pick me a college

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ok, i've got four days to decide, done all the visiting (which was fun), now i just have to make an arbitrary random decision. i'm down to williams, dartmouth, and colgate. pick me one!

(disclaimer: majority ile opinion is not legally binding...right?)

― Maria (Maria), Sunday, 27 April 2003 03:48 (twenty-two years ago)

colgate.

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 27 April 2003 03:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Colgate has too many steep hills! Or is it just one big hill that the campus runs down?

I'd vote for Dartmouth, but just b/c my cousins live in Norwich & we used to go run around on the campus, so I still think of it as one big park.

― lyra (lyra), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:03 (twenty-two years ago)

well, obviously Dartmouth or Williams, and personally I'd probaby lean toward the former (though it might have been the opposite when I was deciding; actually, I didn't apply to either). Criteria? What's important to you?

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:06 (twenty-two years ago)

no contest ... Dartmouth. though any of the three is great.

(congrats on getting into such great schools, Maria!)

― Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Dartmouth. It has the most name recognition. Looks best on a resume.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:09 (twenty-two years ago)

VASSAR

― jm (jtm), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Dartmouth (and congratulations)

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:26 (twenty-two years ago)

(psst...why dartmouth, y'all?)

― Maria (Maria), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:28 (twenty-two years ago)

Dartmouth is in New Hampshire, so the benefit there is that I could tell you where all the cool stuff is (hint: the answer is "Boston.")

But it's a good school, and the area is actually more college-town-y than NH-y. And congratulations for getting into all three, of course.

― Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:31 (twenty-two years ago)

All three are excellent and Williams may actually be a better college but having gone to Dartmouth will serve you better in life. College is only 4 years but where you got your degree is forever. And I'm sorry to be such a tool but there it is. If you really dislike it, you can transfer as easily, if not more easlily from Dartmouth as from the other two.

By the way, did you stick with calculus like we told you?

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:36 (twenty-two years ago)

My initial instinct was to pick the school with the largest proportion of people who are there to learn a lot. I'm pretty sure that's Dartmouth. The drawbacks (again, for me, not necessarily for you) would be the history - Conservative, fratty, no Jews, etc. - but that has very little to do with the place today. When I was in high school, Williams was one of the places I thought of as a cool college to go to. The place where smart, hippie-type kids went. I'm not sure that makes for a good school, though. I don't know enough about the faculty at either place - it's conceivable that Williams could be better, at least in a liberal arts sense. If you're interested in studying anything business-related, it's Dartmouth without question, though, as they have one of the best B-schools in the country and maybe that has some impact upon undergrad programs.

(also, Kenan and felicity are probably more otm than me about what college really means)

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:37 (twenty-two years ago)

colgate is also very fratty, or at least it was when i was applying to undergrad schools.

felicity is OTM. it may suck, but the doors that are opened for you often depends on where you went to school.

but you should definitely be proud of yerself. make the most of what you've been offered!

― Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:39 (twenty-two years ago)

Re: the real meaning of college. You can get a good education anywhere. But there are other things you can get out of college that may matter to you now or later that you can't possibly know right now. And no knock on the other two, but Dartmouth is absolutely beautiful.

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:44 (twenty-two years ago)

and you can probably go to more of these at Dartmouth: Fancy Dress Parties

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 04:49 (twenty-two years ago)

It really depends. Did you have any gut reaction at any of these places that would lead you to believe you'd like them better than the other? Do you have an idea of what you are interested in studying?

― Mary (Mary), Sunday, 27 April 2003 05:02 (twenty-two years ago)

thanks...and yes, i am sticking with calculus.

why do you think there are more kids there to learn a lot at dartmouth? i'm trying to gauge that sort of but i'm finding it pretty difficult. i had the best gut reaction to williams.

― Maria (Maria), Sunday, 27 April 2003 05:21 (twenty-two years ago)

The thing that struck me about Dartmouth the couple of times I visited there in the early eighties was out utterly out of the way it and the town it was in. Personally I'd go nuts -- long cold winters in the hills and the nearest 'big' city is what, Great Falls?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 27 April 2003 05:24 (twenty-two years ago)

It's admittedly un-scientific. I base it in part upon my estimation of people I knew who were going to, or did go to, those schools, as well as in part upon the way the schools choose to market themselves (which has a lot to do with what they end up being like).

