<p>I know this has been discussed before. But instead of arguing I wanted to just get the pros and cons of each of these top liberal arts schools (especially if you have visited one). </p>
<p>Williams
PROS: ranked #1, huge endowment (lots of $)
CONS: literally in the middle of nowhere, everyone is econ major, competitive</p>
<p>Bowdoin
PROS: traditionally most famous alumni, great dorms/food ranked #1, more laid back
CONS: lot of prep culture, i heard this is where a lot of exeter/taft kids go</p>
<p>Middlebury
PROS: strong athletics, more diverse student body, great facilities (new library)
CONS: not as strong alumni, also heard this is in the middle of nowhere</p>
<p>“everyone is econ major, competitive” - really?
: “literally in the middle of nowhere” I thought Middlebury and Williams were about the same distance from Boston.</p>
<p>What are you interested in majoring in?
Middlebury is well known for languages, environmental and international studies </p>
<p>Williams is well known for economics, math, physics and other sciences </p>
<p>Middlebury has more distribution requirements than Williams
Williams has tutorials</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about Bowdoin except it’s in Maine.</p>
<p>I visited all three with my son. All three will offer you a world class undergrad education. Disagree, however, that Middlebury has a more diverse student body. Quite to the contrary. Bowdoin and Williams have noticibly more diverse (ethnically and racially) student bodies than Midd, and the CDS numbers for the schools bear this out.</p>
<p>The College Navigator numbers on 2009-2010 degree completions show the following:</p>
<p>Econ degrees granted at Williams: 63/525, or 12 %
Econ degrees granted at Middlebury: 72/649, or 11 %
Econ degrees granted at Bowdoin: 60/456, or 13 %</p>
<p>Suppose it depends on what you consider a city…by my standards there’s really only one in the US… that would be New York, LOL. However… some would say that Midd is only an hour away from Burlington which is the largest city in Vermont.</p>
<p>Williams doesn’t even compare to Middlebury in Skiing although Middlebury is not at the top either. Williams women’s hockey (I know because my business partner’s daughter was heavily recruited there) STINKS… Middelbury won the nescacs last weekend against Amherst and is moving on in the NCAA’s… Middlebury Men’s Basketball beat Williams for the Nescac championships as well. </p>
<p>Having said all that… who cares? Unless you’re on one of those teams why would it matter which school is better at any one given sport? If you are on one of those teams, then the right choice will be where you get along with the coach and which school will provide you more playing time.</p>
<p>I would hardly use the athletic rankings as any kind of a deciding factor behind these three schools. </p>
<p>It’s all about fit…find the one that the student is most comfortable at and which is proficient in their intended major.</p>
<p>In general, Williams excels at individual sports (wrestling, swimming, running), while Middlebury excels at team sports.</p>
<p>Middlebury leads NESCAC in total National Championship teams, winning 32 titles since the conference lifted its ban on NCAA play. Williams is second with 23 NCAA championships, Tufts next at 21.</p>
<p>i wasn’t trying to “attack” williams bro, i know how good the athletic program is there (esp with the directors cup).</p>
<p>I’m just pointing out that williams has a reputation for track & field and swimming (8-9 titles in a row) but i just don’t care about those sports at all.</p>
<p>middlebury is a hockey powerhouse and has won multiple national titles and has been dominating the NESCAC. it definitely has a better hockey program than williams, no question about it</p>
<p>bowdoin has better women’s field hockey and basketball teams… those two programs are top in the nation</p>
<p>Actually, Middlebury is the closest of all three schools to a city of one million or more.
Midd is 130 miles from Montreal (pop 1.6 million). </p>
<p>The closest small city to Middlebury is Burlington (pop 42,000), which is just under an hour away. The closest small city to Williams is Albany, NY (pop 95,000). The closest small city to Bowdoin is Portland (pop 63,000).</p>
<p>About athletics, I just didn’t know. I certainly didn’t mean to be critical of Middlebury since I have a great respect for that school. It just seemed to me that “strong athletics” applies to all the schools.</p>
<p>We visited all three school, and loved all three schools.</p>
<p>Son is graduating from Williams.</p>
<p>There wasn’t any one particular thing that made him make this decision. He just felt at home at Williams.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is the least remote because it’s actually adjacent to a large town. Middlebury and Williamstown are about the same – tiny towns just set up differently. Both have movie theaters, important to my kid.</p>
<p>Although Williams is referenced as strong in sciences/math it also has a strong English program and VERY strong music and art. </p>
<p>As already said, Midd is strong is languages but also in environmental studies.</p>
<p>Bowdoin is strong in government studies.</p>
<p>I doubt that there are many kids who would be happy at one and not another.</p>
<p>“The closest small city to Middlebury is Burlington (pop 42,000), which is just under an hour away. The closest small city to Williams is Albany, NY (pop95,000). The closest small city to Bowdoin is Portland (pop 63,000).”</p>
<p>The closest small city to Williamstown is Pittsfield, MA (pop. 42,000), less than 20 miles (25 minutes) south on Route 7.</p>
<p>portland trumps pittsfield and burlington in my opinion.</p>
<p>williams is probably the strongest in econ/sciences. i feel like it’s very tough to compare though… i’m sure equally good poly sci students are at williams than bowdoin</p>
<p>middleburys language strengths are mostly due to its summer language programs; people rarely distinguish the two.</p>
<p>bowdoin USED to be the strongest english for sure - “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was written there, and Longfellow and Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter) both graduated there. that’s pretty solid!</p>