Williams or Princeton?
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Anonymous
| Science major, premed. Music important (string player/classical) |
Anonymous
| Princeton is tough academically (but amazing, TBH), especially in the STEMS, so GPA is hard to keep up as high. This will make medical school applications harder as you will be competing with others who are 4.0's |
Anonymous
| Pick Princeton. |
Anonymous
|
Who turns down Princeton??
But not gonna lie, Williams is a gem. You are lucky to have this choice , congrats! |
Anonymous
Honestly, I'd turn down Princetown. I think I'd be happier at Williams. It's really OK for students to make choices based on fit rather than based on name brand. (And in this case, it's Ivy vs. non-Ivy, since both are name-brand schools.) |
Anonymous
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My top two choices years ago. Had also been admitted to Amherst, Duke, UVA, and Wesleyan.
I loved Williams. The location is beautiful and it seemed like a place with a great sense of community. But it’s very remote. Princeton, on the other hand, is served by Amtrak, has more resources, has an amazing campus, and had also been the place that many of the smartest kids at my high school had attended. I didn’t make up my mind until the last minute but picked Princeton. |
Anonymous
Grad schools know grading at undergraduate schools, so this is bad advice. But either Williams or Princeton will be good starting places for med school applications. With the caveat that many pre-med kids out of HS end up switching to something else anyway. |
Anonymous
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For premed, I'd be very careful. GPA matters much more than undergrad institution for med school admissions. I know Princeton is quite rigorous academically(from firsthand experience).
I'm not as well informed about Williams. All this said, outside of rigor, Princeton's quality of teaching and the beauty of the campus are absolutely exceptional. For what it's worth, I have seen even weak students succeed in premed by majoring in sociology, english, or anthropology and taking premed STEM requirements at Rutgers during summers. At Princeton, molecular biology and chemistry are both very rigorously graded and filled with gunners - so be careful those(the easier major + Rutgers trick is a little known work around). |
Anonymous
| My sister was premed at Princeton. It was agonizing academically, especially at first, and she had to work her ass off. Got into one medical school barely — NYU — and the rest was fine. Princeton’s no walk in the park though. |
Anonymous
| How is this even a question? it's princeton. |
Anonymous
|
I had this choice years ago and went w/ Williams. I loved the small classes and one on one access to professors even at entry level classes. I also loved being able to take some classes completely unrelated to my major. I ended up changing my major from what I intended and was so glad I wasn’t stuck in a particular track. I went into banking in ny, and the Williams alum network was amazing. Between that and the career center, I had my pick of great jobs beginning with internships after sophomore year.
I don’t think you can go wrong with either choice so focus on where he’ll have the best quality of life. Williams was intense but not a pressure cooker or stressful. |
Anonymous
| Whichever is preferred for music. |
Anonymous
| STEm is absolutely brutal at Princeton, I pile go with Williams. |
Anonymous
Just want to congratulate you! Williams has a pretty good sushi place on campus, that's all I can contribute 
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Anonymous
| I would be inclined to say Princeton but you should read up on mental health issues there and other pressure cooker schools. 8 suicides there in 3 years. Pressure is more than academic also socially can be hard. I don't know much about Williams but I have not heard the same concerns about it as I have about Princeton and Cornell. |