<p>I wonder if it really doesn't matter like that...</p>
<p>So, between Bowdoin and Williams there is no difference?</p>
<p>I remember seeing a few other threads on this same subject. Go check out the Bowdoin and Williams pages...frankly I must agree that Williams is a bit more hoity toity w/ more monied people...and Bowdoin less so, more easy going. Def. go check em out!</p>
<p>Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin are sort of the Harvard, Yale, Princeton of small colleges. So yeah, no difference. If you go to Bowdoin, nobody is ever going to say. "What, you couldn't get in Williams?"</p>
<p>Well, actually it's Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore (hey, if I didn't say it, someone else would). Still, Bowdoin, Davidson, Carleton, Pomona, etc. would be LAC-ivies. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>Congratulations on your decisions options. Incidentally, the kind of aid you have b een granted is spelled "financial"--not "finnancial." And if deciding between great colleges is the toughest decision you ever have to make you will have a blessed life indeed. Good luck.</p>
<p>Williams, I have seen Williams grads become tremendously successful. Look at placement into Harvard Law, Wharton, Columbia Business, etc. Williams gets much more grads into these places. Its a better school without a doubt, Tourguide is the first person I have ever seen put Bowdoin in the same category as williams. My guess is 85% or higher of the people accepted to both choose Williams. Then again, if your heart prefers Bowdoin, go there. these are both very top schools, you can be veru successful from either.</p>
<p>I would love to go to Bowdoin. Not only is it academically equal to the best schools in America, it has great food, great dorms, and an awesome campus on the Maine coast.</p>
<p>Williams is great, but it's in western Mass...</p>
<p>Wesleyan! Congratulations and Good Luck!</p>
<p>I'm not even the only person on this thread to say they're in the same category. </p>
<p>In some instances the difference between #1 and #4 is important (Cadillac El Dorado vs. steak knives), and in some instances tiny statistical differences are important (bobsled racing). I think it's really stretching things to say that this is one of those cases. </p>
<p>The people who infer drastic differences between these two, especially "without a doubt" are placing WAY too much importance on tiny differences in statistics that are iffy in the first place. Tell me, slipper, of an example of a situation where Williams would get the OP somewhere that Bowdoin would not. Beware of people who think everything is quantifiable, and that tiny differences are significant in every situation. I think a lot of people posting here are in business or engineering, where precise numbers are everything. It is folly to transfer that sort of nit-picking to to this sort of discussion. It's like choosing one woman over another woman because she's a 34C and the other is a 34B.</p>
<p>(And Mike Dukakis went to Swarthmore, Longfellow went to Bowdoin.)</p>
<p>If you look at ANY of the top grad schools Williams alums outnumber Bowdoin alums by a significant margin when size is accounted for. </p>
<p>As for ranks, there is a much bigger gap between the LACs as you go down the rankings vs. on the National University side. AWS would likely all be top 10-12, but the next school, Wellesley, would likely be around 20. Bowdoin similarly is more along the lines of a Tufts or Emory while Williams is more along the lines of Brown, Duke, Columbia, Dartmouth, etc.</p>
<p>I agree with tourguide, the difference in opportunities at Bowdoin and Williams is nil. What will matter is what you do with your education.</p>
<p>So you start with the same outfit that ranks Wash U. ahead of U of Chicago. Then YOU decide where the LAC's fit into the mix.And then because there is a difference of rank of 8 spots, it's a slam dunk in favor of Williams. Is that what you're saying?</p>
<p>No - forget USNEWS. WIlliams wins in the areas that matter - namely overall reputation, grad placement, selectivity, quality of alumni network. Williams is arguably one of the best schools in the country - a place your valedictorian goes. Bowdoin just isn't in the same league.</p>
<p>if you can work at williams, like get a capmus job and pay off the 7000 then go there (unless thats already covered in with the financial aid you mentioned) otherwise, work over the summer .....</p>
<p>go to williams ... and yeah, mind if i ask where you live? medford? u said a couple of steps away from tufts ....</p>
<p>i live a couple of steps away from MIT, harvard, BC AND BU (damn ....wonder if ill get into 2 of these places)</p>
<p>Gukarma - First of all, if you're going to base your college choice on what a bunch of other people think, why not refer yourself to the one study that actually cites how people, nationally, voted with their feet, The Revealed Preference Poll:</p>
<p>If you limit yourself to just the folks who hang around the CC board you will get a lot of weird opinions. For instance, no one west of downtown Barnstable thinks Bowdoin is more diverse (or even more prestigious) than Wesleyan. And, the RP poll shows that Wellesley ranks far above Tufts and Emory and is much closer to Dartmouth and Brown than Slipper12345 would have you believe.</p>
<p>And, finally, DO NOT let $7,000.00 a year deter you from going to Williams if that is your first choice. A year from now, you will only be kicking yourself in the pants for being so short-sighted. Just to give you some perspective: seven thousand dollars a year won't even get you into a good state college these days.</p>
<p>"No - forget USNEWS. WIlliams wins in the areas that matter - namely overall reputation, grad placement, selectivity, quality of alumni network. Williams is arguably one of the best schools in the country - a place your valedictorian goes. Bowdoin just isn't in the same league."</p>
<p>Who cares, really? I will go to whichever suits me more. I don't give two craps that williams is compared to Dartmouth. I'd go to williams because of its academics and because of liking it, not because it is a big shot school.</p>
<p>Same goes for bowdoin.</p>
<p>Then visit both for accepted students days and see which one you like more. We can't tell you that, you have to see for yourself.</p>
<p>I am talking about you, slipper, beiung all crazy for Williams like it is the be-all end-all school.</p>
<p>"Gukarma - First of all, if you're going to base your college choice on what a bunch of other people think, why not refer yourself to the one study that actually cites how people, nationally, voted with their feet, The Revealed Preference Poll:</p>
<p>If you limit yourself to just the folks who hang around the CC board you will get a lot of weird opinions. For instance, no one west of downtown Barnstable thinks Bowdoin is more diverse (or even more prestigious) than Wesleyan. And, the RP poll shows that Wellesley ranks far above Tufts and Emory and is much closer to Dartmouth and Brown than Slipper12345 would have you believe.</p>
<p>And, finally, DO NOT let $7,000.00 a year deter you from going to Williams if that is your first choice. A year from now, you will only be kicking yourself in the pants for being so short-sighted. Just to give you some perspective: seven thousand dollars a year won't even get you into a good state college these days."</p>
<p>That link is broke.</p>
<p>Agree with previous posters; quality is roughly equal and price is not. </p>
<p>Personally I would have chosen Brandeis.</p>