<p>NHCTmom, I saw your post on another forum – that your D was loving Williams. Finally heard from mine last night and this AM and she is really loving it too, and I can tell she is very happy. She posted some pictures of campus and captioned the album with ‘feeling happy at Williams’ which warms my heart! Do let me know how your D’s time was when she gets home. Maybe you or she can post her experiences for us and for future WOW attendees too :)</p>
<p>Hello,</p>
<p>So sorry I have been absent from CC for a week or so! Dd loved it! loved all of her classes! the diversity! the food, said her hosts dorm was “cozy” and she will definitely apply…she did lament that it’s too remote. She met a frosh from NYC and they really connected and the student told DD that she felt like DD brought a little piece of “home” to her. Even though dd is from CT.</p>
<p>Dd can be extremely tight lipped(she was a nonstop chatter box til the age of 11). I got less info than you did! Lol. She can be a tough cookie!</p>
<p>We were at a local admissions event for Harvard back in Early September…on our way out, we began chatting it up with a woman who was there with her son…she asked where DD was applying, DD mentioned Williams and the women squealed with delight and said she had graduated from Williams…said she absolutely loved it and the best days of her life were spent on that campus…even with the frigid cold and snow! She grew up in Spanish Harlem…talk about culture shock! Lol</p>
<p>Our meeting was so fortuitous as we had actually changed our plans and thought about not going to the event…but looking back, I’m so glad that we did! DD needed to hear from someone who looks like her extoll the virtues of Williams…which can be a tough sell due to its remote locale. </p>
<p>I have a friend whose son graduated from Bowdoin…he loved it! </p>
<p>She will apply there as well…too many choices! I wish high school was 5 years…so the last year is all about the application process and NOT the first 3 months. Wouldn’t it be great if apps were due at the END of senior year? More time to squeeze all of these huge decisions in…they are so young. This process is too big for kids who have barely voted.</p>
<p>But I think it would still be best to offer my impressions of the program after my return just a few weeks back.</p>
<p>Short and sweet description? I loved it: the beautiful environment, the intelligent but amiable students, the thought-provoking but approachable professors…everything about the school met my expectations and exceeded them.</p>
<p>The trip was long and laborious, but as my escorts drove my group through the untouched mountains and myriad trees - as I saw the aged buildings within the heart of an idyllic town - I knew this was the place to be. Uneasiness still gripped me as I wondered how the student body would react to my presence. Would they see me as an interloper? </p>
<p>I’m happy to report that they were anything but. Relaxed, sociable students greeted me with pleasant acceptance, enthusiasm, and guidance. I honestly didn’t know how to react to this unexpected modesty. They were actual people - not the aloof geniuses I was expecting. Which is not to say that they weren’t of impressive intellectual prowess. It felt good to be humbled by the vast level of knowledge displayed by the students and by my fellow WoW peers. </p>
<p>I eagerly indulged myself in the classes the school allowed me to shadow. I was excited, engaged, and utterly lost by the top-tier courses taught. From Kant’s metaphysics to actual quantum physics, I sampled the classes of interests and left inspired to improve myself. It would be a great pleasure to take those kinds of courses for four years.</p>
<p>Four years in Williams…that’s something I would love to do: to return to the purple valley, as a full-fledged student, and receive the consummate Williams experience. I didn’t plan on becoming so enamored by the school, but can anyone plan through the wonderful vagaries of life? I am applying ED for Williams, and I’m confident in my decision. This school, its people, and its culture: it’s all worth it.</p>
<p>These are my thoughts on the school. I hope I’m not the only one who fell for Williams.</p>
<p>You are certainly not the only one to have fallen for Williams. DS is a junior, but we’ve visited already and fell also : ) I appreciate the honesty with which you described your “uneasiness,” and I am happy to hear that your concerns were allayed. Happy for you, and happy for DS, who I expect will apply next year.</p>