<p>I know it's a little late to be forming a college list, but I'm scrambling and a liberal arts college is starting to sound really appealing. </p>
<p>Besides that it's an LAC, what do you think the benefits / best attributes of Williams are? </p>
<p>Also, I know that Williams is the most competitive LAC but how does that competitiveness compare to top national universities? I know I have no nearly chance at acceptance at HYPS but could I still have a shot at a top LAC?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>I think the #1 great thing about Williams is the Entry System. Think about starting college and getting 20+ insta-friends guaranteed. I sometimes look at those threads in College Life where people complain that they have no friends in college and this saddens me. This type of situation is very rare at Williams. I suggest you look at this recent article at the Williams Record: [Evolving</a> with the entry ? The Williams Record](<a href=“http://williamsrecord.com/2012/12/05/evolving-with-the-entry/]Evolving”>http://williamsrecord.com/2012/12/05/evolving-with-the-entry/) and also search this forum for “entry”.</p>
<p>Another great think is that life in Williamstown and Williams College is a great “equalizer” in terms of socio-economic class. There is a natural ceiling on the cost of activities around Willianstown; therefore, there is much less opportunity for social exclusion.</p>
<p>Oh, and I almost forgot: academics are great! But you probably knew this 
.</p>
<p>IT is an outstanding school. You just have to decide how it fits for you.</p>
<p>If you “have nearly no chance at HYPS” then you’re probably a big longshot at W unless you are Div-III sports recruitable, imo.</p>
<p>That said, my vote for “best thing about Williams” is the tutorial classes. They’re incredible.</p>
<p>I agree with marvin 100. “No chance of acceptance” at HYSP would suggest a poor chance for acceptance at Williams (or for that matter, Swarthmore, Amherst, Pomona), unless a recruited athlete, legacy with very good stats. SWAP are in HYPS’s peer group, except without the graduate and professional schools. The top LAC’s place their entire focus on undergraduate education- you’ll have to work harder than at the “ivies”, but will receive an incredibly intense/rounded education.</p>
<p>Maybe I exaggerated with “nearly no chance at HYPS”.</p>
<p>I took the most rigorous course load at a very competitive prep school (9 APs previously, 6 this year), have close to a 4.0, National Merit Semi-Finalist, a 2380 and a 36 ,as well as pretty good leadership positions and unique ECs / essays. I was feeling a bit dejected when I wrote this post because I was rejected from Wharton for reasons outside of my control, but I still am applying to Princeton and Stanford. </p>
<p>Anyways, thank you for the posts, they have been very informative and I will continue researching the college. </p>
<p>Are there any other distinguishing characteristics of Williams that are worth mentioning?</p>
<p>At the risk of sounding a bit patronizing here, I think you might first want to spend a couple of hours “researching” yourself. You applied to Wharton, a pre-professional program, and I’ve now seen your posts here and the Duke board plus mentioning that you are planning to apply to Princeton and Stanford. And it looks like you’ve got all the “measurables.” (Perhaps that’s what you mean by thinking you got rejected at Wharton for reasons “outside of my control.”) But the piece I’m missing here is what you really want out of a college – besides prestige – and why the approach you seem to be on right now isn’t scattershot. </p>
<p>So, now it’s time to think backwards from the future. Where do you want to be five years out of college? The business world (implicit from Wharton ED)? Somewhere else? Then think about how the colleges you are looking at would be a good fit for YOU in getting there. From what I can tell, Williams and other LACs can be great places to study even if your aims are more “pre-professional.” But, at these really selective schools, the measurables are only the entry point, and you need to be able to tell the admissions committee a compelling story about how they will help you get where you want go go and how you will help the college be a more interesting place. </p>
<p>Go talk to an adult you trust in the real world about this, too. I suspect they can help you sort this through.</p>
<p>I completely understand where you’re coming from, SomeOldGuy. I thought I wanted pre-professional business, but I’m not so sure what I want to do anymore. I’m interested in business, neuroscience, and writing and I truly have no idea what I want to pursue further. I’m still completely unsure as to what I want out of college and since I have such little time, I’m applying to more than a dozen schools and then figuring it out from there. I just mentioned Stanford and Princeton because I still am applying to some prestigious schools (not just UMich, UF, Miami, etc).</p>
<p>I know there’s a lot more than just “measurables” and I think I’ve written pretty good essays so far, and I’ll be working on everything you mentioned up until the deadline. </p>
<p>As for reasons outside my control, I mean that the reason for rejection might not have to do with me so much as problems with my school (I’d rather not get into this).</p>
<p>If you really don’t know what you want, a LAC, and Williams in particular, is an excellent place to find out. Williams requires students to take courses in many disciplines, and freshmen are not permitted to take more than one course in a semester in the same discipline. Students do not declare majors until the end of their sophomore year. The whole point of the Williams experience is to explore many different areas of study, some of which you may not be aware of right now. At several of the student forums I attended (I’m the parent of a student in the class of 2016) I heard students say over and over again that they started out thinking of one major and ended up with a completely different one, and on a different track. And the undergraduate emphasis is just extraordinary.</p>