<p>The other day, our entry had a random pre-frosh, and I really enjoyed answering all the questions she had about Williams and college in general. I'm not actually going home this Thanksgiving, so, in the spirit of killing time, I decided to join here and try to answer any questions that people might have about the wonderful institution that is Williams College. So, ask me something, and I'll answer your queries to the best of my ability.</p>
<p>Cool.</p>
<p>Are people at Williams happy? Be shamelessly subjective and anecdotal</p>
<p>Oh, hey, that was quick.</p>
<p>From what I've seen, pretty much everyone here is very happy, even people who didn't have Williams as their first choice. I haven't personally met anyone that is not thoroughly enjoying their time here, although I do know they exist. Somewhere or another.</p>
<p>hey ephbeef, thanks for offering your time and expertise</p>
<p>so I'm a runner and I really really enjoy it..although I wouldn't be on the XC or track teams since I'm not supercrazyawesome fast..how accessible are trails and good places to run/walk/hike to people who are not on such a team? would a vehicle be needed to get to places like this or are they close to campus?</p>
<p>thank youuu :) hope you aren't too lonely up in Williamstown with many people gone</p>
<p>You really don't have to be amazingly awesome to be on the track or cross country teams. Just talk to the coaches, and I'm sure they can tell you whats up.</p>
<p>As for trails, there are plenty of routes to run around Williamstown. I'm not too experienced with them (running is not my thing), but I know people on the cross country team that talk about where they have to run. Most trails involve lots of hills, so, that could be either good or bad, depending on how you look at it.</p>
<p>Do you have a single or a double? How is the roomate situation? Do you feel like you have a roomate or does the entry system sort of take over, giving you like 24 roomates? Obviously you can't compare too well but what do you think its like in contrast to some of your friends experiences just living in a double?</p>
<p>I live in Mission, so, like most people there, I have a single. I haven't really heard much about roomates -- I know the two people on my floor that are in a double get along really well, but, its probably just like anywhere else, the roomate thing can be hit or miss.</p>
<p>The entry system, to put it simply, is awesome. You have two JA's that help you with random things pertaining to school or just life in general. And the other people in your entry become one big family, basically. You get to be really good friends with them all. I don't really know how to expand on that, besides reiterating the fact that its really awesome. So yeah.</p>
<p>Oh, and by the way, I know I'm probably not explaining things too well, so, if you need clarification on anything, just ask.</p>
<p>what was your GPA? What person there has the lowest GPA you've heard there so far? (Sorry, I'm just wondering if I can get in...ranked 39 out of 377? 4.072 GPA?) And the average SAT???
How's the food? Tee Hee.
Are people nice?
How's the environment?
Hm...I guess that's all my questions so far :)</p>
<p>My GPA was about a 4.7 weighted. I don't know about anyone else's GPA or SAT scores because, well, we really don't care too much about that.</p>
<p>The food is actually not that bad. There are some days when the dining hall food is something you'd actually want to eat outside of the school setting, which I'm betting is pretty good for college food.</p>
<p>The people here are awesome. There are of course going to be the random jerks you may meet, but almost everyone here is nice, friendly, and fun to talk to.</p>
<p>The environment is cool. At least compared to where I'm from. And the air is nice and, well, crisp, I would say. Yeah.</p>
<p>How is the Political Science major? Economics major?
