Experience from a sophomore at Williams for incoming freshmen

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
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<ol>
<li>Class registration:</li>
<li>Leave space for PE classes (1hr): M/W/F morning, M/Th afternoon; T/Th morning;
M/F afternoon (PE classes schedule is sent out after regular registration period has ended)</li>
<li>Always sign up for 5 classes, so you’d have more flexibility (choose different grading options or drop 1 later)</li>
<li>Closed classes can be open anytime during (pre)registration, watch out for opportunity windows.</li>
<li>Prerequisites are not always observed, ask/beg involved professor. You can postpone classes needed as prerequisites for major or other classes (e.g. taking 102 1 year and a half after 101).</li>
<li><p>Factrak (online professor rating by anonymous Williams students) is not reliable and outdated for many professors across the curriculum. Ask your JA, ask upperclassmen.</p></li>
<li><p>Study:</p></li>
<li><p>Use MSRC (Math, Science Resources Center) or Writing Workshop: individualized-help is great at accomodating yourself to college-level study.</p></li>
<li><p>Last minute work: always work for me, but it may not work for you unless you can sit still for several hours in a row (>5) and work well under stress.</p></li>
<li><p>College classes are hard even if you got 5's in all of your AP/A-level classes. Some classes require more memory than other (Organic Chemistry, History, etc.) but all ask for analysis (even for social studies and languages) and creativity (even for science; ESPECIALLY for science).</p></li>
<li><p>Stay after class for a few minutes. You may learn from other students asking questions that may summarize the whole lecture or clarify important but obscure topics. Moreover, you'll get to know the professor better.</p></li>
<li><p>Eating at dining halls (Based not only on personal opinion but also many students’):</p></li>
<li><p>Paresky and Grab n Go (closest to Frosh Quad residence halls) are only suitable for “quickie”: non-buffet style, limited choice, below average quality. Beware of lunch time (11:50-12:30), long line and crowded dining place.</p></li>
<li><p>Driscoll (near both science complex and social studies/languages buildings): perfect for lunch with good soup, salad bar, marche station all in buffet style.</p></li>
<li><p>Mission (within Mission Park residence halls, farthest from academic buildings): perfect for lunch if you have time to walk there thanks to its great sandwich bar; also perfect for dinner and dinner with pizza bar. Buffet style. Greatest number of food choices (including allergen-free).</p></li>
<li><p>Special dinner occasion:</p>

<ul>
<li>Meatless Monday: every Monday in Driscoll, possibly long line 5:50-6:30</li>
<li>Steak night: every Wednesday in Driscoll for this year; long line 5:50-6:30</li>
<li>International / Country-specific nights: vary from year to year, either in Driscoll or Mission, usually very long line starting from 5:30 till 6:30. Plan ahead, come at 5:00pm (earliest possible) or after 6:30 (special desserts and sometimes some specialties are probably gone)</li>
<li>Themed nights (Valentine, Winter Carnival, etc.): vary from year to year, identical great food in all dining halls. Usually long line 5:50-6:30.</li>
<li>Special food events (usually independent of dining hall and organized by students; almost always happen in Paresky): strange new food of so-so quality; long line since the beginning till mid-course.</li>
</ul></li>
<li><p>Computer/Internet usage:</p></li>
<li><p>First logging-in into any school computer takes ~3-5 minutes to establish student user profile. So, pick several favorite computers on campus and log in early in the year so you don’t have to wait the next time you use them. The profile is reset every semester, so you need to redo the logging-in.</p></li>
<li><p>Avoid torrent at all cost. The school prohibits torrent download and in case you get busted, school will only protect you once (i.e avoid legal process albeit you’ll be grounded off the internet for 1 week or so). Later, the school can let media companies sue you. Also, even if you don’t get caught, the chance is that you will get virus infections easily.</p></li>
<li><p>Buy your own antivirus software (unless you have a Mac): the Sophos antivirus software that Williams give you for free (along with other great softwares) is only effective at disinfecting some virus and not at prevent infections or kill nasty viruses. Almost in all cases, virus infection can disable Sophos and get you blacklisted by Williams central virus detector -> you cannot access the internet -> you need to let students at OIT help desk take care of your computer; this takes 1-2 days esp. when the students there don’t know of the quick way to disinfect your computer (regular scanning using 1-2 programs take ~6-12 hrs). Attention: even if you disinfect the virus by yourself, you still need OIT help desk’s confirmation of cleanliness before getting unblocked (i.e they would redo scanning and take as much time). Buy professional antivirus softwares.</p></li>
<li><p>If Windows (PC) is prone to virus infections, Mac is prone to sudden hardware failures (many times, the hard drive fails -> total data loss). So if you own a Mac, backup your data with external hard drive or Google Docs/Box/DropIt/etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Freshman orientation:</p></li>
<li><p>WOOLF: expect several days in the wild, no shower, no comfortable accommodations, and maybe heavy rain. Some freshmen claimed it was fun; some gave up in the face of nature.</p></li>
<li><p>Exploring the art: expect to play to the fullest (learn break dance, modern dance, African percussion) and enjoy the art (visit the Clark, WCMA, and MassMOCA).
I have no idea about other programs but "Where am I?" seems to be the dullest.</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>Williams has a PE requirement?!</p>

