this directly but rather indirectly suggest your life experience in your essays and recommendations.</p>
<p>For another LAC suggestion you should take a look at Macalester as I understand they are generous with aid to internationals. I don't know anything about their physics department but their overall academics are excellent. Same for Grinnell. I would guess that a Bruneian would be a rara avis in Iowa.</p>
<p>I wonder who that is because most of the royal family here go to UK universities..
I'm a non muslim.. But it's rather hard to sell my culture and background.. Should the whole of my essay be about this culture thing?..
How to do it indirectly?..</p>
<p>Anymore suggestions for LAC physics?.. Thanks</p>