<p>I originally wrote this as a response to Mickey's question. But I decided to turn it into a thread for any juniors considering williams or parents /fellow prefrosh that didn't attend. As a side note, I attended the four day previews (which included diversity weekend).</p>
<p>What I didn't like</p>
<p>specifically, some of the students (prefrosh especially) seemed somewhat immature. All they seemed interested in was enjoying themselves and socializing, whereas I was interested in learning more about the school where i'll be spending the next four years of my life, as well as getting to better know my fellow classmates. I think, however, that many of the prefrosh were visiting many schools' preview days, and merely considered williams one stop of many. However, there were other prefrosh who were more mature, and who seemed more prepared for an academically challenging college environment such as williams. These were usually the students who had already decided to attend williams. The social life is a bit lacking; most of the freshman considered drunken games of beer pong satisfying entertainment. I found it immature. Not that I don't like (nor didn't attend:) ) beer-soaked parties, but at least it was a PARTY. Not five guys in the basement of Sage.</p>
<p>What I liked
I liked many, many things, specifically the kindness of the student body and faculty. The faculty seemed enlightened, and treated me as if I were already on campus, event though I was only a prefrosh. The students spoke honestly and openly about campus life as well as what they thought of williams. The math and stat professors, specifically, remembered that I'd sat in on their classes, and took time out of their day later to advise me on what classes to take in the fall and spring - they took my interests seriously, and helped me build a practical road to take advantage of williams's many resources.</p>
<p>When I arrived on campus, I'd only brought a very thin jacket that, although was appropriate for my hometown of Washington, DC, (it was 70 degrees here) the weather in williamstown was absolutely horrible. The admissions office was nice enough to allow me to borrow a north face coat for the ENTIRE event. I was awed at the fact that they trusted me enough to lend a prefrosh they'd never met a $150 jacket. What amazes me is that this is typical kindness at williams. Most students left their dorm rooms unlocked, or even open. You could leave $100 on a common room table, and it'd probably still be sitting there two days later. At my state U, (U of Md) you could never, ever, do such a thing. </p>
<p>The school is tiny, but beatiful and cozy. Great emphasis is put on cultivating relationships with fellow students, and introverts will probably not like williams. In a school of 2,000, where there are at least 300 students studying away at any time, you tend to meet and interact with the same people again and again. It turns into a very, very, small world, very fast. Double as fast if you're a minority. No, I change my mind - quadruple as fast. While williams is fairly diverse, there's only really a small clique of fellow minority students in any ethnic group. I ended up running into the exact same people at least five times in four days. If you like this (i do) you will love williams's campus. If you don't, this might not be the right school for you.</p>
<p>Parties (and the inevitable keg of beer) mostly are prevalent on the weekends. Campus police shut down frosh parties pretty fast - they managed to shut down a frosh party we were on our way to within minutes after word got around. Despite a drunken fight almost breaking out, and our entire row house smelling like bud light, not one campus cop even bothered to investigate a later upperclassman party.</p>
<p>As a last word, everything is communal - EVERYTHING. You WILL be using the same bathroom as 15-25 other students. They WILL walk in on you. ditto for showers/washups/etc. While this may seem unsettling at first, you get used to it pretty fast. There was actually one point during previews weekend where I was brushing my teeth and a girl walked in and nonchalantly used the bathroom while I was still brushing my teeth. Being a guy, I felt weird but it didn't bother me. As I said, you get used to it. If you really feel you need the space, people will give it to you.</p>