<p>I was admitted this year to both Davidson College and Williams College, but I do not know where I should attend. I am looking for any thoughts/advice you may have about either school. If you want to know what kind of student I am, I'll give some general information below. Thanks for any help; it is greatly appreciated!</p>
<ul>
<li>Male, Straight</li>
<li>Quirky/Nerdy/Semi-Outgoing/Very Opinionated</li>
<li>Not interested in detrimental academic competition at a college</li>
<li>Huge passion for learning/greatly intrigued by any learning experience</li>
<li>Undecided major</li>
<li>Extremely interested in business as a future job (management, administration, Wall Street, investment firm, etc.)</li>
<li>Undecided as to whether grad school is in the future. Maybe, maybe not.</li>
<li>Possible majors at a liberal arts school (in order of likelihood): Economics, Math, Spanish, and Theology</li>
<li>Interested in sports, such as volleyball, tennis, or any other sport, at the intramural/club level in college</li>
<li>Enjoying being able to learn, relax, and have a good time</li>
<li>If I go to a party, I socialize but do not drink or do drugs. I could probably be best described as a goodie two shoes.</li>
<li>I want to be involved in the community. Trust is important to me as well as close relationships with students and professors.</li>
<li>I do not really like cold weather</li>
<li>The smaller the class size, the better</li>
<li>Interested in peer education-type extracurriculars (mentoring) as well as some involvement with relgion (Christianity)</li>
<li>Want to be in an environment where people WANT to learn/be involved</li>
<li>Interested in strong school spirit, being able to cheer on Varsity teams</li>
</ul>
<p>I think that's more than enough for now. If I forgot anything important, please just ask. I'm also going to post this thread in the Davidson forum so I can get differing viewpoints. Thanks again for any contributions.</p>
<p>Williams is very intellectually rigorous, sports and team loyalty are big, and if you’re interested in business/finance, Williams is probably the top feeder to Wall Street of the SLAC’s. Davidson is a very good school, the weather is warmer and it is closer to a metropolis (Charlotte), but is is not in the same tier as Williams/Swarthmore/Amherst.</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Extremely interested in business as a future job (management, administration, Wall Street, investment firm, etc.)
Williams is target school for most major banks.</p></li>
<li><p>Possible majors at a liberal arts school (in order of likelihood): Economics, Math, Spanish, and Theology
Econ and Math at Williams are big. over 10% of Williams students major in Math
and 20% in Economics. There is also Center for Development Economic where you can take Graduate course in Econ. </p></li>
<li><p>Interested in sports, such as volleyball, tennis, or any other sport, at the intramural/club level in college.
There are many club sports. There is also PE requirement, so you can play sports you never played before.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>----close relationships with students and professors.The smaller the class size, the better</p>
<p>I don’t think you can get anything better than 2 students and 1 professor in Tutorial class </p>
<ul>
<li><p>I do not really like cold weather.
Williams is COLD and Winter can be LONG. </p></li>
<li><p>Want to be in an environment where people WANT to learn/be involved
Check out Center for Environmental Studies. [Williams</a> College CES | Center For Environmental Studies](<a href=“http://ces.williams.edu/]Williams”>http://ces.williams.edu/)</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Do most Williams graduates have jobs in the business world coming out of college? As a top feeder school, do companies truly respect the Williams education that much? Any additional information is appreciated.</p>
<p>Also, weather is probably one of my greater concerns about Williams. I live in Maryland, so I am used to snow every winter, but not to the same extent as the climate at Williams. Plus, I love summer and spring. I’d much rather stay inside than bundle up for the snow. On the other hand, I do have fun occasionally skiing. I guess my question is:
Honestly, how bad is the weather at Williams? Better or worse than you expected, and did you like cold weather before going to Williams? I know it sounds silly, but if I’m going to be spending the next four years of my life at a school, I want to make sure I won’t be miserable.</p>
<pre><code>It’s pretty insignificant through Thanksgiving and then you start to notice it. In a few weeks you’re on break.
Second Semester may be a drag if you really are troubled (Jan-April) by the cold but what can I say, it’s not that big a deal to me. I wouldn’t call Williamstown snowbelt --in the Syracuse sense–country but I guess it’s close enough (certainly compared to NC).
There is no spring in the Mid-Atlantic fashion. It’s more winter to summer.
</code></pre>
<p>If you really hate the winter, then Williams would not be a good choice. The college culture of Davidson would not have been a good fit for my S, who can tolerate the winter.</p>
<p>And you do have to be on campus the month of January for Winter Study. Most kids love it, but you won’t get a month long break then to go home to MD.</p>
<p>For my D, her final 2 LAC choices were Davidson and Williams. She dislikes the cold, but found the culture at Williams to be a better fit for her. She loved winter study when she learned to CC ski but did get tired of the winter in February/March. They are both great schools and you won’t go wrong with either.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I know that I can accomodate to any conditions, i.e. the weather is not make or break for me. I visited Williams in the summer, so I really have no idea what it is like from November to April. While I don’t like cold, I feel that I could deal with any weather if I decided to go to Williams.</p>
<p>GTalum, I recogize that I can’t go wrong with either choice, which makes the decision that much easier. Does your D ever regret choosing Williams over Davidson? I’m sure the answer is no, but I would be the guy who would think back and say “Should I have…?”</p>
<p>It is no as she has fallen in love with the New England fall and spring. But, then again, we live in the south and Davidson would be the same old climate.</p>
<p>Comparing Davidson vs. Williams on the Williams thread is a bit like comparing Duke vs. Harvard on the Harvard thread. All are excellent schools (and two are in more temperate climates), but it would be more difficult to turn down Williams and Harvard re. their academic standing/per capita endowments and feeder status to the best graduate and professional schools.</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s much doubt as to Williams’ better resources/endowment/reputation. However, I have consistently been told that college is what you make of it. Will an education at Williams have that much more of an impact compared to an education at Davidson (if I work just as hard/do just as well)?</p>
<p>Here’s the problem: career-wise, the OP could probably do a lot worse than Williams; the OP didn’t just opine that they wanted a careeer in business; they specifically mentioned, Wall Street and that’s where Williams excels. However, FIT-wise, the OP really sounds like he would be happier at Davidson; there have been any number of threads on this forum expressing disappointment at the level of intellectual engagement outside the classroom at Williams. And, the Berkeshires are colder than North Carolina. He’s obviously going to have to bite the bullet and tell himself that no place is perfect.</p>
<p>This thread has focused on Williams’ Wall Street cred as the OP specifically evinced business/finance career aspirations. Williams is a well-established feeder to top PhD programs and academic careers, theater, medicine/law, government, etc. Davidson is highly pre-professional (less emphasis on the arts, etc.) and it is doubtful that more “intellectual engagement outside the classroom” is to be found there.</p>