Are there Asians at Williams?

interesteddad
Wed, 08 Nov 2006 14:49:45 +0000

The ethnic breakdown of the student body at any college or university is available from several sources, including the USNEWS college rankings edition and the college’s own Common Data Set. The percentage of Asian American students at the top three LACs for the 2005/06 academic year was:

Williams: 9%
Amherst: 13%
Swarthmore: 15%

This is a pretty typical spread for the top universities in the northeast as well.

Princeton: 13%
Harvard: 18%
Yale: 14%
Darthmouth: 14%
Brown: 14%

There are a few east coast schools with much higher percentages. Two that come to mind:

Wellesley: 27%
MIT: 27%

The percentages vary a bit by region of the country depending on the underlying population. Southern and midwestern schools tend to have lower Asian American percentages. California schools tend to have higher percentages.

Asian American enrollment peaked at Williams in 1994 (11%) and then fell back to 9% where it has held steady for the last eight years. There are many theories as to why Asian American enrollment is slightly lower at Williams. The concensus seems to be that Asian American students are simply less likely to fit the admissions profile, in part due to Williams’ admissions emphasis on varsity sports.