Georgetown vs Williams

[Anonymous]

Interesting how off track this thread got. I actually agree with the PP who recommended CMC, because their philosophy department is stronger than Williams, and they have a streak of Econ earnings, but these are not the choices OP laid out.

[Anonymous]

Georgetown:

https://college.georgetown.edu/academics/core-requirements

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These two schools seem totally different to me in terms of culture and fit. Which one feels better to him when walking around (urban vs rural, etc). They’re both super schools and anyone would be fortunate to be admitted to either, much less both.

Yes! Neither jumped out as a more perfect fit as you described your son. Spending some time at both should make his inclination pretty clear.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The LAC for these pursuits is CMC, not Williams.

% males in sports at CMC is 49.5%

You’re missing the 4 other colleges attached to its hip.

Yes, Claremont colleges run sports together. Because they share athletic teams, the % athletes is actually lower than NESCAC schools.

nope. CMC runs own sports. Pomona and Pitzer share teams.

CMC does not:https://cmsathletics.org/sports/2024/5/15/about-CMS-mission-index.aspx

you're all wrong.

CMC plus Scripps plus Mudd = one program
Pomona and Pitzer = the other.

add the two together and it's 634 male athletes. how many male students btw the schools?

673 cmc
769 pomona
484 pitzer
408 hm

2334. so 634/2334. 27%

none of this has to do with Georgetown vs Williams for philosophy/econ or CMC for same.

[Anonymous]

OP, sounds like you’ve been around the block already in college admissions. I’m intimately familiar with both and see them as very different schools. TBH, I have a kid at one and can imagine them happy at the other, but it really comes down to the kid.

[Anonymous]

I would much rather be in a city than rural Massachusetts so would pick Georgetown. Also, the point about athletes at Williams, is that it can make it more challenging to break into a friend group, sports in college are also very good for getting those finance jobs so your kid would be left out for that aspect of recruiting. Williams also reads small and connected, be careful about fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would much rather be in a city than rural Massachusetts so would pick Georgetown. Also, the point about athletes at Williams, is that it can make it more challenging to break into a friend group, sports in college are also very good for getting those finance jobs so your kid would be left out for that aspect of recruiting. Williams also reads small and connected, be careful about fit.

People say this every time, but non-athletic men at these colleges do fine and find their people. This is a concern from people who just don't like LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would much rather be in a city than rural Massachusetts so would pick Georgetown. Also, the point about athletes at Williams, is that it can make it more challenging to break into a friend group, sports in college are also very good for getting those finance jobs so your kid would be left out for that aspect of recruiting. Williams also reads small and connected, be careful about fit.

People say this every time, but non-athletic men at these colleges do fine and find their people. This is a concern from people who just don't like LACs.

DP

Disagree. Several elite small schools (LACs) have serious athlete/non-athlete social divides (Middlebury,Amherst, & Williams are among the most noteworthy).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how off track this thread got. I actually agree with the PP who recommended CMC, because their philosophy department is stronger than Williams, and they have a streak of Econ earnings, but these are not the choices OP laid out.

every day, the forum gets worse

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Interesting how both are “within reach“ for a kid who is barely through half of high school, especially when talking about two of the most selective colleges in the country?

He got a 1560 on the October SAT and likely National Merit Finalist and more than 2/3rd of his GPA is locked for ED/REA. And these are two pretty popular schools from his high school so naviance has pretty good data.

I get that you're trying to snark at me, but I'll reply in good faith. This was a big lesson from my first. Things shape up earlier than you think. Either you have the GPA on track and also have that state championship (in sport or debate or olympiad medal) or deep interest by now, or you don't. You can still make some things happen, but it's a limited time frame and scrambling in junior year sucks Protecting that GPA in 9th grade is big. So many kids chalk up a lot of Bs during "adjustment" to high school and look back at that like, why didn't I just study? also, getting into a competitive summer program or internship after 10th grade is easier than after 11th and bulks things up. And it's make sense to study for SAT in August before Junior year so you can do well on PSAT and just generally have it done.

