<p>I have spent the last several days thinking of pros and cons for attending each school. I am just grateful to be in this position at this point, but nonetheless I want to make the best deicision for me and I would love to hear some feedback from you guys. With that said, here are some background info.</p>
<p>Potential Major: Economics
At this point, it seems like econ is what I'll most likely major in. Of course, this is subject to change. But if my mind does alter about a major, I am sure it'll still be something in the social sciences. </p>
<p>Career plans: Definitely planning on attending grad school. I am still deciding whether I want to attend a business school or law school. I am leaning more towards business schools, however. </p>
<p>What I want to college - Obviously academically challenging experience, but also a good deal of fun social life as well. I do not really have a preference for student body population, although I do look forward to having small class sizes. </p>
<p>Any perspectives would be very kindly appreicated! Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Great options. There is no way to parse such a decision rationally in my opinion. This is a go with your gut decision. These are four great schools. Choose the one you’d be happiest at.</p>
<p>Swat has the lowest acceptance rate but also the smallest class, so there is SOME correlation there (not total, I know since Harvard is the most selective with a larger class.)</p>
<p>I certainly don’t think one piece of statistical information should determine such a decision.</p>
<p>All of these schools have extremely different feels to them. I can’t see how the lowest acceptance rate should be anything of a factor in a decision between them.</p>
<p>If you’re interested in IB/finance/consulting/etc, the recruiting at Williams is phenomenal. There are dozens of students this year heading to big time jobs at Goldman/Bain/McKinsey/etc after graduating this year.</p>
<p>But, yeah, I think most important is visiting and see what feels like a better fit, if you get the chance.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about Northwestern. And I’d agree with those who encourage you to if, at all possible, visit. I am certainly well acquainted with both UChicago, which is a great place for graduate studies but which isn’t known as the place “fun comes to die” for no reason, and of course Williams. I’d say Swarthmore is kind of a liberal arts version of UChicago … very intellectual and great academics, but a bit more of a stressed out population than Williams. Williams of those three I think provides the best balance of academic excellence, job / grad school placement, and a really fun undergraduate experience. </p>
<p>If you want a super-intense, super-intellectual liberal arts experience with an extremely small student body, Swarthmore is a good choice. If you want the same thing in a university setting, then UChicago. If you want a more well-rounded liberal arts school with a big focus on social life, the arts, sports, and the outdoors, I’d say Williams. I think Northwestern is a fairly different experience, being a big ten school and so on. Settings are very different too – Williams has by far the most natural beauty around the school, but is also by far the most rural. I think there is the most going on on campus, but fewer off-campus options. UChicago and Swarthmore are both more of a suburban feel and very close to cities (UChicago is technically in a city, but really, there isn’t much going on in Hyde Park, and getting to downtown Chicago takes around 30-40 minutes usually). </p>
<p>One good thing – all of those schools have KILLER econ programs, so you really can’t go wrong, academically. All place students in the very best econ and math grad schools …</p>
<p>Do you realize how little sense this comment makes? Those companies are incredibly well respected and top-tier for the sort of entry-level jobs they offer, and your critique that “that kind of work completely sucks” says absolutely NOTHING about how those are the exact jobs that anyone interested in pursuing a career in finance, investment banking or thinking about business school (which is generally what a lot of the consulting positions are gateways to) are aspiring to get. </p>
<p>I realize that completely irrelevant comments tend to be the norm for your attempts at ■■■■■■■■ the Williams thread to hate on us despite having absolutely no connection to Williams, but, really. If the OP is considering a career in finance or going on to business school, knowing that top companies recruit on-campus is extremely important. I have friends at Bowdoin, Colby, Middlebury and other top LACs who don’t have a tenth of the on-campus recruiting that we have at Williams, and another friend at Swarthmore in particular who has also found on-campus recruiting there something to be desired (though, to be fair, he’s not looking for finance/consulting jobs, so I have no idea what that sort of recruiting is like there).</p>
<p>yes polka2015 is just a new name for that same old ■■■■■ plaguing the Williams board. Best ignored until he changes names and we re-spot him for what he is…</p>
<p>thank you to all who’ve responded! i am going to do a big trip this spring break - visiting williams during Previews, then driving down to philly for swat, and finally flying to O’Hare to visit chicago and northwestern. </p>
<p>it does look like, academically, i really cannot go wrong with the choices, which i am very thankful for. i guess, as you guys pointed out, it’ll come down to campus “feel” and my gut decision. </p>
<p>at this point, it seems like i am leaning more towards williams and uchicago though.</p>
<p>U of C had a strategic PR makeover this year in an effort to boost applications- let’s hope the spirit of the place doesn’t trend too much toward the mean.</p>
<p>I’m between UChicago and Williams in case no one knows me from other boards. Good luck, with making a choice, as this is the hardest one I’ve had to make in a while, but I’ve noticed that LACs will be able to give you a lot of perks as an undergrad such as the clearly obvious fact that you will have the full attention of your professors who decided that it’s more important to teach undergraduates than to research with grads.</p>
<p>My best friend from high school went to U of C and then transferred to Stanford after his 2nd year. Not knocking it, but I get the impression it’s the kind of place where you really need to know what you’re getting in to.<br>
Academically, I’d say they’re comparable in the Econ fields, we routinely send people to top econ/business/law programs every year, but I’m sure U of Chicago would be similar.</p>
<ol>
<li>At this level, law school admission will be mostly about GPA/LSAT/essays so it shouldn’t really be a factor here unless you have some info about which one is easier to get higher GPA.</li>
<li>Business school cares a lot more about GMAT, essays, employer recommendation, and what you’ve been doing since college (career) than where you went for undergrad. So again, it shouldn’t really be a factor.</li>
</ol>
<p>Econ at the undergrad level at all these places are probably pretty comparable. FWIW, Northwestern College Fed Challenge team never lost in the midwest regional which includes UChicago, despite whatever perceived superiority UChicago may have at the graduate level. I am biased but MMSS is unique, fabulous, and to me, should be the X factor that I’d seriously consider.</p>