Hello! I’m an admitted transfer student excited to learn more about Williams. I’m a STEM major and truly enjoy the rigor and challenge that comes with STEM classes.
As much as I immerse myself in my academics, I am worried about not getting good grades even if I fully commit to doing well.
It seems like achieving those grades is harder at Williams compared to other prestigious schools.
I want to make the best decision possible, especially as I transfer. Thank you!
Congratulations! With the very small number of transfer students accepted, you must be a very strong student and should enter Williams feeling proud and confident that you can handle the work there.
When you go to a top college like Williams, you have to keep in mind that everyone there was a top student in high school and everyone there is smart. You might not get straight A’s anymore, and that’s okay. Don’t worry. Grad schools know Williams is Williams.
But I don’t think you are at risk for failure or for many C’s, barring personal emotional or study habit difficulties. It seems safe to say that grades of C or lower seem relatively rare.
Yes, you can get an A with hard work. There is not really grade deflation, just a high level of challenge.
Read the course reviews. Some professors grade harder than others. Sometimes you might choose to take a course where the professor is known for hardly ever giving A’s if the professor is also known to provide a wonderful, intellectually challenging, deep learning experience in the class. Being intellectually stimulated and having great class discussions is arguably a more important part of the college experience than getting straight A’s.
Use office hours and services like peer tutoring in math or in writing. Help is there if you need it.
If you do not already have good study habits, start working on them. Most of your time is spent on your own, not in class, so you will have to set a good pace for reading and for writing your papers and doing your problem sets or labs. You might try to get your work done on the early end, so that you can bring drafts to office hours for feedback.
The few students who seem to really struggle and end up leaving (at least temporarily- Williams tries to hold onto kids and help them graduate, even if it is a few years later than their entering class), seem to be those who either have psychological difficulties or have really bad study habits because everything always came easily to them before Williams and they never learned to bite the bullet and do their work. And there is help at the school for these students, too. Never be afraid to seek either academic support or psychological counseling. You will be attending a school with deep pockets used on good resources for the students, including small class sizes and accessible professors who value teaching and want to be there for their students. Take advantage of all that. It exists for YOU.
One final tip: balance your classes. As a STEM major this may be less relevant for you, but generally you won’t want four courses with super heavy reading and writing loads in the same semester. As you look in the catalog at the incredible number of fascinating courses you want to take, try to time them so that each semester you have a balanced load.
Dear @TheGreyKing, thank you so much for your wonderful and thoughtful response; I am so grateful.
Yes, you are absolutely right. Thankfully, I have good study habits and hold myself accountable when it comes to my academics. My goal is to always stay consistent and tackle any concepts I don’t understand right away, either by working on them myself or reaching out for help. As a STEM major, I try to give myself ample time for repetition of the problem sets, and to prepare for lectures beforehand.
I think I would be fully immersing myself with work constantly at Williams in order to achieve my academic goals.
I truly hope I can succeed there as I would also love to go to medical school. Thank you so much!
Interesting article on the hardest courses: