What makes Williams special?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
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<p>What stands out about Williams?</p>

<p>What made you personally choose Williams?</p>

<p>Also, regarding class size and professors... what is an average class like? Do prof try and get to know their students, or do you really have to make the initiative?</p>

<p>What kind of students do you find at Williams generally? Preppy, jocks, artsy, nerdy..etc.</p>

<p>What is the social life like? I know it is very isolated as I went there for tennis camp for 3 years. Does this hinder social opportunities or is it actually better bc the campus must provide everything?</p>

<p>How about general and career advisers?</p>

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<p>Hello, my son is a rising junior at Williams. He chose Williams because he was looking for an LAC with top notch academics, a focus on art and art history with intelligent, active, friendly kids. He was also personally attracted to the profound natural beauty of the Berkshires. He liked the academic distribution requirements which offer some structure, but not too much. </p>

<p>The class sizes are variable. Some basic courses are large lectures (100+) with supplementary discussion groups. Some are medium sized, 20-25 students, some are small seminars with 10 or under. Williams is also famous for their tutorial program which pairs up two students with one professor. </p>

<p>The instructors are full time professors. They may be authors and/or experts in their fields but they are teachers first. They are there for the students. There is a great deal of interaction between students and faculty. The professors send e-mails, they invite the students to their homes, they go for walks -- they really make an effort to get to know the kids. The result is twofold -- first, even though the academics are rigorous, it's easy to seek and get help and secondly, when it's time for recommendations for internships, graduate programs or job, the relationship already exists.</p>

<p>Williams office of career placement is excellent. They schedule events all year long that feature different careers. The alumni/ae network is also extremely active and accessible and networking in whatever field you're interested in goes on for the rest of your life.</p>

<p>I answered the question about the type of student and the location vis a vis social life on your other thread. Suffice it to say that you will find a wide range of kids. The unifying thread is that they are intelligent, active, friendly and multifaceted. They are happy to be at Williams.</p>

<p>I think what stands out about Williams over and beyond what is great about LACs in general is the strong sense of community, the natural beauty of the area, the happy kids, the caliber of the academics. Some other points that are special to Williams are the firstyear entry living arrangement, Winter Study, the tutorial program and the fact that there are five dining halls on campus.</p>

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<p>momrath: The thought just struck me that what you like about Williams is what I like about St. Paul's School and because that has been such an enormous success for my daughter, I am hoping she will consider Williams. My problem is that she is too young and gormless to really understand that university is indeed, exactly as you say, a matter of community, the natural beauty and spiritual surrounding and calibre of the students. What she needs is some assurance that there will be kids like her there and I don't know how she can find that out.</p>

<p>In the nature of things she needs a mentor plus 5 or 6 kindred souls with whom to solve the great problems of the universe. Since the crucial factor is 17th century church music /musicology --she wants to major in math/physics and philosophy--but she must have a place to sing, that is her life, I don't know how she can find out whether Williams is her spot. I would love for her to e-mail the professor of musicology and simply to ask whether she would be the only one there interested in 17th century motets and evensong but that will never happen. As matters stand her idea of a college application is to apply only to places where for the right reasons she might want to go. What do you think?</p>

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<p>It's hard to beat Williams if you're looking for an LAC math/physics track (my daughter's interests). Mini knows a lot about music programs, and I seem to recall he even addressed your specific question recently....so stand by for his input. Haon is a rising junior who, I think, said he was considering philosophy as a major? Could be wrong, maybe he just took some courses and really liked it. I think he's in England now, but may show up with his $.02.</p>

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<p>Paleo, Has your daughter visited? I’ve found that kids’ reaction to Williams is very visceral – they love it or they hate it. (And I never argue if it’s the latter.)</p>

<p>After visiting, if it’s a go, then I’d suggest an overnight. Other ideas would be spending some time on the music department website or striking up an e-mail conversation with a current student. (There’s a list on the website.) My understanding is that there’s a whole lot of singing going on at Williams, but it’s not my area of expertise so I’d better back off. I can verify that the overall academics are excellent and that the math, physics and philosophy departments are all excellent.</p>

<p>My son’s high school was a tight knit supportive community. He had friends from a wide range of backgrounds with a wide range of interests – intellectual, artistic, athletic. He wanted most to replicate that feeling of group of smart active friendly kids who would appreciate his weird humor and has been wildly successful. </p>

<p>Which college(s) is your daughter enthusiastic about? Maybe we could compare and contrast.</p>

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<p>The initial reaction to a college of course is visceral: falling in love is never a matter of pure calculation. One hopes however one's child is not delusional about what or whom she falls in love. We more or less picked St. Paul's on that basis, the ground simply felt warmer there than at any other place we visited.</p>

<p>For my daughter the reference frame for a college or university is probably an idea of companionship and good conversation in beautiful surroundings. If any one place embodies that idea--which of course reeks of Newman--it would be Oxford, probably Merton. Williams consciously emulates Newman's Oxford ideal--which by now might be fairly anachronistic in Tony Blair's England-- and that makes it special in a sense that no other college in the US, with the possible exception of Sewanee, is special. </p>

