Wellesley vs. Williams vs. Amherst

pmyen
Mon, 04 Feb 2008 23:09:50 +0000

Fit is a very subjective criterion and its importance may vary for different people. Many students will be able to have excellent college experiences at multiple schools. As I have said, there are a number of schools that offer an education that is comparable to Amherst. Probably, most students could be happy at several of them (see my earlier post of applying to a number of LACs if that is what a student is attracted to). Still, when a student makes their final decision, it is worthwhile to ask: where do I think I will get the best education for me, and where would I envision being happy over the next four years? Sometimes, cost and financial aid will need to be factored in as well so this these questions cannot be made in a total vacuum.

In response to measureyourself:

Prestige may be very important for some students, and if so, they should use it as a decision factor. However, I do believe size, location, academic emphasis, academic programs, unique extracurriculars, athletics, etc. can play an important role in that decision process. For some students, the prevalence or lack of fraternities, drug use, parties, etc. may be important. For others, the particular mix of students-racial, ethnic composition matters. I agree that it is hard to discern these factors from a guidebook; hence, the dilemma some internationals face when making a college decision.

I personally believe that making a decision solely on prestige is too easy an approach and one may miss out on the best educational opportunity for oneself. Ideally, the student should choose the place he/she believes will offer the best eduational opportunities and perhaps grad/professional opportunities down the road, and NOT what everyone else thinks or what ranking lists say. It is very difficult for internationals since they cannot visit the schools they need to decide upon, and many probably will go with prestige as the major criterion. A number of years ago, I was accepted by Amherst and Yale. Don’t know if I would get into either one now given the quality of the current applicant pools. Anyways, after visting both schools, I had the “gut” feeling that given who I was, Amherst was the place for me. I wanted to go to an academically rigorous school that also had a close-knit community of students and professors. My parents, who were immigrants, fully supported my decision even though they knew little about Amherst (even the most “prestigious” LACs do not get the recognition of many universities). Looking back, I am convinced that it was the right decision given who I was as an 18 year old, although there would never be a way of objectively knowing for sure. I am truly grateful for some of the special experiences and friendships that I made with both students and profs. Although prestige played some role in my college search, the type of education and the particular learning community played more of a role in my final decision.