Williams or Vanderbilt?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
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I want to study music, biology (genetics/biomedical most likely) and do stuff with foreign language hopefully. Vanderbilt has the obvious advantage with the Blair school of music where that’s concerned, but Williams seems rather unbeatable for research, teaching, and graduate school prospects in almost every realm.

How does Vanderbilt compare to Williams in the eyes of grad schools admissions as well as employers? Can I go pretty much anywhere if I do well at Vandy, as is said to be the case with Williams? Are both pretty much the same in terms of prospects? I’d really appreciate the insight.
– Also, I know they are very different (small northern LAC vs decent size research uni in the south) but I’m okay with both scenarios, although insight about location pros and cons would also be really valuable. –

THANKS!

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Just my two cents’ worth: Vandy definitely wins if you want SEC-type sports, Greek life, an urban setting. Otherwise, (unless you are sure you want to gravitate toward Tennessee or the Deep South after graduation), I think Williams wins hands down. Williams and its students radiate a more intellectually curious feel, and Williams has the advantage of a long history of placing students into Wall Street, consulting and med/law/business schools. Williams is also manifestly more genuinely socially welcoming to diversity (racial and socioeconomic). (I am sure this will be debated but see many of the fraternities and sororities at Vandy.) Moreover, until recently, Vanderbilt was seen primarily a regional (Southern) school for rich kids which was not nearly as stringent then as it is today in admissions. I know their administration is aggressively moving away from this past orientation. While Vanderbilt has done a great job in attracting a more national student body and is now very hard to gain admission to, I believe it will take a decade or more for its national reputation (jobs, grad school) to catch up to the current calibre of its student body and its admissions standards, as the younger cohorts go forth into the world. As recently as a decade ago, Vanderbilt accepted more than 1 in 3 applicants. http://news.vanderbilt.edu/vanderbiltmagazine/archives/VmagFa06/images/thecampus.pdf Now I think it’s less than 10%. No doubt, over time, Vanderbilt’s national reputation will catch up to its increased selectivity, as has happened with a vengeance in the last two decades or more at Duke. Vanderbilt is very highly regarded in the South and is “hot” nationally, but most folks I know outside the South do not consider it even in the same league as Williams/Amherst/Duke/HYPS etc, even though it is now statistically as hard to get into as Duke. Anecdotally, as a data point, when I attended an ivy league law school, there were many Williams grads there but I do not recall a single Vanderbilt grad on campus. Likewise, when working at a bulge bracket investment bank in NYC… though no doubt that will change over time as well due to Vanderbilt’s increased selectivity and national footprint. No disrespect to Vanderbilt, which has become very selective, boasts a very pretty campus and whose facilities and student body get better and better every year (and whose students do seem very happy, as supported by various rankings), but if you go to Williams and invest yourself, you are sure to have an amazing experience and have many superb job/ grad school/ law school/ med school selections to choose from. Check per capita placement in schools/ fields you are interested in. Or, if you like Vanderbilt better, go there. I am sure you will do very well either way, as you are no doubt intelligent and industrious. Good luck in your decision. It is an enviable one.

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It is an enviable choice, and I am sure you chose already. What did you pick?

Vanderbilt has a large advantage over Williams, for biomedical research on campus. They have a medical research facility, research hospital and an actual medical school on the campus. LACs, you go off campus typically, and you would have to go all the way to SUNY Albany Medical to find such a fine research hospital as Vanderbilt U offers.

Learning is not just about professors and classes. Learning happens student to student, and often grad student to undergrad student. Grad students are there to inspire you, warn you about pitfalls, and teach you. They are fabulous at a place like Vanderbilt!

At Williams College you will have no access to super smart PhD students and MDs, but you may have a closer relationship with a professor and your tight knit class of super smart students. Nashville is so much better socially, than small town Massachusetts, I mean it IS a city with stuff to do! . Weather is way way nicer in Nashville too, if that matters at all. More clubs, more activities, more classes to choose from. Socially, you could actually date, I don’t see how one does that at Williams, very awkward, just like high school??

Vanderbilt U is now a bit more diverse. Vandy has really pushed to bring in Asian Americans, and other groups that were underrepresented traditionally. Jewish students are better supported than ever before at Vandy.

If you live any distance, its very very hard to get to Williamstown, MA. You may need to fly to Albany and bus it. Nashville is a breeze. It offers a major airport. These may seem like small things for an intellectual student, but really the size alone is the reason to go to Vanderbilt. Do you want a school the size of your high school? Do you want to be in a boarding school crowd? Then Williams is the right pick. If you want a diverse university in a nice urban environment, pick Vanderbilt.

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I chose Vanderbilt! Thank you for all of your insight – reassures me that I made the right decision.

@coloradomama

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Hmmm . . . I’d say the excellent non-validating comment (post 1) merited acknowledgment as well.

1 Like
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Howd you “choose” Vanderbilt when you were just taken off the waitlist at Williams?? @Senior2016M

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@jondough There are 9 days between May 26 and June 5.

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@Momofmrb Ok, this person started this thread on 4/27/16. He/She wanted to know if Vanderbilt or Williams was a better choice. On 5/19, @Senior2016M claimed to have chosen Vanderbilt. On May 26th, he/she got off of the waitlist at Williams. My question is, how did this person “choose” Vanderbilt when he/she was never accepted by Williams in the first place? “I made the right decision.” Why make this thread making it sound like you got in? And I know there are 9 days between May 26 and June 5; your point is completely irrelevant to what I am trying to say.

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@johndough I guess I’m wondering what you’re trying to say, then. While OP’s original question might seem misleading in that he doesn’t disclose he was hoping to get off the waitlist at Williams, I don’t think it’s worth a call-out. As far as I can tell, he also doesn’t claim he was already in. A more charitable interpretation of the OP than yours might be that he was thinking about what he’d do if the got the call that he was in (which, by the way, he did).

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@jondough Thank you for your thorough research into my activities on CC. I worked hard to get off the waitlist at Williams. When admitted off of a waitlist, you have only 48 hours to decide. I wanted to consider the hypothetical for longer so that my decision could be extra informed, and as a result, I have made the right one. Perhaps you could spend less time trying to call me out for being disingenuous – I did get into Williams. Only 15 got in off the waitlist, so I think that means I’ve just as much of a right to say I was admitted. I think you need to find something better to do than stalk threads and throw accusations my man.

@Momofmrb Thank you for defending me – nice to be reminded that there are genuine people on this thread. Really not sure why john dough is quite so upset to be honest! Who does this hurt? No one, it just gave me more time to think about my potential options.