Dartmouth is semi-out of the way, but moreso than Williams?!

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 27 April 2003 05:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Williams I've not been to, so I can't say.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 27 April 2003 05:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Really, you are splitting hairs between Williams and Dartmouth with respect to education. Mary's questions/advice are sound.

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 05:30 (twenty-two years ago)

If you had the best feeling about Williams, I might say to go with that. I have a feeling that most people there are very serious about their education and it has that small liberal arts college vibe that I find condusive to studying. My impression was that Williams was more preppy than hippy but I could be wrong.

― Mary (Mary), Sunday, 27 April 2003 05:50 (twenty-two years ago)

They are both as go-to-hell preppy as my new kelly green grosgrain hairband.

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 05:54 (twenty-two years ago)

actually, i think i agree with mary here. since all three are excellent -- and while dartmouth is the "best" re future networking and employment, i imagine the alumni networks for williams and colgate aren't so shabby either -- you can't go wrong with any of them. you might as well go to whichever school gives you the best "vibe." i made the mistake for l-school of not going to school with the best "vibe" (where all of the schools i got into were really about equal) and was absolutely miserable for the 3 years i spent there.

so maybe you should follow yer gut wr2 Williams, Maria.

― Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 27 April 2003 05:56 (twenty-two years ago)

Is there any middle ground between a preppy college and a hippy college?

― buttch (Oops), Sunday, 27 April 2003 06:02 (twenty-two years ago)

I highly doubt there is any such thing as a hippy college these days.

― Mary (Mary), Sunday, 27 April 2003 06:03 (twenty-two years ago)

They're not mutually exclusive. It's just that the hippies you find in some places also prepped.

Reed?

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 06:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I highly doubt there is any such thing as a hippy college these days.

OTIS WHEELER TO THREAD! (seriously, Hampshire College is still pretty hippy from everything i've heard)

― Tad (llamasfur), Sunday, 27 April 2003 06:04 (twenty-two years ago)

i remember when i was looking at colleges, dartmouth had sort of a fratty reputation, but one of my best friends went there, and said it
wasn't really true, or more accurately, that it's a big enough place that you can carve out whatever social niche suits you. also, if
they still do the sophomore-summer-semester program, that can often be a really good experience. I've never been very good at reputation-stuff, but felicity is probably talking sense about it.

― dave k, Sunday, 27 April 2003 06:13 (twenty-two years ago)

(seriously, Hampshire College is still pretty hippy from everything i've heard)

Unless it's changed recently, and radically, oh my yes.

And I know people who transferred from Hampshire to go to Marlboro in VT, because Hampshire was too conservative for them. And Evergreen has the reputation, and New College in Florida, and etc. As long as rich kids like the drugs, there will be hippie colleges.

― Tep (ktepi), Sunday, 27 April 2003 06:20 (twenty-two years ago)

My instinct is to tell you to opt for Williams, but that's because it strikes me as closest to the college experience I had in a small, demi-hippie liberal arts college. My post-collegiate career hasn't been totally smooth, but that's probably more down to field than college choice. If you had the best feeling about Williams, I would advise you to go there. My uncle went there, I visited once or twice and found it to be quite pleasant. And, not that this is relevant to anything, but an acquaintance of mine dropped out of Dartmouth due to a pretty bad experience (though I'm a little in the dark on the specifics).

Follow your instincts.

― JS Williams (js williams), Sunday, 27 April 2003 07:31 (twenty-two years ago)

Wherever you go, make sure they have an excellent football team and that the student political situation is thoroughly corrupt. These two things are crucial if you desire a truly American collegiate experience. Also, segregation is key.

― Millar (Millar), Sunday, 27 April 2003 07:36 (twenty-two years ago)

In my 4 years at college, the football team's record: 1-39. I am suX0r.

― JS Williams (js williams), Sunday, 27 April 2003 07:46 (twenty-two years ago)

My friend went to Williams and all his friends were like children of foreign diplomats or CEO types. He said they were all assholes. But then again, all his friends are rich and influential, and all my friends are poor and unemployed.

Congrats though!

― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 27 April 2003 08:45 (twenty-two years ago)

(i have nothing of use to contribute to the discussion, but WELL DONE YOU)

― mark s (mark s), Sunday, 27 April 2003 11:37 (twenty-two years ago)

yeah, well done and good luck.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 27 April 2003 11:56 (twenty-two years ago)

My impression was that Williams was more preppy than hippy but I could be wrong.

Yeah, I could be wrong about this. I am just talking about the people I know, who don't include many prep types in the strictest definition. I will spare everyone lyrics from the early phish tune "prep school hippie".

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 27 April 2003 13:23 (twenty-two years ago)

One thing Iwould weigh up is whether or not the college has a Greek system (I believe Dartmouth does). I'm not a big fan of the more conformist college student who'd join frats or sororities, and had tons of fun at a college where none existed.

― suzy (suzy), Sunday, 27 April 2003 15:50 (twenty-two years ago)

My take on the differences between Dartmouth and Williams based rather loosely on two women I know who went to one or the other, is that the one who went Williams was the more fascinating of the two. More intellectually curious and just more interesting. The other, who went to Dartmouth, was much more opportunistic, materially. She was career-oriented. I think Williams will open plenty of doors. Just maybe different kinds. This is all highly subjective of course.

― Becky (Rebecca), Sunday, 27 April 2003 18:23 (twenty-two years ago)

A+ for that Cliffs Notes of this thread.

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 18:28 (twenty-two years ago)

suzy is OTM re: Greeks. Fuck them. (who would have guessed)

― Millar (Millar), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:00 (twenty-two years ago)

I am helping a niece of a family friend pick between Colgate and Barnard. This is a bit of an easier decision as there are such obvious differences between the two.

― Mary (Mary), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I would say "pick the one in the biggest city".

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:06 (twenty-two years ago)

Granted, "Animal House" was based on Dartmouth, although the lack of a Greek system is no guarantee that there isn't an equally, if not more, conformist social structure in place at a particular college, either . . .

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, but a friend from Detroit went there and he was not fond of the fratboys. A few good friends from high school got in to Williams and enjoyed it immensely, having chosen it over Harvard/Brown etc. It's also hella good on a grad school application (where it really pays to go to the best possible school...and costs).

Congratulations, Maria! Whichever you choose...

― suzy (suzy), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:21 (twenty-two years ago)

True, I have heard nothing but good things about Williams. Start thinking about what goes with purple.

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:25 (twenty-two years ago)

And let's not forget the underdog Colgate.

― Mary (Mary), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Ugh.

― Millar (Millar), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:50 (twenty-two years ago)

Would it be mean to point out that the girl in the back row on the far left is a drag queen?

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 27 April 2003 19:52 (twenty-two years ago)

That picture reminds me of this Onion story:

U.S. Dentists Can't Make Nation's Teeth any Damn Whiter

"Colgate"

― felicity (felicity), Sunday, 27 April 2003 20:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Accept the invitation to Dartmouth but only under the delayed entry program so you can have a year to fuck around, apply to more schools and end up going to someplace better, like Chico State.

― red skies at dawn, Sunday, 27 April 2003 20:05 (twenty-two years ago)

I go to Brown and I say definitely Williams, unless you want to hang out with a bunch of Republican frat boys and or go hiking for fun

― Esquire1983 (esquire1983), Monday, 28 April 2003 02:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Shoulda gone to St. John's.

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Monday, 28 April 2003 08:29 (twenty-two years ago)

Dartmouth isn't only the Review and frat boys-- that's the stereotype but it's not that pervasive. That said, when I visited friends at Dartmouth, those folks were around, and they're incredibly irritating.

Hanover probably has a bit more to offer than Williamstown in general, but fancy liberal arts schools offer students a nurturing (or, alternatively, suffocating) womb of amenities and coddling. So the environs aren't quite so important.

My Dartmouth friends raved about the quarter system. The 2 1/2 month terms gave them a lot of flexibility to study abroad, do internships in NYC, etc., outside of the summer holidays.

I'm not so sure that I would rely on the prestige of the Ivy League stamp. It seems like in NYC and Boston, at least, Dartmouth and Williams have similar alumni networks and their names have equal gravity. And keep in mind that only in certain fields-- ones you may have no interest in-- does a fancy alma mater alone trump a candidate for a job or a grad school slot who is ceteris paribus better qualified. It happens, but go for the school, not the name.

