<p>What separates Williams from other top LACs? What's the uniqueness of this school?</p>
<p>Hmm, I think one great thing about Williams is that in addition to being an amazing liberal arts school, it also offers very strong science and math programs. Something like 10% of people at Williams are math majors or minors.</p>
<p>Also, athletically, Williams is the best of all D3 schools. They have won eight NCAA D3 Director's Cups (awarded to the best all-around school in D3 through a points system depending on place at Nationals) in a row, only failing to win the award once since its induction in 1996.</p>
<p>does williams recruit athletes...? or are their rules against that in d3 athletics</p>
<p>You can definitely get athletically recruited by Williams, but b/c it is D3 you can't get any athletic scholarships. </p>
<p>However, athletes with suboptimal stats get a huge boost in admissions. In fact, 66 people were admitted to the class last year because of athletic "tips" from coaches. Almost everyone who got a tip and met the basic SAT and GPA standards got in. (from an editorial in the Williams newspaper about campus culture).</p>
<p>The comments about athletic "tips" at Williams are basically correct. However, a few points to note:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>There are 30+ men's and women's sports at Williams, so 66 tips amounts to only 2-3 tips per sport (with the exception of football, which gets something like 14). This means that coaches can only use tips very selectively. It also means that most Williams athletes are not "tipped".</p></li>
<li><p>The "Little 3" schools (Williams, Amherst, Wesleyan) limit tips to 66, which is smaller than the number at most other NESCAC schools. The only NESCAC school with fewer tips is probably Connecticut College, a former women's college which doesn't field a football team. </p></li>
<li><p>Williams won't admit athletic tips below a certain minimum SAT level. The "floor" at Williams is much higher than the floor at most other NESCAC schools. This may be why Williams doesn't win championships in "helmet sports" like football, ice hockey, and lacrosse. Williams obviously gets a lot of Division III "Director's Cup" points, but most of them come from non-contact individual sports, like cross country, track, golf, skiing, swimming, or tennis.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>When it comes to mathamatics, the only LAC that seems to be in Williams's league, is Harvey Mudd. </p>
<p>But what really separates Williams from other top lacs?
Geography.</p>
<p>And if you're a lover of outdoor activities -- or just the outdoors -- you'll be in heaven in the Berkshires.</p>
<p>Academically I would say that it's a balance among the three major areas of concentration: Math/science, Arts/humanities, and Social Studies. To my mind, there are few other LACs that offer so much in ALL THREE areas.</p>
<p>Specifically in the arts, Williams has three world class museums on or near campus, a new $50 million performing arts center and multiple performance opportunities even for non-majors in music, theater and dance.</p>
<p>Other points of differentiation are the first year entry system, tutorials, and Winter Study. Also there are four (or five, I'm not sure which) dining halls which for a school of Williams size is unique.</p>
<p>The three top factors that differentiate Williams from the other top five or ten liberal arts colleges are:</p>
<p>a) Its remote, mountainous location. None of the other top, top LACs are as isolated or rural.</p>
<p>b) Its emphasis on athletics. Williams has the highest percentage of students on varsity athletic teams of all colleges and universities in the country -- double the percentage of some of the other top LACs (Swarthmore, Pomona).</p>
<p>c) Academically, Williams incredible strength in Art History would be its most unique attribute -- both in terms of the size of the department and the prevalence of Williams grads in top curator positions over the last generation or two.</p>
<p>yeah, how is the location? how isolated would a suburban Jersey girl, used to a mall 10 minutes away and farmland 10 minutes away in the other direction (yes, NJ is like that) feel? even though I live in a less dense suburb, i'm still used to "civilization". any thoughts on this?</p>
<p>This is just personal experience, but I haven't been all that bothered by Williams' remoteness. I'm also from NJ, so I'm used to having at least 3 malls within a 20 minute drive, in addition to having NYC just 30 minutes away.</p>
<p>The towns of Pittsfield and North Adams are both within a fifteen minute drive, as is the Berkshire Mall. No, it's not the same as the King of Prussia Plaza or 5th Avenue, but it's not really like being deep in the boondocks either.
[quote]
Williams has the highest percentage of students on varsity athletic teams of all colleges and universities in the country
[/quote]
This is hogwash--sorry to be late on this unrelated issue, but I can't spend all my time policing ObsessiveDad's posts. You can see some accurate athletic numbers in a previous post, linked below.
<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=1253886&postcount=3%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/showpost.php?p=1253886&postcount=3</a></p>
<p>Here are the numbers for selected schools near the top of the USNEWS liberal arts college list. Number and percent of male varsity athletes, followed by female number and percent. Data is from the most current USNEWS, 2004-05 academic year.</p>
<p>Male 350 36% Female 251 26% Williams
Male 279 33% Female 210 27% Amherst
Male 172 24% Female 173 23% Swarthmore
Male 334 29% Female 318 26% Middlebury
Male 176 19% Female 142 14% Carleton
Male 202 18% Female 149 12% Pomona
Male 283 34% Female 284 35% Bowdoin
Male 207 38% Female 164 26% Haverford
Male 234 27% Female 171 20% Davidson
Male 336 25% Female 208 14% Wesleyan
Male 168 17% Female 179 13% Vassar
Male 233 36% Female 174 22% Grinnell
Male 307 35% Female 203 23% Hamilton</p>
<p>Well, glad we put that myth to rest. Who would have guessed that Haverford College was the second biggest varsity athlete school in the country, after Bowdoin?</p>
<p>Um, the Berkshire Mall is around 30-40 minutes away. Not 15.</p>
<p>You must drive like a little old lady.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Well, glad we put that myth to rest. Who would have guessed that Haverford College was the second biggest varsity athlete school in the country, after Bowdoin?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Fuzzy math?</p>
<p>Haverford has 143 fewer male varsity athletes than Williams. 87 fewer female varsity athletes. Its percentages are only high because the school has 1100 students. It's a little bizarre to suggest that Haverford is a big sports school when it doesn't even have a football team.</p>
<p>Note that these are just varsity athletes. Some of the schools on the list have extensive JV programs. Those athletes are not included in the numbers, nor are any of the club sports.</p>
<p>passionflower, have you visited? Williamstown is a classic New England village set amongst spectacular mountain scenery. It has one of everything you'll need, but maybe not all you want. Kids who spend a day or two on campus usually know instinctively whether or not it's the right place for them.</p>
<p>Think about what you like to do in your down time. If it includes a lot of mall-strolling or restaurant/club hopping then Williamstown may not fit your profile.
On the other hand if you like the outdoors (especially in winter) and the idea of an insular, vibrant campus community then you'll enjoy your time in the purple bubble.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Williams has the highest percentage of students on varsity athletic teams of all colleges and universities in the country
[/quote]
Surrender accepted. Carry on.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The three top factors that differentiate Williams from the other top five or ten liberal arts colleges are:</p>
<p>a) Its remote, mountainous location. None of the other top, top LACs are as isolated or rural.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>So Middlebury isn't a "top, top LAC"?</p>