Yale vs Amherst/Williams

Colleges and Universities A-Z Yale University
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<p>Congrats to all who got in :)</p>

<p>I'm an international student who has been lurking around this forum for months and received good news from the three colleges above! I wanted to do a PhD in Economics eventually, and applied to Yale and Amherst requiring full FA (Williams is not need blind for intels so I didn't want to risk :/) </p>

<p>Where should I go? I know Yale is probably more prestigious but heard that Amherst and Williams are better places if I wanted to do a PhD. If I go to Williams I would definitely need to take huge loan.</p>

<p>HELP.</p>

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<p>Yale. Why take a huge loan and put pressure on yourself if you don’t have to? I personally wouldn’t want to go to the same school for undergrad and graduate anyway.</p>

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<p>I think you’ve basically ruled Williams out. Yale and Amherst are really different though! I’d say Yale, but it’s a decision you have to make for yourself. Will you have the chance to visit the schools?</p>

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<p>What OP means is that Amherst and Williams grads see great success in grad school placement. They’re both liberal arts schools, so they are focused on the undergraduate education, a great boon when applying to grad school. Both Williams and Amherst do have very small graduate programs (around 50 people), though it’s not on the same level as an Ivy League grad degree. The schools are only comparable at an undergraduate level.</p>

<p>I realize that prestige is a huge plus for Yale, and if students were to choose schools based on the “bumper sticker test” alone, Yale would see 100% of the cross-admits matriculate into their school. But see, that’s not all that matters. Amherst has an excellent economics program, and you could manage to do relatively worse at Amherst and still get into top economics grad schools. Yale is a larger research university, and though they take great pride in their excellent undergraduate program, preference typically goes to the grad students. That’s not to say you won’t get a top-notch education at Yale, but you do need to realize that the school and its resources are partitioned between the undergrads and graduates, and usually not evenly so. </p>

<p>You’d have to visit the school and see what’s best for you. Based on the one criteria you’ve listed (of getting an econ PhD), both schools will do you well though Amherst may have the upper-hand if we were to look at this statistically. You’d need to expand on what you want out of an undergraduate education, what type of person you are socially, academically, and what type of a career path you want to take. These are all important factors, so please do tell them. </p>

<p>I find, however, that often times the best decision is what your gut tells you… but do try and visit both campuses if possible. They are both very different student bodies.</p>

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<p>First, don’t rule Williams out until you receive your aid package; if you were accepted, it means you will get the same consideration for financial aid as anyone else, the policy becomes irrelevant. I’d be surprised if your aid package was materially different from Amherst/Yale’s. No longer being need blind means only that they can consider financial need in the initial decision of whether to admit international students. (Basically, international students require a huge amount of aid, usually, so Williams decided that it could only afford to admit a certain number of internationals without regard to that need each year). Once you are admitted, you receive exactly the same financial aid as any other student. So, if you have 100 percent need as an international, and you are admitted, you will receive 100 percent aid. Thus, since the change in policy, there has been no change to the percentage of international students on campus at Williams (still around 7-8 percent each year), which would not happen if they were admitting students, then denying them aid. </p>

<p>Williams (or Amherst) provide just as good, if not better, preparation for Econ grad school than Yale. The prestige difference among the general populace simply does not exist if you are applying to a Phd program, all of which know Williams and Amherst well.</p>

<p>I’ll also plug a few of Williams’ particular advantages. First, Williams has arguably the best undergrad math program in the nation. Williams has three NATIONAL math professors of the year on the faculty, which is simply incredible. Williams finished in the top ten in the recent Putnam competition (ahead of the entire Ivy league save for Harvard) despite its much smaller size: </p>

<p>[Math/Stat[/url</a>]</p>

<p>As I’m sure you know, undergrad math preparation is, at this point, even more important than an undergrad econ department in terms of getting admitted to and succeeding in an econ Phd program. Check out this list to give you some sense:</p>

<p>[url=&lt;a href=“http://econ.williams.edu/students/grad-student-list]Economics”&gt;http://econ.williams.edu/students/grad-student-list]Economics</a> Alumni in Grad School](<a href=“http://math.williams.edu/putnam-exam-dec-3/]Math/Stat[/url”>http://math.williams.edu/putnam-exam-dec-3/)</p>

<p>Williams is also particularly strong in Econ, as it is the most popular major on campus. In addition, one of the two very tiny grad programs on campus is in development economics, which brings mid-level international diplomats from developing countries to campus for one year. If you are interested in international / development economics, Williams can thus provide access to some really interesting people with very unique experiences (and grad level classes), while still having the advantages of a liberal arts education.</p>

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<p>Hello there,</p>

<p>I just thought I would start by saying that all of these schools are wonderful schools, but I would have to vote for Amherst.</p>

<p>I am currently attending Pomona and I love it. The small liberal arts feel is amazing. You can’t beat the close connections with your professors.</p>

<p>As for Yale, while it is a great academic institution, I think that there are many problems that people don’t generally talk about. My brother is a current senior at Yale and after talking to him last year, I was convinced not to attend Yale.</p>

<p>Yale is very clique-y. Everyone is defined by what they do on campus. There are “theatre kids” and “a cappella” kids, but there isnt much socialization between the groups. It isnt just that they don’t hang out together, but there is a sense of rivalry among the groups to. For example, the Duke’s Men don’t like the spizzwinks, who dont like bds.</p>

<p>Also, the alcohol policy is getting much more severe, so i am assuming it will only get worse over the next few years.</p>

<p>And to top it all off New Haven sucks :/</p>

<p>I think Yale is a great school, but I just think you would have a much better experience at Williams or Amherst</p>

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<p>@Carelessman,
Is there a reason you prefer Amherst over Williams?</p>

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<p>The only reasonable answer would be personal preference. You can’t go wrong with either school.</p>

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<p>Carelessman,</p>

<p>I am confused. You say they are all great schools and then precede to bash Yale. Your brother sounds like a bitter person than maybe didn’t get in the A Capella group he wanted to. My son is more of a “theater” guy but he has friends in many of the A Capella groups and seems to have the opposite experience as you describe. I think your brother might have done you a great disservice and if you were accepted to Yale you should have went to BDD and made your own decision about it.</p>

<p>I don’t care for people that try to convince someone to like schools by putting down the other ones. If you think the OP should go to one of the other schools than give them reasons why they would like those schools, not reasons why they wouldn’t like the others. I think you would have more credibility that way. ;)</p>