<p>Haon, what made you choose Williams over Dartmouth? Are there many ppl at Williams who have chosen W over D?</p>
<p>I know quite a few. I did, for one. But I won't try to persuade you , Dartmouth is pretty good. But I'd say a pretty decent number. Think admissions says the split is like 50/50(of people who get admitted to both). I feel it for you people though, choosing between colleges was a painful thing. If you're trying to choose between them, I'd recommend visiting. Visiting is always a good idea, cuz certain colleges don't work for certain people.</p>
<p>I"ve seen the 50/50 number as well. Add Middlebury to the mix, and you have the final choices for a very large number of Williams students. That was my daughter's final 3, and I think Haon's as well. It's a nice problem to have, but on the other hand, a very difficult choice. Visits and overnights are definitely key. Among her reasons for picking W over D: Better chance to play a varsity sport, she preferred traditional semesters to the Dartmouth Plan, and she was more impressed with the Physics and Math departments at W.</p>
<p>Those were my final three (well...Carleton probably should be included too). According to Admissions, Williams splits evenly with Dartmouth and wins overwhelmingly against Middlebury. </p>
<p>Everything I liked about Middlebury, I liked about Williams a little more. Williams also had the tutorial program and seemed to have better post-grad placement.</p>
<p>Now, Dartmouth is an entirely different story. I was honestly quite dissapointed by Dartmouth. Tons and tons of people were smoking when I visited (nobody smokes at Williams), and the general campus culture seemed much more exclusive (frats) and substance-oriented (probably also because of frats). I had a friend go to Dartmouth over their winter carnival and someone had made a "no '07s" ice sculpture outside of a frat house; at Williams, frosh are just as welcome to parties as seniors. I understand that probably most social events at Dartmouth are like this to, but I didn't want to go to a school where I had to worry about being turned away from a frat party. Academically, also, I was very dissapointed with Darmouth. The classes all seemed bigger, the teachers all seemed to care just a little bit less about the students, and the students all seemed less involved with their classes (nobody at Darmouth was talking about their classes outside of class while it was a common topic of discussion at Williams). I generally just got a bad gut feeling from Dartmouth. Oh! And I hated the D-plan--it seemed to be extremely socially disruptive...it is easy under the D-plan to spend almost an entire calendar year without seeing your friends.</p>
<p>Now, these were my personal experiences and I'd encourage any student deciding between these three schools to do overnights as I did and make up their mind for themselves.</p>
<p>This thread seems to have withered a bit in the last few weeks. However, with all this Early Write activity abuzz, I encourage all prospective 09'ers to post any questions they have about Williams College.</p>
<p>Renja....Is the campus as wet as it is infamous for or do you see a decrease with the drinking? You may have covered this before so forgive me for not checking the archives. What other schools have some current students been accepted to? How are the studio art facilities?</p>
<p>i was accepted with the "early write" package today but am also seriously considering amherst college (i was not accepted with its early rd letters). on the off-chance that i end up becoming accepted by amherst, i will have a very difficult decision to make between the schools since their strengths, environments, and even applicant pools appear to be relatively similar.</p>
<p>if you could, what have you/other people noticed that makes williams different from amherst? also, my friend mentioned that when she visited williams, many students said they preferred amherst to williams (which is odd since williams is famous for its school spirit). is this true?</p>
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Renja....Is the campus as wet as it is infamous for or do you see a decrease with the drinking? You may have covered this before so forgive me for not checking the archives. What other schools have some current students been accepted to? How are the studio art facilities?
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<p>I second this question! When people say the campus is "wet" - are the parties starting by Wednesday afternoon? How drunk is Williams? :)</p>
<p>nopoisonivy, Williams art facilities are excellent: A beautiful, new building with lots of space, great light and state of the art equipment. The instructors are all accomplished, award winning artists, accessible teachers and from what I can tell a fairly intellectual lot. Their work covers a wide range; you can see examples on the department website. The emphasis is on process. If you want to learn how to handle a particular medium, like print making for example, there is an expert to teach you the procedure. I mention this because I know kids who have gone to art schools where they pretty much have had to teach themselves how to handle materials and equipment. For basic technique, this is okay, but when you get to complex media and machinery, it is limiting. </p>
<p>Although there are not a huge range of courses, each semester offers about 10-12 choices in different media and different levels of intensity. There are also seminar type classes which focus on theory. Because art studio and art history are part of the same department there is a lot of interaction between the two, and a combination major is offered. </p>
<p>Other pluses that are special to Williams are
1. The tutorial system, which although most commonly found in verbal disciplines also applies to visual arts. This is a wonderful opportunity for two students to discuss their art under the auspices of a professor.
