Hi! I’m considering a couple NESCAC schools, but Williams is currently my first choice. Before I commit, I want to make sure Williams has a bit more of a social scene than my time at Previews suggested. First, is there a athlete-non-athlete social divide? Are there many students who are not “socially awkward” (in the words of my Previews host) that are also not athletes? Who generally hosts on-campus parties and what is their vibe? Thanks for any help!
Athlete-non-athlete divide: Only in our jokes, there really is no divide. Now, that’s not to say that I, as a not particularly machismo guy, find every single athlete on every team to be my style of person, but many of my best friends are student athletes, and no one will judge you either way. Everyone uses the same workout facilities, same dining halls, same entries.
Students who aren’t socially awkward that aren’t athletes: Absolutely. I’d like to consider myself one of them, if that isn’t too presumptuous. There’s a term at Williams that floats around every now and then: Phantom 500. There tend to be about 500 people at the school who, if you’re not in an entry or class with, you just won’t know. 30-35% of the students are varsity athletes, or about 500-600 people. That leaves about 1000 people who are “normal”, for lack of a better word. The student body, in general, is gregarious, friendly, talented, and open. I love the Williams atmosphere.
On-campus parties: I actually wrote a whole post about this earlier: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/williams-college/1836370-party-scene-social-life-at-williams.html.
Hope that helped!