Anyway, those two schools are within reach.

What is class rank? As someone who has been looking for every data point possible for Georgetown, it looks like top 5% is absolutely necessary without a hook. You may not be one of them, but I wish I had a penny for every parent who thinks a 1560 is going to save a GPA that is not truly at the very top and with tons of rigor. I've seen it time and time again

Not true. Our high school gets many unhooked into GTown as low as top20%. Uva EA or RD needs top 30% plus rigor. Ivies need top 10% plus rigor for RD unhooked, top 15% works for ED , top rigor assumed. It is a high-achieving high school with 25% of the class scoring 1450+ .
The OP has naviance and can see they are in a green area with GPA already since they said within reach. Rank matters within a high school based on what that high school sends to what tier of school. There is no such thing as a rank cutoff ofX% that any college applies to all high schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Has he considered Bucknell? It offers the best of both: a strong liberal arts core with a top philosophy department, and a pipeline to a high-paying finance job. You can't swing a cat on The Street without hitting a Bucknell grad, and they love to help other Bucknellians start their careers. It's one of the most fiercely loyal alumni networks of any school in the country.

Is it possible to swing a cat and knock down the rabid Bucknell booster so we don’t have to see this nonsense on a daily basis? Asking for a friend…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:City vs middle of nowhere

If he’s seriously s about philosophy I’d look at departmental reqs.

Georgetown seems to have an enormous number of core distribution requirements compared to Williams. These are a huge pain to fulfill in my experience with my older child. It sounds good until you have to build your whole semester’s schedule around a certain class you have little interest in taking.

Our DC has found that Georgetown distribution requirements results in a richer degree and I don't know a student at any school that doesn't have to manage registration each semester. Working with dean's and professors on getting into a required course is always there as a backstop. They also say that most of the time, people are just complaining because they don't get the exact section or teacher that they want...it's rarely that they can't get the distribution requirement. (And yes, for the first year - you have to be creative but there are tons of classes you need that are available)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has he considered Bucknell? It offers the best of both: a strong liberal arts core with a top philosophy department, and a pipeline to a high-paying finance job. You can't swing a cat on The Street without hitting a Bucknell grad, and they love to help other Bucknellians start their careers. It's one of the most fiercely loyal alumni networks of any school in the country.

Is it possible to swing a cat and knock down the rabid Bucknell booster so we don’t have to see this nonsense on a daily basis? Asking for a friend…

I just love that the Bucknell pipeline-to-Street poster is continuously taken seriously. Someone is loving how easy it is to wind people up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Has he considered Bucknell? It offers the best of both: a strong liberal arts core with a top philosophy department, and a pipeline to a high-paying finance job. You can't swing a cat on The Street without hitting a Bucknell grad, and they love to help other Bucknellians start their careers. It's one of the most fiercely loyal alumni networks of any school in the country.

Is it possible to swing a cat and knock down the rabid Bucknell booster so we don’t have to see this nonsense on a daily basis? Asking for a friend…

I just love that the Bucknell pipeline-to-Street poster is continuously taken seriously. Someone is loving how easy it is to wind people up.

I don’t think that many people are wound up. It’s just tiresome. Like having an old relative that tells the same story all the time, but never remembers that they told it to you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You should try to get good data on placement of Georgetown kids that aren't in the business program.

Williams has good placement and you know you aren't competing against kids with Finance or Accounting or other practical majors.

Well, 20% of Williams students have a first major in Econ; this does not even include double majors. Moreover, athletes are more likely to major in Econ than NARPs. https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Williams&s=all&id=168342#programs

That's fine...but Econ doesn't provide any practical skills for a job in finance...it is a quantitative major which is always good.

Say what? Econ is a natural feeder for wall street. Philosophy is not. The econ majors at my slac all went into business and are multi-millionares