what's the difference between Williams and Davidson?

[Anonymous]

Because it is

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because it is

It really isn’t. The WASP schools are great, but they do have less opportunities than ivies.

[Anonymous]

Is Richmond as good as these schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone talking about Williams now? It is a decent school, but people talk of it like it's Princeton or something.

Ha, my top wo choices years ago, and well before US News was ranking each #1 in their respective categories. They used to have a lot in common, before Princeton got so STEM-y.

Davidson probably still has a more regional feel, but another great school. Could definitely see people who are a bit unsettled by the current reputations of Princeton (grind & bicker clubs) and Williams (jocks headed for Wall Street) opting for Davidson as a good alternative.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Richmond as good as these schools?

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone talking about Williams now? It is a decent school, but people talk of it like it's Princeton or something.

Ha, my top wo choices years ago, and well before US News was ranking each #1 in their respective categories. They used to have a lot in common, before Princeton got so STEM-y.

Davidson probably still has a more regional feel, but another great school. Could definitely see people who are a bit unsettled by the current reputations of Princeton (grind & bicker clubs) and Williams (jocks headed for Wall Street) opting for Davidson as a good alternative.

Princeton is the one that got stemy?
The top majors at Williams are all stem majors. The college is known and has carved itself into a niche of mathematics and economics (mathematical, not social science). The humanities departments are running thin on majors, and Econ, math, CS, and now stats (just became an independent department) are EXPLODING. Even art history is being majored in less and fewer students are taking courses in art history.

It’s Williams that has become STEM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone talking about Williams now? It is a decent school, but people talk of it like it's Princeton or something.

Ha, my top wo choices years ago, and well before US News was ranking each #1 in their respective categories. They used to have a lot in common, before Princeton got so STEM-y.

Davidson probably still has a more regional feel, but another great school. Could definitely see people who are a bit unsettled by the current reputations of Princeton (grind & bicker clubs) and Williams (jocks headed for Wall Street) opting for Davidson as a good alternative.

Princeton is the one that got stemy?
The top majors at Williams are all stem majors. The college is known and has carved itself into a niche of mathematics and economics (mathematical, not social science). The humanities departments are running thin on majors, and Econ, math, CS, and now stats (just became an independent department) are EXPLODING. Even art history is being majored in less and fewer students are taking courses in art history.

It’s Williams that has become STEM.

+1, Williams’s current direction is math and economics and has been for a while. Of WASP, only amherst is known for its humanities programs in English and legal studies at this point. Swarthmore has engineering, Econ and cs emphasis and Pomona is imploding in on itself from Math, CS, and Econ.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Richmond as good as these schools?

Yup.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone talking about Williams now? It is a decent school, but people talk of it like it's Princeton or something.

Ha, my top wo choices years ago, and well before US News was ranking each #1 in their respective categories. They used to have a lot in common, before Princeton got so STEM-y.

Davidson probably still has a more regional feel, but another great school. Could definitely see people who are a bit unsettled by the current reputations of Princeton (grind & bicker clubs) and Williams (jocks headed for Wall Street) opting for Davidson as a good alternative.

Princeton is the one that got stemy?
The top majors at Williams are all stem majors. The college is known and has carved itself into a niche of mathematics and economics (mathematical, not social science). The humanities departments are running thin on majors, and Econ, math, CS, and now stats (just became an independent department) are EXPLODING. Even art history is being majored in less and fewer students are taking courses in art history.

It’s Williams that has become STEM.

Williams needs to pivot academically: majors in sports management, sneaker design, endorsements, becoming a sports agent, a special major in sports analytics, things like that -- so the academics better reflect its student body.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone talking about Williams now? It is a decent school, but people talk of it like it's Princeton or something.

Ha, my top wo choices years ago, and well before US News was ranking each #1 in their respective categories. They used to have a lot in common, before Princeton got so STEM-y.

Davidson probably still has a more regional feel, but another great school. Could definitely see people who are a bit unsettled by the current reputations of Princeton (grind & bicker clubs) and Williams (jocks headed for Wall Street) opting for Davidson as a good alternative.

Princeton is the one that got stemy?
The top majors at Williams are all stem majors. The college is known and has carved itself into a niche of mathematics and economics (mathematical, not social science). The humanities departments are running thin on majors, and Econ, math, CS, and now stats (just became an independent department) are EXPLODING. Even art history is being majored in less and fewer students are taking courses in art history.

It’s Williams that has become STEM.

Princeton is now a poor man's, second-tier Stanford. But at least its countless engineering students choose it over Cornell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone talking about Williams now? It is a decent school, but people talk of it like it's Princeton or something.

