Visit Report by sphoenixee (Member since January 30 2007 with 43 posts) Visit Date - June 2007
Visit to Williams College in June 2007 by sphoenixee (Student, HS Class of 2008)
Visit Activities:
Information Session:
Yes - Great. One student and one admin officer, both were very excited about their school. The student especially had great enthusiasm (certainly not faked), and provided very good information Campus Tour:
Yes - Good, say dorm, classroom, library; basically, the most one can see in the summer. Guide was helpful.
Williams College Campus:
Friendliness/Courtesy of Staff: 5 - Excellent -
All very excited about the school. Also, I met one of the tour guides randomly on the road before the tour, and she offered to help me very nicely to find my way around.
Appearance of Campus: 5 - Excellent -
Very, very nice. Construction was distracting, but the lawns are amazing :) Outside of buildings look good also.
Building/Facilities Maintenance/Cleanliness: 5 - Excellent -
Everything looks good, even the older buildings are very clean and well maintained.
Dormitories: 3 - Good -
Not the greatest, pretty standard dorms. Freshman entryway system sounds very nice (tour guide said was his favorite thing of the entire Williams experience).
Security/Safety: 4 - Very Good -
Didn't see a whole bunch of call boxes, but this is out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere W. Mass...crime is not high by any standards.
Overall Campus Impression: 5 - Excellent -
Staff very courteous (didn't get to meet students due to summer visit); campus inside/outside was great. Best visit out of 9 total so far.
Off-Campus:
Area Immediately Around Campus: 5 - Excellent -
Berkshires are so gorgeous! Amazing landscape!
City/Town/Community: 3 - Good -
Okay, I guess. I like rural areas, so I love it in Williamstown, but considering one quarter of the 8000 population is students, there's not a whole lot going on.
Campus Visit Notes for Williams College:
Visit Description:
The one thing I thought most unique and thrilling about Williams was the tutorial system: one class, one prof, two students (ten total, but five diff sections), a whole lot of discussion, debate and hard work (of course lots of learning and fun too :)). They have lots of these, ~600 spots per semester for ~1600 students (this is excluding juniors abroad), so there seems to be an opportunity in this for everyone who wants it at least a few times. Besides the fact one'll be learning a lot, this is also a great opportunity to know the prof and the other student. Sounds like good times.
Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:
Papa Charlie's on Spring St - very good breakfast for cheap prices (I paid slightly over 3)
Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):
Special parking for visitors (as in a whole lot).
-
All very excited about the school. Also, I met one of the tour guides randomly on the road before the tour, and she offered to help me very nicely to find my way around.
-
Not the greatest, pretty standard dorms. Freshman entryway system sounds very nice (tour guide said was his favorite thing of the entire Williams experience).
-
Didn't see a whole bunch of call boxes, but this is out-in-the-middle-of-nowhere W. Mass...crime is not high by any standards.