Hamilton’s website says it is 52% women and 48% men.
Smith is “all girls” but it is nearby a number of colleges and it’s an exceptional school. My D looked at only one all girls school and it was Smith. I would not rule out all single sex colleges categorically
@ironsweater : Look for ~30 or more in the catalog. Many courses will be offered once annually and some will be offered biennially. The ten or so distinct (do not count multiple class sections) course offerings per semester you have seen should provide you with sufficient flexibility to plan the one or two art history classes you will take during any particular term.
@preppedparent : The OP had asked about Greek participation at Hamilton (see previous posts).
Hamilton’s website says it is 52% women and 48% men.
I guess I don’t understand the 79% female majority.
UCSC is probably a safety, not UCD. Any Cal state except SLO would also be a safety.
@merc81 Thank you once again. Oberlin is known for its art history program, yet I only found 18 classes in its course catalog. Should that be a red flag?
@preppedparent : 21% of Hamilton women belong to sororities. The OP is not interested in sorority life and would therefore be in the 79% percent of women who are similarly uninterested.
got it. thanks
@ironsweater : Since Oberlin does not appear to allow easy viewing of courses that may be offered biennially, I would not consider 18 course offerings during a single year to be insufficient in their case. Wherever you attend, you will be likely to take from 9-15 art history classes in total, so it would be best to be somewhat flexible with respect to the previous guideline I suggested.
I found the 18 courses under the title “Oberlin College Courses Offered in 2016-17 (and planned offerings in future years),” so I’m kind of confused.
@preppedparent I believe merc meant that 79% of women at Hamilton are not in sororities.
@ironsweater : I missed the parenthetical when I initially checked. I might, then, consider Oberlin’s comparatively limited choices to be a yellow flag depending on your particular interests.
Just as a point of comparison, I count 27 History of Art courses available at Bryn Mawr just for the Fall 2016 semester, and 70+ altogether.
@ShrimpBurrito : That’s a helpful comparison. Note, however, that of the 27 Fall courses listed, for example, seven are in “Supervised Work” and six are offered through other departments.
ironsweater, My son studied Art History and Art Studio at Williams. Williams does seem to fulfill everything on your wishlist. World class art history, balanced distribution requirements, an athletic and outdoorsy focus, a beautiful bucolic campus with a spectacular new library. Extensive and supportive alumni/ae network (notably in the museum world) for internships and networking plus excellent career and graduate school advising. Though the campus is insular, there is plenty to do. No Greek system. Good food, and unusual for small LACs, several (4 or 5?) dining halls. Leans left politically, as do most selective colleges, but tends toward middle road with a major focus on environmental issues.
Like you, my son was definitely humanities driven, but some of the science and social science courses that he took at Williams turned out to be favorites.
Williams is, certainly, highly selective, but I think that your background --Asian, female, athlete, outdoorsy, broad academics interests – will make you appealing to admissions. Your essays and recommendations will be critical.
I hope you have a chance to visit Williams before you make your ED choice as I believe that ED would give you a boost even if you are not a recruited athlete. (It did for my son.) Of course, grades and scores are critical, but my observation is that Williams, like most LACs, puts a lot of weight on personality and fit, and from what you’ve told us I think you’d fit the profile.
My son was looking for strength in both art history and studio. He preferred small liberal arts colleges and after visiting found he really liked campuses with access to nature and outdoorsy activities. In addition to Williams his top choices were Wesleyan, Hamilton and Kenyon. He also considered Skidmore, Conn College and on the super-reach side, Brown and Yale.
For various reasons he didn’t get to visit Middlebury or any of the Maine schools, but I think they would have fit with the general personality type of the rest of his list, especially Bowdoin. They are all excellent academically, but none is particularly known for art history.
Oberlin and Vassar have strong art history programs, but my son viewed them as more politically activist than he was comfortable with. Same for Swarthmore. Wesleyan is actually quite liberal as well, but despite that, something clicked, which just shows the importance of visiting!
I would urge you to reconsider the women’s colleges – Smith, Holyoke and Bryn Mawr, Pitzer all have terrific art history programs, and Smith especially is very strong in STEM. If you’re leaning toward small LAC environment, then I would think that women’s colleges would be better less selectives for you than one of the UCs. I also think your appraisal of Skidmore and Conn College might be more positive after visiting.
@momrath Thanks! Williams was originally my dream school—still is—but the acceptance rate is just so low. I’ll try to apply to Windows on Williams or visit. Without considering Windows on Williams, would it be a better idea to apply regular or early? If I apply regular, I would have a chance to show my good grades from semester one of senior year, but early a boost too right?
The recent statistics for Williams seem to indicate that applying early can make a significant difference:
Early Decision acceptance rate: 42%
Regular Decision acceptance rate: 15%
Williams is a long shot, for you and for most candidates. I believe that applying ED can make that a shorter long shot, but of course there’s no guarantee. The downside of applying ED to a reach is that you relinquish the opportunity to apply ED to another, less selective school, especially if that other school is pressuring you to apply ED as an athletic recruit.
The upside is that you will be giving your #1 choice your best effort and won’t later wonder if you should have tried harder.
Only you can decide the strategy that’s best for you and your family. It’s a tough decision, but there’s risk both in applying ED and not applying ED. I think your path will become clearer once you’ve done some visiting. I don’t know what your travel restrictions are, but I would try to visit as many as you can squeeze into your available time and budget.
My personal opinion is that applicants should use ED or restricted EA to apply to their top choice, even it’s a reach. Williams is a reach for you, but I wouldn’t consider it out of reach. Your first semester senior year grades may be helpful, but, I think, would be less significant than the advantage of applying ED. Perhaps your teacher recommenders or your counselor could include a special note, explaining your upward progress.
ED is only a strategy for your first choice school that you can definitely afford. I don’t know why some people here think it’s for the high match that you’re on the fence about, but can probably get into ED.