I was just accepted in to both Northwestern and Williams college and am going to post this in both forums, but I am torn between these two. I want to study political science and I want to know which would be best for this. Of course, Northwestern has the advantage of being so close to Chicago, but how far ahead does that put them? What is the comparative strength of their poli sci departments? I’ve visited both and am in love, but NU is about 2 hours from home as opposed to 12 for Williams
Re: Northwestern vs Williams
Congratulations on two great choices! You really can’t go wrong.
Some questions and thoughts to consider:
Do you want to be close to home?
Do prefer large or small, near an urban area or rural?
I can comment on Williams but do not know Northwestern as well.
Poli sci is considered a very strong department at Williams. Maybe other posters can provide more specific details.
Williams is special because there are such tight bonds. Classes are small, even for freshmen (unlike at larger universities), and the two person tutorials are unique. Professors work with undergrads on research; undergrads sometimes co-author work with professors, too. Professors have students to their homes to dinner, etc.
The freshman entry system is awesome. Each entry is a microcosm of the community, with 20 freshmen and 2 junior advisers. While you can and usually will branch out later, it is nice to have a built-in group of friends with whom to start college.
Good luck deciding. Both are great colleges!
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@notivybound2022 Congrats on getting into both schools and @TheGreyKing is right - you really can’t go wrong. There is indeed much reason to love both options!
I graduated from Northwestern and my son will attend Williams and is considering poli pci as a major. My father was a poli sci major at Northwestern and loved the department, so your headline struck me. So many connections.
My recommendation is to visit both schools if you have not already done so. They are both fantastic, but in different ways. Northwestern/Evanston is nicely situated on Lake Michigan, whereas Williams is beautifully situated in the Berkshires. Both schools have excellent poli sci departments. If I were you, though I would not focus on the poli sci departments per se. If you are like most college students, you will deviate from your first intended major. I recommend thinking hard about the different environments. Northwestern will have larger class sizes, greek life (if that is of interest), and be next to a great city. Williams will have smaller classes, no greek life, and is in small town with access to great hiking.
Both schools also have great spirit and diversity. Northwestern has really stepped up its presence in Big 10 sports and is building a strong fan base (thanks in part their great President Morty Shapiro who is the former President of Williams!), while Williams is a frequent winner of the Director’s Cup(awarded to top Division 3 program) with over a quarter of the students participating in varsity sports.
@notivybound2022: What are your impressions after visiting both schools ?
@Publisher I feel more comfortable in the smaller setting of williams, but both campuses are amazing
My niece who grew up in the midwest, near a city, has found Williams to be very athletic and the English department a little disappointing. She is not athletic enough to keep up on skis or hiking with other Williams students, has found she is not really a fan of backpacking, and misses city life. Boston is a good four hours by bus from Williams. She is on a study abroad in a European City, and thats helping but she does not fit that well at Willams given that she is not athletic, and not from a boarding school, just a regular very strong public school. Its also hard to get to Williams by airplane, as the flights in and out of small Albany NY are not that frequent. Its a long day for anyone who does not have a direct flight to Albany.
Opinions vary. So I will share another.
I attended a public high school prior to attending Williams, and my parents were public school teachers. My friends at Williams came from a wide range of socioeconomic levels, backgrounds, and US states and other nations. According to a recent admissions brochure, 51% of Williams students attended public school, 32% private, 13% parochial, and 5% other.
I am one of the least athletic people out there. I am terrible at all sports. I also never once attended a sporting event as a spectator while at Williams. I never once went hiking while at Williams (although I have since discovered the joys of hiking now that I am an adult). I took a Physical Education class in skiing at Williams, but that was the only time I have ever skied in my life, before, during, or after college; the college paid for everything for that skiing class, which was nice.
And yet—
I loved Williams!
I “fit in” just fine, with plenty of friends with all different kinds of interests and hobbies. Overall, Williams students are very friendly and welcoming.
And the entry system ensures you interact with people who are different from you. It is a great way of bringing people together into a community.
I also was an English major and enjoyed my courses very much.
But I never cared for urban life (I went to Columbia for grad school, and I much preferred living in Williamstown to living in NYC). And the last poster is correct that travel to the remote Williamstown is more challenging than travel to a city.
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Williams represents the rarer opportunity, and, by personal preference, I would be attracted by that aspect. However, you applied to both of these schools for a reason, so I hope you consider each of them fully until you are certain of your decision.
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@merc81: I don’t understand your post re: “rarer opportunity” as Northwestern University has a much lower admissions rate than does Williams College.
Northwestern’s admission rate was 8.39% this year (if I recall correctly). Williams College had an overall admissions rate of 12.17% for the class of 2022. Williams College, therefore, admits 45% more of their applicants than does Northwestern University.
I’m aware of the respective admission rates, however they were not the source for my comment. The OP will have only one opportunity to experience an exclusively undergraduate-focused college while also living in an area that economic considerations might preclude in the future, @Publisher. “Rarer” pertains to my opinion on these factors.
