<p>How is the Williams environment compared directly to another school?</p>
<p>To me, it would appear that the school would, socially, be most like a school such as Princeton or Yale. Would I be correct in that assumption, or is it more like, say, Brown or Dartmouth (i.e. more relaxed and liberal and less waspy and "snobby")?</p>
<p>of the schools you mentioned, it is probably most like Dartmouth but smaller. It attracts similar people who love the great outdoors and winter sports. I would be careful about assigning those "loaded" stereotypes!</p>
<p>Williams is very laid-back--nothing at all like steriotypes of waspy/snobby schools like Princeton. Then again, probably Princeton isn't super similar to those steriotypes either.</p>
<p>For current students (NOT the alums of a quarter- century ago): sorry to drag out a dead horse (and to hijack this thread, hehe), but are the stereotypes of Ephs as athletic kids who were "popular" in high school true? The whole big party/heavy drinking scene really isn't my cup of tea... I personally would rather just hang out with friends or go out for dinner or something. Would that social sensibility be alienating at Williams? Thanks for any input :)</p>
<p>I'm not a current student, but I graduated recently.</p>
<p>There really are lots of different types of students at Williams, though I would say there really are a lot of extroverts on campus. </p>
<p>Williams gets a very bad rep on here, and I would caution you to take everything that is written on this site with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>You mentioned that you visited. What did you think? Trust your own instincts and impressions!</p>
<p>lazylazarus, I met a lot of people who are like you during Previews, an admitted students program. In fact, I met a lot of different types of people from different backgrounds and who very many interests, so to say that there is one steriotype that could even attempt to typify an average Williams student sounds silly to me. Well, maybe one: friendly.</p>
<p>Though that certainly does not matter. Think, there are 2,000 people jammed together. That is 2,000 different people who have different tastes. Statstically, you will find a lot of people like you at Williams, and that is probably true of most colleges, but maybe moreso at Williams and other LAC's, because you know, or at least know of, more people on campus than you would in a big state school, where there will be more people like you, according to numbers.</p>
<p>I didn't mean to present myself as someone who has visited the school; my apologies. The way I have seen it PRESENTED is essentially as the LAC for the creme-de-la-creme, very rich, intelligent, athletic and attractive upper-class.</p>
<p>I actually get the impression that Williams is putting a substantial amount of effort into increasing ethnic/socio-economic diversity.</p>
<p>I'm not so sure that I would classify the Williams student body as physically "attractive"</p>
<p>The debates on the Williams Students Online (WSO) blogs are probably the best place to get the answers to your questions. In particular, the debates about the new "Anchor House" system frequently address these issues.</p>
<p>Here are few samples, although you could probably search the blogs for more:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ephblog.com/archives/001548.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.ephblog.com/archives/001548.html</a></p>
<p><a href="http://wso.williams.edu/blog/view?id=1527%5B/url%5D">http://wso.williams.edu/blog/view?id=1527</a></p>
<p><a href="http://wso.williams.edu/blog/view?id=1445%5B/url%5D">http://wso.williams.edu/blog/view?id=1445</a></p>
<hr>
<p>To help sort out some of the acronyms and buzz-words you will encounter, here are a few definitions:</p>
<p>Odd Quad - a group of dorms where the "geeky", "artsy", "non-drinking" students have tended to congregate for many decades at Williams.</p>
<p>CUL: Committee on Undergraduate Life. The college committee responsible for the Anchor House system,</p>
<p>ACE: All College Entertainment. The group responsible for spending the student entertainment fees by putting on campus-wide parties, concerts, events, etc.</p>
<p>Anchor House: A new housing system beginning next year whereby students are randomly assigned to one of five dorm groupings for their four years at Williams. The underlying impetus for the new system was administration desire to reduce the fragmentation and de facto theme housing of the old open lottery-draw system.</p>
<p>Will Dudley: the ranking faculty member on the CUL.</p>
<p>Ooh. I don't like the sound of there being an "odd quad" for artsy/ geeky people, having been the "odd one" for most of my school career, hehe. Thanks for the links :)</p>
<p>Just to clarify, the concept of anchor housing is under discussion, but is NOT beginning next year. Under the current proposal which may (or may not) take effect for Fall of 06, first years will still live together in entries. Sophomores in groups of six will choose one anchor house, which is actually a group of dorms, to live in for three years.</p>
<p>LL, there are plenty of odd, quirky and artsy kids at Williams. Some live in the odd quad, some don't.</p>
<p>on the penn board, somebody posted a link to this site, which is essentially a collection of the pictures of the creme-de-la-creme social elite of penn enjoying themselves at various exclusive parties and dinner parties : <a href="http://www.dankpictures.com%5B/url%5D">www.dankpictures.com</a>