How do they compare in terms of the quality of professors, class size, satisfaction of students, etc?</p>
<p>I wish I could help you, but I have no firsthand experience with those departments at all. I've heard that both are fairly strong -- I know thats really vague, but thats all I can really say. I think (but could eaisily be mistaken) that the intro Econ sections are around 25-30 people, and I don't know about PoliSci.</p>
<p>I signed up for a PoliSci course next semester thats taught by a professor who's supposed to be really good, but his name evades me at the moment... hopefully I can get in.</p>
<p>Thought I'd help out ephrhymeswbeef on the poli sci question. I'm a senior poli sci/American studies major (and a concentration (read: minor) in Africana studies), so I feel pretty comfortable talking about the psci department. I've never taken econ though, so all of my info on that is secondhand.</p>
<p>Poli sci at Williams is AWESOME. Out of the seven psci classes I've taken so far, none have been larger than 25 and a few have been as small as two or three. Most have been seminars with 8-15 people sitting around a big table with the prof for a few hours a week. I have yet to encounter a bad professor, though certainly some are harder than others. </p>
<p>The econ department has a great reputation, on campus and off. It's the biggest department on campus, I think. </p>
<p>Check out the online course catalog for a look at the kind of courses offered in both departments. Also, you should know that there's a Political Economy major at Williams, which puts combines elements of both psci and econ (duh).</p>
<p>Thank you, both of you.</p>
<p>Is Williams really a jock school? Or can you find people who aren't as into playing sports? </p>
<p>What's Williams like for writing/English? Is it good?</p>
<p>What do most people like to study there? Like, Psychology? English? Bio? etc.</p>
<p>What are the people there like? Artsy? Down to earth? Smart? Preppy? etc.</p>
<p>Thanks SO much!</p>
<p>I think the statistics are something like 30% of people are in varsity or club sports. That being said, most people here (from what I can tell) are involved in something, be that sports or some other extracurricular activity. There are plenty of people who aren't into sports at all, and thats fine, its not really an issue. But compared to other schools like us, I'd say that yes, we are more athletic.</p>
<p>I've heard good things about the English department. But thats about it, I wouldn't really know.</p>
<p>I think that Econ is the most popular major right now, but other than that, I'm not too sure. </p>
<p>There are lots of different kinds of people here at Williams, its kind of hard to pin down any one common characteristic. Down to earth, maybe, but that could probably be debated.</p>
<p>How do you balance your school work and social life? I guess that is my main concern. I would like to have the "college experience", but still be able to do well in my classes.</p>
<p>Also, do you feel that the social scene is getting old or boring? What do you do in your free time? Thanks for taking the time out to answer questions!</p>
<p>I heard something about williams having a problem with vandalism and stealing in general...how true is that?</p>
<p>priceless:
I know what you're talking about, I was kind of worried about that, too. Its pretty easy to work out once you get here, though. Basically I, as well as a lot of other people, as far as I can tell, do work most weeknights (anything from problem sets to working at the art building, anywhere from 1-4 hours a night, as a rough estimate), and then take Friday and Saturday completely off, and then get back to work Sunday afternoon.</p>
<p>Williams is a rather small and isolated place, but all the neighborhoods and organizations do a pretty good job of keeping things interesting. The 'social scene,' though, is, as far as I can tell, the random parties and other events that people and organizations throw, mostly on the weekends. It may get kind of old, but not really that boring, if that makes any sense.</p>
<p>What do I do in my free time? Lets see... In the random hours I have during the day, I usually just hang out in the common room with my entrymates. Or take a nap. Things seem to keep you pretty busy around here.</p>
<p>pigeon:
Yeah, thats something I've noticed, and a lot of people are getting kind of fed up with. It seems that every weekend, someone throws a bike rack outside the front of Mission, bikes and all, down the hill. And sometimes you just see random tables broken, although its easy to imagine that some of those things were broken unintentionally. Stealing is not really that much of a problem -- the only thing is someone stole an N64 game cartridge from out common room once. Basically, some people are just idiots when they're drunk.</p>
<p>re: theft & vandalism</p>
<p>I agree that vandalism on campus is mostly due to drunken (and generally mistaken) foolishness. Also, it's mostly benign, at least in my experience. I'd guess that whatever the level of vandalism at Williams, it's a lot less than bigger schools or schools in bigger places. </p>
<p>Theft, i'd argue, is hardly a problem at all. I wouldn't leave a big wad of cash lying in the middle of the frosh quad, but I (and many, many other people) feel comfortable leaving my computer in the libraries while I go to dinner, my backpack and coat outside the dining hall, and all my DVD's in my common room. I once thought I'd lost my cell phone, only to find it in the library carrell I'd been studying in three days earlier. Hadn't been touched.</p>
<p>How is the advising program at Williams?</p>