Anonymous
04/19/2026 01:14
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
If a male, you don't want to go to Williams unless you're an athlete.
Anonymous
04/19/2026 00:18
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP: My heart breaks for DC. I know nothing is promised/guaranteed/entitled, but almost all DC's math friends (school, camp, etc) got into top schools (Ivys, MIT, Stanford, etc). Like, almost.every.single.friend (all of them are great kids, smart, worked hard. so did DC).
DC seems to be the only one not going to one.
DC's a tough cookie and a trooper. But I can see the disappointment. DC worked so hard (and has a 2+ plus commute to school everyday on top of the academics and ECs, all of which DC did because enjoyed them, and not for the sake of college).
I just don't understand why.
Sorry for the long vent. Thank you for listening. Need to get it out...
OP as a math major at Williams, I hate how you are implying that dc didn’t get into any top schools. I think you are missing that many people consider Williams & Rice top schools. I turned down Ivys, as did most of my Williams friends. This will be shocking to you, but a few friends were sad they didn’t get into Williams and ended up at an Ivy.
It doesn’t sound like Williams is the right fit for your family, and the spot probably should go to someone who is thrilled to be accepted. That said, one of the reasons I chose Williams was for the unprecedented professor access. The tenured professors teach even the freshman math classes, and you are invited to discuss anything in their office hours, assist with research, create your own independent study class, etc. I met with professors at Princeton, etc and the access and opportunities weren’t there in undergrad.
NP. My older two went to Rice and Stanford, and we were surprised by how much more impressed we were by Rice. Our youngest may ED to Williams next year.
Op, congrats to your child. These are all amazing schools.
What did you like about Rice relative to Stanford?
Anonymous
04/19/2026 00:10
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:OP: My heart breaks for DC. I know nothing is promised/guaranteed/entitled, but almost all DC's math friends (school, camp, etc) got into top schools (Ivys, MIT, Stanford, etc). Like, almost.every.single.friend (all of them are great kids, smart, worked hard. so did DC).
DC seems to be the only one not going to one.
DC's a tough cookie and a trooper. But I can see the disappointment. DC worked so hard (and has a 2+ plus commute to school everyday on top of the academics and ECs, all of which DC did because enjoyed them, and not for the sake of college).
I just don't understand why.
Sorry for the long vent. Thank you for listening. Need to get it out...
OP as a math major at Williams, I hate how you are implying that dc didn’t get into any top schools. I think you are missing that many people consider Williams & Rice top schools. I turned down Ivys, as did most of my Williams friends. This will be shocking to you, but a few friends were sad they didn’t get into Williams and ended up at an Ivy.
It doesn’t sound like Williams is the right fit for your family, and the spot probably should go to someone who is thrilled to be accepted. That said, one of the reasons I chose Williams was for the unprecedented professor access. The tenured professors teach even the freshman math classes, and you are invited to discuss anything in their office hours, assist with research, create your own independent study class, etc. I met with professors at Princeton, etc and the access and opportunities weren’t there in undergrad.
NP. My older two went to Rice and Stanford, and we were surprised by how much more impressed we were by Rice. Our youngest may ED to Williams next year.
Op, congrats to your child. These are all amazing schools.
Anonymous
04/19/2026 00:04
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
Your kid has great choices, OP.
And yes, I think Bs (plural) in English classes probably did him in at the other schools. Top schools don’t have to admit kids with blemishes (even small ones) because there are so many kids with perfect apps. Plus the essays—if they were awesome, the schools might think “if he’s this awesome at writing, why the Bs?” If they were so-so, it’d confirm writing might be an issue.
Plus maybe being very very math pointy without a few other things.
Just guesses…who knows? But, he has three awesome choices and should be proud.
And yes, I think Bs (plural) in English classes probably did him in at the other schools. Top schools don’t have to admit kids with blemishes (even small ones) because there are so many kids with perfect apps. Plus the essays—if they were awesome, the schools might think “if he’s this awesome at writing, why the Bs?” If they were so-so, it’d confirm writing might be an issue.
Plus maybe being very very math pointy without a few other things.
