<p>so read that there is a lot of cross admittance between yale and williams and wanted to know why people choose yale (which wins more)? </p>
<p>why would you choose williams?</p>
<p>can anyone compare yale and williams math, econ, and science (esp. physics)?</p>
<p>bump… (10char)</p>
<p>I tell you one of the obvious reasons, although I’m not up-to-date on Williams:</p>
<p>Yale inevitably has better math, econ, and physics depts.</p>
<p>I’m guessing you would rather go to Williams if you wanted a smaller campus… maybe</p>
<p>I decided not to go to williams because of a few reasons, but the most pertinent that should be obvious but people often overlook is it’s location/size. I really liked Williams until I visited at which point I realzied that while very nice, it wasn’t right for me. Not only is it geographically isolated, it’s also very small. When I think of an idyllic little town I think of Williams. For some people that’s perfect, but for me its not. So my suggestion is to go visit and see how you feel abou tth ecampus.</p>
<p>I just happened to be talking about this with my DD tonight. A dear friend of ours is going to Williams in the fall and as much as my DD loves Yale, she thinks our friend made the best choice for her. Both schools obviously attract and admit bright, accomplished young people. I think both schools have a sense of humor that permeates activities and the campus atmosphere, but Williams is a little more nurturing and personalized. The campus is gorgeous and for someone who is recharged by the beauty of nature it is an ideal place. If, on the other hand, you are energized by people and want to stay connected with the real world while you are in the bubble of college - Yale is a much better choice. DD had traveled a lot on her own and spent some time living in another city, so while she thought she would get an outstanding education at Williams, she thought she wanted something a little more vibrant. </p>
<p>Danjinc is right - visit and see for yourself</p>
<p>I didn’t think Williams was as diverse as Yale, based on my two visits (including one overnight). It just seemed so quaint and I wanted something a little more…real? I’m not exactly the outdoorsy type and Williams kids did seem very earthy and into nature. I remember seeing people walking around with their hiking equipment. While I like trees, I am from New Jersey and I needed some concrete. Obviously the biggest differences are size and location. Williams is tiny AND the kind of in middle of nowhere. Some people like that. I’d compare it Dartmouth. Yale is larger (obviously) but also has a more urban environment (again, pretty obvious). This is a huge deal though. You’re a resident of New Haven and you won’t ever really escape that unless you stay in your college all the time. Anyway, Amherst seemed more Yale-like to me.</p>
<p>what do people think about the style of education between the two schools? i think i understand williams’ more (tough courses by nurturing professors and some pretty bad grade deflation) than yale’s. I have heard mixed remarks on how competitive williams’ students are.</p>
<p>I do not know how nurturing yale is, but I have heard from friends that Yale is great because there is so little (or none depending who you ask) competition between students and the is a decent amount of grade inflation. </p>
<p>to people who went/are going to yale, when did you feel that you really “clicked” with a professor and how many would you say you had a really good relationship with?</p>
<p>In case my comments need any context, I’m attending yale next year.</p>
<p>So I won’t say anything about the professors since I don’t know yet. Something I will say about Williams that I really liked was the Tutorial classes. Those were one of my biggest pros for Williams.</p>
<p>i’d agree with the statement that there is very very little competition among yale students. we really want everyone to do well so we all help each other out. honestly lol. i love my classmates and collegemates. the professors are very well accomplished, very well-known as are the ones at many schools but i think the difference is, yale professors really like teaching. and they especially like teaching undergrads. they want to get to know you at talk to you. i can’t tell you how many times i was walking behind one of my professors, even the big name ones, and i ran up and introduced myself. they seemed genuinely thrilled to meet me, talked to me for the rest of the walk and now they greet me every time they see me. people often take their professors out for dinner (usually in the college dining halls) and sometimes the profs invite students out for a beer or a wine and cheese party. they’re also really helpful as well. there have been times when i was ichating with one of my professors at 1 am getting help on a problem set and before exams. so i really have nothing negative to say about the professors. large classes are broken up into smaller sections led by either teaching assistants or teaching fellows. i’ve had the most positive experiences with my TAs and TFs, they’re really nice and care about you. they’re also usually really young and fun, so they’re easy to get along with.</p>
<p>they’re both equally good schools academics wise, but obviously there are some big differences between the two. if you have a choice between them you’re lucky, either way you go is great.</p>
<p>so how do TAs (and classes in general) work at Yale? If you meet two times a week, does the professor lecture the entire class once and then you meet with your TA-led section the other two times?</p>
<p>I know each school relies a different amount on them. I know williams=none and have many examples of harvard=much too much (check out some greg mankiw horror stories).</p>
<p>off topic, but I have to ask. Where would I find these mankiw horror stories?</p>
<p>GreatScott, there are several different kinds of courses at Yale, which all work differently.</p>
<p>In the humanities and some social science classes, lecture classes will meet twice a week for lecture (given by the professor), with one more meeting for a smaller section run by a TA.</p>
<p>In the sciences and most social sciences, lecture classes will meet either 2 or 3 times a week (if twice a week, then for a longer time), possibly - though not always - with an optional section in addition - often used for going over problem sets, or the like.</p>
<p>Seminars generally meet either 1 or 2 times a week (if one, then for about twice as long) in a group capped somewhere between 15-20 (depending on the department) and always with a professor - there are no TAs in seminars.</p>
<p>Lower level language classes meet 5 times a week, always with a language instructor in classes with around 10 students. In addition, in some languages, you may have a weekly one-on-one session with a grad student TA for language practice (and possibly oral exams).</p>
<p>But the basic lesson is that all classes will spend most of their time being taught by a professor, and in any case, lectures are all given by professors (except on the rare occasions when they may ask one of their grad students to give a lecture in a particular area of expertise, probably related to their PhD thesis).</p>
<p>check out the harvard board. I had read more than a few way before i made my account (but still remember them). Most recently they talk about him in the thread <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/735418-undergrad-focus-harvard-2.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/harvard-university/735418-undergrad-focus-harvard-2.html</a>. they say he teaches 5 classes and is out for the rest of the semester.</p>
<p>someone also cited this:
“Instructor: Students polled in the fall call Professor N. Gregory Mankiw
interesting (13%) and knowledgeable (15%). However, some assert that he is
boring (31%). They think his lectures are not valuable (19%) and complain that
he does not cover material outside of the book (23%). Students polled in the
spring say that he is knowledgeable (13%) but a poor (15%). Many bemoan his
boring lectures (34%), grumbling that they are no different from his textbook
(18%). 10% are disappointed that he only gives six lectures throughout the term.”</p>
<p>The fact that only 10% are disappointed he gives so few lectures suggests something else about him too.</p>
<p>I know at Williams the professors do nearly all the grading, and certainly ALL the subjective grading. Is this true at yale?</p>
<p>In lecture classes, TAs do the grading, though there is some effort by professors to ensure consistency of standards (and some professors will choose to do some of the grading). In seminar classes, professors do all the grading. </p>
<p>But remember that TAs at Yale are all graduate students (and almost exclusively PhD students, though also the occasional law school student) - and in most cases they are at one of the very top departments in their field - they’re plenty capable of grading undergrad essays and giving good feedback. Obviously some don’t give useful feedback, but the same is true of some professors. It’s a different situation from Williams, which has no grad students, meaning that there is no alternative to having professors do the grading other than to use undergrads as graders. Williams (I believe) does not do that, but a rather large number of universities (including some very good ones) use undergrad TAs, and even have those TAs grading. This is worth keeping in mind - TAs are not the same at every university that uses them, and I’m far happier having grad students at a top grad program leading my sections and grading my work than to have a fellow undergrad doing the same.</p>