<p>i am a perspective senior who really likes hws, i toured it and interviewed and it seems to be a great place. i loved the surroundings, the campus, and the programs. my question is what is it like there during the school year? does the small town limit you to what you can do? does the size of the school limit you in any way?
thanks</p>
<p>Skinortheast, my son is looking forward to starting in the fall, so I can’t tell you anything yet. Perhaps someone who’s already attending will respond. I or my son will be able to answer your questions at some point, but not yet! :-)</p>
<p>The campus is aesthetically one of the best, in my opinion - that is, when the weather’s nice. I’ll be a sophomore in the fall and I can say that it’s really windy during the winter (or at least it was this past winter) - but it’s truly beautiful during the fall and the spring. And, of course, it has its moments during the winter too.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I think that the town of Geneva still leaves much to be desired. I can really count on my one hand the number of times I’ve been downtown during the school year. There are some really nice restaurants and good little shops, and as long as you stick to the downtown area you’ll be fine. But I’d advise against going there at night, or going into some of the residential neighborhoods of Geneva - they’ve definitely seen better days. In addition, I think that there used to be some kind of pseudo-bar that HWS students frequented until it closed pretty recently, so going out to town for the evening isn’t something that’s done very much. The relatively affluent status of most of the kids going to HWS and the relatively poor town of Geneva don’t always get along too well - I think there’s some town-gown resentment, which is to be expected in a lot of small college towns.</p>
<p>The campus itself, though, is very safe. I’ve never felt threatened or anything, even walking by myself at night. Campus security does a very good job of patrolling the area, as does the Geneva PD. Most crime-related incidents happen off-campus, and I don’t think that there’s any reason to be overly apprehensive about crime.</p>
<p>Personally, I was pretty busy with my studies for most of the year, and I’m not one of those students who celebrates a five-day weekend. But even for me there were times when I was looking to go out on a Saturday night, only to find that there really isn’t anything going on. Campus Activities tries its darndest to get good acts for the school, and they succeed now and then, but, this being a college, students sometimes just want to go out to parties. It’s really up to the few fraternities on campus to provide the parties, although those are naturally watched carefully by campus security. I get the sense, though, that the administration sometimes turns a blind eye to them, since they know that if it wasn’t for the frats there really wouldn’t be all that much to do on weekends.</p>
<p>gvol, thank you for posting! It is great when current students are willing to answer questions about the schools that they attend.</p>
<p>Do you feel that you have a lot of freedom in chosing classes? How difficult is registering and do you find yourself being closed out of classes?</p>
<p>Overall are you happy with your professors, the classes, and the school?</p>
<p>How is the food on campus? I did visit the dining hall and it seemed pretty nice.</p>
<p>Oh, and what is your opinion about the English dept. and the history dept.?</p>
<p>As with any school, the intro-level classes fill up pretty quickly, but it’s possible to talk your way into a class if you’re persistent enough.</p>
<p>I’ve been pretty satisfied with the professors. They’re all very competent and helpful. I’m not a big fan of the French department, however. After taking 4 years of French in high school they placed me into a high level course based on my transcript; knowing my own limits, I tried to take a course 2 levels down. They ended up talking me into taking the course in between the two, and I didn’t do as well in it as I would have liked. Sure, I could have done better, but that would have to have happened at the expense of my other courses, and I wasn’t going to let that happen. Other than French, though, I’ve had great experiences with the other departments. From what I’ve experienced History is very good; never taken any English there so I wouldn’t know. Russian area studies is also fantastic, and so is political science. </p>
<p>Classes are not always the most captivating. That’s probably the case at every school, though. As always, it depends on the professor. Some have been better than others at keeping the attention of the class.</p>
<p>The food’s also pretty good. I’m not a picky eater but I do find that the food at HWS, if a bit pricey, is better than some of the other schools I’ve visited. (Showtime Joe is one of the nicest people on campus.) You are forced to select a meal plan, though.</p>
<p>The school’s expensive - if it’s value you’re looking for, and you’re not going to be getting any aid, head down the road to Geneseo or Binghamton. And they do have a rather high attrition rate after the first year (around 15%, I think), and from what I’ve heard, a lot of those are the top-performers, academically speaking. That’s not a good thing, and the school definitely needs to do more to keep top performing students at the school - this would help combat the party school image. I was a Dean’s Scholar last semester for getting all A’s - there were only about a dozen students or less on the Hobart side who did so - and the best thing that they could come up with was a $60 gift certificate to the college store. It’ll definitely be appreciated when I pay for textbooks, for sure, but I’m paying full freight right now - no aid at all - and it’s being felt. Of course, everyone’s financial situation is different, so for some people this might not be an issue. </p>
<p>One last word - in case you’re not aware, HWS has the ‘coordinate’ system where there are 2 separate schools - Hobart for men, William Smith for women. It’s a separate-but-equal system, and the schools share almost everything (facilities although not some dorms, professors, etc). Legally, of course, the colleges are one (“Colleges of the Seneca”) but the official ceremonies (matriculation, for example) are held separately. The administration likes to flap their gums about how “unique” the coordinate system is and everything, but personally I just think it’s a waste of money with all the duplicate offices and positions and such. The vast majority of students don’t care; quite a few are supportive of it, and as far as I can tell I’m the only one I know who’s against it. Not a big deal, though - for the most part, the schools really do feel as though they’re “one.” </p>
<p>Overall, though, HWS is a great place. I’m going to be starting my second year in the fall and I’ve been happy with it. I get the sense that the school is trying its best to shake off its previous reputation as being a party school for rich kids, and while there’s still definitely more of that than at other places, it’s unfair to extend that to the whole school. There are definitely some hard-working kids there. It’s made tremendous strides in the last ten years, especially under President Gearan, who’s a great guy, and I have no reason to doubt that it will continue to do so.</p>
<p>gvol, thank you for taking the time to write an insider review. </p>
<p>Do you know if foreign language is required?</p>
<p>Were you offered any merit scholarship going in? Congrats on your grades! $60? Isn’t there any kind of merit scholarship that you would currently be eligible to apply for?</p>
<p>Okay, so who is Showtime Joe?</p>
<p>Well, isn’t it a bit of a party school for rich kids? Please other CC lurkers, don’t blast me. I am sincere with my question.</p>
<p>I do see what you mean about duplication. </p>
<p>Thank you for your honest perspective. There is nothing perfect about any school, and reviews that hide all flaws are not entirely believable to me.</p>
<p>I believe that foreign language is required as one of the eight ‘goals’ that everyone has to fulfill. You have to take at least one science class, one math, one art, etc. I don’t know what all of the 8 are - guess I should meet with my adviser about that. </p>
<p>I wasn’t offered any merit aid going in. I came from a very competitive public high school but my grades weren’t very good, and my family doesn’t qualify for financial aid. Since coming to college my grades have gotten a lot better, but I still haven’t received any. From what I’ve seen most merit-based aid is subject-specific, and there aren’t any for the areas that I’m concentrating in. I’m still working on it, though. </p>
<p>There are a lot of kids there who take academics less seriously than I do, and while there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with that, I think HWS isn’t doing itself any favors by cutting out the SAT and Common App supplement requirements. I know that they want to get applications up, and from what I’ve heard they were very successful at doing so this past year. And I wasn’t the best applicant myself; my scores were very good but my grades weren’t, and so it would be unfair to accuse the admissions office of lowering the bar when I wasn’t the best. There are a lot of very smart, hard-working students at HWS, like there are at every school, and there’s a good honors program. (It’s mostly women, though - I was one of a handful of Hobart students invited to attend the informational meeting, and the rest were William Smith students. Of course, that’s probably the case everywhere else). I flinch a little bit when people call it a party school - while that’s not an inaccurate label per se, the school has come a long way in the last decade or so. Still, I’d be interested to hear from other students on here what they think about this.</p>
<p>Oh, and Showtime Joe works in the dining hall. Always makes good food, and everyone knows who he is - he’s one of the nicest people you’ll meet.</p>
<p>Thanks for the info! Best of luck to you next year!</p>
<p>gvol21, you have been a fountain of information! Thank you so much for your honest assessments on various issues. It’s really great when current students post on CC as they’re the ones in the thick of it.</p>
<p>From the outside looking in as my son will be a first year this fall, as far as the coordinate system goes, I think the potential for leadership and self-governance opportunities for both colleges is twice what would be needed if it were completely co-ed, and the athletic teams have their own identities. What do you think about that?</p>
<p>Yes, there are two separate student governments, if that’s what you mean. It does create more student leadership positions, but as a member of Hobart Student Government I can tell you that this creates more problems than it’s worth. We end up having to hold joint meetings with William Smith Congress every now and then. As for the athletic teams, I think there’s no conflict there regarding the coordinate system.</p>
<p>gvol21, could you have elected to start with a new language? Also, were you given a French placement test? If had elected to learn a new foreign language, how many semesters would they have required?</p>
<p>Are you pleased with the academic advising that you receive?</p>
<p>I think it’s just one semester of foreign language that’s required, although I could be wrong about that. I know that first years can start a new language if need be (I did in addition to French). I wasn’t given a French placement test; although it now occurs to me that I should have asked about one, I wasn’t offered one. This really should be made mandatory, since proper placement is crucial when learning a foreign language. I’m not sure if the situation differs from one language department to another, though. It’s been my experience (and I’ve heard from more than one other student, too) that the French department is not very well-run, although supposedly there’s going to be a new department chair, so perhaps things will change for the better. I’m taking another foreign language and I’ve found that department to be much better than some of the others that I’ve seen.</p>
<p>Also, I’ve had no issues with academic advising; I find the advising that I’ve received thus far to be helpful.</p>
<p>I was reading the mission statement on HWS website, and part of it said, “Hobart and William Smith Colleges are… grounded in the values of equity and service.” I was hoping someone who attends/has attended HWS could tell me how accurate you think this statement is.
Also, could someone explain to me why HWS has been referred to as a “party school” in some of the previous posts? Is it that the student aren’t serious about their studies? Does the school expect little of the students? Or is it just an unfair description of the college? I am especially curious because the community college I currently attend has the same problem of having a negative image. Unfortunately, many of the students really aren’t interested in learning (this is why we loose what seems to be close to half of the students by the withdrawal date) however, we really do have some amazing professors at my college. Even if HWS has a party school image, I would still be interested in attending if this is not the attitude taken by the professors.
Thank you.</p>
<p>gvol21, Thank you for the info about advising and foreign language.</p>
<p>gvol21 – great posts!</p>
<p>Carolyn, what are your (or your son’s) first impressions of HWS?</p>
<p>Our family visited during the summer. The campus was breathtakingly beautiful (like an English manor) and I was delighted to spend 30-40 min (while D was interviewed) in a rocker on the admissions office’s porch overlooking the lake. The handful of students and staff we met were more formal and reserved (distant?) than at other schools we visited - - but I’m not sure whether our experience, based on interaction with fewer than a dozen people, was accurate (thoguh admissions is the school’s public face and you never get a second chance to make a first impression). </p>
<p>I believe there was pizza and a restaurant not far from the admissions office, and a strip mall that looked like it was walking distance from campus. But, as gvol21 suggested, Geneva doesn’t offer much of interest to students (no fun college town atmosphere).</p>
<p>Regarding advising, gvol21, could you give an example of helpful advice you received? Also, since the town of Geneva doesn’t offer much, do most students leave campus/town on the weekends? Are there enough students staying on campus to support Campus Activities programming? Would a student w/o a car feel stranded?</p>
<p>Also, how is HWS trying to shake off it reputation as a"party school for rich kids?" And is the focus on changing the “party school” image or the “rich kid” image?</p>
<p>Foolishpleasure and others on this forum, </p>
<p>I graduated several years ago from HWS. I am currently in medical school. During my brief spare time, I found this site while googling Hobart college and wanted to give a voice. I would like to say a few things about my experiences at HWS. I am glad you liked the colleges beautiful campus. Hopefully you got a chance to see the Houghton House art building which is off from the main campus, Another beautiful asset to the colleges in addition to the lake. </p>
<p>First off, my times at HWS were some of the best years of my life. The liberal arts education is phenomenal. Notable speakers from all over the world come to the colleges through the Forum Speaker program. President Clinton spoke at a forum is one example. Mark Gearan is most likely the best college president out there, liked by all the students and professors, and very engaged with students. He is a former president of the Peace Corps and has lots of political connections to bring speakers to the campus. He is also instrumental in the future direction HWS colleges is taking. HWS always offered a great education, yet the infrastructure and opportunities at the school has improved in the past ten years during his leadership. This is making the colleges more desireable and well known. HWS is increasingly attracting more students. More people are realizing what the colleges offer. This adds to diversity of the applicant pool and the student body.<br>
HWS college is a gem. It is a unique school with the coordinate system, allowing for two Student governments, which I myself being involved in political campus clubs, found to make meetings fun and interesting. You should visit again when school is in session if you are interested. </p>
<p>The city of Geneva is not as bad as people may descibe. It offers several good restaurants and some bars. You can always drive down the lake to the vineyards to eat at one of the restaurants nearby. I forget the name, but it was a very good place to for dinner a ways down the lake;always a waiting line. There is a great place downtown to get pizza and ranch dressing on the weekends. The Smith Opera House, on the national historic registrars list, plays host to big concerts that HWS sponsors each year. The Hockey rink is downtown and seems to always draw a rowdy crowd. There are clothing outlets about fifteen minutes away on the highway. You can take sailing classes at HWS if you want to sail on the lake. You can swim in the Seneca Lake in the fall. The Seneca Lake borders HWS’s campus. HWS is in the finger lakes wine county and is surrounded by much natural beauty. Cornell’s Agricultural field station is in Geneva. In short, Geneva is a decent college town with a gorgeous lake. You can run/walk from downtown to paths along the lake. From what I heard, a new waterfront dock be in the works in the future. Yet, I found myself not really needing to venture off campus because I was always busy with school and activities on campus. </p>
<p>Do you need a car. No, I lived on campus all four years, and the school provides lots to do. I was never bored at HWS. I was studying a lot. To get A’s at HWS you will need to study and work hard. Yet, you will want to become active in your classes because the majority of the professors are very stimulating and engaging. Professors truly care that the student is interested. Students also show up to classes. Classes at HWS will make you want to learn; they did for me. Also, Hobart is not a suitcase school. Everybody lives near campus or on campus. You should check the colleges website to see the clubs and sporting events. HWS also has good athletic teams; fun to watch and they have a cool mascot named BART. Again, I suggest you visit the colleges website or call Admissions to learn more about the school if you have questions; maybe visit the school again. I visited twice; once for an interview and another time just passing though while looking at other colleges. When I visited the college for the second time, the beauty of the campus set it apart from others and I made my choice. </p>
<p>HWS reputation for academics has always been strong. And the students I met were more friendly compared to other liberal arts schools I visited. This is why I chose HWS. Somehow on this message board, someone stated that it is a party school for rich kids, and it keeps getting passed through the forum. I would disagree. More than 76% of students receive some form of financial aid. I received financial aid and some scholarship. In 2004 HWS had a Rhodes Scholar. There are some very bright and hardworking students at HWS. I had friends who chose Hobart and William Smith over Cornell, Georgetown, Boston College, Colby, and Dartmouth, just to name a few. I had friends who were bookworms and others that partied more than others. HWS has a variety of students. Some students may party more than others, yet this is at any school. Most of the harder partying was done by a certain few. You could find a party if you wanted to socialize. You could also socialize with people who did not drink. A Substance Free House exists on campus. Yet, there are also fraternities, while their presence is not dominating the school. For me, HWS offered a perfect balance of excellent academics and social down time on a picturesque campus. It also is very active in community service, with President Gearan leading the Colleges each Fall in the Day of Service, in which a large percentage of HWS students go into the Geneva area to volunteer their time. All four years at HWS, I did the Day of Service. I also was active in Habitat for Humanity. </p>
<p>HWS is quickly attracting more applicants that are thrilled at the opportunities offered at HWS. The leadership of President Gearan has led to HWS becoming even more desirable. I foresee this to only increase in the future. Good luck with your college search.</p>
<p>foolishpleasure and greeneggandham89, I’d be delighted to answer your questions as best I can. As a mother of a first-year, I know every school has its downsides, but right now I cannot sing its praises enough.</p>
<p>It’s interesting that you found the staff and students somewhat reserved, because in April when we visited for the admitted students weekend and again just recently for orientation, everyone was extremely helpful, understanding and friendly. In April we got in a small accident and I couldn’t believe how everyone–from the townsperson we had the accident with to the local policeman to the college security to the poor HWS student whose car our car was pushed into–was bending over backwards to be pleasant. The poor HWS student said, “I hope this accident doesn’t color your experience of the school, because it’s great!” Incredible!</p>
<p>Geneva is I think a workable college town and much of it is within walking distance. I can’t really comment about the town having a fun college atmosphere as I don’t think it’s much different from the college town I knew in college. My understanding is that the Geneva has seen a bit of an economic slump and bit by bit, it’s making improvements.</p>
<p>I am thrilled with my son’s advisor. He is perfect for my son. He’s been readily available for consultation, and he’s willing to ask the hard questions and encourage him to try out different directions. He advised my son not to take one course because he didn’t think it was a good fit. My son attended one class to check it out, agreed with him and switched to another course which the advisor recommended and my son is as happy as can be.</p>
<p>My son did the pre-orientation backpacking/kayaking trip and enjoyed it tremendously. I was impressed how organized, friendly, competent, sensible and responsible the upperclassmen were; they knew just what my son was supposed to do, where to go and what was going to happen next. Last year Syracuse U. had done the same trip and some kid had been really stupid and wound up getting twenty stitches; HWS did the trip the following week and prided itself in having no one get any stitches and this year they intended to keep that record. They did.</p>
<p>There is so much to say about Orientation. It is one smooth operation. There were helpful orientation upperclassmen, staff and administration people everywhere. There was even an orientation kid in every dorm whose sole purpose was to help the first-years get their computers connected to the school internet. </p>
<p>Naturally parents are concerned about substance use. One parent forum at Orientation for Hobart parents essentially focused on the three overlapping resources (trained RAs, counseling dept., and substance counselor) the school provides to look out for students and help them learn to make good choices. HWS apparently over time has increasingly created a constructive environment where kids feel empowered to stand up to substance use and get help for those who need it and HWS has statistics to prove it. The school is working very hard to have students make sensible choices for themselves and emphasizes the majority’s norm of substance-free living. </p>
<p>HWS does everything it can to make it a successful transition for first-years. The Hobart Assistant Dean over the summer looks at each of the Hobart first-year’s admissions materials, including the essay, plus answers to a number of questions, and puts together proposed schedules for each student which can be modified. They take the time to customize the students’ schedules because they feel the first semester is the most critical and they want it to be as successful as possible. My son was placed in a dynamite first-year seminar; he went up to the professor (his advisor) after his first class held during Orientation and said, “This is just what I want to be talking about!” How thrilling is that?</p>
<p>The first thing all first-years do the day after saying goodbye to parents, as part of Orientation, is participate in a morning of community service; they’re encouraged to participate in other ways throughout the year. I think that’s a great way to set a constructive tone with the students. My son had a good time helping a drama organization move their costumes and he got a complimentary ticket to attend a future production; maybe he’ll go and maybe he won’t, but at least he found out it can be fun to help other people in all kinds of ways and it’s appreciated. There seems to be a lot of recognition for those students who participate in community action. I’ll be interested to see if my son does other community service as the year progresses. I hope so.</p>