Just guesses…who knows? But, he has three awesome choices and should be proud.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 23:48
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
Anonymous wrote:OP: My heart breaks for DC. I know nothing is promised/guaranteed/entitled, but almost all DC's math friends (school, camp, etc) got into top schools (Ivys, MIT, Stanford, etc). Like, almost.every.single.friend (all of them are great kids, smart, worked hard. so did DC).
DC seems to be the only one not going to one.
DC's a tough cookie and a trooper. But I can see the disappointment. DC worked so hard (and has a 2+ plus commute to school everyday on top of the academics and ECs, all of which DC did because enjoyed them, and not for the sake of college).
I just don't understand why.
Sorry for the long vent. Thank you for listening. Need to get it out...
OP as a math major at Williams, I hate how you are implying that dc didn’t get into any top schools. I think you are missing that many people consider Williams & Rice top schools. I turned down Ivys, as did most of my Williams friends. This will be shocking to you, but a few friends were sad they didn’t get into Williams and ended up at an Ivy.
It doesn’t sound like Williams is the right fit for your family, and the spot probably should go to someone who is thrilled to be accepted. That said, one of the reasons I chose Williams was for the unprecedented professor access. The tenured professors teach even the freshman math classes, and you are invited to discuss anything in their office hours, assist with research, create your own independent study class, etc. I met with professors at Princeton, etc and the access and opportunities weren’t there in undergrad.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 22:54
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
You can't get a B in English junior year and get into Princeton from most feeders.
I think you may be surprised by Williams. I hope so!
I think you may be surprised by Williams. I hope so!
Anonymous
04/18/2026 22:20
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
OP: Thank you everyone for your kind words. This forum can be harsh and very negative oftentimes, but everyone here has been so kind. Thank you!
Chose not to apply to Cornell (too big) or Penn (didn't click). Oh well. Perhaps an Ivy/T10 is just not meant to be.
Will def report back once DC makes the decision!
Chose not to apply to Cornell (too big) or Penn (didn't click). Oh well. Perhaps an Ivy/T10 is just not meant to be.
Will def report back once DC makes the decision!
Anonymous
04/18/2026 21:32
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
Anonymous wrote:Op, your kid would have gotten in to cornell or upenn, im sure of it
DP I agree, especially due to their size, and culturally OP’s DC sounds like a better fit for those campuses. Penn and Cornell put more value on STEM competitions and STEM camps. HYP Brown and Dartmouth care more about writing (they care about math and science too, but they want Greta writers more so than C and P do). The bottom line is OP’s DC has great choices at Williams, Rice and CMU. Of those those, I would choose Rice. Williams could be a shock for a FGLI kid who can’t write very well (perhaps I’m reading too much into the B, if I am, disregard this). Rice is very nurturing for a first gen kid; he would feel very welcomed and his GPA will stay the highest compared to the other two so if he wants to transfer after first year, he would have the grades to support his app. Try P and C if he really doesn’t like Texas and wants to transfer.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 21:25
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
Anonymous wrote:It was the Bs in English - it's one thing to get a B or 2, but to consistently get them in English looks problematic for schools like Princeton, Yale and Brown. The *only* kids from our NYC private who will get into those schools with a lower GPA or with soft grades in one subject are donor legacies, or just very major donors.
There is a misconception that being URM/FGLI/QB makes it easier to get into those schools. From our private, the only URM/FGLI/QB kids who get into those schools are extraordinary in every way - top grades, highest rigor, top scores AND they have spectacular ECs. (And just anecdotally, from what I have seen, they really like the "Renaissance" kid, one who has passions across disciplines - the math prodigy who is an elite dancer.) Brown will sometimes take slightly lower GPA/rigor if they really want the kid. MIT has no legacy but they also have their pick of the absolute cream of the crop - our school sends maybe 1 kid to MIT each year and last year that kid (full FA) deferred admission for a year because they had been offered an extremely lucrative job.
I understand your kid is disappointed, but they have great options. As someone whose kid chose Williams over one of the above Ivies, we REALLY love Williams, but I do not know enough about the math program to recommend it over Rice and CMU. Plus Williams is a very specific school - it's not for everyone, you have to want the size and the rural setting. I am not white and, to be perfectly honest, it is harder to convince top kids to choose Williams over peer schools because of that setting, which means that URM/FGLI/QB is a slight advantage there.
