I would like to go into healthcare administration in some capacity. This could change, but, regardless, I will attend graduate school. I have been under a ton of pressure from my parents to pick a school ASAP and these are my top three.
Here is what is important to me:
School has a strong health program (not premed)
Smaller classes (I don’t like classes above 35 people)
Prestige (is it respected/well known to employers and grad schools)
Location is not an issue (money is not either)
There are opportunities for internships and research
Three pretty different schools in terms of size, vibe, location, etc. Did you visit all of them? What do you like/dislike about each?
You should not feel any pressure to decide until the decision deadline. If you have to put down a housing deposit at any of these schools to ensure a better choice, do that…but you don’t have to commit to attend prior to May 1 (or June 1…many schools are extending their deposit date).
What do you mean by strong health program? What major? What support and/or ECs?
Look on each school’s common data set (CDS) to get distribution of class sizes. Cornell will on average have larger classes that GTown, which in turn will have an average size larger than Williams. Verify this via the CDSs.
All three schools are prestigious, and will provide many opportunities for internships and research.
I don’t know why, but when I think of healthcare admin, a small isolated school like Williams is not what comes to mind. but being in the heart of DC would seem to lend itself well to the types of internships you would be looking for in that field.
Williams is an amazing place, but you need to be sure it’s what you want because it’s so small and isolated.
The major at williams would be Public Health, the major at Cornell would be Biology and Society, and the major at Georgetown would be Bio with a minor in business
Williams, given your desire for small classes and likelihood of attending grad school. Of the 20 colleges we visited with our son, Williams was one of the three most impressive ones (along with MIT and Rice).
The only question (assuming small and isolated is not an issue) is do you have a problem attending a school where 35-40% of the students are varsity athletes and you are not? Sometimes there is an athlete/non-athlete divide at small LACs, though I have not heard that specifically about Williams.
I visited all three schools and I liked all three. I do better in smaller classes than large ones. My concern for Williams is that it isn’t that well known and it could be hard to find internships. My concern for Cornell is that class sizes are large and there is grade deflation. My concern for Georgetown is that the food and buildings suck, the latter having many health hazards.
Williams is well-known by employers and grad schools – and well-educated people – less so by the general public. I don’t think it will be hard to find internships.
Williams is well known, especially on the east coast, and is generally in the top 3 of any list of top LACs. You will be able to access summer internships from any of these schools. It would be relatively easier to have an internship and/or volunteer in public health during the school year at Georgetown than Williams for sure.
Georgetown does have some well documented issues with cleanliness and age of facilities, and I agree the food isn’t awesome. But…it is in the middle of the city (can’t get rid of all the rats, for example). OTOH the location is great! Tons of food and shops within walking distance, a large hospital system right next door, and all the high energy of its Washington DC location.
I don’t know as much about Cornell’s area so will let others weigh in…but classes are larger there…have you looked at the averages on the CDS?
When you compare the classes in the various majors across the schools what appeals to you more?
The major for Cornell appeals to me the most. The class sizes and grade deflation there appeal to me the least. The opportunities for internships and getting valuable experience in my field appeals to me most at Georgetown. The class sizes appeal to me most at Williams. The lack of name recognition appeals to me least. So many trade offs
Yes, trade-offs. One way to help decide is to identify the attributes that are most important to you and then rank them, assign points to each school on each important attribute, and total the points. If you don’t want to do the quant way, what does your gut say?
If a small class size is among the most important factors because you will learn best in that environment, drop Cornell.
Williams name recognition is among the highest of any LAC, and very high on the east coast.
These are all good schools and different not only wrt what you would study, but in terms of student vibe, size, location. You have to have some preferences that point you to one school over the others…what does your gut say?
You will only have some larger classes your freshman year at Cornell, and even then, you’ll have some small ones too. After second semester sophomore year, I never had a class with more than 25 students. (CA&S)
Of course, I don’t doubt your experience, but objectively Cornell has a higher proportion of classes over 40 students (23.4%) than Georgetown (13.3%) or Williams (5%), based on most recent CDSs. OTOH, Cornell offers far more classes (2,366), than Georgetown (1,453) or Williams (575). Both Cornell and Georgetown offer smaller review sessions for many of their larger classes.
OP should also look at Cornell and Georgetown to see what proportion of ug classes are taught by TAs…which admittedly can be difficult to find. At Williams, 100% of classes will be taught by profs or adjuncts (who typically have PhDs).