Which Liberal Arts College is right for me?

Hello!

I’ve been spending the week scrolling through colleges. I was hoping I could get some help selecting a college, and will post this in those that have stuck out to me.

A little about me:
GPA: 3.7
SAT: 780 Math 740 CR
4 Year Track Athlete
I generally prefer english to math but don’t mind either. I enjoy history and philosophy. I consider myself to be pretty competitive and love watching sports, and also appreciate art too and enjoy listening to music. I don’t care much for drama/theatre or sciences. While I love to run I don’t intend on perusing in competitively.

What I know I want:
-A magnificent campus. Something small with old and pretty buildings.
-Not Cliquey. I want a group of friendly and open people. This is important to me.
-No Frats. Frankly almost all accounts of fraternities I’ve heard about have been negative. I’d be open to change my mind. I know Bowdoin has an interesting alternative, however. I’d like to hear about that.

What I’m not sure about:
-A rural area. I think I want something rural (similar to what I’ve seen from Williams), but I’m not sure. What are the pros and cons?
-I don’t like to drink or party too hard, but I’m not sure if a college having a lot of this is necessarily a turn off, as hopefully I can just ignore it. Thoughts?
-Often some of these colleges are mentioned as being known for “academic rigor”, but that is kind of vague. How many hours a day is that? How stressful is it? I have a fairly strong work ethic but don’t want to be up late every night doing boring research projects.

Thank you!

It sounds to me like Williams may be a home for you. I’m going to preface this by saying that I’m super biased, being a current student and tour guide, but based on what you said it seems like Williams fits well. Let’s go through your criteria step by step, shall we?

The campus: We have buildings. Pretty buildings. Beautiful buildings, actually, and there’s a pretty cool dichotomy between old and new (see: the new library, which is magnificent and built from the shell of the original Stetson library). The buildings are all furnished with modern appliances, of course, but some - like West building - have been around since the college opened in 1791.

Not Cliquey: the entry system takes care of that. You’re living with people from all walks of life from day one, people who you may never have met otherwise: athletes, musicians, actors, etc. all thrust together into one entry. And the great part is, you’re all friends. No, really, you are. Most people make their first friends in the entry and then branch out into their respective social circles, but Williams makes sure that the cliquey friend groups who are only interested in themselves never form. I’d argue that, out of every school you’re probably interested in, Williams does the best job in this category.

No Frats: We have no frats. Check.

Rural Area: Williams is rural, and this isn’t a bad thing or a good thing, it’s a GREAT thing. You have your whole life to live in a city, but you’ve only got four years to live in the woods. Williams people tend to be pretty outdoorsy - although this is obviously not a hard and fast rule - and you’re encouraged to take advantage of the nature all around you through random days off like Mountain Day and Winter Carnival. It’s seriously amazing. Plus, we have stores and restaurants and stuff, so you won’t be culturally starved. Visit, and see if you feel overwhelmed by the nature, or if you feel inspired by it. It’s a feel thing, but I highly recommend it. (The unnamed A-school is lacking in this department, by the way)

Partying: At Williams, there are parties. People also consume alcohol. This is because it’s college, and people enjoy such activities. However, there’s literally zero pressure to do anything, and the parties tend to be less raves and more hang out with friends while getting steadily drunker (or not). There are a few classic college parties, but they’re off-campus and easily avoidable. I never go. I actually really enjoy the majority parties here and I seldom drink at them. In fact, I first drank almost halfway through the year - as a personal choice, not being pressured into it - and had spent the first half having just as much fun as the rest of them. If you still feel like parties aren’t your thing, however, Williams sets up a ridiculous amount of non-drinking activities, as do its students. There’s a late-night baking club called Get Baked, tons of performances every weekend, games to go to, etc. Not drinking at Williams is stress-free and totally easy.

Academic Rigor: Williams is hard. It’s really hard, actually. I find myself challenged in every class. However, it’s not impossible, and Williams doesn’t want it to be impossible. The library closes every night at around 2:30 because Williams just doesn’t want kids staying in there all night, wasting their lives and their sleep. I’ve never had to pull an all-nighter, and I don’t really plan on it. Plus, the work isn’t busywork like in high school. I really feel like everything I’m doing is worthwhile and helping me progress in my learning. So it’s hard, yes, but I prefer it to any alternative.

If you have other questions, ask. I have answers.

I’m specifically nervous about Williams that it might be “too preppy”. While you certainly seem confident that your school is composed of wonderful people (which is reassuring) I can’t help but be nervous a college of this prestige will have that, and it has come up in several accounts I’ve read about the school.

The nature aspect sounds awesome, by the way. Thank you so much for the in depth response.

Ah, yes. The preppiness. I won’t deny that the presence of Vineyard Vines on campus is pretty strong, but I absolutely stand firm in my knowledge that Williams is not filled with preppy people. There are rich people, yes; there are people who have always had enough and who may not realize that not everyone has a second house. However, in my experience, these people are as friendly and outgoing as everyone else at Williams. Even better, they invite you to said second house and take you out to fancy dinners with their parents!

Jokes aside, I know of only a handful of people who I would define as preppy, and I’m really good friends with one of them. There’s no atmosphere of wealth here, nor is there any desire to know about someone’s financial status. People at Williams tend to live and let live, and no one will judge you for what you wear either to your face or behind your back. Preppy would be pretty far down the list of words i would use to describe Williams.

If you don’t believe me - and you should probably take my words with a grain of salt, I’m biased by my love for Williams - come visit and see for yourself if people here are preppy. I’d bet that regardless of the clothes a person wears, they’ll be friendly and open to you if you approach them - unless they’re having a bad day. On second thought, make sure you talk to more than just one or two people, sometimes people get stressed.

@Naathan, “Preppy” is a fairly slippery descriptor, meaning different things to different people. In the sense of WASP privilege, yes, the stereotype exists at Williams as it does at all selective colleges in the Northeast; however, it’s really not an overarching factor in the character of the campus community, which is quite diverse racially and economically. One of the advantages of being in Williamstown is that there’s not a whole lot to spend money on which by default becomes a great economic equalizer.

@jersey454, Your description sounds very much like my son’s experience at Williams – a wonderful four years.