<p>My D was accepted to Williams on March 8th and we just visited yesterday. We decided not to visit prior to that until we found out if she got in, as that was one of several reach schools in our minds. What an amazing school! My question is for students or parents. My D hopes to play on a team and possibly play in the student-led orchestra, which seems like it might be somewhat less of a time commitment than the Berkshire Symphony, which I am sure she would also love. She expects to work very hard at Williams or wherever she goes (probably majoring in physics or math) but what is the work load like? How sleep deprived are students on a regular basis? I think that would really wear her down with the EC's. She does not procrastinate and in her HS is involved in lots of activities, etc., just like most kids today, but she does need her sleep. I'm sure she would give up some of her social life to be sure her work gets done, as she already does in HS. Some of her friends stay up much later than she does finishing work, but all-nighters would really wear her down. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>My daughter seems to be constantly busy but she says it’s not overwhelming most of the time. Time management is important. Writing intensive classes are exactly as advertised. There is a tutoring center available for math (and perhaps physics as well) if a student is stuck on material or needs support. Everyone seems to be busy with something so they’re kind of all in the same boat in terms of time available to do work. I think your daughter would handle things well.</p>
<p>Williams encourages balance and it’s not unusal for students to devote time to academics, the arts and sports in fairly equal parts – with time left over for just hanging out with friends. </p>
<p>I think the key issue is how obsessive the student is about grades. If, for whatever reason, it’s important to get all A’s and remain in the top percentage of the class, then it’s going to be very, very demanding. If on the other hand, the student is comfortable with a balance of A’s and B’s (and even the odd C), then it’s doable. </p>
<p>Williams grades – especially in the first year – are not inflated. Graduate schools know this and evaluate Williams graduates accordingly, but still, it can be frustrating for a student who never got less than an A- in highschool to struggle with B’s.</p>
<p>The second point is to learn how to choose the type of classes, not too many with labs, not too many with heavy reading/writing. Advisors will help with this.</p>
<p>Williams has amazing academic support systems – the accessibility of professors, the firstyear entry set-up, the writing center, study groups, the Junior Advisors. They’re good about identifying and addressing academic weaknesses before they fester. To me, the major advantage of a small LAC.</p>
<p>My impression of my son’s friends at Williams was that they stayed pretty healthy – emotionally and physically. I’m sure their sleep patterns were irregular, but they seemed to find positive stress outlets, like sports or socializing, that kept them mentally upbeat.</p>
<p>My daughter likes to get a lot of sleep and never stayed up late in high school to get work done; at college, she has shifted her time schedule to be later but I think she still gets the same amount of sleep. </p>
<p>She thinks it worked well for her to start out with just one time-consuming extracurricular activity in her freshman year (a sport) and then add more later, after she understood the workload better. In her sophomore year she added a pretty undemanding, fun activity and a few academic extras (tutoring, being a grader).</p>
<p>Edited to say - in fall of her sophomore year (this year) she took two science lab classes and a tutorial and she was also tutoring, and that was a little too much. Tutorials are great but very time-consuming and so are labs. Two of the three would have been more reasonable. So watch the course combinations. Also - I think that the one weakness of Williams I’ve seen so far is the academic advising before students declare a major. It’s hard for students to know what course combinations to take when their assigned advisor doesn’t know anything about the fields they’re studying.</p>
<p>Our son is a freshman and we do see that he is often tired, but we think that’s normal for most college freshman as they adjust to all the opportunities that a vibrant college environment offers. It’s a time for learning how to balance socializing, participation in campus activities and rigorous academics. Williams has quite a few scheduled days to take a break, especially during the fall semester. Reading days give kids a chance to sleep in and study up for exams. And there are events like Mountain Day to let loose and enjoy a day with friends having fun. The students seem to work very, very hard, but also these kids seem to be excited and interested in everything and tend to take on a lot of extra activities…and they seem to adjust and thrive. There are all sorts of study groups to tap for friendly tutoring; the kids seem to work together. They learn to ask about classes and workload and the advisors are there to help. We told our son that it would be a year of learning and adjusting and that we did not expect straight A’s. It’s a time to learn about oneself and grow more independent, and part of that learning is to see what works, what does not, and what changes need to be made in how they handle their lives. </p>
<p>That being said, we are looking forward to having our son home for spring break so he can rest up and recharge. He could have headed out on one of many numerous spring break activities, but we encouraged him to take a real break and just unwind. The decision was his. That’s sort of what we parents have to adjust to – increasing independence, more responsibility for decision making, and letting them work out problems for themselves with advice coming more often from peers than from parents.</p>