IMHO – none of the statistics matter at all. What Williams and Northwester have in common is that they are both among the top schools in the country and if you excel at either school you will be in great shape for anything you want to do afterwards. What the two schools differ in are things like size, location, etc. Two reasonable people could make different decisions based on personal preference. Assuming finances are not an issue, the only opinion that matters is yours – which school do YOU feel provides the best environment for you to grow, to thrive, to learn, to enjoy? Since you are talented enough to gain admission to both of these schools I encourage you to figure this out for yourself (if you have a gut feeling don’t discount that). And once you make a decision, never look back.
“I feel more comfortable in the smaller setting of williams, but both campuses are amazing…”
You’re right, both campuses are amazing. My advice to you (if FA package comparison really isn’t an issue here) is to go with your gut instincts and where you feel more comfortable with. If you’re more comfortable with a smaller and intimate environment, you need to consider the fact that total undergrad population at Northwestern is nearly FOUR times that of Williams. My own personal philosophy when I was helping my son select his college choices was that the best undergrad experience (and the likelihood of success) is first and foremost the place where the primary institutional resources are directed at the undergrad experience, i.e., direct access to faculty, relevant programs, EC opportunities, career placement guidance, etc. That’s why we targeted a set of LACs, including Williams, and a few national institutions that are more undergrad focused. At Williams you’ll experience the Oxford tutorial style learning and close and direct communication and relationships with profs (often invited to their own homes).
If the distance from your home is what’s giving you the pause, remember that one benefit of going off to college is to learn to live independently and finding your own person.
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@notivybound2022 : If you want a more intimate environment, you should have applied to SESP at Northwestern and then add political science as a second major.
Remember: You can make a big school small, but you cannot make a small school big.
As much as I seem to be advocating for Northwestern in a Williams College thread, I am not. I am just pointing out that NU offers a small school environment if you understand the differences among the different colleges which comprise Northwestern University.
I am a big fan of Williams College & love the location. But it is quite different from Northwestern’s location & opportunities.
No right or wrong choice, just what you prefer at this stage of your life as big cities & suburbs will almost assuredly be available to you throughout the rest of your life What type of community do you live in now ? Rural, urban or suburban ?.
I am attending Wildcat Days tomorrow (NU’s admitted student days), where I will be bringing the williams fin aid package and asking NU to match it. If they can’t match it, I will attend Williams. If they do match it, I will have to do more thinking. I honestly feel as though I would do much better in the small class environment at Williams and feel as though Williams has the best undergraduate education in the country so I can’t figure out why it is so hard for me to just make up my mind.
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It sounds like you have made up your mind. It sounds like you prefer Williams.
But whichever you choose, make your choice and do not look back. There is not a “wrong”choice between two such amazing colleges, so you need not worry about that. Send in your deposit after the admitted students days, to whichever just plain “feels” best to you, then let yourself start getting excited about your future college!
@notivybound2022: Then the best gift that NU can give to you would be refusing to match Williams College’s financial aid offer.
P.S. Northwestern University might be a better choice for graduate school in your case.
Send in deposit? I have not seen or received anything about sending in a deposit to secure my daughters spot. I hope I did not miss anything. It seems like everything should be happening next month when she gets her ID number and email.
I know close to nothing about Northwestern, and I’ve only visited Williams. But I jumped on here to say that if you have any interest at all in studying international relations, conflicts, or African politics, you should seriously consider Northwestern, as Will Reno in the poly sci dept is probably one of the most brilliant guys you will ever meet, and he’s a fantastic professor. Otherwise, go with what feels right.
Northwestern does have a really good global footprint so thats a nice perk of going there. being right on lake michigan is beautiful too
I have spent time in both of these places. As far as non-academic factors go, Northwestern is indeed more “connected”, but I think you’ll find there is just as much of a bubble (albeit a larger one) in Evanston as there is in Williamstown. Northwestern students rarely take advantage of everything that Chicago has to offer, partially because when you’re 18-21 there are substantially fewer opportunities than when you’re 21+, and partially because the demanding nature of attending Northwestern makes it impractical to leave campus too often. Both campuses are very beautiful, with Northwestern right against Lake Michigan and Williams set amidst the beautiful rolling hills of the Berkshires. If you are attracted to outdoor activities like hiking, biking, etc., Williams has an edge in that regard.
In terms of academics, both are of course extremely rigorous programs. For political science in particular, I think Williams has an edge. It is of course true that Northwestern is renowned for its international relations and global policy strengths, but applies much more directly to its graduate programs than undergraduate programs. In general, the quality of undergraduate education at Williams is unmatched (even by many Ivies), and you will never be taught by a TA. The political science department at Williams is well known for the excellent quality of instruction; every single professor in that department could easily land a job at an R1 institution like Princeton or Stanford, but chooses to teach at Williams specifically because they like teaching and the more pedagogical aspects of professorship. Especially if you are considering graduate school, Williams has the advantage of letting you develop very intimate relationships with professors who can then become advisors and points of contact (which will be crucial for writing letters of recommendation and editing your writing sample when it comes time to apply for an MA or PhD program).