Williams vs Princeton, please help

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not your choice, it's your daughter's. And she is under no obligation to sacrifice the experience she wants so that you can get bragging rights among your uneducated friends.

Well Princeton is a better education, better quality, and better resourced institution than Williams. That's just a fact. Williams even has a higher student:Faculty ratio than Princeton! Princeton is an exceptional, undergraduate-focused college, and does that better than the LACs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wish we could ban the words "Williams," "Amherst," "Swarthmore," and "Pomona" from this forum

+ a million
Also, "SLACs".

[Anonymous]

Your daughter must visit Williams if she thinks she wants to go there. I’m very easygoing about school size, etc, but Williams is in the middle of BF nowhere and it’s easy to feel claustrophobic there and it was the only school I noped out of applying to after a visit. Even though it’s an excellent and well-thought of school (and as someone said upthread people who matter know exactly what Williams is) it has to feel good to your daughter and not that you’re stuck in preppy sporty isolated hell.

[Anonymous]

My English major DC chose Princeton over Williams. Some regrets freshman year as they adjusted to the scene at Princeton -- it can be overwhelming -- and they wondered if they would have been happier on a different/smaller stage. But once settled in, they were challenged, inspired, and ultimately happy. Hard to beat the resources -- field trips to NYC, all expense paid trips to Europe, grants for summer studies, prominent writers on the faculty, an award-wining novelist as a thesis advisor. Williams is an AWESOME school, but for my kid, Princeton was a game changer.

[Anonymous]

What about Lafayette?

[Anonymous]

First of all, it is unlikely she will get into either, so you probably won’t have to make that choice.

Second of all, it is her life, and you need to allow her to make this important decision. It will be HER new home , not yours.

It is a sad statement about you, that you care more about impressing other adults than supporting your child. Have faith in her self-knowledge. That will give her the confidence she needs for the next phase of her life.

(She would receive an unbelievably good education at Willians. You should feel blessed if she had that option. )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My English major DC chose Princeton over Williams. Some regrets freshman year as they adjusted to the scene at Princeton -- it can be overwhelming -- and they wondered if they would have been happier on a different/smaller stage. But once settled in, they were challenged, inspired, and ultimately happy. Hard to beat the resources -- field trips to NYC, all expense paid trips to Europe, grants for summer studies, prominent writers on the faculty, an award-wining novelist as a thesis advisor. Williams is an AWESOME school, but for my kid, Princeton was a game changer.

The faculty quality difference would be enough for me and DD. Williams literally can’t hire the talented writers at Princeton- Williams has a few nice creative writing faculty with some awards, but like most LACs, they don’t have that many household name writers or theorists. Very few of the top lacs do- Pomona has Jonathan Lethem, Reed has Joan Naviyuk Kane, Amherst has Judith Frank, but each of these schools only has 1-3 named faculty; Princeton has famous faculty across the board- you aren’t going to see a Paul Muldoon working for Pomona.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My English major DC chose Princeton over Williams. Some regrets freshman year as they adjusted to the scene at Princeton -- it can be overwhelming -- and they wondered if they would have been happier on a different/smaller stage. But once settled in, they were challenged, inspired, and ultimately happy. Hard to beat the resources -- field trips to NYC, all expense paid trips to Europe, grants for summer studies, prominent writers on the faculty, an award-wining novelist as a thesis advisor. Williams is an AWESOME school, but for my kid, Princeton was a game changer.

The faculty quality difference would be enough for me and DD. Williams literally can’t hire the talented writers at Princeton- Williams has a few nice creative writing faculty with some awards, but like most LACs, they don’t have that many household name writers or theorists. Very few of the top lacs do- Pomona has Jonathan Lethem, Reed has Joan Naviyuk Kane, Amherst has Judith Frank, but each of these schools only has 1-3 named faculty; Princeton has famous faculty across the board- you aren’t going to see a Paul Muldoon working for Pomona.

Complete nonsense. You clearly don’t understand how humanities faculty hiring works.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not your choice, it's your daughter's. And she is under no obligation to sacrifice the experience she wants so that you can get bragging rights among your uneducated friends.