<p>Sent from my DROIDX using CC</p>

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<p>Thanks for the post! I’m strongly considering attending Williams next year as a freshman and anything that helps me get to know the school better is awesome. I do have a couple questions though, you mentioned to sign up for 5 classes at registration, so would you actually enroll in all 5 (is a typical course-load 4?) and does tuition increase if you decide to take all 5 classes? Also, are you required to take a PE class every semester?</p>

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<p>Reading this made me want to attend Williams even more, which I thought was impossible! I can’t wait for my RD!</p>

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<p>I have printed this out and sent to my D who is an ED. Thank you so much for your insights-- if you get any more-- keep them coming! :)</p>

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<p>Yes, Williams has a P.E requirement. You must complete 4 quarters of P.E before the end of your sophomore year. It’s fairly easy to accomplish, so do not worry. They offer a range of options. You do not have to take one every semester-- just make sure to complete the credits before junior year.</p>

<p>Four courses is the norm. Most people take 4 courses. There are other options (Gaudino option, auditing, etc), but I have not tried either, so cannot give first-hand experience.</p>

<p>Also, re: FACTRAK, I will disagree with the OP and say to use this wisely. It comes in very handy, BUT BE SURE TO READ THE DATE OF THE REVIEW. A lot of the reviews are old, but between Factrak reviews and word of mouth (and sitting in on a class), you will have an easier decision in choosing your classes.</p>

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<p>Re: freshman orientation,
WOOLF is a great bonding experience and the vast majority of freshman choose this option. Yes, it was unpleasant, unusual weather for fall of 2011, but it was still an unforgettable start for first years and a chance to get to know a new group in addition to their entries.</p>

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<ul>
<li>The minimum and also norm are 4 courses/semester, not including PE.</li>
<li>You do not get extra tuition charge if you take 5 classes or more.</li>
<li>You can only sign up for 4 classes during pre-registration (before semester) and for more than 5 during official registration (first 2 weeks of each semester). You must choose by the end of official registration which class is your 5th hence specially graded (pass/fail, Gaudino, etc.). You have until mid semester to decide what to do with your designated pass/fail class: keep pass/fail grading, convert to normally graded, or drop it altogether.</li>
<li>Campus jobs:</li>
<li>Preference is given to students on financial aid</li>
<li>They respect your job preference. You may choose one of the following

<ul>
<li>Library attendant: internet access, comfortable seating, lots of free time for HW, flexible schedule, main duty is checking in or out books and accessories for students.</li>
<li>Dining hall attendant: no internet access, not very comfortable, not a lot of free time, non-flexible schedule, main duty is swiping card.</li>
<li>Office of Information and Technology (OIT) help desk attendant: internet access, not very comfortable, a lot of free time, a lot of freedom (you can listen to music, watch movies, etc. esp during weekend and after 4pm), great pay. Although Upperclassmen have picking priority and may take all the best shifts, the pros still apply. Requirements: some computer skills.</li>
<li>Lab assistant: quite hard to find, usually does not involve doing research but only prepare equipment or chemicals.</li>
<li>Stock room attendant: similar to library attendant except no internet access</li>
<li>Research assistant: usually for upperclassmen but if you can make good contact with your science prof. you can secure a research position.

