<p>i've read some articles about these two schools and part of their websites.
still cannot find out what their main difference... as liberal arts school.
i want to take major in English, literature or foreign language, which one provides better academic support?
also, what about their atomsphere, what's the difference? like freethinking, students structure (from poor/middle class/rich family and so on) and social life.</p>
<p>Top NE liberal arts schools for the most part are very similar in many respects. It’s hard to rank them in severla areas, because the difference is so miniscule and often subjective to opinion.</p>
<p>Williams is more athletic based than Amherst, I think because of this there is more drinking/partying. For academics Amherst has it’s consortium to take advantage of (which I guess won’t matter to an english major), but Williams has the january winter study term and tutorials. I’ve heard Amherst has an open curriculum though, which is pretty unique.</p>
<p>Williams is in a more isolated place than Amherst. Amherst because of the 5 college consortium and location has a more lively social scene. Amherst used to have unquestionably THE best english department, it’s produced great critics, reporters, authors, and people of literature. Though, now everything is much more even footed.</p>
<p>Apply to both. Go wherever you get in.</p>
<p>Simply look at the history of these two schools to see the difference.</p>
<p>Williams was founded in 1793, in a remote and mountainous corner of New England. After a few years, many members of the Williams community became convinced that the school was too isolated to succeed. In 1821, about half of the students and faculty left the mountains, and set up a new school in the Connecticut River valley, which is the most populated part of western Massachusetts. </p>
<p>The new school became Amherst. Many other schools, including Mt. Holyoke, the University of Massachusetts, Smith, and Hampshire, were later established nearby. So Amherst is now at the center of one of the largest concentrations of college students in the northeast. Williams is still in a small and isolated town in the mountains.</p>
<p>Both schools are great for English and literature. Amherst is probably stronger for foreign languages, because the language programs at Amherst can be supplemented by those at other neighboring schools. Students who want to study foreign languages at a small town in the mountains of western New England tend to pick Middlebury (which is particularly strong for languages) instead of Williams.</p>
<p>It’s funny because their school colors are both purple, haha.</p>
<p>On a side note, I believe the undergrad population is a bit larger at Williams.</p>
<p>williams is better for econ and business. amherst for social sciences/humanities. a gross generalization but when i survey students who went to top grad schools, i see more of the former represented at the top mba schools and more of the latter in other areas of academia.</p>
<p>^^^^^^</p>
<p>They are different shades however. Amherst purple is much prettier, 
and I really mean that even thought my D goes there!</p>
<p>No two schools in the country are more similar. For example even though Williams has a more athletic reputation, Amherst has in recent years really emphasized athletic recruiting (at the same time Williams has slightly deemphasized it) to the point where it is now essentially even with Williams in terms of athletics. Both are identical in terms of economic, racial, international, geographic diversity. The average grades and SAT’s of student body are also essentially identical. You can put 20 students in a room, half from Williams and half from Amherst, and you would be pretty hard pressed to tell one from the other. Williams students may be a BIT more outdoorsy / crunchy / athletic, Amherst a BIT more preppy / urbane, on the average, but the distinction is very, very narrow. The biggest differences are probably the campuses / locations (Williams has a much larger, spread out campus, with a lot of brand new facilities, that surrounds the main commercial street in town – making it practically part of campus, while Amherst is relatively compact, traditional quad-dominated campus, right next to a much larger town), I would visit both and if you don’t come away with a clear preference, apply to both and let the chips fall where they may.</p>
<p>Amherst is significantly more generous to needy international students. This past year, the average financial aid package awarded to internationals was 47,000+.</p>
<p>Yeah Amherst’s is more a lighter shade, more lavender. I think I like it better too :)</p>
<p>Not true kwu. Both are need blind for internationals (in fact, Amherst only went need-blind a few years after Williams decided to), and both have similar financial aid standards. Some internationals will do better at Williams, some at Amherst, depending on the quirks of each school’s systems, but to claim that Amherst is more generous, let only significantly so, is simply incorrect. I’ve definitely heard of internationals who have received better deals from Williams. </p>