Just my take, of course, from the experience of two kids going through the process. We are full pay, which is an enormous advantage in admissions, though people don't like to admit that. Congrats to your kid - those are some really impressive accomplishments and great choices. They will do great at any one of those schools.
How many Bs in English are we talking about? All 4 years through high school or just 1 or 2?
Anonymous
04/18/2026 20:29
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
Op, your kid would have gotten in to cornell or upenn, im sure of it
Anonymous
04/18/2026 13:57
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
OP, your kid sounds completely amazing. And the schools he has to choose from are pretty awesome, even if it does seem crazy he was shut out of the Ivies etc.
Williams is tip-top in terms of academic/professional reputation. And on our recent tour, the student guide was a URM who loved it there. It is a *stunning* campus, even on a cold March day.
But just be forewarned, it's really really isolated. I have another kid at a Maine SLAC who loves his campus despite its rural/downtrodden environment. But Williams was next level.
I was expecting something more like Dartmouth, with a small but picturesque college town. Nope. On our drive into the campus from Boston, we passed amazing scenery but then lots of burnt down houses. There is no Uber available in the area and when the taxi company got a flat, my DH almost missed his flight home. My kid couldn't get out of there fast enough. It's a super prestigious school and obviously lots of kids love it but I'm sharing this bc it would have helped me to set my kid's expectations a bit better.
At the same time I wanted to put in a good word for Rice. I'm an East Coast person but spent 2 years in Houston and Rice is a gem of a school. Houston is also a great, underappreciated city - hugely diverse and international, great food and lots of fun, and the area around the university is beautiful. The weather is awful but the worst months are those when colleges typically aren't in session.
Good luck, and I hope you come back to this thread and tell us which school your DC picked!
Williams is tip-top in terms of academic/professional reputation. And on our recent tour, the student guide was a URM who loved it there. It is a *stunning* campus, even on a cold March day.
But just be forewarned, it's really really isolated. I have another kid at a Maine SLAC who loves his campus despite its rural/downtrodden environment. But Williams was next level.
I was expecting something more like Dartmouth, with a small but picturesque college town. Nope. On our drive into the campus from Boston, we passed amazing scenery but then lots of burnt down houses. There is no Uber available in the area and when the taxi company got a flat, my DH almost missed his flight home. My kid couldn't get out of there fast enough. It's a super prestigious school and obviously lots of kids love it but I'm sharing this bc it would have helped me to set my kid's expectations a bit better.
At the same time I wanted to put in a good word for Rice. I'm an East Coast person but spent 2 years in Houston and Rice is a gem of a school. Houston is also a great, underappreciated city - hugely diverse and international, great food and lots of fun, and the area around the university is beautiful. The weather is awful but the worst months are those when colleges typically aren't in session.
Good luck, and I hope you come back to this thread and tell us which school your DC picked!
Anonymous
04/18/2026 13:41
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
Eat at Mezze!
Anonymous
04/18/2026 13:38
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
It was the Bs in English - it's one thing to get a B or 2, but to consistently get them in English looks problematic for schools like Princeton, Yale and Brown. The *only* kids from our NYC private who will get into those schools with a lower GPA or with soft grades in one subject are donor legacies, or just very major donors.
There is a misconception that being URM/FGLI/QB makes it easier to get into those schools. From our private, the only URM/FGLI/QB kids who get into those schools are extraordinary in every way - top grades, highest rigor, top scores AND they have spectacular ECs. (And just anecdotally, from what I have seen, they really like the "Renaissance" kid, one who has passions across disciplines - the math prodigy who is an elite dancer.) Brown will sometimes take slightly lower GPA/rigor if they really want the kid. MIT has no legacy but they also have their pick of the absolute cream of the crop - our school sends maybe 1 kid to MIT each year and last year that kid (full FA) deferred admission for a year because they had been offered an extremely lucrative job.
