Williams vs Princeton, please help

[Anonymous]

As a parent, all I want is the best for my daughter. She’s bright, articulate, and passionate about literature—an aspiring English major who lights up when she talks about Shakespeare, Toni Morrison, and George Eliot. I’m proud of her intellectual curiosity and her drive, and as college application season ramps up, I find myself facing a surprising dilemma: prestige versus fit.
Recently, she’s been talking a lot about Williams College. Her college counselor raves about it, calling it one of the best liberal arts colleges in the country. Small class sizes, amazing faculty attention, a rigorous academic environment—it checks all the boxes on paper. She loves the idea of a tight-knit academic community where she can really dig into her studies.
But here’s the thing that keeps nagging at me: no one I know has heard of Williams.
I don’t mean this to sound dismissive or elitist. I’ve done my research. I know that Williams consistently ranks at the top of liberal arts college lists, often ahead of places like Amherst. But when I bring it up to friends, colleagues, or even extended family, the reaction is almost always the same: “Where’s that?” or “Is that William and Mary?” or, worse, “Oh, is that a state school?”
It feels strange—and frankly a little frustrating—that such a highly ranked school doesn’t carry the same name recognition as, say, Princeton or Yale. In a world where connections matter, where first impressions are formed in seconds, I can’t help but wonder: Will people take her degree seriously if they’ve never heard of the school?
That brings me to the other option my daughter is considering: Princeton. She’s academically competitive enough to be a real contender there, and of course, the English department is world-renowned. If you tell someone you went to Princeton, you don’t need to explain. The name opens doors—whether you're applying for a job, a fellowship, or grad school. It’s just understood.
I’m torn. I don’t want to push her toward a decision based purely on prestige. I know that real learning happens when a student feels seen, challenged, and supported—and from everything we’ve heard, Williams offers that in spades. But I also can’t ignore the reality that in many circles, name recognition matters. She might thrive at Williams, but I worry she’ll have to constantly explain or defend her choice to people who simply don’t know better.

[Anonymous]

This is LLM slop and you should be ashamed of yourself

[Anonymous]

Maybe see where she gets in first? And stop sharing where’s she applying - that will eliminate comments.

[Anonymous]

Roll Tide

[Anonymous]

Williams is widely considered an Ivy-tier school with numerous students routinely turning them down to go to Williams instead. Forbes recently ranked it in the top 10 among all colleges and universities in the country. The quality of teaching is unbeatable and their students have numerous experiences to study or pursue fellowships at Oxford University that no other U.S. school does on a per-capita basis. Princeton is more prestigious, but Williams will not hold back your daughter in any way.

[Anonymous]

lol

[Anonymous]

What color does she look better in? Purple or tiger stripe?

[Anonymous]

You're deciding if your DD should go to Princeton or not before she even got accepted??? What am I missing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe see where she gets in first? And stop sharing where’s she applying - that will eliminate comments.

Right? Both schools have sub 10% acceptance rates- wait and see where you get in first lol.

[Anonymous]

I kind of get the impression that if she went to work somewhere no one had heard of Williams, she'd be in a field that isn't that close to the academic subjects she intends to study, and therefore it'd only matter whether she got a college degree. (Which she will?)

[Anonymous]

Has she actually visited either?

[Anonymous]

What motivates someone to generate this crap in ChatGPT and post it here? Like what is the rationale behind it? How long did it take to come up with the idea, and write the prompt, etc? People are so bizarre.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What motivates someone to generate this crap in ChatGPT and post it here? Like what is the rationale behind it? How long did it take to come up with the idea, and write the prompt, etc? People are so bizarre.

Trolling. The “never heard of Williams” thing reliably gets this forum going.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:“Is that William and Mary?”.

No, no one confuses Williams with W&M. Just no.

My advice to you, Stacey: apply to both, get accepted by both before you post a big bullshit thread on internet.

You daughter most likely ends up at William and Mary, like hundreds of thousands other bright kids.

[Anonymous]

Educated people know Williams. It’s a nonissue.