So I was basically emotionally committed to a school I thought I was definitely going to get into but ended up getting wait-listed. As such, I basically have to find a new college to love. I love Williams academically, however, I’m not sure I would fit in socially. I am more of a fat nerdy guy than a social, athletic one. Does anyone if there is an overwhelming sports culture and whether there is room for the socially awkward? Any insight, positive or negative, is appreciated.
Hi! Current Williams student here. As a first year, I can say that there are indeed a lot of athletic students. BUT, at the same time, there are quite a few who are not athletic whatsoever. Furthermore, I don’t think that Williams, as a campus, fits the stereotype; some of the nicest and most considerate people I have met fit that “sports culture”. Students, be they athletes or non athletes, are really warming, and there is a plethora of resources available to help students. Similarly, because of the entry system, people really try to make you feel as at home as possible.
If anything, you should visit campus (previews) if you have the chance. A visit would mean a lot more than words found on social media. Hope this helps.
Best of luck.
I agree with @Delioras on all counts.
Don’t fall in love with any of your remaining choices – go to accepted student visits at your top 2-3 choices to collect more data, then decide. 24 hours on campus is very revealing.
Plenty of awkward types at Williams. Have met many of them!
To the wonderful OP who posted this thread, the fact you would start this thread says a lot about your character, sense of humor, sense of knowing yourself and being true to who you are and something missing in a lot of youth today "being humble ". Any school would be lucky to have you and if you end up at williams trust me the students who see this thread will be dying to meet you and rooting for your social and academic success at williams. I know from seeing your other posts you got into other wonderful schools and some with the reputation of having a nerdy academic culture. Agree with all posts above go to visit days if cost and distance will allow . Congrats, williams and the other top schools you got into “saw you as the real deal” and so much more than how you describe yourself. I would love to hear 10 other adjectives that describe you but I am guessing some of them would be kind, intellectually curious, thoughtful and funny .
Thank you to all. Hopefully Williams is as nice as all of you say. I’m going to try and schedule a visit as soon as possible to try and get a better feel of the place.
Where else have you been admitted? Have you looked at accepted student visit dates at all of your options? Those are a good time to visit in my experience.
@intparent So far I’ve gotten into William and Mary, Swarthmore, Williams, Emory (no interest in actually going, though), Wooster and Denison. I was wait-listed at Kenyon and have yet to hear from Oberlin, Amherst, Dartmouth and Yale. I plan to visit Williams during “previews”. I would like to go to some other school during admitted student days but a lot of them are a little too late to leave room for decision making. “Swastruck”, for example, is the last week of April, I believe.
Nice options! Once you have your decisions, I’d do your best to see your top 3 choices. You can make your ultimate decision on the last day – don’t let late visits keep you from seeing your top choices with an open mind. My D2 totally juggled her final preferences as a result of her April visits (she did 2nd visits to Swat, UChicago, and Harvey Mudd at their accepted student days).
curious why Swarthmore is not a top contender given your concerns about not fitting into williams. You have amazing choices. Again i think any school would be lucky lucky to have you.
@momof2eagles Swarthmore is definitely in the running. I love the campus culture and overall types of students, but I’m not the biggest fan of the history department and course options. Early in the thread my hesitation was expressed in reference to waiting until the admitted student days to visit.
Sometimes you can’t make all the accepted student day visits you want to because the dates overlap. You can ask t do an overnight on your own, sit in on a class, etc. outside those dates if you need to.
Hi @tim322 What are you looking for in a history department? What is lacking in Swarthmore’s history dept?
@ilovepomona Mainly just the size of the department. They have relatively few courses offered every year compared with Kenyon, Williams, and other schools.
@tim322 - you can take courses at Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and U of Penn, if they have course offerings that your home campus lacks.
@tim322, I wouldn’t say that there’s an “overwhelming sports culture” at Williams in the sense of organized and official team sports; however, I would say that there’s an overwhelming get-out-there-and-do-something culture, which can be manifested in traditional athletic competition or unstructured fun activities like broom ball, sledding, hiking, dancing – basically ways to counter academic pressure through some kind of physical activity.
“Nerdy” has become an all purpose descriptor that can mean different things. If gaming or role playing are your antidote to academic pressure, you won’t exactly be alone at Williams, but there are probably other schools with greater participation. If you mean off-beat, understated, intellectual humor, then you’ll have lots of companionship.
The residence hall entry system really helps less socially adept kids form an instantaneous social group – for meals, events, hanging out in the common room, Warm, friendly, kind, curious are adjectives I would apply.
It’s pretty crazy that you received early writes from Swarthmore and Williams and a waitlist from Kenyon. That really shows how unpredictable the process can be. My son, whom I would describe as an amalgam of artsy, outdoorsy and brainy – more of an observer than an initiator – liked Kenyon a lot (also Wesleyan and Hamilton). He chose to go with Williams early decision and 12 years later would do it again in a heartbeat.
You can take courses at the other schools from Swat, but you have to shuttle or take the train. It is hard to schedule courses back to back then, so logistically it is a bit of a challenge.
@momrath Yeah, by “nerdy” I really did mean more of an intellectual atmosphere where students are naturally inclined to the discussion of questions somewhat academic nature e.g. history. Do you think, however, that a student might find themselves with little to do with others if physical activity just isn’t what they do in their free-time?
Hi @tim322 ! I’m currently a Williams sophomore and I can attest to the culture here, I believe. While a lot of people exercise, and some find friends through those activities, a lot of people do not exercise, or exercise only on their own. I’d estimate that about half of campus plays sports regularly, while another 30-35% exercise on their own and perhaps 5% like to go for hikes or walks or something. Those are total guesses, by the way, but that’s what it feels like. A lot of people don’t exercise, a lot of people don’t exercise with others, whatever they feel like. The bottom line is that you will absolutely have friends who you don’t need to be physically active with. I’m pretty active in pickup sports, and I’d say that I only know about 20% of my friends primarily through those activities. I have little in common athletically with the majority of my friends, but a lot in common intellectually and personally.