<p>I think HWS must have had a reputation in the past for partying and rich kids, but my sense is that since Mark Gearan has been president for ten years now, HWS has been working to change that image. It takes a long time for a reputation to change to reflect reality, but the emphasis on community service, prominent substance-free social norms and the study abroad opportunities is Mark Gearan’s response to that reputation. Before becoming president of HWS, he was the Director of the Peace Corps, so these values are all in alignment. If you’re a rich kid and you go abroad, you will develop a very different perspective about wealth, other people and cultures, and our nation’s role in the world. Likewise, if you do meaningful community service. On a personal note, my son is not interested in drinking or doing drugs and I don’t think he has had much difficulty seeking out like-minded friends. </p>
<p>The “equity” part of HWS is I think the fact that there are coordinate men and women’s colleges. The colleges have separate student governments and separate athletic teams so there’s equal opportunity for both genders. Gvol21 has some ambivalent feelings about the separate student governments because it’s a bit of a bother to have to deal with a separate group of people. I can understand that but I have some other interesting information to pass on. Our daughter, also a first year, is going to a women’s college. During one visit in the admissions process, she was told that in co-ed colleges, which currently have about a 60%-40% women-to-men ratio, 90% of the student leadership positions in these colleges are held by men! I found this shocking. So I am thrilled that my daughter has the very real opportunity to expand her leadership skills at her women’s college and the women at William Smith have the same opportunity.</p>
<p>I didn’t organize this information very well and I may have rambled a bit, but at least you have it. Let me know if you have more questions.</p>
<p>mattJastn6, you and I were both writing our lengthy posts at the same time! 
I am delighted you posted. As a mom of a Hobart first-year, there’s no way I can have your valuable perspective; I can only speak from my limited view. Thank you for your enthusiastic, but realistic portrayal of the school; it’s reassuring to know that my impressions have been accurate. I see that you’ve only posted twice; I hope you’ll nod in periodically as your medical studies allow, because HWS is worth crowing about! Thanks for taking the time to put in a good word and good luck in medical school!</p>
<p>I’m a transfer student and I know it’s only been a week but it’s been fun so far. Our OM group is one of the smallest–we were combined (41&42), and all of us are transfers. We were able to skip some of the orientation events that were geared for first-years. The campus is really beautiful, but I’ve been really busy with all the readings and trying to feel my way into the school that I haven’t been down to the dock which I heard is really, really pretty. The weather right now is so gorgeous too. There were a few events last weekend which were all really fun and exciting, and it’s really not difficult to make new friends. The academics are ok so far, I’ll see how that goes as the semester progresses. If you’re a HS senior and you’re looking for schools, HWS is definitely worth looking at. The people are friendly, the staff is very, very accommodating–sorry I can’t elaborate but they really are great. The professors are very good and they make time for you if you need something, which is great for new students.</p>
<p>CarolynB and mattJ, thanks for your detailed responses - - and I agree, the coordinate system is a real selling point, offering young women both the leadership opportunites of of women’s college and the social opportunities of a coed school. </p>
<p>I have focused on the social climate b/c most LACs offer the same “package” - - small classes, top-notch and accessible faculty, good advising, supportive environment, etc. And, as the pool of college-bound students has increased, most schools have also become more competitive in terms of admission. Because of these similarities, the social fit becomes a distinguishing factor. And D did not receive as warm a welcome at HWS as at some other schools (it just could have been the students on campus during the summer, but the summer was when we had the time to make the trip). The question is: does the absence of immediate rapport indicate only that HWS may be less of a social fit than other shools where D immed hit it off w/ students and staff, or does the lack of rapport signal that it is NOT a good social fit? The former is not particualrly troubling and affects only a schools ranking on D’s lis; the latter is a deal breaker. </p>
<p>In any event, it sounds like HWS was the right choice for the two of you. CarolynB, glad to hear it has been such a positive experience for your son.</p>