@henderson11, it is not clear to me that Brown students are advantaged from the standpoint of getting a job or pay vis-a-vis Amherst or Williams. The only difference might be that Brown has an engineering school. @blossom would have a better sense, but I would be surprised if there were a significant difference on an apples to apples basis.
What I can also see by a quick perusal of a couple of Forbes articles is that Amherst had 5 students admitted to the Stanford GSB to Brown’s 11 in 2019 but the Amherst student body was around 1850 compared to Brown which was about 7000. Brown should have had roughly 19 to be competitive with Amherst. Amherst had 4 admits to HBS. It’s a little hard to tell about Brown but would have to be 15 to be proportionate. Columbia had 14 and Brown may have had roughly the same number or less. I’m others have access to this data. I didn’t see info on Williams and this is one year, but I recall reading a WSJ article a few years ago that both Amherst and Williams punched above their size as feeders to top professional schools. My only inference here is that it is not obvious that non-engineering students from Amherst or Williams are disadvantaged at all in the business world vis-a-vis Brown.
I have a very different sense than @Happytimes2001 about the Amherst area.
There is not much compared to a big city but because of the sheer size of the student bodies of the five schools, there is quite a bit during the school year at least.Northampton is, I think, one of the centers of folk music in the Northeast. Per Bill Marsh, when schools are in session, it is a significant concert venue as they have the advantage of UMass Amherst’s sheer size. The mass makes it qualitatively different from Williams. It is not, in any way, urban like Providence, which cuts both ways for me. When I got to know Providence, there was barely a decent restaurant there. Things have improved substantially, but there are significant parts of the city that are still very gritty. I think that is just a matter of taste.
@shawbridge Yes, I think we just see it differently. I lived in the Berkshires and have spent much time out in the Western part of MA. During the Spring, Summer and Fall it’s palatable. During the Winter, it is dead boring. I don’t find any of the small towns interesting just odd ball small areas with lots of similar type folks. IMHO. Also, hanging around with other students might be attractive to some students and some might just want more vitality. Then again, NYC and Boston aren’t far away.
Providence was indeed very gritty some years ago. Not sure how long ago you are talking about. It still has lots of issues ( mainly around the downtown side away from Brown and RISD). But the area on the hill by Brown is filled with restaurants, coffee shops and eateries. Plus it has an excellent Italian section and Asian areas as well. I think you might be referring to several decades ago when Providence was decidedly dangerous. It’s still funky in my opinion but the eating is good. And it’s an artsy place mainly due to the RISD effect.
I do agree with you that Amherst and Williams have no detraction if a student pursues graduate studies vis-a-vis Brown. In fact, their tiny size is likely to make them stronger candidates. But some students will find the activism of Brown something attractive/others not at all. In the category of weird reasons not to apply, my oldest said the blue bear on campus would make it impossible to attend. LOL. They do have one of the best poke places I’ve ever been to.
Brown could make an excellent choice for many of the reasons already covered, but, if regarded by student profile, it qualifies as the up-and-comer in this comparison:
Anti-intellectual streak at Brown? Brown is one of the top producers of Fulbright Scholars for many years running. Kids at Brown don’t care about school? Not true at all. My kid’s experience is that all of her classmates intentionally choose which classes they want to take, and spend A Lot of time being involved with and studying for those classes because they are genuinely interested in the subject matter. FYI Brown does have an engineering school. About advising, that is actually one of the hallmarks of Brown. There are different types of advisors for different things. I’m most familiar with her academic advisor, who has been unbelievably helpful, and her peer advisor who has also been very helpful. But then of course you have all the pre-professional advisors if you’re interested in that, and a special advisor for sophomores if they want some guidance figuring out what to do for a major, and your career advisor, and your public service advisor etc.
Both Brown and Amherst have open curriculums. But be aware that “open” doesn’t mean no requirements; you will always have requirements for whatever your major is, and depending on your major, you might actually have not that many slots open for electives.
For me, the biggest difference between Brown and Amherst is size. And I view Williams as different from B/A. Williams is located in the country, and I’ve heard is very sporty/preppy. It’s a totally different vibe from Brown. While Amherst isn’t in a city, it is in a decent sized town and has U Mass Amherst there, so more kids than at Williams.