<p>Hi,
I'm really interested in Williams b/c I like small colleges & small classes. But when I checked on the Williams website, some classes seem to be extremely large (ie. Organic Chemistry is expected to enroll 100 students.) Sorry this is kind of a trivial questions - but it is pretty much why I am so into small liberal arts colleges.</p>
<p>Thanks. I appreciate it.</p>
<p>Even for Williams, introductory classes will be large. However,</p>
<ol>
<li><p>It's better than having a class of 350-400</p></li>
<li><p>The professors still are amazing: The admissions officer who visited our school told us about how the professor that teaches Organic Chem memorizes the faces of the kids in his class from the Williams facebook lists so that on the first day he can call on them by name.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks. That's so cool! Yeah, I'm also interested in Williams b/c of the amazing faculty. I also heard that Swarthmore classes are small...and good...</p>
<p>It's a completely different environment. </p>
<p>Swarthmore is for the nerdy types and Williams is for the athletic types.</p>
<p>Swarthmore is for losers who like the city and Williams is for people who like the mountains.</p>
<p>Umm.. that's actually completely wrong, pawn_h7.</p>
<p>Swarthmore classes are generally small, but it's just impossible to have small introductory classes, because so many people want to take them, and have to if they want to take more advanced courses. For instance, if you want to take Macroeconomics at Swarthmore, you have to take Introduction to Economics, which has about 100 people. Some of the big classes here: Intro to Biology, Intro to Philosophy, Intro to Psychology, Intro to Economics. I really don't like big classes, and in fact my least favorite class is Intro to Bio, which is my largest class. Probably, not every one of your classes will be small, but 3 out of 4 I'm taking are. </p>
<p>I won't go into Pawn<em>h7's comment about the different environment at Swat and Williams--it's just so incorrect I don't know where to start. There are certainly quite a few athletes here, but academics is most important--that doesn't mean you can't play sports here. What's wrong with liking the city? Anyways, I have no idea why pawn</em>h7 says that Swarthmore is for those who like the city, given the fact that the town of Swarthmore is like the crappiest place ever.</p>
<p>I'm just pointing out that Williams kicks ass athletically. Swarthmore doesn't even have a football team.</p>
<p>Williamstown is in the middle of NOWHERE! You guys are 30 minutes from the center of Philidelphia....</p>
<p>Oh, so you are saying that both colleges are horrible colleges? =D</p>
<p>Thanks, I appreciate the input. I just can't stand large classes. But good professors also make up for it. Sometimes I look at rankings like Princeton Review's annual rankings of (Professor Rating, Best Classroom Experience, etc) & other similar sources It seems like Williams gets high scores from Princeton Review & both Williams and Swarthmore get high scores from other sources. I don't know how much I should trust these sources...:/</p>
<p>Kiefer: Just my humble opinion: You are over thinking this process a bit. The LAC's in general have small classes and an emphasis on teaching. Obviously, this is not true in every case. </p>
<p>The school I teach at caps all classes at 25, even intro science courses, but it is far from elite, and I don't think you would enjoy attending. You need to take all factors into account an choose schools that APPROXIMATE your requirements, in other words, the best average of all criteria. Don't fixate on one element.</p>
<p>I mean I'm a freshman at Williams right now, and I'm taking intro classes, and my biggest class is intro to micro econ and there are 34 kids in that class. So while it says orgo may be capped at 100, it doesn't mean that 100 kids enroll either.</p>
<p>you can see the all of the class sizes for the fall of 2008 from this website</p>
<p>they are extremely small compared to other schools</p>
<p>Hey Kiefer,</p>
<p>Thought I'd offer my own experience - I'm a freshman at Williams. </p>
<p>Certain intro classes, particularly in the sciences or psychology, are capped large (think 100-150, not 350-400). However, for many of those "big" classes (microeconomics, philosophy 101, for example) multiple sections are offered to keep the numbers low. My biggest class was 40, and it was an incredibly dynamic and engaged lecture/discussion. It felt small.</p>
<p>Most Williams classes end up taking between 19 and 50 students. And then there are the tutorials, which are pretty unique to Williams, and available to freshman as well as upperclassmen (though the intro offerings are more limited). The cool thing is that, depending on your interests, you may not take many big intros - in Div I, particularly, you might dive right into seminars and tutorials. And because Williams has these divisional requirements rather than a core, the classes you take as a freshman are often full of sophomores, juniors, and seniors. </p>
<p>I think the most important thing is professorial attention, and at Williams, you get it in spades. Professors are, in general, quick to respond to emails, inviting in office hours (and willing to expand them to accommodate interest), passionate about their material and excited to work closely with students. My relationships with professors matter as much at Williams as my relationships with classmates. I consider my advisor and my teachers mentors and friends. If that's something you want, it's a very exciting place to be!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your input. Williams is the place to be! </p>
<p>Um, this is kind of irrelevant to class sizes. I'm not sure if I can visit Williams because I live in California & my parents aren't willing to go to MA. I love Williams's rural location but I'm wondering how quiet it is. Noise drives me crazy. I can't focus. I can't focus in large classes either. </p>
<p>Thanks CCers!</p>
<p>Hey again Kiefer!</p>
<p>If you're asking about general campus noise, it's fairly quiet - 2000 students, no frats, mountain air ... it's lively, but doesn't have a thumping bass line. </p>
<p>There's no traffic, so there's no noise from it. People get drunk and walk across the campus singing and yelling at each other, as they do everywhere. The walls in the Frosh Quad are thin. But there's really nothing a cheap pair of earplugs won't solve.</p>