How is Williams?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
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<p>I am a rising senior looking at colleges. Besides Harvey Mudd, I have never actually considered Liberal Arts Colleges in my college search. I am very interested in the world of investment banking, private equity, hedge funds, and the like, so that is where I want to head career-wise. I hear Williams has good placement in this respect. That is great and all, but my parents are quite apprehensive to send me to a LAC. Almost no one (if anyone at all) in my neighborhood (we live in a small-mid-sized largely suburban town) has even heard of Williams, and to be quite frank, I did not either until this summer. I may be just an ignorant high school student, but I want to find out more about this college.</p>

<p>1) How does Williams compare to its peers on banking target lists in internship and post-graduatuation placement?</p>

<p>2) Which major at Williams would be best to help break into banking?</p>

<p>3) How is the Computer Science Program, Economics Program, and Mathematics Program compared to other colleges I am considering such as Duke, Cornell, Columbia, and UChicago?</p>

<p>4) How is the social atmosphere at Williams? Do I need to be rich to fit in (I am upper middle class)? Please be very honest.</p>

<p>5) How is racial diversity at Williams and how do different racial groups interact with each other?</p>

<p>6) What are some important philosophies that Williams holds as an institution and as a student body?</p>

<p>Thanks so much in advance, and I look forward to learning more about this evidently great institution :).</p>

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<p>Williams is well known and appreciated by Wall Street and graduate school admissions; however, it won’t hold much name recognition with your neighbors, relatives and the random person on the street. Only you can decide if this is important to you.</p>

<p>1) My son did not go into finance, but many of his classmates did. Williams does well in internships and job placement across the board, also in graduate school admissions. The alumni/ae network is wide, deep and supportive.</p>

<p>2) Which major at Williams would be best to help break into banking?
Economics and math are the obvious choices, but really any discipline that engages you will serve, as long as you do well – and get those internships along the way. Look at the resumes of some Wall Street movers and shakers. You’ll see a diverse group of undergraduate majors: English, History, Psychology, even Electrical Engineering!</p>

<p>3) How is the Computer Science Program, Economics Program, and Mathematics Program compared to other colleges I am considering such as Duke, Cornell, Columbia, and UChicago?
Economics and math are excellent. I don’t think of Williams as a CS destination, but like many small colleges Wiliams continues to strengthen their offerings.</p>

<p>4) How is the social atmosphere at Williams? Do I need to be rich to fit in (I am upper middle class)? Please be very honest.
You will find rich and super rich kids at all Northeast colleges, including Williams; however, the majority are middle class – upper, middle and lower. Showing off wealth is frowned on and there’s not much to spend money on in Williamstown, so income discrepancies aren’t so obvious. More than half of the student body receives financial aid. The residence hall entry system creates a social group from day one. There are no fraternities/sororities. Eveyone is welcome to every event. </p>

<p>5) How is racial diversity at Williams and how do different racial groups interact with each other?
Williams is a tolerant and accepting place. The campus itself is quite diverse, but the surrounding community is not. [The corollary is that Williams because of its rural location attracts fewer Asian applicants than the other schools you list which can be a positive in admissions.]</p>

<p>6) What are some important philosophies that Williams holds as an institution and as a student body?
Williams kids tend to be outgoing, intellectually curious, multi-talented and physically active, either in sports or an outdoorsy activity. I see from your chances thread that you are involved in orchestra and Boy Scouts – two strong ECs for Williams. There are many music performance opportunities even for non-majors and I believe there are more Eagle Scouts per square mile in Williamstown than any where else on the planet.
Most Williams classes are taught by full professors who are there for one purpose: to teach undergraduates. Professors are accessible and nurturing and continue to write personal recommendations for years to come.</p>

<p>Williams rural, insular location isn’t for everyone. Visit and see how you like it.</p>

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<p>Thanks for the detailed and insightful response!</p>

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<p>You could show your parents the Forbes rankings but the lack of name recognition can be an issue. People who know Williams will be impressed, the other 95% of people will have no clue. Your high school might make a big deal about the Ivy acceptances for example. Does that matter to you? Only you know the answer to that. </p>

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<p>The name game is only relevant to me for getting internships and jobs. I really do not care what others outside of that threshold think about my possible alma mater (if I get admitted in the first place).</p>

