There’s very little social interaction with Amherst and the university students. Much more so with the moho students and used to be smith. Even then It’s limited.
What the Amherst student gets at the university is access to very high level classes in cs, ai and math.
The rest it’s just the normal interaction downtown. Like the a really top public high school and a boarding school in the same town.
The social options in Amherst, the town, are much better than wiliamstown.
Williams is a bit more Princeton like to me. It’s own ecosystem.
Williams is definitely more isolated, but, that’s part of its appeal. For the rest of your life the highs, the lows, the incomparable beauty, will be an instant ice breaker with every other Williams graduate you meet.
@duhherro no bad choices. however, I really can’t see why students would put the overnight visit as the main determinant. Williams and Amherst are really different in terms of many requirements vs open curriculum and one having a winter session and one having most of January off. I do wonder why students put that much emphasis on an overnight (unless the atmosphere is toxic or something ( half the kids doing drugs, etc)). anyway no bad choice to be made.
@privatebanker Thank you for your input. I didn’t know that the interaction between Amherst students and the students of other colleges were infrequent. Do you know what is the main reason for this? Also, I want to explore the discipline of computer science. Do you think I would be limited in terms of my exploration in CS?
@anon145 Thanks for the reassurance that I have no bad choices? I am curious as to why you wouldn’t consider the overnight visit programs to be a main factor.
@duhherro not sure how the particular days were run, but typically students aren’t there for very long and only interact with a small group of students; ripe for sampling bias. As I said if one finds a pervasive atmosphere to indicate something else a small sample may be fine. Amherst/williams are fairly different academically : winter study vs not; open curriculum vs not . The demographics and wealth of the student bodies are similar enough that , that usually isn’t a decider either. But no bad choice either way. AS far as CS I think if you exhaust options at amherst than taking advance CS classes at UMass Amherst is the route
The OP asked: "the interaction between Amherst students and the students of other colleges were infrequent. Do you know what is the main reason for this? "
Although Amherst college is quite close to the other schools in the consortium, it’s also a world unto itself. There’s lots to do on campus, and of course students are busy. It’s an easy walk to the middle of downtown Amherst, but interactions even in town are likely to be with one’s own tribe. If you take classes at another school (easy registration and a free bus) you meet other students, but there are no formal opportunities for connecting.
Two great high schools in the same town. One a Catholic prep and the other the highs performing regional high school.
They may play some sports together and go to the same movie theatre. But it’s different friend groups. And parties are usually separate too.
Your CS program at Amherst is great. Zero worries there. However for Uber high end or grad level cs and ai. You’re probably taking a few of these at the university.
How about the CS program at Williams? Is it hard to get classes as a freshman and how strong is the department overall in comparison to Amherst College’s CS department?
@duhherro Another Williams prefrosh here! Among top LACs, Williams actually has some of the best CS other than Harvey Mudd and Swarthmore. This is partially due to the renowned math department. Amherst may have the benefit of UMass classes, which many don’t take anyway, but it’s strengths lie in the humanities and social sciences—Williams, on the other hand, is a more STEM-focused LAC.
When I visited, I was able to talk with a CS professor. I’d heard how popular the major had become, so I was worried about being able to register for intro classes. He reassured me that they prioritize freshmen for intro classes and that it’s exceedingly rare for a frosh to be locked out of an intro class. Additionally, once a frosh does take an intro class, they are subsequently given top priority for higher level classes. Basically, he advised me to sign up for intro CS during the first semester of freshman year to snag a spot.
While historically, Amherst has been more well known for humanities, that is changing with the opening of the new science center which had brought greatly enhanced stem programming to the school, state of the art labs, more research and classroom opportunity and has pretty much become the gold standard for lac science facilities.
Congratulations @duhherro on two great choices! My son also had the choice between Amherst and Williams and chose Williams. He is majoring in math and computer science and is having a great experience.
Amherst College’s new science center is a marvel and behemoth. It is the largest capital infrastructure in the school’s history. CS at Amherst would be a fantastic choice. Also withhin close proximity to UMASS and its research especially with the 5 college consortium, I have had family at both and the town, location and academic amenities at Amherst make it quite a special place.