You have been to all three places? Go with your gut feeling is my vote.

― Benjamin (benjamin), Monday, 28 April 2003 09:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Another question: if you have applied for financial aid, which college has given you the most wonga?

― suzy (suzy), Monday, 28 April 2003 09:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Although i have nothing specific to offer. Gut feeling gets my vote. I went with my gut feeling on place and won out, but did not follow my gut feeling on course selection and lost out.

My advice to you though, take a year out to work and travel. It did me no end of good. Go and do something, or see something you always dreamed of doing. You have a unique opportunity to do that right now. You can have a year with a dead certainty at the end of it. You will never have that again.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 28 April 2003 09:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I would LOVE to take a year off and travel, but I can't because I'd lose all my scholarship money and travel's expensive in itself. The other option: McDonald's, which will probably be my home this summer anyway, I don't want a year of it.

Dartmouth - I hated the semester plan and can't muster up much excitement so that's out. I still like Williams most, but Colgate's giving me more money and it's more familiar, it'd be nice to know just what I am getting into. Aagh. I am annoying everyone around here by obsessing about it, I think if I mention it tomorrow they will all beat me up.

― Maria (Maria), Monday, 28 April 2003 19:04 (twenty-two years ago)

the dirty secret is that it's kind of arbitrary and not as important as it might seem. your "college experience" owes much to serendipity--who you get stuck with in a double, who happens to be working on the school paper (or whatever) when you join, what the walk is like from class A to class B--, things you can never hope to predict. so i'm with felicity in suggesting the school with the most name recognition and prestige. that said i know a bit about williams and nothing of dartmouth.

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 28 April 2003 19:21 (twenty-two years ago)

ok one thing that's important is class size and access to professors. does dartmouth have a grad program? i suspect if they do, it's small, since they call themself a "college." the fewer grad students, the fewer grad tas, and the more access you have to professors. but it may be that all of these schools are about equal in that respect. (my ideal class size is 15-20; smaller than 10 can be oppressive. but larger than 20 it's easy to be anonymous unless you speak out.)

― amateurist (amateurist), Monday, 28 April 2003 19:24 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, I second what amateurist has to say: don't get too flustered at the pressure of making a decision. You'll make one choice or another, and the what-ifs will seem like they're somebody else's option.

Here's a suggestion that wasn't available when I was doing the whole college admissions thing (because of conspiracy and price-fixing, and ultimately I went to a public university): call Williams and tell them that you have an offer with better financial aid, and try to negotiate with them. That might make it easier to make a decision.

― Benjamin (benjamin), Monday, 28 April 2003 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

pick me a college (59 new answers)
Berkeley (15 new answers, 93 total)

― Andrew (enneff), Monday, 28 April 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Can you not work the scholarship thing in anyway. You ought to be able to do better than McDonald even if its only Barnes and Noble, but really you ought to be able some kind of relavent work, relavent to what I'm not sure. Remember you've got 15 moneth or more not 12 if you take a year off so you can easily work for nine and see the world in the other 6. It helps of course if your parents are still willing to house and feed you for free whilst you are working.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 28 April 2003 19:52 (twenty-two years ago)

it's the stuff i've got from national merit and community charities and such that would get lost if i don't go THIS fall. that'd be four to five months of work i'd have to spend just to make up losing that money. my area is currently still pretty depressed, i'm seeing a job in mcdonald's or the grocery store. also i brought that up last weekend and my parents freaked.

i think i'm looking at colgate so much because it's familiar, i know what they're good in, i know what the social scene is like, my parents went there, i know the campus, etc...williams is so unknown in comparison. it's scary. i'm now trying to tell myself that's good....

― Maria (Maria), Monday, 28 April 2003 21:18 (twenty-two years ago)

scary is better!
I will now do research for you

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 28 April 2003 21:21 (twenty-two years ago)

don't know much about colgate so can't advise you on that. between the other two schools i'd have no problems saying williams, academically on a par with dartmouth, ppl aren't as annoying (everyone i know who went to dartmouth found it far too elitsist and rcaist and was either misreable or transferred) and the williams alumni network is v. strong if you choose to make use of it.

huge disadvantage o williams is the winters - a friend ofmine used to teach there and he & his wife would either beg ppl to come visit or try and flee as much as possible 'coz it is so isolated. personally i would not be able to take that, but don't know your level of tolerance.