2. The museums on and near campus (The Clark, Williams College Museum and MassMoCA) offer a wide range of practical examples and exposure to art, current and historical.
3. Because Williamstown is so low-crime, its never a problem to work in the studio late at night (as many artists are wont to do) and wander home under the stars.
4. There is a small but thriving artists community in the Berkshires, especially affiliated with MassMoCA, and many of these practicing artists teach Winter Study courses and make presentations on campus.</p>
<p>For minuses Id say that if youre interested in technology based art computer aided graphics, video, or any of the design arts, there are better choices than Williams.</p>
<p>On your other question regarding drinking, Ive decided not to go there on this forum as it is such a contentious issue. In two words, no, drinking is not as extreme as perceived and yes, the non-drinker or light drinker will do fine. If youd like more depth on this issue, please pm me.</p>
<p>geekinpink, I'm fairly shocked about what your friend told you about people here preferring Amherst to Williams. I'm a sophomore here now-- I got in ED two years ago. My final decision for where to apply ED was between Amherst and Williams, like many people here. I picked Williams becuase of the feeling on campus. For whatever it's worth, I find the two schools VERY different once you're on campus, despite similarities on paper. Amherst is our biggest rival here- all the Amherst/Williams games for every sport are well-attended, bot here and on the road (I went to the 'Herst for their homecoming football game vs. Williams this year, along with a TON of my fellow Ephs). Most Williams students are fairly rabidly anti-Amherst, I think. Not that it's a bad place, but it's a fun rivalry that we all get in to. I'm surprised your friend was able to find a lot of people that wished they were there. It's certainly not an opinion you hear very often in Williamstown.</p>
<p>Raven001, drinking really doesn't start on Wednesday here. Thursday is definitely a party night IF you want it to be, though many of us have quizes or problem sets due Friday and are very comfortable NOT going out on Thurs. You'd be hard-pressed to find a huge party on Wednesday, at least during regular classes. This is not the case at some schools that you all are probably considering. The biggest party night tends to be Saturday here because there aren't any athletic competitions or classes on Sunday morning.</p>
<p>Like just about any school in the country, you can find booze here on a Wednesday (or Tues, or Sunday, whatever...) if you really, really want it. All-campus parties are strictly between Thurs. and Sat., and that is fairly representative of when drinking happens on campus (again, if you want-- and absolutely nowhere NEAR everybody does).</p>
<p>As momrath said above, it probably isn't worth getting in another debate over alcohol use at Williams here. Suffice it to say that I am active in what is considered one of the "wettest" clubs on campus, and plenty of members are dry. I took a Winter Study class on drug and alcohol use in the college setting, and we explored this quite deeply. It's not something we take lightly here, and I think the reputation is blown way out of proportion.</p>
<p>First of all, congrats to all those Early Write people, y'all deserve it. Now on to the questions..........</p>
<p>How wet is the campus??</p>
<p>I share Bex56's opinion. The alcohol issue here really is blown out of proportion by people who aren't on students on campus. Socially, there's plenty to do on the weekends (movies, a capella, plays, concerts...) that does not involve alcohol. There are also parties with alcohol on weekends just like any other campus in the country. I overnighted at UPenn, Georgetown, Notre Dame, and Bowdoin last year, and I can say from experience that Williams gives back to its students the most. The school provides us with so many options, that it's pretty tough to find a "boring"weekend. Alcohol does not dominate this campus.</p>
<p>What other schools have current students been accepted to??</p>
<p>Williams pool is the Ivy/Top Lac/top 25 pool. Generally, the question isn't asked, b/c Williams kids don't want to toot their own horn too much, but in my entry of 18 frosh alone, there are acceptances to Swarthmore, Amherst, Brow, Stanford RD, Harvard EA, Upenn, Columbia, Cornell, ... Really, the question is all about atmosphere and fit. </p>
<p>Art facilities:
I took an Art Winter Study class; the art studio is very nice. 40,000 square feet of space. There's a sculpture studio, metal works thing, exhibition space, dark rooms....the building is bigger than my HS!! Personally, I think it's quite nice, and the art studio/history faculty and courses are all top-notch. There's a reason why almost all of the art museum curators are graduates of Williams!! Just google "williams art mafia" to find out more.</p>
<p>Amherst:
I visited Amherst during the summer of my junior year, but I don't know it too well. I'm also very surprised at what your friend said. For lots of people here, the decision was Williams over Amherst.</p>
<p>Thanks renja and momrath for the all the details and your willingness to clarify some misconceptions. We are looking forward to April for the visit and are keeping an open mind. :cool:</p>