Williams vs. Wellesley

[Anonymous]

Two amazing schools, but can only ED1 to one. Are they comparable or is Williams clearly and definitively the superior school? Any opinions and advice would be appreciated.

[Anonymous]

My guess is on paper Williams will look like the clearly more selective school but that doesn’t mean it’s clearly the better school for your kid and I am pretty sure that using ED1 on Williams just because it is more selective is a bad strategy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Two amazing schools, but can only ED1 to one. Are they comparable or is Williams clearly and definitively the superior school? Any opinions and advice would be appreciated.

Keep in mind you could ED1 to Williams and ED2 to Wellesley (Williams has no ED2). That would maximize chances of getting into one school, but of course that does not work if you prefer Wellesley.

Choice should be whatever is the best fit for DD at this high level — especially when one is single gender — not what is “clearly and definitively the superior school,” whatever that means.

[Anonymous]

They’re such different schools. ED to the one where dd thinks she would be happiest.

[Anonymous]

Does your HS have a history of getting kids into Williams ED?

Williams and Wellesley have very different vibes. Why these 2 schools? My DD is at Williams but I don't consider it the "superior" school to Wellesley, she just wasn't interested in a women's college. Also, Wellesley seems to have a more intense atmosphere than most other SLACs - more like Swarthmore.

[Anonymous]

Does she want single gender? Did you even ask her opinion?

The Wellesley culture is very competitive.Does she want that? The campus is pretty.

I think Williams offers more, but does she have a chance of get in there?

[Anonymous]

Fine w/ all women's. Just wants to be around smart, curious, engaged students regardless of gender.

Williams seems to be much higher regarded by her classmates even though they aren't too far off in the rankings. So that's her concern about doing ED

[Anonymous]

Good time for her to learn to do what feels best to her and how ignore other people’s preferences that are skewed by their preferences.

[Anonymous]

Wellesley network is really great. It’s obviously not in Boston but it’s a lot less rural/isolated than Williams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fine w/ all women's. Just wants to be around smart, curious, engaged students regardless of gender.

Williams seems to be much higher regarded by her classmates even though they aren't too far off in the rankings. So that's her concern about doing ED

That would be 100% the wrong reason to ED Williams. Please support your daughter in removing the idea of what others want/think from her decision making. We're all guilty of this, so I get it.

[Anonymous]

Does she like to ski?

[Anonymous]

Williams is pretty homogeneous. that can be good or bad. I would definitely visit first. I can't imagine someone visiting these two schools and not having a preference for one over the other. They are both great though.

[Anonymous]

I went to Williams and would not say they are similar at all. I did not have an interest in even applying to Wellesley and the same can be said about my classmate who loved Wellesley and did not apply to Williams. Has your dd visited both? If not I’d try to find time for a quick visit this fall.

[Anonymous]

Williams is very rural while Wellesley is in a suburb with a bus to downtown. That’s a big difference.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Williams is very rural while Wellesley is in a suburb with a bus to downtown. That’s a big difference.

There is another big difference = co-ed versus single sex. Your daughter should have a preference for one over the other.