I’m a prospective student and I plan on majoring in Computer Science or something related. How is Williams in that regard? I know math and physics is very good at Williams. What about CS? Also, is it possible to double major between CS and business?
Also, can someone comment on how popular CS is at Williams? I haven’t seen anyone on this forum who went to Williams to study STEM.
There is no business major at Williams College. You can major in Econ. STEM is strong in the disciplines they have. Obviously no engineering. CS is an improving discipline at Williams.
@Blueash thank you for your reply. Do you know if one can double major between Economics and CS?
Hi outlooker! I actually am a current student at Williams who’s planning on majoring in a STEM discipline (chemistry), and possibly doubling in another science-y subject if I end up loving something else. At Williams, you can take any class regardless of major, and as long as you have room in your schedule to fit all major requirements you can double major in literally anything. If you go into freshman year thinking that you want to double major in any two subjects, it will be trivial to do so.
CS at Williams is definitely a growing field, and it may be getting its own building soon along with the big 3 hard sciences. I’m about to take the intro level course next semester, so as of right now I can’t say for sure how difficult it is in relation to other classes, but it’s known as being one of the more time-intensive and difficult courses offered at the college. Of course, if you have some programming knowledge beforehand, the intro classes could be trivial, but that’s the case of really anywhere and every discipline. A lot of my friends took it and, while some found it more challenging than others, everyone enjoyed it from what I’ve heard.
The econ department here is really phenomenal, up there with math (which is one of the strongest math departments in the country) and physics as being known for truly excellent professors. There is a wide variety of classes offered in the department - I’m taking a tutorial next semester on water as a scarce economic resource, taught by the department chair - and it’s a very popular major on campus.
As for the rest of the disciplines, they’re really all phenomenal. Physics and math have some exceptional professors (Bill Wooters in physics may soon win the Nobel Prize for his work here), bio and chem are traditionally very popular majors, and geoscience has somewhat of a cult following on campus. I’ve written on the availability of research in other comments on here so I won’t repeat myself, but just to recap: I firmly believe that Williams is one of the top 5 places in the country to do undergraduate research - and possibly the single best if you want to take a few history courses besides. I’ve had an awesome experience here with chem so far, and it only appears that it’ll get better.
Accidentally repeated a comment, sorry!