Now that the matriculation deadline has passed, curious to hear from 2 groups re your overlaps and decision making process: 1) Those who decided to attend Williams - why Williams and what other schools did you get admitted to? and 2) Those of you who were accepted to Williams, but decided to attend another school: Why not Williams and where are you going? According to the Williams overlap analysis for our high school in Naviance, the top application overlaps with Williams were: Cornell, Dartmouth, Amherst, Brown, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown, Yale, Princeton, Penn, and Columbia.
I hope this thread generates lots of responses.
Interesting list of overlaps. In my opinion, the most similar overlaps with Williams College are Princeton & Dartmouth.
Interesting question. Just went on D19’s Naviance, top overlaps with Williams: (and there is going to be a regional effect on these results)
-Northwestern
-U Mich
-Tufts
-Dartmouth
-Middlebury
-Yale
Very interesting, clearly Williams so different from NU and Mich especially
The schools included in the original post, with a few exceptions, would appear to serve more as alternatives to Williams than substantively similar overlaps. For colleges that might be appropriate for students who have been drawn to Williams’ particular attributes, Amherst, Dartmouth, Bowdoin, Hamilton, Colgate, Middlebury, Colby and, maybe, Carleton would seem to align well as a group to consider.
Very unscientific methodology, based solely on experiences related orally by current students at Williams:
The most popular college to be rejected from before choosing Williams was Yale.
The most common final choice during admitted students’ days was Amherst vs. Williams.
Almost 50% got in early decision.
I should clarify that the intent of the discussion string was to understand overlaps among accepted students as opposed to applicants. I added the comment re Naviance (which references application overlaps) just to get the ball rolling.
In response to GreyKing’s comment, my son’s decision was ultimately between Amherst vs. Williams and he chose Williams.
A lot of people, at least in my school, apply to Bowdoin along with Williams. They’re really similar on a surface level but they do have some differences in terms of culture and academics that I think distinguish the two. People applying to Williams also apply to Amherst, Brown, and Dartmouth, as well as other NESCACs like Midd and Colby.
Interestingly, not a lot of people I know apply to Swat/Pomona along with Williams. I definitely met several prefrosh deciding between those schools, but there’s less overlap there.
Bowdoin/William’s is also a common combo at our school.
For anyone interested, I know that incoming students for the class of 2023 have chosen Williams over Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Bowdoin, Pomona, Swat, and others.
Naviance overlap just means that kids from your school who applied to Williams also applied to those other schools. It doesn’t mean that the schools are even similar in any particular way. Quite a few students have lists of schools where the schools aren’t very much alike. Someone applying to Williams might apply to Michigan as a perceived safety for example. Doesn’t mean Williams is anything like Michigan.
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https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/peers-network?
I find this ^ site fascinating. In 2012 the Chronicle of Higher Education asked schools who their peers are. The lists tended to aspirational, that is schools listed colleges above them on the food chain but not below, but there’s also a list of schools a college both chose as a peer and were chosen as a peer by. For Williams that list is:
Bowdoin C
Carleton C
Dartmouth C
Haverford C
Middlebury C
Pomona C
Swarthmore C
Wesleyan U
In addition Williams chose** Amherst and Grinnell**. Amherst chose no schools as peers, so they may not have responded at all, and Grinnell had Amherst, Bowdoin and Carleton, so I’m not sure why they didn’t include Williams. Most of the NESCACs, as well as a number of USNWR 20-50ish schools like Kenyon and Franklin & Marshall chose Williams as a peer.
My son’s decision was between Amherst, Princeton, and Williams- he chose Williams.
@shuttlebus would you mind sharing more about your DS’ decision in selecting Williams over Amherst and Princeton? Congratulations and Thank you.
@makemesmart I really can’t give a definitive reason for his decision. He loved the vibe as soon as he stepped foot on campus.
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