<ul>
<li>If you do great in certain classes, you can become lab Teaching Assistant or MSRC TA; this definitely looks good on resume. </li>
<li>etc. ([Pay</a> Grades and Rates | Human Resources](<a href=“http://hr.williams.edu/student-employment/pay-grades-and-rates]Pay”>http://hr.williams.edu/student-employment/pay-grades-and-rates))</li>
</ul></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

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<p>This thread is so helpful thank you ;__;
Hi, prospie here. How are the tutorials? Have you enjoyed your experiences with them? How easy/hard is it to get into a tutorial?</p>

<p>I also looked up the class sizes in the registrar’s website, but I’m still not quite sure what the numbers mean. What are the class sizes like in upper level science (biology) classes? What sort of classes are you taking right now and how many people are in it?</p>

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<p>I haven’t taken any tutorial yet, so I cannot say much. From what I hear from people who took it, there is a lot of reading (~200-400 pages/week), writing (10 pages/week), and 1-on-1 oral argument involved. There are also science tutorials in which you read primary research articles then argue about different interpretations of data, etc.
To look up for class size, go here: [Williams</a> College Catalog](<a href=“http://catalog.williams.edu/]Williams”>http://catalog.williams.edu/) then click on subject and the class, look at both “expected enrollment” and “enrollment limit.” Introductory classes like BIOL 101 has exp. enrollment of 50 and organic chem 100 but can be more because there is no limit. For higher level biology, esp. >300-level, the exp. and limit of enrollment are about the same ~ 20. For topic class (400-level), usually 10 or less.</p>

<p>In my case:

  • Microbiology (BIOL 315): There are 18 students in lecture; we read ~2-4 reviews or primary articles per class, 3 classes/week. There are 2 lab sections with 8 and 10 in each, so the professor (who was extremely caring and good at teaching) pays a lot of attention to your lab work –> good time in lab.
  • 200-level bio usually have 40 students but only for very broad topic like Physiology (very interesting with prof. Swoap) and major requirement like Genetics. I believe other 200 level classes have less than 30 students.
    Organic chem intro (CHEM 156) and intermediate (CHEM 251): ~100 for lecture, good professors; lab with 20 students per session.</p>
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<p>Getting into tutorials can be a pain, especially those that are established as good ones (e.g. the World War II tutorial). </p>

<p>As for the classes themselves, often the paper length is only 5-7 pages per week, rather than 10 pages. But this means you’ll have to really sharpen your argument and support it concisely, which is very difficult (for me, anyway). I’m not familiar with tutorials in Div III (natural sciences), though.</p>

<p>I would strongly recommend taking at least one tutorial while you’re here, because doing so will not only provide you that individual attention from a prof that you (and your parents) crave, but you are also forced to cover a topic in-depth and develop your ideas succinctly through the papers - a great learning experience, imo.</p>

<p>As for jobs, the local youth center offers flexible hours and the top pay rate. Plus, the kids are awesome and the staff is very nice and understanding. (but you can only work there through the work-study program)</p>

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<p>Thank you for all your answers! They have been very helpful.</p>

<p>@La La La, how do you get a tutorial? Is it first come first serve, lottery, application?</p>

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<p>Tutorials are AMAZING. Best thing at Williams, imo. I learned more in one tutorial than in the rest of my time at Williams combined (slight exaggeration, maybe…).</p>

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<p>@Lumiya: For one thing, tutorials can get overenrolled (over 10 students, which is the usual number for a tutorial), so professors have to cut it down somehow. I know one professor who called students’ previous professors to see if they were good students or not in order to choose. Others just might choose students they already know. Kind of arbitrary.</p>

<p>But you might not even be able to get to that step because registration for a class is closed once a certain number is reached (I’m taking a wild guess, but 16-20 for a 10-student tutorial might be a cap - again, I have no clue)…so register early if you can.</p>

<p>Getting into a tutorial is very difficult. But if you do get in, it is a very rewarding experience.</p>

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<p>I would disagree with some of the things posted but agree with most of it. Factrack is pretty accurate for the most part- if a professor has all good reviews he is likely good if all bad reviews you should avoid. When there is a big mix of reviews then yes, it is impossible to tell. Dining halls all have their ups and downs- Paresky can be great for sandwiches at lunch or just a casual burger and fries, and likewise Mission can have dreadful dinners and lunches where you end up with only rice on your plate. Check the menus before heading to meals to figure out which dining hall is the best. Paresky with it’s sandwich and salad station is usually the safest bet, whereas the others can be much more hit or miss. RE Tutorials- they are a lot of work. Usually 200 pages a week and then a 5-7 page paper every other week and a 2-3 page response every other week. They are satisfying and enjoyable if you like the topic and establish a good relationship with your professor and partner. At the same time they can be frustrating if this does not happen. And while getting into a tutorial or course can be tough, contacting professors regarding popular courses beforehand is an incredibly useful thing to do and works a good percentage of the time. Regarding campus jobs, pay is pretty much the same across the board.</p>

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<p>Up the thread b/c I saw some students interested in seeing the inside working of Williams and compare it with other schools they visited.</p>