<p>As it stands my daughter despite relatively good counseling is almost totally ignorant as to the culture of most schools and totally at sea about how to choose. She is considering the usual list of suspects--Princeton, Harvard, Yale ((Directed Studies), Caltech,Chicago, Dartmouth, Wellesley/MIT, Williams. Perhaps considering the possibilities of effective cross registration she should look at Amherst /Smith and Brynn Mawr/Swarthmore but one could multiply possibilities infinitly without having any clearer idea of how to choose.</p>

<p>At Oxford, in a case like her, the admission tutor at a the college to which she made initial application, would decide whether the college could do anything for her, and if not hand her application to a college where he thought they could. In the US admission is much more competitive amongst institutions. This turns the process,to my mind at least, into a prisoners dilemma on the part of the parents and into a dispiriting marketing of SAT scores and E/C accomplishments on the part of the students. Anyway, what would like is some legitimate way for her to access an american equivalent of an admission tutor who is an academic in her/his own right and who can advise her whether Williams 'fits'.</p>

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<p>Paleo, It’s definitely difficult to know and the ultimate proof is only revealed after the student actually experiences college life first hand. I firmly believe that a student can be healthy, wealthy and wise and more than one college so I wouldn’t stress too much about finding the single best one. Come up with a list of 10-12. In my opinion a top heavy list is just common sense if a student is aiming toward the super-selective, but even for the top students, there is no guarantee, so please make sure that she adds some solid matches and super-safeties to her list. </p>

<p>There is also the process of natural selection at work here, especially with these super selectives: the admissions committee may not agree that their school is a “perfect fit” for the applicant. It’s so random and as you say “dispiriting” that you need to have good options.</p>

<p>There are a fair number of kids at Amherst, Williams, Swarthmore, Pomona, Wellesley (and others) who were also admitted to Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, MIT and chose to go the LAC route. Most, however, fall under the gravitational pull of the ivies. Either way, there are few regrets.</p>

<p>Aside from counselors (who are biased as the rest of us), another way to appraise the happiness quotient would be to consider where older friends and admired kids have ended up (and the opposite). It really helps to associate a person with a school. That’s why on campus interviews which are often with students or recent alums can be helpful. And also, why the personality of the tour guide can be a determining factor – positive or negative!</p>

<p>Williams is probably the most Anglicized of the LACs. It’s not a trait that the college is encouraging, however, as diversity is in and old school elitism is out. This is a good thing, but has to a certain degree watered down the personality of many colleges.</p>

<p>Williams professors are very accessible to talk to prospective students about what to expect from a Williams education. Their willingness to spend quality time with students is exactly the point of a Williams education! If your daughter doesn’t feel comfortable contacting a professor directly, I’d suggest that you think about attending one of those preview weekends where prospective students sit in on typical courses. Or try to overnight with a like-minded student and tag along to classes.</p>

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<p>I agree: Williams with Princeton as an alternate and Harvard as a back-up is a heroic way to play the lottery--if it is indeed a lottery. Nevertheless you have to do these things 'con amore' and her going in position is that the colleges she wants to go to must want to have her and if they don't, 'tant pis pour eux'. At the end of the day her back up is the same Canadian school (Queen's) where the current president of Princeton took her undergraduate degree, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if she did not get in at Williams. </p>

<p>There is something you said about diversity that is perhaps apropos to a discussion about what makes Williams special. The Oxford model presupposes that the students have at least some cultural literacy. The whole point of the Westen Civ programs at Chicago and Columbia-- which were the glory of their time--was to provide this at the front end of an undergraduate education. All reports suggest that even at Chicago this is going out the window and what we are left with is a collection of learning factories of various levels of prestige but with essentially the same program. If the signature program at Williams is the Oxford model and if that is bending under the pressures of a misunderstood diversity agenda, why would you want to be there? Does that only leave Reed, Bard and Oberlin in the game as true LACs?</p>

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<p>Diversity is a diverse word. The way it’s been applied in admissions is in an attempt to recruit, admit and matriculate students with a wide range of backgrounds – racial, religious, political, sexual, economic, what else is there? Thus the stereotype of the Williams student as a card carrying, elitist WASP is no longer valid. Most people (including me) see this as a good thing.</p>

<p>Diversity in academics is something else all together. All colleges have attempted to move away from the totally Western cannon in favor of introduction of an ever widening body of material. This is a dilemma that colleges face daily. I was struck by what one of the adcom’s at Wesleyan said, “It has become increasingly difficult to make a case that there is a static body of information.” </p>

<p>On some campuses anything emanating from dead white males is subject to politically correct squelching. Williams is pretty much middle road here. They’ve certainly changed academically with the climate, but I’d say not as much as Reed, Swarthmore, Oberlin, and Wesleyan have. These schools can be so screechingly PC, that’s it’s hard to even find a course that doesn’t have an alternative agenda. (Take a look at the on-line course catalogs and you’ll see what I mean.)</p>

