Why is Williams easier to get into by acceptance rate than lesser ranked LACs?

[Anonymous]

Williams has ranked #1 for LACs for the last 17 years, and they've placed #1 on Forbes more than any other school. Yet they receive less applications than many LAC peers and have lower admit rates. Swarthmore, Pomona, Bowdoin, Claremont McKenna, Dartmouth, Harvey Mudd, and Amherst all have lower admit rates, but don't quite rank as highly. Is there a reason for this?

[Anonymous]

It's in the middle of nowhere. When I looked at it it creeped me out by the isolation. I think many people want to be in or near a bigger town or city.

[Anonymous]

Probably they have a higher percentage of applicants who are well qualified and really wAnt to go there. It's not like kids who apply scattershot to all the Ivy's and hope. Self-selecting strong pool.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's in the middle of nowhere. When I looked at it it creeped me out by the isolation. I think many people want to be in or near a bigger town or city.

+1. My kid is a hard pass on schools in remote locations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably they have a higher percentage of applicants who are well qualified and really wAnt to go there. It's not like kids who apply scattershot to all the Ivy's and hope. Self-selecting strong pool.

Doesn't explain on Williams vs other LACs. All LACs have self-selecting pools. Someone pointed out that at TJHS, only 6 applied at Amherst, 7 at Pomona, and 9 at Williams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Probably they have a higher percentage of applicants who are well qualified and really wAnt to go there. It's not like kids who apply scattershot to all the Ivy's and hope. Self-selecting strong pool.

I think you could say the same thing about Grinnell.

[Anonymous]

Honest question, why does it matter? Either the school is a good fit or it isn't. Wouldn't the stats on incoming freshmen be more relevant? Number of applicants just indicates popularity - that shouldn't impact a decision to apply or not.

[Anonymous]

40% of the williams class are recruited athletes and it is extremely remote.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:40% of the williams class are recruited athletes and it is extremely remote.

The % of recruited athletes is similar or smaller than a peer school like Amherst which has a smaller student population and the same number of sports. Possibly, Williams outreach to minorities and families with less means hasn't been as strong as some peers though I have no evidence to back that up. I do agree its remoteness even compared to peer schools like Amherst (which can market its membership in the 5 College Consortium w/nearly 30,000 other college students within a few mile radius) limits the pool of applicants. Still, Williams is a wonderful school in a picturesque New England town and is otherwise every bit the match of Amherst in the upper echelon of SLACs.

[Anonymous]

Agreed that it's very remote. I went to Amherst and had some friends at Williams that I'd visit pretty regularly, but the place depressed me with its isolation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed that it's very remote. I went to Amherst and had some friends at Williams that I'd visit pretty regularly, but the place depressed me with its isolation.

Fellow Amherst grad here and I got a similar feeling whenever I visited the Williams campus (and Bowdoin for that matter). I was happy that I could so easily get away from Camp Amherst from time to time and visit HS and college friends at Smith, Mt Holyoke and UMass. Good times!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed that it's very remote. I went to Amherst and had some friends at Williams that I'd visit pretty regularly, but the place depressed me with its isolation.

Fellow Amherst grad here and I got a similar feeling whenever I visited the Williams campus (and Bowdoin for that matter). I was happy that I could so easily get away from Camp Amherst from time to time and visit HS and college friends at Smith, Mt Holyoke and UMass. Good times!

Agreed. Plus, even if I was with Amherst friends or on my own, I could hop the bus to Northampton and quickly be in another town with plenty to do but where I wasn't running into my classmates every 5 feet. If there was another town like that near Williamstown, my friends didn't seem to know about it. Plus it was so much easier to get to Boston from Amherst if you really wanted to get out of dodge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed that it's very remote. I went to Amherst and had some friends at Williams that I'd visit pretty regularly, but the place depressed me with its isolation.

Fellow Amherst grad here and I got a similar feeling whenever I visited the Williams campus (and Bowdoin for that matter). I was happy that I could so easily get away from Camp Amherst from time to time and visit HS and college friends at Smith, Mt Holyoke and UMass. Good times!

Agreed. Plus, even if I was with Amherst friends or on my own, I could hop the bus to Northampton and quickly be in another town with plenty to do but where I wasn't running into my classmates every 5 feet. If there was another town like that near Williamstown, my friends didn't seem to know about it. Plus it was so much easier to get to Boston from Amherst if you really wanted to get out of dodge.

This is good to know as my kid picked Amherst over Williams because he thought there'd be more to do off-campus.

[Anonymous]

Looked at Williams w/DC. The remoteness was indeed a huge turnoff. Obviously the quality of the school speaks for itself but likely takes a very special student who really wants to be there. Honesty, despite its telling reputation, i can't see why anyone would want to spend 4 years of life at the palce especailly if you though in the winters. We were told on the visit that a very high percentage of studnets do go off campus to study abroad. Likely the escape path.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agreed that it's very remote. I went to Amherst and had some friends at Williams that I'd visit pretty regularly, but the place depressed me with its isolation.

Fellow Amherst grad here and I got a similar feeling whenever I visited the Williams campus (and Bowdoin for that matter). I was happy that I could so easily get away from Camp Amherst from time to time and visit HS and college friends at Smith, Mt Holyoke and UMass. Good times!

Agreed. Plus, even if I was with Amherst friends or on my own, I could hop the bus to Northampton and quickly be in another town with plenty to do but where I wasn't running into my classmates every 5 feet. If there was another town like that near Williamstown, my friends didn't seem to know about it. Plus it was so much easier to get to Boston from Amherst if you really wanted to get out of dodge.

This is good to know as my kid picked Amherst over Williams because he thought there'd be more to do off-campus.

Congrats!!! It is a special place. When I was there, it was quite common for students to take at least one class at the other colleges. When a professor who taught a certain class at Amherst went on sabbatical at least 8 male students and I ended up taking the equivalent class at Smith College. That made for an interesting experience on the first day of classes when Smithies did a double take entering the classroom for the first time. We also enjoyed the benefits of having lunch dining privileges there and discovering among other things that the food at Smith was so much better. Also, this is how one of my friends met his future wife...