Williams vs. Fullride?

[kkooko]

Hi

I was offered admissions to Williams and would be receiving fantastic financial aid, so it is affordable. I will roughly pay $15,000 per year to attend here. Family is able to pay as we have a college fund.

On the other hand, I was offered a full-ride to a middle-ranked (around 30) Liberal Art College that lacks the name recognition, but has plentiful opportunities in terms of research and other extracurricular activities.

I am unsure of what to pick.

P.S:

The other schools I was offered admission into (same $15k cost) and am willing to consider if anyone recommends me to are: Carleton, UCLA, UC Berkeley, and Bowdoin.

Thanks

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[Kawasaki21]

The fact that people get so caught up in college names is sort of ridiculous. The college you go to doesn’t matter nearly as much as what you make of the experience. It sounds like the Liberal Arts College would be a much better fit because it would have a lot of other opportunities for you, and that’s what’s really important. If you’re looking into professional school, having a lot of involvement (ECs, Research, Volunteering) will get you much farther than a different college name. On top of that, realize that name recognition doesn’t mean anything — just because people in one area recognize a name doesn’t mean others do. I’ve never heard of Williams, Carleton, or Bowdoin. And chances are there are admissions committees out there who don’t recognize those names off the top of their heads either— so depending on where you’re applying, that extra $60000 wouldn’t matter since the admissions might not even know either of those universities.

Also, never turn down free money. Why not use that college fund to help with whatever professional school you plan on going to. Professional school isn’t exactly cheap and you will have to be fighting interest, so that $60k you would be spending in undergrad would be extremely helpful in professional school as it would save you a lot of interest over the course of your loans.

Going to a school just because they have ‘name recognition’ is a big mistake in my opinion. It’s much more important to go to a school that fits you, because that will be the environment in which you’re most likely to succeed.

 

[longhaul3]

There are a handful of institutions whose names will light up your resume and catch anyone's eye no matter what you go into. Williams is one of them and a great school to boot.