<p>Congrats on your decision! Believe me, there is no wrong choice between those two. I wouldn’t sweat the overnight TOO much. Unlike you, I had a special feeling towards Williams from the outset … I was so into the school that I ended up applying ED. I went anyway to an overnight during previews, and I had a pretty bad experience. I didn’t really mesh with the people who were hosting me, and the other frosh I met were not people I ultimately befriended, which surprised me because my other exposures to campus were far more positive. I had also never consumed alcohol before college (I did ultimately start drinking at Williams, but not for the first semester) and that was a concern as well. So I was a bit apprehensive after that. But I (obviously from my posts here) had an incredible experience at Williams and made an amazing group of friends. But the lesson I learned from previews was, don’t get caught up in one small group too early in college, try to spend first semester meeting as many classmates as possible, to really seek out folks who you will ultimately form the closest bonds with. I dabbled in tons of different activities, with tons of different types of people, until ultimately I found my particular niche.</p>
<p>You have a very mature, well-grounded, realistic perspective, by the way, which I think will serve you well at college, and in life. Happiness in most situations are determined in large part by your enivornment, but in equally large part by your own perspective, mindset, and effort to engage and make the best of things. For all the parsing on this site, at most of the schools most of the applicants are ultimately deciding between, there will be lots of opportunities for a tremendous experience, so long as you adopt the right mindset and make affirmative efforts to branch out of your comfort zone.</p>