<p>At Williams you can still study Shakespeare, Leonardo and Socrates. You can also get a degree in Womens Studies, Jewish Studies, Latina/o Studies and a host of others. There isn’t a school in the country that hasn’t followed this trend.</p>

<p>The Oxford model that Williams features is specifically the tutorial. Students are greatly encouraged to take advantage of the tutorials and I believe most will take 1-3 during their four years. They’re available in just about every department including non-verbal disciplines and are geared toward every grade level. They are not, however, either more or less focused on Western civilization than the rest of the academic offerings are. </p>

<p>As far as the milieu, I’d say that Williams kids come in at a fairly sophisticated level of cultural and academic exposure. Those that don’t have the background catch up fast. There is no shortage of intellectual curiosity.</p>

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<p>hello32-- I see that you've posted this question on the Pomona board as well. Here's a thread comparing & contrasting Williams & Pomona fyi:</p>

<p><a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=75074%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showthread.php?t=75074&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

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<p>In looking at colleges for S2 we visitied Williams. One of the things that makes Williams special is that they have the inter-session classes in January. As a mathematically oriented student he liked some of the classes that they listed for the intersession:</p>

<p>"The Mathematics of Chess"</p>

<p>and</p>

<p>"The Mathematics of Poker"</p>

<p>He felt it had a bit more of an athletic feel than Amherst along with a bit more of a focus on Math and Science. Making the trip with him I agree with him. I would add in that the dorms were singles with shared space described as an "entry".</p>

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<p>Paleo - I think I've already suggested most of what I have on this subject already, except to add that your d. should contact Victor Hill at Williams - he is a math professor, but also a very, very fine harpsichordist, who has written on Bach, etc. Your d. might find a kindred spirit.</p>

<p>For the early music thing (combined with good sciences), again I think Yale is probably the best choice, followed by the 5-college early music program in the valley, where you could actually sing early music a minimum of twice a week, one in the mixed voice early music group, one in the all-female early music group. <a href="http://www.fivecolleges.edu/sites/earlymusic/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.fivecolleges.edu/sites/earlymusic/&lt;/a> Next year, they are also performing the first opera ever written by a woman (Francesca Caccini, 1626 - my d. is the manager, and put together the publishable score.) You won't find anything near that level of opportunity - again, for early music - at Williams. But your d. would certainly enjoy the Williams-in-Oxford program, and combined with Victor Hill, Jennifer Bloxam, and a really, really good math department, it might be more than enough.</p>

<p>(But if singing early music is really the prime consideration, despite a fine music faculty - and there is plenty of singing generally speaking, Williams isn't your best choice.)</p>

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<p>She tried that but Victor Hill is retired and the e-mail came back. Maybe she should contact Jennifer Bloxham directly. </p>

<p>After having stars in her eyes about Princeton she is now beginning to talk more and more about Yale. I feel dubious about the wisdom of her doing Directed Studies,plus musicologyand choir and orchestra, plus a heavy duty math course all in first year. Besides, to choose Yale would be to give up Oxford and for that she really is a natural. Although I think that Oxford is over rated academically ( but then compared to University of Chicago what place is not?), for her Oxford would be like dying and going to heaven. She actually has the languages and the interests to do research in low countries polyphony which is Prof. Bloxham's specialty and she is a good enough singer and cellist to get into a very good choir and into an amateur student orchestra. All of which along with the strong math and physics offerings to my mind points to Williams.</p>

<p>I have suggested to her she look at Smith largely because you spoke so well of the five colleges early music program and because of Smith's strength in mathematics, but I can't bring myself to believe that she can fall in love with Smith the way she has fallen in love with the idea of Oxford. </p>

<p>I don't think given her test scores, GPA and positive reasons for wanting to be there that Williams is a lottery school for her, the way Yale, Harvard, Princeton are for everyone. If I could afford it she should apply ED at Williams and forget about the rest. If you're on the bus, why run after it?</p>

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<p>Well, all the top schools - LACs and Uni.s - will allow you to take your junior year at Oxford. The advantage at Williams is that they have an entire program devoted to it. The disadvantage of Williams is that you end up living with other Williams students. </p>

<p>Yale is as close to the "idea of Oxford" you'll find, and has the early music performance stuff you just won't find at Williams (especially with their church music program). Of course, if being able to perform (sing?) early music isn't an issue, but just a good music program will do, Williams would be terrific, and the math department is reputed to be excellent (as is astrophysics.) So it's a matter of balancing. Amherst (or Mt. Holyoke) also provide access to the valley early music program. </p>

<p>I don't know about them, but did you check other schools with large music departments for early music, as well as math/sciences, perhaps some place like Northwestern? </p>

<p>Finally, and it is late in the game (I think), and I don't know how much financial aid you need, but an Oxford degree is usually only 3 years, and last time I looked well cheaper per year even for "foreigners" than Williams or Yale.</p>