Choosing a College during COVID | Williams vs. Amherst

[@sheliadenglershaw6871]

I have the best of both worlds .... I have a freshman who will be at Williams College and her twin will be at Amherst College. Have a great time at Williams!

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Holy cow, that's amazing! I'm sure the sibling rivalry will be fierce as ever :) Thanks so much!

[@The_Arbiter1231]

10:39 is when she gets into the Williams vs Amherst part.

[@owennielsen9792]

16:07 I know this is 2 years late but I really resonate with this. I recently committed to play golf at Williams (I’m going into senior year of HS this fall) and I was stuck between there and Middlebury. I’ve always been involved in many sports and being from a big Midwestern public high school I’ve always felt in the middle of being extroverted with my teammates but also introverted and academically serious.

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

I think you will like it here a lot :)

[@coleWbeats]

This was really really helpful thank you for putting in the time to make this

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

So glad it was helpful!

[@doni4150]

How exciting!!! My son(#5) chose Williams ( #1 U.S. Liberal Arts College)... he had a billion choices as many of the other Williams students who turned down HUGE well-known IVIES...we were blessed in the respect that he resided in Chicago until age 12 ...then he matriculated to a private school in D.C.. Hope you are enjoying your New England experience! I just returned home( Chicago) on last night and plan to return in the spring ( I enjoy engaging in intellectual debates and taking advantage of studying at one of the best libraries in the world). Congrats again!!!! Fun Facts: First college to have caps and gowns! First college to install indoor bathrooms!!

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Congratulations and thanks so much!! Wow, I didn't know those fun facts, thanks for sharing!

[@gummiesrule88]

When I was deciding where to go to college, I boiled it down to Pomona in the West and Amherst in the East. I knew I wanted a small liberal arts college, wherever I went, so the Ivies and Stanford were out. Because my high school was a private prep school, the preppie issue didn't matter to me much (although I did learn that in some respects, even an exclusive private prep school in Seattle was not exactly the same sort of place as Exeter, Choate, Greenfield, Andover, etc.) I did not apply to Williams, because Williamsburg was fairly well "out of the way," and the five college cooperatives in which Amherst and Pomona operated seemed more likely to provide the sort of wide selection of academic and other opportunities I was looking for. In the end, I picked Amherst, and am grateful I did. It was a great school for me, and a forgiving one, since I spent the first two years learning more about subjects beyond the classroom, so to speak. It is said that sometimes men have to work harder at maturing, and that was certainly true for me. But when I was finally ready to be a real academic student, Amherst had all I wanted, including professors who knew me and to whom I mattered. Classes at Smith, Holyoke and Hampshire were also great. This is when the small liberal arts environment really paid off for me. I still remember when I walked on to the Amherst campus for the first time. It was almost a carbon copy of my high school, on a somewhat larger scale, so I was instantly comfortable with my surroundings. And it turned out that I could get along fine with the east coast preppies, although I must say that my two best friends at Amherst ended up being a public school legacy kid from Portland and the valedictorian of his high school class of 9 people from the San Juan Islands. Great dudes, both. Was the best man for one of them (my roommate all four years), and keep in touch with both to this day. I went to law school sort of by default after Amherst (choice was between philosophy grad school and law school), and thanks in large part to Amherst I had several choices among good schools. I chose one, and it all worked out. Amherst was great for me in many ways. Had I been a female, however, back then I might not have made the same choice. Since then, the frats are gone, and several other "progressive," and ultimately good, changes have come to the school. The effective male/female ratio in that valley is still similar, though. Put together, Amherst, Smith and Holyoke have a female/male ratio that is closer to 5/1 than 1/1, and I don't know how much that still affects the living experience at the school for women. My sister came to Amherst a few years later, and it was harder for her than for me; one of the reasons could have been related to this, although she's never really said. It was fairly weird back in my day, socially, at least for awhile. In any event, I can say that law school and real life straightened me right out on that score after I left Amherst. :)

[@edmond_HFX]

Thanks for sharing. Very informative. Just wondering, did you research Swarthmore College at all? If yes, what are your thoughts on it?

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

You're welcome! I didn't really consider Swarthmore, but if there are any specific programs/features you're trying to compare I might be able to help. Otherwise, maybe someone who knows more about these NESCACs will see your comment and help you out :)

[@zacharysearight932]

This was really helpful thank you so much

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

I'm so glad!

[@prasiddharajaure1465]

Could you please share your stats, if possible? And CONGRATULATIONS!

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Thank you very much! As of now, I'm not planning to share stats because the holistic admissions process means that admitted students' application portfolios look drastically different--and comparing myself to people who posted their stats only served to stress me out unnecessarily and unhelpfully. That being said, I appreciate the feedback because I might eventually reconsider--you're not the first person to ask, and if that information would be helpful, I want to help! What I can say is that everyone here is super high-achieving but no one is perfect. I had some Bs! I dropped some extracurriculars! I didn't graduate high school with honors! There are students from all sorts of backgrounds, from super prestigious prep schools to community college, big underfunded public schools to military service. Schools like these are fiercely competitive, so from a student's perspective it seems that being an interesting applicant outweighs being "perfect." Do your best to enjoy the process, and best of luck to you!!

[@arnabkumarmondal5958]

Hey,I am an international student and going to apply to colleges in this fall.So Amherst or Williams where should I apply in my early decision?( Financial aid is very important to me)

[@maureenm5779]

I can only speak for Amherst but as a parent, their financial aid has been more than generous.

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Hi! Amherst is need-blind for international students whereas Williams is need-aware. However, I'm not sure this actually has any statistical effect on acceptance rates of international students-you could reach out to the admissions staff for international students to get more info. From Williams' website: "nearly 60 percent of international students receive financial aid from the college, with aid awards averaging $65,000 annually. Our financial aid includes free textbooks, lab and art supplies, music lessons, storage, and one round-trip plane ticket home each year." I'd strongly recommend checking out their fly-in programs for seniors, Windows on Williams and Access to Amherst!

[@dions7382]

What do you major in?

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

We actually don't declare a major until the end of sophomore year! I'm super undecided & have a ton of interests including health/bio, law, econ, politics, geoscience/envi, history, and music, but right now I'm leaning towards a Political Economy major. There's definitely a spectrum from people who come in knowing exactly what they want to do to folks like me who just want to try everything. I love that you can explore as much as you want with Williams' open curriculum!