I'm a freshman at Williams College, but I've been at this school for as long as I can remember. My father graduated in 1958, and I have two brothers that graduated in 1988 and 1992. To be honest, when I was applying to schools during my senior year in high school, I was sure that I wouldn't end up here. Williams is a small school, with only about 2000 undergraduate students, it's very rural, situated in the NorthWestern Corner of Massachusetts, but most important to me at the time, Williams was in the Northeast. Deadlines for applications rolled around, and so did the acceptance letters, shortly thereafter. I was accepted to several schools, ranging from West coast to the East coast... small schools and huge schools alike. I pretty much had my choice of whatever general type of school I wanted, large/small, rural/urban. One by one, as I visited schools and spoke to students at Stanford, Pomona, UWisconsin, UMichigan, Northwestern, Princeton, among others, I found out that I being smack-dab in the middle of a city wasn't what I wanted...that I was just going to get lost in a school of many thousands, that the West coast that Mtv portrays isn't necessarily the reality; Essentially, that Williams was the place for me.
I think that's a very important thing to understand for a student looking to go to college, and something that he/she could never pick up from anything someone else says. Each of us has to figure out for ourselves what type of life we want to live, where we want to live it, and how. But, as far as recommendations go, Williams is a unique place. The professors here are all, every one, brilliant. The Berkshires is a beautifully peaceful place to live, and attending a small school is an opportunity to be known and to get to know more people than one could at a larger institution. As to whether Williams is a place for you? That's something that no one could ever tell any other person. It's just something you have to feel through and figure out by yourself. As it stands now, Williams is one of the top three small ("Small Ivy") schools in the nation. Williams is what we call, a little secret in the academic world. The location, size, and course offerings easily filter out the kinds of people that don't want to be here, and those that don't belong. I really wanted a unique and life changing experience, both inside and outside the classrooom...and Williams was the place for me. Is it the place for you? Come see for yourself! If nothing else, there's Boston and New York City 3 hours away, skiing all around, not to mention all the great aspects of the campus itself. Come see!



Recommended: Yes