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<p>I won’t bore you with the Eyeveee philosophy on LAC’s, but as someone who works in finance in NY I can tell you there has been a noticeable turn from looking for specialized learning to critical thinkers. Williams is a great school. Period. I didn’t go there (although there was a conversation with the football coach my senior year), nor has anyone I know, but that doesn’t change the fact it is a WORLD CLASS education. Your abilities will speak for themselves upon graduation.</p>

<p>As for other schools, Amherst, Bowdoin, Colgate, Haverford, Lafayette, Swarthmore, Vassar, and the other LAC’s in the Northeast are all incredible places. The Ivies are great schools, but if you have the credentials it really comes down to where you feel most comfortable. There are some real advantages to NOT going to the Ivy League in terms of research and relationships with faculty. Internships and jobs are available from any of the LAC’s I mentioned, and in all honesty it’s nice to see a resume from the LAC’s instead of Cornell or Columbia every so often.</p>

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<p>@EyeVeee‌ , so would Williams perform just as well as say Cornell or Brown when looking for placement in front office banking positions? Research is not a big thing for me as I would most likely do internships instead.</p>

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<p>Hi @yikesyikesyikes‌!</p>

<p>I’m going to Amherst this fall and I’m interested in going into finance/banking. From talking to adults in the industry and reading various online forums, Williams and Amherst both place as well or better than schools like Cornell and Brown. I don’t think going to a liberal arts school will hold you back at all.</p>

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<p>Show 'em this:<a href=“Forbes America’s Top Colleges List 2022”>http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@yikesyikesyikes‌ - regarding placement… yes. Even in this economy, we make a significant investment to find talent (i.e. we’re not just sitting around waiting for resumes and selecting the Ivies). If you can get into an internship and show ability, you’ll have a job before you graduate. </p>

<p>Where I feel LAC kids do really well are the interviews. Smaller schools that allow for meaning interactions with more mature faculty translates into more meaningful interviews. I think it’s a combination of exposure and comfort around someone older. It’s one persons opinion…and kids at Ivies are great talents…but I personally like the selective LAC kids who study just about anything and come to business. I’ve mentioned in other posts, I’m constantly impressed by Math majors. </p>

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<p>@EyeVeee‌ , that is great news for me. Would you recommend a particular major at Williams, such as Math or Economics?</p>

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<p>@yikesyikesyikes‌ - Can’t do that (pick a major). </p>

<p>Do what you like…not what you think others want. Do it well…and everything else will be fine.</p>

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<p>Yikes3, Remember you don’t have to pick a major until the end of your sophomore year. You can take some time to experiment across disciplines. Also, it’s fairly easy at Williams to double, or even triple, major.</p>

<p>Don’t limit yourself to what you think employers are looking for. As I mentioned above, choose a few banking role models – movers and shakers in the industry – and see what and where they studied as undergrads. You’ll be surprised at the depth and breadth of experience.</p>

<p>I agree with @EyeVeee’s assessment of the strengths of LACs. Management – in banking or an field – is all about communication: presentation, persuasion, confidence, analysis, critical thinking, intellectual curiousity. This is where Williams’ grads really shine.</p>

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<p>Thanks @Eyevee and @momrath – I’ll try to visit Williams soon and get a general feel of how things are. It’s actually comforting that the top bankers come from a wide variety of backgrounds.</p>

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<p>yikesyikesyikes, I think that Momrath did a great job in answering your questions. I would say that any major that shows analytical and quantitative reasoning ability will serve you well in terms of your goals, including physics, math, and econ. As others have said, though, most important to pick any major that you will enjoy and perform well in. These happen to be three of the best majors at Williams, especially math, which is consistently regarded as the best undergraduate teaching department in the country. </p>

<p>On a per-capita basis, I doubt that any school can top Williams when it comes to really successful alums in banking and finance. The only areas where Williams has a stronger placement record, I’d imagine, is in museum curators and possibly academia. A few examples: Chase Coleman '97, Joseph Rice '54, Mayo Shattuck '76, Andres Halvorsen '86, John McCoy '65, Herbert Allen Jr. '62, Jimmy Lee '75, Peter Currie '78, John D’Agostino '97, Hans Humes '87, James Lee '75, Herbert Lehman 1899, Bob Scott '68, etc. The key is that several alums from every decade seem to eventually ascend to the top ranks of the profession. Everyone in Wall Street knows of these folks, so everyone on Wall Street knows about and respects Williams. </p>

<p>These folks (as well as young, still-ascending alums) also from a great alumni network, and they tend to be very loyal to Williams – many have served on the board of trustees and/or have made huge donations to the school over the years. </p>