<p>hi, i'm currently a junior but i'm seriously considering applying to williams next year.</p>
<p>however, all i've heard about williams is good things and not until recently have i heard "the other side" of the college experience at williams.</p>
<p>is it true that alcohol and athletics are a huge part of williams? like athletics is a big part of williams, even doing sports might give you a leg up in admissions...and alcohol seems to be the other main peeve from what i've heard.</p>
<p>what are some things that current students don't particularly like at williams? i just want to get a bigger and fairer picture of williams.</p>
<p>i heard that the city experience is pretty bad, as williams is basically in the middle of nowhere, but then i also heard that campus experience is sufficient enough to compensate for that...</p>
<p>i haven't actually been to williams, but i'm planning to visit sometime this summer or next fall.</p>
<p>I recently graduated from Williams and think that the party atmosphere is quite over-blown on this website. In fact, I never even realized that Williams had such an infamous party scene until I started to frequent CC</p>
<p>In general, I would say that Williams has two sizable contingents. One group of students fits the "work hard, play hard" mold, and the other group of students fits the "work hard, work harder" mold. If you were to ask students from Group A about the social scene at Williams, they would most likely refer to its tame nature, especially in comparison to state schools. If you asked Group B, they would say that the level of revelry at Williams is unacceptably high.</p>
<p>In reality, Williams' wildness depends on the students with whom you live. There is a very small contingent of students who are way too rowdy, and they have single-handedly managed to cultivate the "new reputation" of Williams. I know for a fact that that admissions is making a concerted effort to place more emphasis on "personal characteristics" rather than simply athletics and academics. In a few years, we will know to what extent this effort has materialized. A</p>
<p>And you absolutely should visit. Seldom are people ambivalent about Williams</p>
<p>"the party atmosphere is quite over-blown on this website" -- primarily due to two old alums whose daughters are now at Smith and Swarthmore and who both think those two schools can do little wrong and are the best things since sliced bread. These two alums constantly harp on the "small contingent of students who are way too rowdy" to the exclusion of all the truly wonderful students who are multitalented and contribute to Williams in many positive ways. </p>
<p>As mikeyd stated, few are ambivalent about Williams. Most current students who chose Williams are very happy there -- the recent opening of the new Paresky student center, and the switch this year to the four "neighborhoods" housing system, have resulted in many more social opportunities for those who don't necessarily like to party hearty. A personal visit, if at all possible when classes are in session, is definitely recommended to see and gauge for yourself what you think and feel about Williams.</p>
<p>Paco, my son is a senior at Williams. I think he would agree wholeheartedly with Mikey’s analysis on the drinking and partying at Williams: For sure there are some kids who carouse far more than is good for them and their classmates, but alcohol abuse is no where near as disruptive and distracting as portrayed on this board. In fact, when my son was a Junior Advisor his entry often hosted prospectives who were sorely disappointed at how tame the party atmosphere actually was.</p>
<p>Williamstown IS an insular New England village in a profoundly beautiful rural area. The campus is lively and self contained. Either this will appeal to you or it won’t. Most kids react one way or the other after visiting. The winters are severe so it helps to be interested in some kind of activity that you can do in the snow.</p>
<p>Williams kids are in general physically active. They may not be team athletes but they tend to get out there and do something – casual sports, dancing, hiking, sledding, you name it. Being athletes or outdoorsy kids, doesn’t mean that they’re not also academically driven or intellectually focused, however. Williams kids tend to be multifaceted and involved in a lot of different activities.</p>
<p>I'm not sure that I agree that the winters in Williamstown are "severe," but this is probably a frame of reference thing. The winters in my hometown were SEVERE. Williams just gets a little snow from time to time.</p>
<p>"Williams just gets a little snow from time to time."</p>
<p>Wasn't the first real snow this fall/winter in mid- to late January? And it's already starting to warm up (50s). </p>
<p>"athletics are a huge part of williams" -- about 30% of Ephs play varsity sports. Many others, as momrath stated, are physically active in other ways and take full advantage of the majestic surroundings.</p>
<p>The only thing I don't like about Williams is the neighborhood system, basically because it serves as an obstacle for friends living together. Alot of my friends I've made don't live in my neighborhood, and I'm going to be halfway across campus from them next year -- not cool, not cool at all.</p>
<p>We've just headed into a really cold spell now. Hail, snow, and bitter cold. But the only drawback, I think, about Williams' location is that transportation in and out is more expensive.
I don't party, but there's a million other things to keep me busy here. I don't really mind the cluster system. I'm not picking with anyone cos I want to be randomly assigned.:)</p>
<p>Beats me. Guess all those students who write for the Williams Record, the Buildings and Grounds people who file the bills, the Dean of the College, the 55% of students who respond to the college's own survey, and the students who serve on Ad Hoc administration study committees are either just a bunch of liars, or don't know what they are talking about?</p>
<p>Maybe they're really all at Marlboro? :eek:</p>
<p>But we all know that Williams can't give anyone class -- either they have it, or they don't. Maybe that's the reason for your resentfulness.</p>
<p>"the alum who contributed the $5.4 million to revamp the social/residential system"</p>
<p>No, that would be another scholarship recipient (David Paresky) who actually has class -- and has repaid the college in a much more noble way than other alums who choose to do little more than constantly snipe on an online forum about their alma mater.</p>
<p>jrpar: It's a link to an online forum (citing comments made this week) to illustrate how unattractive it is when posters harp on negatives and indiscriminately ascribe stereotypical characteristics to entire populations.</p>
<p>You will note that neither Mini nor I posted a response to the orginal question.</p>
<p>I was scratching my head trying to figure out why you even mentioned the two old alums. Heck, I even bit my tongue on the claim that Williamstown doesn't have severe winters. Must be that dang global warming.</p>
<p>"neither Mini nor I posted a response to the orginal question"</p>
<p>The OP originally stated: "all i've heard about williams is good things and not until recently have i heard 'the other side' of the college experience at williams...alcohol and athletics..."</p>
<p>Two of your quotes: "like Williams students (drunk jocks)" and "Lot of jocks. Lot of partying."</p>
<p>There are plenty of others. But I have neither the time nor the inclination to point them out here -- and I'm not the only one to notice (if you'll reference pages 2 and 5 of the thread linked to above).</p>
<p>And I got an early write this year with no sports whatsoever. I never even played little league. Although Williams' percentage of athletes is very high, it is by no means 100% or even close to 100%.</p>