<p>I'm having a really hard time deciding on which college I should attend for undergraduate. I attend a public high school on the West coast that rarely sends kids out of state so none of my school counselors know much about my schools. Therefore, I have opted to turn to CC for help.</p>
<p>I know that all three schools have great English programs, but does any one school have something unique about their English program? Or some particularly strong alumni connections?</p>
<p>I would like to possibly minor in Creative Writing and double major in Sociology or Psychology.</p>
<p>Barnard and UChicago are offering me about the same Financial Aid and Williams is by far the most generous. </p>
<p>Any insight would be greatly appreciated! </p>
<p>I plan to participate in service clubs and intramural or club sports (tennis and/or martial arts) in college. I am Asian-American and have lived in a wonderfully diverse community my entire life so diversity is something I definitely value. </p>
<p>You’ll do fine at any of them. I have a kid at Barnard and Williams and the English dept. is fabulous at each. Barnard has a more structured creative writing program and has produced many writers. That said, my kid at Williams has been encouraged to work on creative projects even for academic classes.</p>
<p>They departments are structured differently but the end is the same: kids who are fluent in literature and can write well in many genres.</p>
<p>U of Chicago was another possible school for S. They actually wrote back about how much they liked his essay, so it’s a place where writing is also stressed. A lot.</p>
<p>You should choose the school that inspires you the most.</p>
<p>If Williams is significantly cheaper, you’d be crazy not to go there. But you really can’t go wrong, and of course if you prefer to live in a city, you should go to one of the other 2. Congrats!</p>
<p>Karuli, Have you visited all three? The physical and cultural environments are considerably different and putting the money aside, I would think that you’d have a preference – urban vs rural. Spending four years in Williamstown is very different from four years in Manhattan or Chicago. My son chose Williams because of the environment, but others may feel the need to be in a city.</p>
<p>You can’t go wrong with English at Williams. There are also some well respected writers on the faculty: Jim Shepard, Karen Shepard, Andrea Barrett.</p>
<p>I’ve recently visited Barnard and UChicago. Personally, I liked having the convenience of a big city at my fingertips at both schools, but I wouldn’t mind being a little bit farther away. However, I’m not sure if I could stand being as isolated as I’ve heard Williams to be. I’ve visited Amherst, which I thought could be comparable to Williams’ environment (Please correct me if I’m wrong), and I had thought it was a bit small. Is Williams’ campus considerably larger than Amherst? I know they have about 500 more students or so if that makes a difference. But honestly, I think that I’m relatively good at adapting, and I’m excited about all the outdoorsy things Williams offers. </p>
<p>I live about half an hour from a major city. I was wondering if there was someone who comes from the same background that moved to Williams. If so, what was your personal experience with it? Did you like it? Hate it? Had no opinion about it? </p>
<p>In addition, I do want to study abroad, so I’m wondering if any of the three has a significantly disadvantage concerning programs.
Also, does anyone know if the Williams-Exeter program at Oxford is extremely competitive? </p>
<p>Williams is slightly bigger, but because Amherst has the 5 college consortium, it is actually less isolated and has a larger “student body” in the abstract.There are more stores and restaurants and other off-campus things to do there. They really don’t feel the same…</p>
<p>Williams has an awesome outdoorsy vibe, so if you’d like to experience that, you’ll have lots to do.</p>
<p>Oldbastesie, thanks for the clarification. During my time at Amherst I hardly stepped into town or really felt the presence of the other colleges, but I was only visiting for a two or three days. </p>
<p>I’m also not very sure about financial aid things because I’m a first generation college student. Barnard is asking for 5,500 contribution and 3,500 in loans. Chicago is 6,410 contribution and 2,600 in loans. Williams is 3,050 contribution, no loans.</p>
<p>Oh, and I’ve always wanted a very college-y kind of campus and experience. I loved the girls at Barnard, but I felt that the campus was too small and lacked the the college feel I really wanted.
Does campus life really exist for Barnard girls? And what is it like at both Chicago and Williams?</p>
<p>Williams is very much a college oriented community. It has a real campus with a very nice layout, and overall, excellent facilities.</p>
<p>The academic experience would be as good, or better than your other choices-it really is: do you want to live in the middle of nowhere, but immerse yourself in the life of the college?</p>
<p>For the money, I’d pick Williams, but I enjoy hiking, fishing, skiing etc. and I don’t care if I can go shopping or have 17 movies to choose from.</p>
<p>Karuli, I’m sorry that you didn’t have the opportunity to visit Williams. It’s a wonderful school but its rural environment is not a good fit for all.</p>
<p>Amherst is a lively small town with lots of students nearby. The college of Amherst is itself quite small but it draws on the town’s facilities and the other schools in the consortium.</p>
<p>Williamstown is a mountain village, surrounded by spectacular scenery. The town itself has everything you need, but perhaps not everything you want.</p>
<p>My son had only ever lived in big cities – New York, Hong Kong, Jakarta – but something about Williamstown spoke to him. He loved the access to nature and the insular, self-contained community of the college. He loved the clean air, the beautiful countryside and starry nights. He spent four very happy years at Williams and never regretted his decision. </p>
<p>He wasn’t involved in team sports, but he did a lot of outdoorsy activities. He managed to get to New York or Boston once a term for a “city fix.”</p>
<p>Is Williams right for you? Honestly, it’s impossible to say. I sense that it would be a very different environment from what you’re accustomed to, which may or may not be desirable for you.</p>
<p>You would get an extraordinarily good education, make excellent contacts for your life’s work and meet some wonderful people – students and professors. I’m sure you could say the same about Barnard and Chicago.</p>
<p>In answer to your questions: Williams has a very strong alumni network. Study abroad is common – for junior year or during Winter Study (January semester). My understanding is that the Williams at Oxford program is competitive but not excessively so. It depends on the year.</p>
<p>Thank you so much Oldbatesie and momrath. I really wish I visited now because I’m not sure what I want, or at least all three schools have different aspects of what I want. I would hate to shoot blindly, not having visited, but Williams looks really good on paper and from what I’ve heard. </p>
<p>This is such a hard decision and there’s only three days left to make it.</p>
<p>Karuli: You can take this question to the Barnard board or you can PM with your questions about Barnard. My D attended. I don’t want to take up space on the Williams board with questions about Barnard.</p>
<p>Karuli: You can call all three of your schools and ask for an extension for the reply date. At least that’s what Williams told me when I talked to their admissions officer.</p>