<p>My D is a rising senior and will (hopefully) be choosing between these two schools :) She already loves Rice because she has visited multiple times and will visit Williams next month. She has many family members "selling" Williams because they went there and loved it.</p>
<p>Nuts and bolts: she wants to major in Biological Sciences and wants to do research ASAP. I think her interests are in viruses and genetics - but this can change.</p>
<p>She will be involved with sports both on the field and watching the others and tradition and school pride are important. She loves diversity in activity and friends - which all schools claim to have/be.</p>
<p>Okay. I’ll start. S will be a freshman this fall so, while I have no experience, I am happy to share perceptions. Williams seems to encourage undergraduate science research. Indeed, it underwrites a summer program (housing plus pay) for students engaging in research: [Admissions</a> – Williams College| Science and Mathematics Research](<a href=“http://admission.williams.edu/bigpicture/difference/research]Admissions”>http://admission.williams.edu/bigpicture/difference/research) . We spoke to a physics prof about research when we visited and were quite impressed with the opportunities.</p>
<p>When your daughter visits, ask to visit the labs where research is going on this summer. Our son is on campus doing bio research this summer. He also worked on a research project during his winter study period. There are opportunities for undergraduate research on campus and she should be able to see what’s going on while visiting.</p>
<p>If your daughter is interested in the sciences, it’s hard to beat Rice’s level of research combined with a highly residential/undergraduate community.</p>
<p>I think the visit will definitely help decide. I’ve been to both - I thought I would love Rice and hated it/thought I would hate Williams and loved it. In my opinion, the educational and cultural environments are very, very different making it easy to see which you would fit into better. </p>
<p>This also depends on what kind of research she wants to do. Does she want to jump right in and get her hands messy? Or would she sacrifice that for the opportunity to do ground breaking research?</p>