Well Princeton is a better education, better quality, and better resourced institution than Williams. That's just a fact. Williams even has a higher student:Faculty ratio than Princeton! Princeton is an exceptional, undergraduate-focused college, and does that better than the LACs.

I went to a different peer LAC of Williams (they recognize it as one) and Princeton for graduate school.

The quality of teaching and mentorship was much better at my LAC. Also, the student body was much more integrated and collaborative. I'm sure Williams, with its Oxford style tutorials for deep engagement readily available and deep undergraduate community, is better than Princeton in many ways for the right person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's not your choice, it's your daughter's. And she is under no obligation to sacrifice the experience she wants so that you can get bragging rights among your uneducated friends.

Well Princeton is a better education, better quality, and better resourced institution than Williams. That's just a fact. Williams even has a higher student:Faculty ratio than Princeton! Princeton is an exceptional, undergraduate-focused college, and does that better than the LACs.

I went to a different peer LAC of Williams (they recognize it as one) and Princeton for graduate school.

The quality of teaching and mentorship was much better at my LAC. Also, the student body was much more integrated and collaborative. I'm sure Williams, with its Oxford style tutorials for deep engagement readily available and deep undergraduate community, is better than Princeton in many ways for the right person.

Princeton has the high quality teaching of a liberal arts college though- with even smaller classes. Tutorial is great but most of your courses are going to be a seminar.

What field of study are you? For English, I see very little reason not to go to Princeton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It doesn’t sound elitist. don’t worry about that. It just sounds ignorant.

Yep! OP: if you are not a troll, the only thing you reveal in your post is ignorance.

[Anonymous]

Visit the campus -- always go with fit

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My English major DC chose Princeton over Williams. Some regrets freshman year as they adjusted to the scene at Princeton -- it can be overwhelming -- and they wondered if they would have been happier on a different/smaller stage. But once settled in, they were challenged, inspired, and ultimately happy. Hard to beat the resources -- field trips to NYC, all expense paid trips to Europe, grants for summer studies, prominent writers on the faculty, an award-wining novelist as a thesis advisor. Williams is an AWESOME school, but for my kid, Princeton was a game changer.

The faculty quality difference would be enough for me and DD. Williams literally can’t hire the talented writers at Princeton- Williams has a few nice creative writing faculty with some awards, but like most LACs, they don’t have that many household name writers or theorists. Very few of the top lacs do- Pomona has Jonathan Lethem, Reed has Joan Naviyuk Kane, Amherst has Judith Frank, but each of these schools only has 1-3 named faculty; Princeton has famous faculty across the board- you aren’t going to see a Paul Muldoon working for Pomona.

Utter Nonsense...if that is your measure just go to Bard and be done with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My English major DC chose Princeton over Williams. Some regrets freshman year as they adjusted to the scene at Princeton -- it can be overwhelming -- and they wondered if they would have been happier on a different/smaller stage. But once settled in, they were challenged, inspired, and ultimately happy. Hard to beat the resources -- field trips to NYC, all expense paid trips to Europe, grants for summer studies, prominent writers on the faculty, an award-wining novelist as a thesis advisor. Williams is an AWESOME school, but for my kid, Princeton was a game changer.

The faculty quality difference would be enough for me and DD. Williams literally can’t hire the talented writers at Princeton- Williams has a few nice creative writing faculty with some awards, but like most LACs, they don’t have that many household name writers or theorists. Very few of the top lacs do- Pomona has Jonathan Lethem, Reed has Joan Naviyuk Kane, Amherst has Judith Frank, but each of these schools only has 1-3 named faculty; Princeton has famous faculty across the board- you aren’t going to see a Paul Muldoon working for Pomona.

Utter Nonsense...if that is your measure just go to Bard and be done with it.

See but universities don’t have to be bard low level quality and can still attract the best writers and critics. Even then, bard has nothing on nyu, Columbia, or Harvard

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No one who can be admitted to either Williams or Princeton would ask such a silly question.

Looks like its Rollins in Orlando for your daughter!

Don’t knock Mr Rogers’ Alma mater