similarly, my sister's friend is at princeton and he too has had experience with such "dinner parties" and "'rich' gatherings"</p>
<p>now, my question is, would one bump into such things and such people as seen on that site at williams?</p>
<p>Williams is a little wealthier (42% financial aid) than Penn (45%) or Princeton (49%), although I would guess that Princeton has more billionaires.</p>
<p>A little whiter (69%) compared to Penn (64%) or Princeton (60%). The difference is mostly in Asian-American enrollment as Williams has a pretty high percentage of Af-Ams and Hispanics.</p>
<p>Like most LACs, it is more "laid-back", less overtly "status-oriented", and you would see less "showy" wealth than you would in the Penn fraternities or the Princeton eating clubs. Similar drinking scene, but Ephmen wouldn't generally put on coats and ties to get hammered.</p>
<p>RC, This website is amusing. No, this is doesn't look like everyday life at Williams. Without doubt there are some very wealthy kids at Williams and I wouldn't be surprised to learn that there are a few who flaunt their wealth. Some have expensive cars and take extravagant holidays, but many, many are solidly middleclass kids who have jobs and receive some kind of financial aid. And a growing percentage come from families in the lower income brackets.</p>
<p>Outlandishly conspicuous consumption is not common or acceptable behavior. In fact, it would be considered fairly low class to brag about your family's money. Living in a small village in the middle of the Berkshires is a great equalizer. There are no fancy restaurants, costly clubs or pricy stores. There are no fraternities or eating clubs and only a handful of kids live off campus. Everyone has the same options for meals, parties and dorms. It's pretty hard to spend money even if you have it. </p>
<p>I would say however that it's fairly common for Williams kids to get dressed up for once-in-a-while special events. Not necessarily in a promgown or a tux, but a coat/tie with jeans or a party dress (with snowboots, no less! :)) is not out of the ordinary. There are occasional formal dinner parties and dress up dances (as well as tons of casual events), but they are not exclusive and not expensive. Everyone is invited. If it's not your style, you don't have to go.</p>
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I would say however that it's fairly common for Williams kids to get dressed up for once-in-a-while special events.
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<p>I stand corrected. I guess the old alma mater has changed more than I thought.</p>
<p>wow, the blog thing was really interesting. regardless of the each student's stand on anchor house system, i like the passion and respect of the williams students.</p>
<p>Of course, passion can be a fleeting thing, sometimes. One of the bloggers, Jessica Howard, won the race for President of the Student Council last spring with a promise to fight the Anchor housing system -- which is widely unpopular on campus.</p>
<p>One week after the election, she rolled over and played dead following a meeting with the administration. In a letter, she wrote that the Student Council had been informed that anchor housing was inevitable and that, to have any input whatsoever, the Student Council had decided to support it.</p>
<p>The whole thing is kinda of amusing to the old-timers. The college is going back to the "house system" that was in place when I was there 30 years ago. As far as I could tell, the only people who liked the system back then were the people living in the old frat houses. In four years, I never set foot in my "house" more than three or four times for Sunday brunch freshman year.</p>
<p>what's so bad about housing?
I understand one doesn't get to choose share dorm with best friends, making him/her uncomfortable, but doesn't the system provide ways to make new friends and meet different people?</p>
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what's so bad about housing?
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</p>
<p>Nothing. Williams has great housing, IMO. </p>
<p>Especially, the off-campus co-op houses where small groups of seniors can live and cook for themselvs. Most of these were old houses around town that the college has purchased over the years.</p>
<p>The administration's push for change in the housing system over the last five years appears to have been motivated by issues that arose during the last accreditation review cycle where both the visiting NEASC committee and self-study groups noted "various kinds of fragmentation which result in some elements in the community maintaining separate spheres in residential and social domains."</p>
<p>This part of the accreditation self-study provides the most direct view into the administration's thinking:</p>
<p>I haven't heard of any coat-and-tie/party dress social events, with the possible exception of of the many, many costume parties (which seem to be really popular throughout the year), in which case it was possibly cross-dressing coat-and-tie/party dress wearing.:) Or not...I just hear about the parties, and see the some of the pictures second hand. </p>
<p>Whatever the origin of the "Odd Quad" name, it's certainly no longer true that it's a haven for nerds and geeks. There were a wide range of types during the 2003-04 year, including athletes (the current varsity quarterback, and my daughter, among others.)</p>