― H (Heruy), Monday, 28 April 2003 21:34 (twenty-two years ago)

well done Maria!

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 28 April 2003 21:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Maria, you can always take a year out during your course, not quite the same but almost. But I really advise you to do it if its at all possible.

― Ed (dali), Monday, 28 April 2003 21:39 (twenty-two years ago)

The Williams radio station is better. Neither of them put out a daily paper, though. I'm still voting Williams.

I disagree with Ed re: staying out a year, or even skipping out in the middle. But you may be more like Ed and not much like Me. All I know is that an academic program is one of those things that I feel is best completed all at one go and as quickly as possible, like a root canal.

― Millar (Millar), Monday, 28 April 2003 21:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Ed, while taking a gap year is common in UK, not so much in the US. Here, it's more common for people to take that fun year between college and settling down to a job. Most likely Maria is ready to start college experience like most of her friends. I know I was.

So parents went to Colgate and enjoyed it. I guess that is a good sign. Also they are giving you money. That is a very good sign. Also it is the closest of all these schools to NYC. That is a very very very good sign.

Are parents pressuring you to go to Colgate? Parents can be a bit overwhelming when issues of alma mater are concerned. I think Colgate is a fine choice. I just think you should make it for the right reasons, not bc that's what your parents are comfortable with. Trust me. I've been there.

― Mary (Mary), Monday, 28 April 2003 22:30 (twenty-two years ago)

I e-mailed my Williams deposit today. Hopefully I don't wake up in the morning going "NO I WAS SO WRONG!" but I think it'll be quite interesting. Thanks for the ideas all...I'll report back in four years ;)

― Maria (Maria), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 19:34 (twenty-two years ago)

er, I mailed it...you can't e-mail checks

― Maria (Maria), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 19:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Congrats again, Maria :)

― Tep (ktepi), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Congratulations Maria! Can Felicity and I come visit you and bite your preppy hippy style?

― Mary (Mary), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 20:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Don't forget us, Maria!

― felicity (felicity), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 20:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Maria, I have a number of friends who really enjoyed Williams (and they all seem well educated and well adjusted). Congratulations!

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 20:28 (twenty-two years ago)

The idea behind taking the gap year before un is that it is before you build up the debt mountain. It just looks like bumming around after university.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 20:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I graduated high school with this overachieving, anxiety-ridden girl who was given to throwing temper-tantrums when she received Bs. She then went to Williams. About two months into our freshman year, she sent me an email which began, "Hey, what's up? I just got back from smoking a J on the hill."

― amateurist (amateurist), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 20:41 (twenty-two years ago)

And keep in mind that only in certain fields-- ones you may have no interest in-- does a fancy alma mater alone trump a candidate for a job or a grad school slot who is ceteris paribus better qualified.

and one of them is law ... i swear, if i have to deal with another bonehead co-counsel who got his/her job because he went to Harvard/Columbia/Penn/whatever, or fix the fuck-ups of another Ivy-pedigreed moron ...

anyway ... congrats on yer choice, Maria! taking a year off prob isn't a good idea for you (b/c of all that aid you'd lose).

― Tad (llamasfur), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 20:42 (twenty-two years ago)

*sob*

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 20:47 (twenty-two years ago)

Tad, that reminds me, have opposing counsel served us yet?

― felicity (felicity), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 20:52 (twenty-two years ago)

I feel bereft. Who will be our over-achieving high school poster now?

― Mary (Mary), Tuesday, 29 April 2003 20:54 (twenty-two years ago)

six months pass...

How do you like Williams so far, Maria? Is it preppy fabulous? What are the coeds wearing these days?

― Mary (Mary), Thursday, 27 November 2003 23:54 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

Williams...a place I love and hate. Funny how so quickly my relationship begins to resemble my relationship with my mother. Anyhow, people are wearing lots and lots of layers of clothes...its cold as hell!! At nights, it gets about -14 and that's without windchill. Honestly, I probably will be transferring to another school near a city next year, maybe Harvard, Georgetown or even Howard, but if you like solitude, hiking, pseduo liberal "trendy" philosophes, this might be your type of party.

― Morgan Eph, Sunday, 11 January 2004 10:41 (twenty-two years ago)

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