<p>Shell,</p>
<p>How did your son like Williams? I agree with cptofthehouse as usually the fight goes the other way. Williams is an amazing school (7 years later and I am still holding a torch for them). He will have an amazing time and will get an excellent education</p>
<p>sybbie: He actually loved it. He is planning on studying math and was blown away by the professors. His issue is that he is not an athlete or preppy (shy, math-type kid who is involved in origami, carnivorous plants, etc. you get the picture) and he is worried about the social fit. He would join the outdoors club and do the camping trip for orientation in the hopes of meeting like-minded students. He is hoping the entry system would pay off in friendships but have heard that is hit or miss.</p>
<p>He felt at Rice there was more of a critical mass of the like-minded with a house system that makes a sense of belonging easier. Very enticing for a shy, somewhat lonely high school student.</p>
<p>That is why this is a difficult decision for our family. I know they say keep emotions out of it but it is hard…but I bet that once he lands at williams, he will be FINE. There is a math professor that spoke at the welcome session whose research project over the summer was mathematics and its relationship with origami and biology. He was fantastic!</p>
<p>AND, it would be nice to have him an hour away so his little 6-year-old sister could visit. :)</p>
<p>Williams is an outstanding school. DH has actually done facilities work there and says the facilities are amongst the best he’s seen. We know a number of grads of Williams in both humanities and sciences who are doing quite well and speak very highly of their time at Williams.</p>
<p>Your son is lucky to have this choice (along with the ones that gave him merit aid). To be honest, from reading your posts on the topic of Rice…I would drop them from my list at this point. If your son had NO other options, that would be one thing…but he has a school he really likes that you find affordable (Williams) and a number of good merit offers from some other great schools. Rice isn’t in that mix…sorry, it just isn’t. Perhaps it’s time to move on.</p>
<p>My S is not preppy at all and has loved, loved, loved Williams. He WILL find like minded students, especially in the physics department. The physics department is the warmest of all the departments at Williams. I wish my S were a physics major. They meet together with profs socially.</p>
<p>A friend has a son in that program and he truly feels he has found a home in the physics department at Williams.</p>
<p>My S never met a ball he liked and played absolutely no sports in hs or at Williams except for broom ball or a little basketball with friends. Nothing competitive and he fits in fine. More than fine.</p>
<p>PM if you want more info. I sent you a PM already.</p>
<p>thumper: Yup. We are getting close to “moving on…”</p>
<p>mythmom: thank you for your pm and your post. I will contact you later. That is really good news about the physics department (my son would probably major in physics and math) and I will show him your post. I appreciate it.</p>
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But that’s how merit aid works. It is something that less selective and less well-ranked colleges use to entice students away from the more selective, prestigious colleges. So pretty much 99% of the time that is what the choice will be for college applicants. </p>
<p>That’s why the very top schools offer need-based aid only. Pretty much all of their students are top-notch applicants, and they don’t have any need to throw money at students to guarantee that they will have strong students accepting spots for their entering class.</p>
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<p>Your son IS awesome. So are all the other kids who they have offered admission to, and plenty of the kids on the waitlist. So its not that they don’t appreciate your son. It’s not personal. It’s jut that they have X amount to distribute for financial aid dollars, they adopt whatever policies that they feel are the best to equitably distribute those dollars, and they see it somewhat differently than your son’s other schools.</p>
<p>thanks Calmom. I meant the awesome comment in a jokey, mom-type way.</p>
<p>He is definitely just in the middle of the admitted pack at Rice. Maybe his geographical helped a little to get an acceptance (Mass.). </p>
<p>It sounds silly but I am toying with selling my car and driving a junker for a while but then again, probably not.</p>
<p>Williams is a wonderful school and he is fortunate to be able to go there.</p>
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<p>These are ALL great schools too.</p>
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[quote[It sounds silly but I am toying with selling my car and driving a junker for a while
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<p>I do that in order to send my daughter to Williams 
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<p>It is a wonderful school both socially and academically. I have never gotten a sense of prep. Yes, the students tend to be “athletic” but not “jocks.” And I wish my daughter was a physics and math major as well.</p>
<p>I don’t get it. What is so great about physics and math majors at Williams? Is it just a fun, small group? More tight knit?</p>
<p>We know quite a few families that “picked” Case because of the generous merit aid combined with financial aid. Case is a find undergraduate school. Two of the families kids went off to grad school at Ivy League schools coming out of Case. It is, as always, a matter of personal choice. Too bad it isn’t nearer the top of your list, definitely different types of kids in general than Williams although all kids will find a small group to fit in at all colleges I think.</p>