<p>I've been admitted to Yale, Amherst, and Williams as a transfer and wait-listed at the other two schools. After scouring hundreds of threads on this forum, I'm still not sure where to go. I'm an English major.</p>
<p>Yale has been my first choice for the last few months. I wrote my application for Yale: the other colleges were afterthoughts. It seems to have the most resources in my areas of interest (professors, courses, library resources) and the best physical plant. Residential colleges, high alumni satisfaction, the Yale students and admissions officers I've talked to are friendlier than those from Williams or Amherst, etc. Closest to NYC, and cost of travel is important.</p>
<p>Williams, like Yale, has more than a few courses that I'm interested in. Also, I'm averse to cities after living in NYC for so long, so Williamstown might be a welcome change.</p>
<p>Amherst's draws are the "LAC vibe" (as with Williams) and affiliation with a certain well-endowed library.</p>
<p>Stanford's and Chicago's draws are more banal: the former's strength in almost all fields and entrepreneurial air and the latter's "intellectual vibe." Quite far from NYC. If one or both of them admit me from their wait-lists, I expect to stick with Yale, but I want to keep my options open.</p>
<p>Sorry for starting another thread: I suppose that I'm looking for that one tidbit of information that has not surfaced on this forum, which will make or break my choices.</p>
<p>How do the net prices compare after financial aid? If travel costs are important, the net prices after financial aid are probably very important.</p>
<p>Can you visit all of the schools before the transfer deadline? None of the schools are particularly far from NYC and if you have access to a car and the ability to take some time off, it would be a good idea to just road trip to the various schools and maybe see some interesting sites along the way. </p>
<p>The admissions office may also reimburse you for travel expenses as they sometimes do for freshmen admits. </p>
<p>LACs’ advantages are somewhat less advantageous for transfer students, since the advantage of small classes is more significant in the frosh/soph years. But you can try looking in each school’s class schedule to see what classes are offered and how many students are in each class or section.</p>
<p>I doubt an English major transfer would want for classes at either Amherst or Williams. Besides some of the best parts of a LAC (eg the incredibly tight nit community, lack of competition for ECs, etc) are still there regardless of class standing. </p>
<p>I visited Yale. Unfortunately, the deadlines are in a few days, and I cannot visit Williams and Amherst beforehand.</p>
<p>I checked the course directories soon after starting this thread. Most of the classes I want to take at Yale are smaller than Williams’s and Amherst’s alternatives, probably because Yale has a wider selection.</p>
<p>I think I still prefer Yale, but I want to give the other schools a fair chance.</p>
<p>If Yale has been your top choice all along, you got in, you can afford it, and nothing else changed then I’m not sure why you are agonizing about it. You can’t go wrong with any of these schools, and certainly you can’t go wrong with Yale. You might as well stick with your gut instinct to go to Yale and don’t look back.</p>
<p>Congratulations on some excellent choices!!! All of these schools offer you an amazing educational experience. I, too, am a fan of LACs. In fact, I attended a rural NE LAC and had a great experience. However, as a transfer, I think Yale is an excellent choice. Williams and Amherst are both smaller schools, many students will already have their groups of friends and activities. I knew most of my good friends from freshman year. Personally, I believe it would be easier to assimilate into Yale. However, if you want to get out of a city, I can understand the draw of Williamstown, it’s a beautiful, rural area. But, it will be a drastic change. </p>
<p>My son is a Williams alumnus so I’m somewhat biased on the subject; however, Yale (and Stanford) are pretty hard to walk away from. I have no doubt that you would receive an excellent education in your area of interest at any of the schools on your list. Post-graduate opportunities would be excellent at all as well.</p>
<p>The only point that seems worth deliberating is whether you want to be in an urban setting (and a somewhat gritty one at that) or a bucolic rural environment. My son had only ever lived in huge cities, but he was drawn to the peace and beauty of the Berkshires and took full advantage of opportunities to get out and enjoy nature. He’s back in city now, but certainly doesn’t regret the time he spent in the Purple Valley.</p>
<p>So first, think about where you want to spend the next three years and what you like to do when you’re not in class. </p>
<p>Secondly, I note from your previous posts that you’re transferring from Columbia, which begs the question why? Perhaps the reason that you want to leave Columbia would shed some light on which of these schools would be the right direction for you.</p>
<p>@momrath I grew to detest NYC, and all of the schools on my list except for Amherst offer more courses I want to take than Columbia does.</p>
<p>My gripe about Yale is that it blurs into New Haven. The campus is not too well-defined. New Haven itself is an “acceptable evil,” because it seems quieter than NYC.</p>
<p>Embrace New Haven? I don’t count on it. That’s one of the reasons why I started this thread: I don’t particularly like Yale’s city, but I know almost nothing about Williams and Amherst. I hoped that someone would try to woo me on their behalf. Courtly trappings, grandiloquent praise, songs of the glories of the small liberal arts college, and all.</p>
<p>Williams has the Tutorial system, Winter Study, and a selection of courses that I like at least as much as Yale’s. Those options seem nice, but I don’t know what they look like, so to speak. I can’t visit the college.</p>
<p>Amherst has the Consortium and an affiliation with the Folger Shakespeare Library, which might be useful at some point, but it’s not really as attractive as the other two schools. </p>
<p>Ceaseless, I’m a great fan of Williams. Its English department is excellent. It seems you’ve spent some time with the course catalog and know what’s on offer. </p>
<p>Williams students are bright, enthusiastic, multi-talented and active. They take their academics seriously, but also are involved in a range of extracurriculars. This is a general statement, but I’d say they are optimistic, friendly and happy. Sports and outdoorsy activities are a big part of the campus culture as is a widespread focus on visual art and music. There are three very good museums on and near campus, an excellent theater program and many music venues.</p>
<p>As at all of the selective small liberal arts colleges, the faculty are accessible and nurturing. They are there to teach undergraduates, period. Close relationships lead to personal recommendations that continue for years after graduation.</p>
<p>However, I wouldn’t advise anyone to attend Williams who hadn’t visited. The rural mountain village environment is either a big plus or a big minus. You’d have to visit to know if it’s for you. </p>
<p>Not clear why you don’t make the effort to visit Williamstown. It’s a long day’s journey but certainly doable from New York. If you can spend the night, even better. Look at Peter Pan Bus Lines. $46 round trip Port Authority to Williamstown.</p>
<p>This is a big decision. I’d make it my business to visit Amherst and Williams. The cost and inconvenience involved in traveling to Massachusetts from NYC are trivial in light of the fact that you are deciding where to spend the next three years. It appears you made a big mistake in choosing Columbia–why risk making another one by deciding based on only limited information?</p>
<p>If you can’t visit, don’t go. It’s too risky. If you really like Yale, why would you even consider the risk of attending another school sight-unseen? </p>
<p>I visited all three of these schools with my daughter, and I strongly recommend visiting before deciding. The visits completely altered my daughter’s initial perceptions of both Amherst and Williams.</p>