I understand your kid is disappointed, but they have great options. As someone whose kid chose Williams over one of the above Ivies, we REALLY love Williams, but I do not know enough about the math program to recommend it over Rice and CMU. Plus Williams is a very specific school - it's not for everyone, you have to want the size and the rural setting. I am not white and, to be perfectly honest, it is harder to convince top kids to choose Williams over peer schools because of that setting, which means that URM/FGLI/QB is a slight advantage there.
Just my take, of course, from the experience of two kids going through the process. We are full pay, which is an enormous advantage in admissions, though people don't like to admit that. Congrats to your kid - those are some really impressive accomplishments and great choices. They will do great at any one of those schools.
There is a misconception that being URM/FGLI/QB makes it easier to get into those schools. From our private, the only URM/FGLI/QB kids who get into those schools are extraordinary in every way - top grades, highest rigor, top scores AND they have spectacular ECs. (And just anecdotally, from what I have seen, they really like the "Renaissance" kid, one who has passions across disciplines - the math prodigy who is an elite dancer.) Brown will sometimes take slightly lower GPA/rigor if they really want the kid. MIT has no legacy but they also have their pick of the absolute cream of the crop - our school sends maybe 1 kid to MIT each year and last year that kid (full FA) deferred admission for a year because they had been offered an extremely lucrative job.
I understand your kid is disappointed, but they have great options. As someone whose kid chose Williams over one of the above Ivies, we REALLY love Williams, but I do not know enough about the math program to recommend it over Rice and CMU. Plus Williams is a very specific school - it's not for everyone, you have to want the size and the rural setting. I am not white and, to be perfectly honest, it is harder to convince top kids to choose Williams over peer schools because of that setting, which means that URM/FGLI/QB is a slight advantage there.
Just my take, of course, from the experience of two kids going through the process. We are full pay, which is an enormous advantage in admissions, though people don't like to admit that. Congrats to your kid - those are some really impressive accomplishments and great choices. They will do great at any one of those schools.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 10:48
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
DP.
The disappointment is totally understandable and you and your child should let yourself feel it. And also: the schools they are choosing between are all fantastic schools, and (with CMU *perhaps* excepted) are also renowned for pairing top-flight academics with a great undergraduate life experience. They have an amazing 4 (+ postgrad...) years to look forward to.
As a fellow parent I think holding that 'yes, and' is the best thing we can do for our kids. 'Yes' to the disappointment, 'And' to holding out that vision of wonderful things for them. I am confident this path is different than what they had planned for, and that unexpectedly terrific experiences are waiting on this alternate path.
The disappointment is totally understandable and you and your child should let yourself feel it. And also: the schools they are choosing between are all fantastic schools, and (with CMU *perhaps* excepted) are also renowned for pairing top-flight academics with a great undergraduate life experience. They have an amazing 4 (+ postgrad...) years to look forward to.
As a fellow parent I think holding that 'yes, and' is the best thing we can do for our kids. 'Yes' to the disappointment, 'And' to holding out that vision of wonderful things for them. I am confident this path is different than what they had planned for, and that unexpectedly terrific experiences are waiting on this alternate path.
Anonymous
04/18/2026 10:26
Subject: Williams Admitted Students day - recommendations needed
OP: My heart breaks for DC. I know nothing is promised/guaranteed/entitled, but almost all DC's math friends (school, camp, etc) got into top schools (Ivys, MIT, Stanford, etc). Like, almost.every.single.friend (all of them are great kids, smart, worked hard. so did DC).
DC seems to be the only one not going to one.
DC's a tough cookie and a trooper. But I can see the disappointment. DC worked so hard (and has a 2+ plus commute to school everyday on top of the academics and ECs, all of which DC did because enjoyed them, and not for the sake of college).
I just don't understand why.
Sorry for the long vent. Thank you for listening. Need to get it out...
DC seems to be the only one not going to one.
DC's a tough cookie and a trooper. But I can see the disappointment. DC worked so hard (and has a 2+ plus commute to school everyday on top of the academics and ECs, all of which DC did because enjoyed them, and not for the sake of college).
I just don't understand why.
Sorry for the long vent. Thank you for listening. Need to get it out...