Williams College: Narrative Description

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WILLIAMS COLLEGE B-2

PO Box 687
Williamstown, MA 01267
Tel: (413)597-3131
Admissions: (413)597-2211
Fax: (413)597-4018
E-mail: [email protected]
Web Site: http://www.williams.edu/

Description:

Independent, comprehensive, coed. Awards bachelor's and master's degrees. Founded 1793. Setting: 450-acre small town campus with easy access to Albany. Endowment: $1.4 billion. Educational spending 2003-04: $21,093 per student. Total enrollment: 2,050. Faculty: 302 (248 full-time, 54 part-time). Student-undergrad faculty ratio is 7:1. 5,705 applied, 19% were admitted. 85% from top 10% of their high school class, 97% from top quarter, 100% from top half. Full-time: 1,953 students, 51% women, 49% men. Part-time: 38 students, 71% women, 29% men. Students come from 45 states and territories, 63 other countries, 84% from out-of-state, 0.2% Native American, 8% Hispanic, 10% black, 9% Asian American or Pacific Islander, 6% international, 0% 25 or older, 93% live on campus, 0.2% transferred in. Retention: 97% of full-time freshmen returned the following year. Academic areas with the most degrees conferred: social sciences and history; psychology; English. Core. Calendar: 4-1-4. Services for LD students, advanced placement, accelerated degree program, self-designed majors, honors program, independent study, double major, internships, graduate courses open to undergrads. Off campus study at members of the Twelve College Exchange Program, Bennington College, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, California Institute of Technology, Dartmouth College, Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, Columbia University. Study abroad program.

Entrance Requirements:

Options: Peterson's Universal Application, Common Application, electronic application, early admission, early decision, deferred admission, international baccalaureate accepted. Required: essay, high school transcript, 2 recommendations, SAT and SAT Subject Tests or ACT. Entrance: most difficult. Application deadlines: 1/1, 11/10 for early decision. Notification: 4/9, 12/15 for early decision.

Costs Per Year:

Application fee: $60. Comprehensive fee: $38,100 includes full-time tuition ($29,786), mandatory fees ($204), and college room and board ($8110). College room only: $4060. Room and board charges vary according to board plan.

Collegiate Environment:

Orientation program. Drama-theater group, choral group, marching band, student-run newspaper, radio station. Social organizations: 110 open to all. Major annual events: homecoming, Winter Carnival, Spring Weekend. Student services: health clinic, personal-psychological counseling, women's center. Campus security: 24-hour emergency response devices and patrols, student patrols, late night transport-escort service, controlled dormitory access. 2,020 college housing spaces available; 1,880 were occupied in 2003-04. Freshmen guaranteed college housing. On-campus residence required through senior year. Option: coed housing available. Sawyer Library plus 10 others with 932,000 books, 491,623 microform titles, 12,063 serials, 38,076 audiovisual materials, an OPAC, and a Web page. Operations spending 2003-04: $5.2 million. 252 computers available on campus for general student use. A campuswide network can be accessed from student residence rooms and from off campus. Staffed computer lab on campus.

Community Environment:

This pleasant colonial town was named for its founder, Col. Ephraim Williams. It is located in the Berkshire Mountains within easy commuting distance of Albany, Boston, and New York. Heavy tourist trade is found here, and the area is known as"Village Beautiful." Excellent facilities are available for skiing, horseback riding, hunting in season, fishing, hiking, and golf. The town has several art museum and its own symphony orchestra. The Tanglewood Music Festival is held nearby annually.

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Williams College: Narrative Description

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