<p>Williams vs Cornell CAS vs Amherst</p>
<p>Bear in mind I'm a liberal arts major, with hopes for law school.</p>
<p>Have you visited? Why not start with your own thoughts, that would help anyone else familiar with the three to help you with your decision. They all have fine LA programs, and great law school admissions. Cornell is huge, the other two are small.</p>
<p>i would have to suggest amherst, since it simply has more prestige and life than rural Williams. Cornell is in the Ivy League, which is always a plus because of the connections. After you graduate, you will be able to find a Cornell employer anywhere you like--not so with a liberal arts graduation.</p>
<p>I would suggest Williams.</p>
<p>Prestige should not be an issue, but if it is, then, Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore are as prestigious as an "Ivy" degree. Most people in the public don't know of the three schools, but those who know, recognize the fact that they're three of the best schools around. My entry of freshman alone, has students who were also accepted to Harvard, Upenn, Cornell, Stanford, Brown, and Columbia. I'm not going to get into an argument about which school has more prestige, but Williams was ranked number one by USNews for liberal arts colleges this year...can you take a guess as to which school took number two?? ;-) </p>
<p>Williams kids are always busy, because there's simply, so much to do here on campus. I would go on, but I've covered campus life in previous posts on this board.</p>
<p>You're talking about law school. Well, I'm pretty sure of these figures...you can also obtain them in the prospectus.
Of those applying to law schools: 99%+ are accepted into a law school.
The most often attended law schools for Williams grads are Harvard, Columbia, NYU, and Georgetown.</p>
<p>I believe the numbers are similar for the percentage of Amherst grads accepted into a law school.
According to the prospectus, the law schools that are most often attended are: Harvard, Yale, University of Chicago, and Columbia</p>
<p>Both Amherst and Williams are wonderful schools, and if you're trying to pick between the them I think what really matters most in the end is how the school feels to you.</p>
<p>COamherst09--</p>
<p>Yes, the numbers are very similar for Amherst and Williams for law/med/business/grad school acceptances. Your decision between these two schools should be based on which one "feels" right for you.</p>
<p>Cornell is a very different type of school. My best friend goes to Cornell and I actually visited him for three days this past week. Both Cornell and Williams are beautiful and have top-notch facilities. Cornell is about 10x the size of Williams, and has frat (my friend estimated that 40% of students went greek--that's a lot!). All three schools are cold, although Cornell is the greyest (weather-wise) of the three.</p>
<p>The biggest difference I noticed between Cornell and Williams is academic. At Cornell there are TAs who often run labs and occasionally teach classes. It is not uncommon for sections to be several hundred students, and a small section is 25. At Williams there are no TAs and sections over 50 are extremely rare. Any class over 30 or so is considered large. A small class at Williams is one under 15 and it's not uncommon to have classes of under 10 (last semester I had classes of 2, 11, 18, and 35. This semester I have classes of 12, 16, 16, and 35). There is no comparison in the amount of personal attention you will receive from profs at Cornell and Williams. This is not to say that Cornell isn't a good school--the profs are top-quality. It's just a different type of education.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the advice so far. It's still inconclusive, though.</p>
<p>The bottom line is I gather that I can't go wrong with either school: Cornell is bigger, diverse, but at the same time the CAS can feel just like a middle-sized LAC; whilst Williams is just much more intimate, meaning a heady, cozy, first-rate education would come easier.</p>
<p>I am well aware of how graduates of both institutions enjoy great admit rates to law schools, yea I wonder ... if both institutions are just shy of being tantamount education-wise, why then to Williams grads seem to be that much more successful (99%+) at getting into law school than fresh-graduated Cornellians (85%+)?</p>
<p>Are Ephmen simply better disposed to snag those top-notch recommendations from profs exactly because of Williams' small size? What about the tutorial system in Billsville? Sounds excellent to me, a 2:1 student-to-faculty ratio.</p>
<p>But Cornell has its pluses as well. Larger campus body. Post-grad Ivy League-class connections. Diversity(?!). The chance to enroll in colleges outside of CAS (ILR anyone?) that would definitely be germane to obtaining a marketable/attractive-to-law-school edu.</p>
<p>I have until May 1 to decide! HELP! ANYONE!!!</p>
<p>"Post-grad Ivy League-class connections."</p>
<p>I heard williams Alumni connections are very strong.</p>
<p>Williams alumni connections are very strong. I'm on a Williams mailing list at work, so I see the Williams resumes that come in and the attention they get; we hired a number of Williams undergrads this year for the summer and for permanent jobs next year. It's the same at a number of other NYC financial services and major law firm employers that I know about. Williams alums definitely are looking out for Williams students (and with good reason - these kids are really impressive!)</p>