Williams Requirements

Colleges and Universities A-Z Williams College
1

<p>What are the graduation requirements for Williams?
What are the phys. ed requirements, I heard something about swimming? This is a little silly...but I refuse to swim in pools. I love the ocean, and lakes...but I will not go in a pool. I have really delicate skin and get a pretty strong reaction to the chlorine (also, my eyes. :() Are there fun phys ed courses (like hiking, etc?) that could fulfill the requirement?</p>

<p>Also, will we have placement testing in the beginning of the year? For math, science, etc.? Will I have to spread out my math requirements throughout every semester, or could I focus on literature and the arts first semester of freshman year?</p>

<p>I'm flip-flopping between Williams and Amherst. I looove Williams, but Amherst's open curriculum realllllly appeals to me. Heellllp!</p>

2

<p>I'm in a similar situation...I'm choosing betwen Williams, Amherst and Wellesley. I've never been a good math/science student so it is pretty important to me that I won't be forced to take many of these classes. I think I can deal with taking them freshman year to fulfill requirements...</p>

<p>Would I be able to get away with not taking Calculus at Williams? </p>

<p>The Amherst open curriculum does sound very appealing...</p>

3

<p>Hahaha. We are in the same boat (except I didn't apply to Wellesley). I'll have to take math for the job I want to have, but I'd rather not for the first semester of Freshman year, at least.</p>

4

<p>You can get all of the information on requirements as well as a list of courses and all sorts of interesting information from the College Bulletin online at the following link:
<a href="http://www.williams.edu/admin/registrar/catalog/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.williams.edu/admin/registrar/catalog/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>Fyi, it does say that a swimming test is required and only those who don't pass have to take a swimming course.</p>

5

<p>I am a terrific swimmer, but I refuse to step foot in a pool. :(</p>

6

<ol>
<li>Here are the rules:
<a href="http://www.williams.edu/admin/registrar/geninfo/curriculum.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.williams.edu/admin/registrar/geninfo/curriculum.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li>
</ol>

<p>Basically, Williams has general distribution requirements by which students are required to take three courses from each of three general categories:
Humanities – E.g., English, art, music, language
Social Studies – E.g, Philosophy, History, Economics, Religion
Science and Math – E.g. Geology, Astronomy, Physics, Math, Computer Science, Enviromental science</p>

<p>There are no specific requirements within the category, except as specified as part of your departmental major. There is also a cap on the number of courses you may take from one department to fulfill your distribution requirement and each semester.</p>

<p>As part of the three groups, there are also other requirements like quantitative reasoning course, a writing intensive course and a course that relates to people of other cultures. Again, these are not very general and can be fulfilled many ways. </p>

<p>There are science courses that are geared toward English majors and there are English courses that even a math nerd could enjoy. The point is to get a well rounded liberal arts education and to experiment in new fields even if they’re not your areas of expertise.</p>

<p>Most kids find fulfilling the requirements fairly painless and would take a balance of courses under any circumstances. You don’t need to fulfill these requirements in your first year, but can spread them out over two years, or even three years if you’re not going away for Junior Year.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>The physical education requirements can be fulfilled in lots of different ways. Joining the Outing Clubs counts as do many sports or club activities.</p></li>
<li><p>Williams does give all first years a very basic swimming test. If you have an aversion to swimming pools, my guess is you could work out a waiver. They just want to make sure that their students know how to swim.</p></li>
</ol>

7

<p>Yeah. I am having some trouble deciding which one I want to go to. I like Amherst's open curriculum and the fact that Amherst is in Amherst. It just seems like there would be more to do there. I guess I might be bias towards Amherst cause my boyfriend goes there, but I am deff. leaning towards Amherst--it's just the location more than anything else. I like the fact that the downtown is actually a downtown and not so much just an extension of the school. Williamstown is great, don't get me wrong, but I just think Amherst might have more to offer in terms of stuff to do. I am not too keen on driving 2 hours through the Berkshires to reach what some might term "civilization." I don't know. Williamstown is very cute. I am conflicted...I guess probably Amherst's open curriculum is what tips the scale for me.</p>

8

<p>just out of curiosity gavaroche did you get into Brown or any of the Ivy's? I know that you were on that forum and you talked about having to "settle" for Williams or Amherst and I am just wondering if you are actually "settling" or if going to one of the two is a conscious decision on your part. im just curious...</p>

9

<p>A swimming test? I've lived in Southern California all of my life and I've never learned how to swim (and I'm not too keen to). Are you saying that I'm going to go all the way from Sunny California to Williams, and be forced to swim? The inhumanity!</p>