<p>I do think the one edge Williams has over Amherst right now is in terms of physical plant. In the last ten years, Williams has completely revamped its academics and student life facilities – two brand new student centers (the main student center is particular impressive), a brand new science complex, brand new theater / dance complex, two brand new humanities buildings, and in the middle of building a brand new library (temporarily on hold due to the economy). Amherst’s science center, student center, library, etc. are all relatively dated. Both have basically gutted and redone all of their dorms over the past 10-15 years (although Amherst’s frosh dorms are more decadent, I’d say Williams has the edge with upper class dorms, and a huge percentage of Williams students, including more than half of the frosh, get to live in singles). Part of it is just unlucky timing by Amherst, which is now in the middle of a fund drive which would have funded massive reconstruction of numerous campus buildings (library, science complex, etc.), but now those plans will obviously be on hold for awhile. It really isn’t a huge deal in terms of the overall student experience, but when dealing with two schools that are SO similarly matched, it is those sort of little things that make a difference. </p>
<p>Another important difference is the five college consortium at Amherst, and at Williams, the 4-1-4 calendar (Amherst has a sparsely attended generally non-academic winter term, but it is not remotely comparable to Winter Study, when most of Williams is on campus taking a class).</p>
<p>The following is an excerpt from a letter signed by 62 faculty members of Amherst:</p>
<p>“86% of admitted international students were offered aid under the new need-blind policy, compared to the College average of 54%. The average annual aid package for a needy international student is about $10,000 higher than the average [$37,564] for a U.S. student receiving aid.” (emphasis added).</p>
<p>Williams provides less aid to fewer international students.</p>
<p>Now that you have the numbers, are you still prepared to dismiss my claim? Are you going to argue that a comparable 86 percent of international students at Williams receivee financial assistance, and that the average package they are awarded amounts anywhere near 47,000 dollars?</p>
<p>I’ve actually heard they’re pretty different. My friend visited amherst and said that the main difference is the course requirements. At amherst there is no core requirement so you have the freedom to take whatever classes interest you or are required for your major. Williams is much more structure based. Both are great schools though, and tied for the best LAC. Can’t go wrong with either one.</p>
<p>KWU, ummm, yes, I am. The numbers you’ve cited are irrelevant to your claim. First of all, there is no comparison between Amherst and Williams there. Second, you cite an EXTREMELY small data set – about 30 students or so total, from one year. A difference of about 10 students either way would account for the deviation from Amherst’s average (let alone the Williams average – and from what I understand, YES, a higher percentage of internationals DO receive aid at Williams in a typical year, than the rest of the student body, see link below), so basically, the statistic is, again, complete worthless. If you show me stats that, over a 3-4 year period, there is a material difference between Amherst and Williams in this regard, I will acknowledge you are correct. But showing stats from ONE year from a VERY SMALL pool of students from Amherst alone in no way whatsoever backs up what you are saying, that Amherst is “significantly more generous” to international aid applicants. It’s actually a totally specious claim if that is your only “evidence.” In any event, based on the link below (check comments as well the actual post) Williams spends SUBSTANTIALLY more than Amherst on financial aid to internationals (and nearly 100 percent of internationals at Williams appear to receive aid, in fact) – so the OPPOSITE of what you are claiming is in fact true. It seems as if, even based on the limited data you provide, Williams provides as much or more aid to internationals than Amherst. Now are YOU prepared to retract your claim :)?</p>
<p>[Financial</a> Aid for International Students : EphBlog](<a href=“http://www.ephblog.com/2008/05/20/financial-aid-for-international-students/]Financial”>http://www.ephblog.com/2008/05/20/financial-aid-for-international-students/)</p>
<p>Random, as for the curriculum, it isn’t really THAT dramatically different. At Williams, you only need to take at least three classes from each third of the curriculum to satisfy the distribution requirements – meaning at least three semesters, out of your 32 plus classes, each of science and math, three of arts, literature, language, and three from the humanities and social science. Not exactly a rigorous core curriculum a la Columbia or something – Amherst is definitely more flexible, but I would imagine that the vast majority of people who choose a liberal arts college would be taking at least a few classes across the disciplines even without that sort of requirement. Now, if you are someone who, say, absolutely DESPISES all math and science classes to the point where you will take none whatsoever, then the Williams distribution requirement may be a bit of a pain, but again, I think there are few people who are that narrowly focused at most liberal arts schools (and frankly, I wouldn’t recommend it …).</p>
<p>edpunker, I think you would find Amherst and Williams indistinguishable academically. They both offer rigorous academics, small classes, caring and accessible professors who are there for you, the student.</p>
<p>Both schools use international enrollment as a means to balance their diversity statistics. If you are admitted to either you could be reasonably assured that you would receive an aid package that would allow you to attend; however, the same student applying to both schools may not be admitted to both as the schools’ individual needs may be different.</p>
<p>The major point of differentiation between the colleges is location and environment. Amherst is located in a lively small town, and draws on the added interaction with the other colleges in the consortium. Williamstown is an rural mountain village. The campus community is more insular.</p>