Williams College
Hallmarks and Quirks
Things I'm Good At:
- Graduating students. My graduation rate—ninety-three percent of students graduate in four years—puts me at the top of yet another list.
- Attracting brainiacs. Newsweek measures this according to the success of alumni in winning prestigious Rhodes, Marshall, and Truman scholarships.
- Churning out art historians. The "Williams Mafia" refers to an influential group of museum curators, directors, and scholars who graduated in the '60s and '70s.
- Getting people to love me. The average freshman retention rate is 98%.
- Creating lifelong friends. It's not unusual for freshman roomies to still be best friends fifty years after graduation.
- Natural beauty. Even when it's too cold to go outside, the mountains are gorgeous.
- Financial aid. I'm pretty generous when it comes to money. More than half of my students have aid. I'm worth every penny of my cost, but if you're a good fit, I don't want money to stand in your way. The blind financial aid system is based entirely on need.
My Top 5 Must-Haves:
- A warm coat. You might also want to throw in some warm boots, socks, gloves, scarves, hats, long underwear…well, you get the picture.
- Appreciation of the outdoors. Even in the winter. Skiing is big, but so are snowball fights.
- Purple. It's the color of choice for the purple cows at sporting events.
- A sturdy bookshelf for all the books you'll need…or want.
- A reliable computer. You'll want it to take notes and to keep in touch electronically when it gets too cold to go outside.
Why You Might Have Heard of Me:
- I'm routinely (and currently) the top-ranked liberal arts college by Forbes, U.S. News & World Report, and others who do this sort of thing.
- You're one of those fall foliage hunters. There are a few days in the fall when Route 2 is clogged with people headed to see the foliage.
- You have a grandparent, parent, aunt, uncle, cousin, second cousin, or distant relative who went here. Family connections are pretty strong.
On a regular Saturday night, you can find me...
I'm usually on campus at one of the many parties sponsored by sports teams or clubs where anyone is welcome. I may also be at an a cappella, improv, or theater show. Pretty much everyone ends up at the Snack Bar, the late-night dining hall in Paresky.
If you can't find me there, perhaps I've decided to stay in to watch a movie in the common room (yes, like in Harry Potter) or to hang out with my friends in my dorm room.
Favorite Hangouts:
- Football games (and the tailgates before them), or any other kind of game in which fellow Ephs are competing
- Goodrich Coffee Bar, open for breakfast and at night
- Picnic tables in the quad on sunny days; couches at Baxter Hall when it's cool, cold, or downright freezing
- Tunnel City Coffee. You'll want to stay awake for studying.
- Clark Museum of Art, which has a stellar collection for such a small museum
- The gym. Hey, I gotta stay fit.
Quirks:
- 4-1-4 schedule. Here's what that "1" means: In January, when the mountains that surround me are covered in a blanket of snow, I take a breather. We call it winter study, but I like to put air quotes around that "study" part.
Think chess or intro to auto mechanics or ski patrol. Think pass/fail. Think studying something really eclectic. Take the time to wander off the beaten path…perhaps onto the ski slopes or off campus to volunteer for a few weeks.
- Tutorials, Oxford-style. Two students, one professor. They meet weekly to develop independent work.
- Few course requirements. I want you to pursue your passions. Pick from thirty-three majors, and if you don't like one of those, create your own. Instead of minors, I have concentrations—a less rigorous option.
- No frats or sororities. I got rid of the frats in the 1960s, and I don't miss them at all.
- Mountain Day. Some sunny fall day, students wake to learn that classes have been canceled. Throngs of people go for a hike and meet for cider, donuts, and performances by student music groups.
- Annual Watch Drop. Like this one: Every year, a watch is dropped from the top of the college chapel to determine whether or not the graduating class will be lucky. (Why haven't other schools figured out that a watch that breaks from a three-story fall means good luck?)
- I introduced the world to caps and gowns at graduation.
Famous Alumni:
- James Garfield, 20th President of the United States
- Prince Hussain Aga Khan, Shia Muslim Royalty
- Steve Case, computer science guru and founder of AOL
- Elia Kazan, Oscar-winning director (Gentleman's Agreement and On the Waterfront)
- Steven Sondheim, the Broadway composer
- George Steinbrenner, owner of the New York Yankees
- James McGregor Burns, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
- Bill Bennett, President Reagan's Secretary of Education and first drug czar