<p>Williams contradicts the stereotype as it has both a very active sports scene and a very active arts scene. In fact it's quite common to find kids who are both serious athletes AND serious artists, actors, dancers or musicians. </p>
<p>I feel that the characterization of preppy vs artsy is meaningless as today even the prep schools aren't traditionally preppy any more and there's a general homogenization of dress and cultural outlook across the country. As noted above just about every LAC has a predominately left-leaning faculty. The major difference I think is that at some the kids are all liberals; at some the conservatives, while still a minority, are represented.</p>
<p>I'd agree with the general comment that you could make a differentiation between drugs and alcohol though most are present to one degree or another at all colleges.</p>
<p>Of the schools mentioned by the OP:
[quote]
Middlebury doesn't have the same bent as Brown, Vassar, Reed. Schools of the Middlebury ilk are more like Dartmouth, Williams, Colgate, Colby, Trinity; while ones of the Brown ilk are Wesleyan, Bates, Connecticut College.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I think you could put some of these on one side of the cultural divide and some on the other, but for the most part there is an enormous amount of overlap in the middle range. </p>
<p>Students at Middlebury for example are extremely "crunchy" and at Conn College more mainstream. Williams as I noted has terrific arts programs, on a par with the schools thought of as "artsy" like Vassar and Brown. So, you have to be careful with categories. Visit, draw your own conclusions.</p>