<p>Due to parents sending in my financial aid stuff late, I didn't find out until this past Monday I received just under $40,000 a year financial aid package. However, I'd have to take out in loans for the remainder, which could vary from year to year between $8,000 to $10,000. </p>
<p>Since I'm paying for college on my own, I was virtually set already with going to a state school with a full merit-based ride elsewhere, meaning full tuition, room and board, books, study abroad stipend, and even a free laptop!</p>
<p>Now the question is, is it worth being maybe $40,000+ in debt after graduation, for more prestige/name recognition... or of course, a smaller school, and other perks of Williams, over an absolutely free education at a state school?</p>
<p>(And before you ask, it isn't an ultraprestigious state school, although it does have top billing in different majors... but not totally bad odds at grad school, etc. And by the way, I'm undeclared for a major.)</p>
<p>Each school has many pros and cons... but if Williams were free, it would probably win out. Suggestions, anyone? It's getting uncomfortably close to May 1st!!</p>
<p>I would have been <em>paid</em> probably about $10,000/yr to go to my (decent) state school, and instead I choose to come to Williams, take out loans, and have my parents pay a lot more than they can really afford.</p>
<p>I don't regret it at all. You can only go to college once, and your choice becomes a part of you for the rest of your life. Twenty years from now, that $40,000 will be long paid off, but you'll still have a Williams education, the Williams name on your resume, and the memories of four years at a beautiful school with lots of amazing people.</p>
<p>Yeah, that. Also, this is just my opinion, but you might be more motivated to work hard and not just screw around if you're actually paying for your studies. For some people at least, I know that that works both ways.</p>
<p>Williams is a good school.. but it's about where you go for your grad school that helps your resume. I am going to Grinnell instead of UCLA, Mcgill or other prestigious private schools not only because its academic excellence, but also because of the financial aid. For example, if I go to UCLA, I will be indebted $120000 after 4 years of study, which is not very wise..</p>
<p>Williams for $10,000 per year or a decent but not great state school for free? In my mind that decision is easy, but I'm biased. Anyway, I will relay a story that may help you decide.</p>
<p>My DD, who currently goes to Williams, applied for a summer internship with one of our state's U.S. Senators last winter. When she hadn't heard anything - yes or no - she recently called to see what was happening and spoke to the aid in charge of interns. She was told that they couldn't find her application and was then asked where she went to college. When she replied Williams, the aid replied with a very positive sounding "Oh!" and asked her to send her resume again. Well, today she was told that they have increased the number of interns from what they originally planned and DD was offered the job.</p>
<p>Looks to me like its not only about where you go to grad school. Undergrad alma mater matters as well.</p>
<p>Having said that, let me give you the other side as well. A few years ago, I read a study in which the conclusion was that a significant measure of success was not necessarily graduating from Harvard, but rather getting admitted to Harvard. People who were admitted to Harvard but attended another school (no, I don't remember the other schools) were equally as successful as those who graduated from Harvard. A lot of your future success is, not surprisingly, dependent on you.</p>
<p>Williams wins, hands down. It is pretigious, it will provide you with an EXCELLENT education, Williamstown is beautiful, and you will make connections and friends that you'll have for the rest of your life.</p>
<p>At a state school, you'll be one of -- oh, I don't know, anywhere from 5,000 to 25,000.</p>
<p>I have a similar problem and could really use some advice. I got into Williams and Washington and Lee University. Washington and Lee has offered me the Heinz scholarship which is a four year full ride scholarship that includes money for books, travel, and personal expenses. I would also have two month paid internships with Heinz each summer. Washington and Lee is a selective liberal arts school but I think Williams is the better fit. My parents are pushing me towards the scholarship but I just don't know what to do :(</p>
<p>For me, it'd depend on how much aid Williams is offering. If Williams is gonna cost $40,000/year, then taking the scholarship is very, very attractive. If Williams is offering substantial aid, but not quite a full ride, then it's a tougher decision.</p>
<p>Just so everyone is fully aware, a financial aid award from Williams includes access to the 1914 Library, where you can borrow your required text books for the semester. That was an unexpected benefit for us. In two years, we have paid exactly $0 for text books (if you ignore the $20 D had to shell out after leaving a book - fortunately an inexpensive one - on an airplane).</p>
<p>Well I have made my decision and the scholarship at Washington and Lee is just too good to pass up. I hope everyone accepted to Williams has fun without me! And you waitlisted people can get excited now because a spot just opened up! LOL</p>
<p>Orinthesea, ho da **** cares about resume, u go to school to be around ppl you wanna be and doing work on your level, It such to think about your life as a printed page, ya dig?)</p>
<p>All the people here saying it's definitely worth being in debt to go to a school like Williams probably didn't have to worry too much about paying for college.
I'm not going to recommend you go one way or the other, but consider everything: the financial implications, the value of having a Williams degree when applying to a job (although, as someone said, if you go to a good grad school, that won't matter as much), the location (is the state school in a city? If so, that's another choice to make - do you want to be in a rural area or an urban one?), the size (do you want to know - or at least recognize - almost everyone in your class by graduation or do you want to constantly meet new people?).
If you can afford Williams, certainly consider it. If you choose a school based solely on cost, it may be a terrible fit and you could be miserable there. On the other hand, if you choose a school based solely on prestige, it may also not be a good fit and you could be miserable there (like me).</p>