Ha, my top wo choices years ago, and well before US News was ranking each #1 in their respective categories. They used to have a lot in common, before Princeton got so STEM-y.

Davidson probably still has a more regional feel, but another great school. Could definitely see people who are a bit unsettled by the current reputations of Princeton (grind & bicker clubs) and Williams (jocks headed for Wall Street) opting for Davidson as a good alternative.

Princeton is the one that got stemy?
The top majors at Williams are all stem majors. The college is known and has carved itself into a niche of mathematics and economics (mathematical, not social science). The humanities departments are running thin on majors, and Econ, math, CS, and now stats (just became an independent department) are EXPLODING. Even art history is being majored in less and fewer students are taking courses in art history.

It’s Williams that has become STEM.

Williams parent whose kid is an art history major. There are 30+ art majors (one department for studio and art history with concentrations in studio, art history, or a combination of the two). This page lists the average number of majors per year over 4 years https://communications.williams.edu/media-relations/fast-facts/
Among the most popular majors are:
Econ 112
Math 59
CS 56
Bio 56
Psych 55
Poli Sci 52
English 49
History 45
Art 36

These humanities and social sciences numbers aren't too bad given the trend at many SLACs. Among my kid's friends, there are double majors in Math & Religion; Math & Political Science; Econ & English; and Anthropology and Studio Art.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Because it is

It really isn’t. The WASP schools are great, but they do have less opportunities than ivies.

We can agree to disagree. The most interesting, smart students I know attend SLACs. They must find the opportunities therein compelling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone talking about Williams now? It is a decent school, but people talk of it like it's Princeton or something.

Ha, my top wo choices years ago, and well before US News was ranking each #1 in their respective categories. They used to have a lot in common, before Princeton got so STEM-y.

Davidson probably still has a more regional feel, but another great school. Could definitely see people who are a bit unsettled by the current reputations of Princeton (grind & bicker clubs) and Williams (jocks headed for Wall Street) opting for Davidson as a good alternative.

Princeton is the one that got stemy?
The top majors at Williams are all stem majors. The college is known and has carved itself into a niche of mathematics and economics (mathematical, not social science). The humanities departments are running thin on majors, and Econ, math, CS, and now stats (just became an independent department) are EXPLODING. Even art history is being majored in less and fewer students are taking courses in art history.

It’s Williams that has become STEM.

Williams parent whose kid is an art history major. There are 30+ art majors (one department for studio and art history with concentrations in studio, art history, or a combination of the two). This page lists the average number of majors per year over 4 years https://communications.williams.edu/media-relations/fast-facts/
Among the most popular majors are:
Econ 112
Math 59
CS 56
Bio 56
Psych 55
Poli Sci 52
English 49
History 45
Art 36

These humanities and social sciences numbers aren't too bad given the trend at many SLACs. Among my kid's friends, there are double majors in Math & Religion; Math & Political Science; Econ & English; and Anthropology and Studio Art.

Not bad at all! Fwiw Bowdoin's numbers look very different, so it does vary. But SLACs do tend to attract more "life of the mind" kids who don't have a hyper-narrow focus. My own kid will be attending a WASP school, selected in part because they want to double major in STEM and humanities plus do a little music. We also really liked the intellectual curiosity of the Oberlin students we met on our campus visit--nearly all double majors and one who was a triple major!

OP, look up this kind of info, which is readily available OL. It will give you a sense of the academic climate at each school and whether they are more alike than different.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone talking about Williams now? It is a decent school, but people talk of it like it's Princeton or something.

Ha, my top wo choices years ago, and well before US News was ranking each #1 in their respective categories. They used to have a lot in common, before Princeton got so STEM-y.

Davidson probably still has a more regional feel, but another great school. Could definitely see people who are a bit unsettled by the current reputations of Princeton (grind & bicker clubs) and Williams (jocks headed for Wall Street) opting for Davidson as a good alternative.

Davidson is the only SLAC with D1 sports, it isn't going to be less jocky than Williams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is everyone talking about Williams now? It is a decent school, but people talk of it like it's Princeton or something.

Ha, my top wo choices years ago, and well before US News was ranking each #1 in their respective categories. They used to have a lot in common, before Princeton got so STEM-y.

Davidson probably still has a more regional feel, but another great school. Could definitely see people who are a bit unsettled by the current reputations of Princeton (grind & bicker clubs) and Williams (jocks headed for Wall Street) opting for Davidson as a good alternative.

Davidson is the only SLAC with D1 sports, it isn't going to be less jocky than Williams.

Considerably lower percentage of athletes than Williams, precisely because it is Div. 1.

Several D1 SLACs— Colgate, Holy Cross etc.