I have been fortunate enough to have been offered admissions to exceptional schools, such as Williams. I am unsure of whether selecting Williams over a full-ride would be worth it. The full-ride school in question is a LAC ranked around #20. I do not want to state the name on this thread as I would be easily identifiable, but will PM it to anyone offering advice below.
Williams will cost roughly $15,000 per year for my family (before loans/work, etc). I think this is a fair price and affordable, but I’m not sure if turning down a full-ride is worth it. Additionally, I plan on going down the pre-med route, but majoring in History.
If you want to go to med school, save the money. Williams has a great reputation, and I’m sure it’s well deserved, but it’s not worth $60K over [I’m guessing here] Harvey Mudd, Wesleyan, Bates, Colby, etc.
I have a kid at Williams and would agree with AboutTheSame. There is not much difference among the top 25 LACs or so – or at least not $60K in difference, especially if you’re considering medical school. Save your money and take the full ride.
Is the full-ride college a college that you would be happy to attend, with most aspects of what you would want in a college education?
If there is a strong reason to the contrary- e.g., it is a woman’s college and you want co-ed, or it is a military institute and you don’t want to join the military- take it off the list and go to Williams.
Otherwise, take a good look at it. Do not be hung up on ranking. The difference between 20 and 1 on the list is negligible. It’s not like the difference between 1 and 100, where there actually might substantial differences in resources and in student population. All the top LAC’s are excellent.
If the “fit” is good at the full-ride, commit to it and don’t look back! If the fit is much better at Williams, and your parents say the finances are okay, then go there. If you are unsure which school is a better fit for you, revisit or ask specific questions for which the answers may help guide you to a decision.
Congratulations! Turning down a closely ranked full-ride is almost never worth it as long as there’s “fit,” especially if you plan to go to an expensive graduate school, like med, law or humanities, when every penny will count. As @TheGreyKing says, if the fit works, please, on all that is holy, take the full-ride. Avoid debt as much as possible. It’s a burden for the rest of your life, and a hard lesson no one should learn if they don’t have to. Wishing you the best life. Good luck!
Have you shown your better offer to Williams’ financial aid office? They don’t “match,” but there might be a ghost of a chance they improve their offer. Couldn’t hurt if you’re about to – but don’t want to – go elsewhere.
I agree with the above. Send a screen capture to Williams and explain that you’d like to go, but there is such a huge discrepancy between a full ride and 15k that you and your parents are really hesitating, however if the financial gap weren’t so big Williams would be your first choice.
(Obviously ONLY if it is true and if you WOULD attend Williams over other choices).
I also agree that going to Williams Financial Aid is worth another try. But be ready to commit to Williams if they indeed bring your obligation down - and have a number ready in your mind that would make the difference.
The above said, I am going disagree with the sentiment that there is little difference between #20 and #1. You have your whole life ahead of you and $60K isn’t going to make a much of a difference one way or the other. Williams is a wonderful place, not just for academics and future grad school considerations, but for the friends you will have for a lifetime. Go where you want to go, but be prepared to work hard during summers to make some $$$ to make up some of the financial difference.
And med school admissions is so competitive these days, attending a #1 vs. # 20 LAC may indeed make a difference in that process.
I recall turning down a grad school scholarship for about the same amount per year as you mentioned and I decided to go to the more prestigious/expensive school, which paid off many times over.
Can’t see how naming the school would out you. I’m sure there are tons of other students in a similar position. (and depending if it will be a hardship or not, I agree with HPTD12-as long as it does not put your family at great risk financially).
Because OP is a history major planning on doing pre-med, Williams College is worth the extra $60,000 in my opinion since most “pre-meds” change direction after a year or two, and Williams College places well in a variety of industries / professions.
I couldn’t imagine paying close to $60,000 to go to a school so closely ranked to the one that gave you a full ride. Imo there isn’t much difference in quality at the top. Unless the full ride school doesn’t offer your major or has some unknown MAJOR drawback, or $15,000 a year is nothing to your family. If any of that is loans that I redouble my opinion.
@milgymfam : Agree that if any of the $60,000 needs to be borrowed, then the full ride is the better choice.
However, since this is not a Hamilton College versus Williams College situation, I think that Williams College offers significantly better placement then does the full ride school if OP decides to forego medical school.
If med school is a well thought out plan, then take the full ride because, other than at NYU, medical school is very expensive.
Because OP has shared with me that pre-med is definitely her goal, it is better to take the full ride.
@milgymfam : Depends upon the specific LAC & upon specific careers. Also, not so much that one has poor placement as it is that Williams College has outstanding placement.
The difference between Williams and the other school may vary to OP depending on how good the schools are for premed and History. Also, if OP is referring to US News rankings, other rankings may peg the other school very differently than US News.
@lostaccount – I feel OP is handling this the right way by not publicly posting the name of the other school while being willing to send the name privately. I understand his/her reticence, and though any risk may be negligible, why take it? OP, please PM me the name, if you would.
Regarding the issue of Williams versus the other schools, another consideration is grad school and job prospects. If you look at the schools DE Shaw, Bain etc. for example recruit at for example, its the Ivies plus Williams and a select few. Same applies for top med, law and MBA schools, they have info sessions at the Ivies, top state schools plus Williams, Amherst but not the other LACs. Also, the point of going to a LAC is the interaction with amazing and talented people and Williams is able to pull in some pretty stellar people.
Also, there is data on the average income of recent grads in the USNews information which may be a helpful reference in terms of comparing job prospects versus other schools.