<p>My son was accepted by Williams, Swarthmore, Haverford and Middlebury. His interests are Economics and International Relations. He likes sports, quite outgoing and speaks 4 languages. Any thoughts or input on which one would be the best choice in terms of academics, college culture, dorm/food quality. Thank you.</p>
<p>Bali88, Congratulations to your son for some fine acceptances. All four of these schools offer excellent academics. I might give Williams and Swarthmore the edge over Haverford and Middlebury academically, but just slightly.</p>
<p>Will your son be able to visit? The physical environment varies: Swarthmore and Haverford are located in leafy suburbs of Philadelphia, a big, and somewhat gritty, eastcoast city. Williams is in a pristine mountain village. I haven’t been to Middlebury but understand that it is also quite rural. Long, snowy winters at Williams and Middlebury, so it helps to like snow sports.</p>
<p>Sports and outdoorsy activities are a big part of the culture at Williams (also Middlebury I believe, but I’ll let someone else comment further). Sports are decidedly NOT a focus at Swarthmore – though they have the requisite varsity teams (except American football). Haverford is decidedly less sports centric than Williams, but I think more than Swarthmore.</p>
<p>Williams kids are in general multifaceted, energetic, intelligent, talented, extroverted, confident, friendly. The Williams community offers a nurturing supportive environment which is especially important for international families. Same goes for the other three schools.</p>
<p>Are you actually in Bali? If yes, perhaps you could send me a private message with more information. I live in Jakarta and my son is a Williams graduate.</p>
<p>Momrath gave you some excellent information about W. W and Midd were two of my D’s final 4 choices last year and eventually she narrowed her choice to W and an Ivy. We loved everything about W and it was a very difficult choice. I won’t add to W as she gave such good info but I’ll add that Midd food is the best of any school my D visited. The campus is beautiful with lots of new buildings and amazing views from some and just like W, in a winter location where you would want to take advantage of those sports. Definitely a big interest in sports in general and in languages and international. The dorms were very nice at both W and Midd. Kids were VERY friendly and friendly to me, as a parent as well. I would agree that academically, W has a slight edge - it’s usually considered the number one liberal arts school. The faculty at both are very devoted. It’s a very difficult decision, but you can’t go wrong with both Midd and W. We loved both. Would love to hear your son’s decision.</p>
<p>Swarthmore and Williams are at the top of this list academically: Williams is much more athletic, Swarthmore more socially/politically active. Your child should visit both. All great schools, however.</p>
<p>Midd definitely has the best food, and probably the best dorms as well. Swarthmore doesn’t offer a major in International Relations, although there are definitely students who concentrate in it unofficially. Does he want to continue studying any of those 4 languages, and if so, do all 4 options offer them at the advanced level?</p>
<p>With regard to sports culture, I think it goes Williams > Middlebury > Haverford > Swarthmore in descending popularity. One reason that I chose Swat was because the majority of the students are apathetic about sports. Haverford is 70% athletes when you include intramurals, but the scene is relatively low-key. Middlebury is perhaps a little more “crunchy” than Williams, both being classic New England LACs with strong athletic programs.</p>
<p>Thank you for the very good insights and info. We plan to visit the four colleges sometime this month; so hopefully my son will choose the college that fits best for him. We visited Williams last summer and he loved it but did not visit the other three. Does anyone have info on how strong the alumni network of these colleges is and how effective the network is in supporting the seniors in finding good jobs upon graduation?</p>
<p>momrath, I will send you a PM.</p>