<p>I posted this in College search and the Chicago forum but I also wanted to post it here. Thanks</p>
<p>I was accepted EA to Chicago and I also just found out I am in at Williams as well. These are my top two choices and I need some help in deciding between them. Here is a little background:</p>
<p>I am a recruited athlete at both schools. I was able to visit UChicago over the past fall break but I will probably not be able to visit Williams. I really love the city of Chicago and the campus of U of C. My best friend is going to U of C. I really felt good at Chicago. But I do not probably fit into their normal student profile. Instead of being the hardcore student, I was more of the ditch class with friends and pull out As on the test thus end up with an A in the class. I am fine with studying and homework at a moderate level but I will prolly not be able to cope to with hours upon hours at U of C. If it as rigorous as everyone makes it out to be than I will prolly have a hard and stressful time at Chicago, which I expect with being in college but not to the drastic point that a Chicago student feels. But I love the intellectual feel of the school and the life of the mind. The bad part of Chicago is also that their financial aid package has me and my family paying 23k while Williams has us at around 10k. </p>
<p>I really love Williamss location along with their strong athletic programs. I feel that I would do really well at Williams both athletically and academically but I fear how small the school is. My high school has 1,000 more students than Williams. Does Williams sometimes feel too small?</p>
<p>How is life at a LAC different than a University? </p>
<p>My major would be Poly Sci and both schools, how do the schools match up in regard to their Poly Sci program?</p>
<p>Mach, I posted on the other board so I won’t repeat my Williams love-fest, but I’m curious to know why you won’t be able to visit Williams. If you’re serious about this choice and you’re comfortable with Chicago’s environment, then you owe it to yourself to figure out a way to visit Williams. As I said, the ambience and culture are so different.</p>
<p>Because I am being recruited for track and field and I really only want to visit if I can room with an athlete and see how it is to be an athlete at Williams. Now here comes the problem, the track team is spending their spring break in Miami on a training trip. They wont be back until April 6th. I have the biggest in the nation the following weekend (Arcadia). So I wouldn’t be able to visit than. And than I have track meets the following Saturdays up until past may 1st. Basically every weekend is booked with track meets. </p>
<p>Is it normal for the school to have overnight visits during the week? I could try that.</p>
<p>Having attended both institutions (UChicago for grad school, obviously), and recognizing much of my high-school self in your self-description (other than the fact that I played no sports in high school), I can wholeheartedly endorse Williams here. You can definitely experience the life of the mind at Williams without feeling overwhelmed by pressure / work / a need to act the part of an intellectual at all times. I personally much preferred the surroundings and peer group as well, but of course they are dramatically different and that is an entirely personal choice. Even if you can’t stay with a track athlete, I would really try to visit Williams as a prospective just to get a general sense of the types of students there (you will certainly meet other prospective or current athletes so you can talk to them about the varsity sport / academic balance) and the environment / general feel of the place, which could not be more different from Hyde Park. Both provide amazing educations so you can’t go wrong at either in that respect, but they are different enough that I think it most prospectives would clearly prefer one over the other after visiting both. I strongly suggest you do so.</p>
<p>i live in chicago and know kids that go to uchicago and have been to events at uc…theres a reason they say its the place where the fun goes to die. im sure there are kids at u of c that have fun, but coming from someone who lives there and knows a bit about it from a local perspective…its not somewhere youre gonna find a whole lot of people like you. youll also have a lot more athletic support from your peers at williams…sports are not big at u of c. and williams is harder to get into than u of c so i wouldnt go around expecting a bunch of non intellectual dumbos.</p>
<p>I’d just reiterate what I posted on the other forum–
1-UC is a major research university with more grad students and professors who are selected and rewarded based on their ability to produce world class research–Williams profs are expected to publish and do, but the ability to teach undergrads is more highly valued–The faculty at Williams is there because that’s what they want to do
2–Williamstown is a VERY different place from Chicago–there’s lots to do on campus, but there’s nothing but the campus–Chicago is, well, Chicago
3- UC has had a reputation, which was likely overstated and which it seems to be trying to soften, of being uber-geek central; but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to it–the culture is VERY intellectually intense and anti-jock, no matter how smart you are–Williams,as several people have noted, seems more laid back
Full disclosure–My son, who was a premiere(but unrecruited) soccer player in high school looked at both places and went ED to Williams, though he still wears his UoC t-shirt with the Nobel Prize winners on the back</p>
<p>Thanks for the great posts. My decision between Chicago and Williams is like breaking up with your gf after years of being together and going after the person you know is your soulmate, but new on the scene. Chicago has been my number 1 since my bestfriend got in last year but now I realize that Williams is the best place for me and my goals.</p>
<p>Accepted at UC as well as Princeton and others.</p>
<p>Chose Williams because of the school’s suitability to all things considered.</p>
<p>Do not look at schools at reputation alone. Look at them as holding you hostage for four years and whether you will like the school and whether you will appreciate your position by your participation. I fell in love with Williams as it was the ONLY school for me. </p>
<p>Many perceive schools based on prestige and rankings alone. I found Williams the ideal schools for many reasons.</p>
<p>University of Chicago is great, but it is primarily a graduate school, as are most of the Ivies, short of Princeton and Dartmouth. There are many reasons I could cite for veritable grounds, but they are personal and objectively subjective.</p>
<p>As a liberal arts college, Williams has few equals. Choose wisely and be content with whatever school you choose.</p>