Established in 1793 Williams College was recently ranked America’s #1 undergrad liberal arts college by US News & World Report 

Within the elite club of America’s globally renowned undergrad liberal arts colleges Amherst, Wellesley, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore Williams College enjoys a formidable, even if relatively low profile reputation. Recently US News & World Report ranked Williams College as the # 1 liberal arts college in America (followed by Amherst). This 213-year-old institution sited in Williamstown, Massachusetts has the largest endowment of any humanities college in the US with over $1.5 billion (Rs.6,750 crore) in assets, and has produced 37 Rhodes scholars, the highest of any liberal arts college in the country.

Established in 1793 with a modest endowment from Colonel Ephraim Williams, the college is a private, residential, co-education institution providing liberal arts (humanities, social sciences, maths and science) education to 2,000 undergrad students. Its three academic divisions (humanities, sciences, social sciences), offer 33 major degree and elective programmes. It does not offer any professional programmes (engineering, business or medicine).

Says Morton Owen Schapiro, who took charge as president of Williams College in the year 2000: “With a spectacularly talented and devoted faculty and staff, great physical and financial wealth, and the absolute finest students in all of American higher education, we are obligated to realise a vision of educational excellence worthy of our extraordinary resources. We have never wavered in understanding that our mission is to provide the highest quality undergraduate education possible, centred on an appreciation, indeed a love of the liberal arts.”

Williamstown. A small New England town of some 10,000 inhabitants in the Berkshire Hills of northwestern Massachusetts, Williamstown is three hours by road from New York and Boston. Surrounded by hills and dales, this idyllic town, better known as the home of Williams College boasts many natural attractions such as the Hopkins Memorial Forest, the Mount Greylock Reservation, Sand Springs, the Hoosic and Green rivers, and the Taconic Range of hills.

Theatre enthusiasts have the chance to catch over 200 performances of classical and new plays during the Williamstown Theatre Festival, an annual event that runs from mid June to late August. The city’s Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute showcases an extensive collection of French impressionist art. Cultural landmarks and scenic landscapes apart, Williamstown buzzes with pubs, restaurants, bars and shops where students can chill.

Campus facilities. Williams College sprawls across 450 acres comprising over 100 academic, athletic, and residential buildings including the new 62 Center for Theatre and Dance; the Hopkins Observatory, the oldest extant astronomical observatory in America; a student health centre; a chapel, and a Jewish synagogue. The Williams College Museum of Art houses 12,000 works spanning the history of art. In addition Williams owns the neighbouring Hopkins Memorial Forest (2,500 acres).

There are an aggregate 862,940 volumes in the Sawyer, Schow Science, and Matt Cole libraries and 54,068 in the Chapin Rare Books Library, which also houses several founding documents of the United States including original printings of the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. A cooperative programme with the library of the Clark Art Institute, (one of the major art reference and research libraries in the US), provides on-site use of the institute’s collections. Clark Art Institute’s resources include approximately 200,000 books, bound periodicals, auction catalogues, and current journal subscriptions numbering around 650.

Located in the heart of the Williams campus, the John Wesley Chandler Athletic Center houses a gymnasium, swimming pool, fitness centre, indoor rowing tank, basketball and volleyball courts, indoor and outdoor athletic tracks, hockey and soccer fields. Moreover Williams has many student organisations classified into eight main groups: arts, diversity, religious/ spiritual, special interest, student media, service, club sports and governance.

Admission. Each year the Williams Committee on Admission reviews approximately 5,800 admission applications, including about 800 from international students for an entering class of 530. The admission process is highly selective, with less than 20 percent of applicants being admitted. “To be considered for admission, applicants must have outstanding academic credentials and significant involvement in non-academic school and community activities,” says a college spokesperson.

The minimum eligibility requirements for admission into Williams’ undergrad programmes are successful completion of Plus Two and English language proficiency. Application requirements include: admission application, an essay by the student applicant; letters of recommendation from two teachers plus one from a counsellor or academic advisor; secondary school report, with official transcripts of grades or exam results; official results of the SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) and two SAT subject tests and an application fee of $60 (Rs.2,700).

Students who are not native English speakers should take the Writing (in English) test as part of SAT-II. Admission applications must reach the college before January 1 for entry into the academic year beginning September. For further information contact Williams College Office of Admission, 33 Stetson Court, Williamstown, MA 01267; Ph: 413 597 2211; e-mail: admission@williams. edu; website: www.williams.edu.

As of the Fall of 2001, Williams does not distinguish between nationals and international applicants on the basis of their financial background. The college management is committed to a needs-blind financial aid policy toward all applicants and will meet the demonstrated financial needs of all students. In addition to funding tuition, room and board, aid packages include yearly travel, textbook and personal spending allowances.

Accommodation. Williams is a residential college with over 96 percent of students living in campus housing. Accommodation options range in size from small co-operatives where senior students cook and clean for themselves, to larger residence halls divided into suites and groups. First-year students live in entries of approximately 25 students headed by a pair of junior advisors (third year students). First-year students share six residence halls (Sage, Williams, Mills, Dennett, Armstrong, and Pratt) and are housed in singles, doubles, and suites.

Degree programmes. Williams offers a four year undergrad study programme in liberal arts (see box). As a liberal arts college, it does not offer professional courses, such as business, medicine or engineering. First year students elect courses in four different academic departments or programmes per semester. In subsequent years, students continue to elect courses from different fields of study, choosing to pursue some subjects intensively. Based on the first two years of elective courses, a student selects a major field of study, but at no time do students study only one or two subjects.

Scholastic options at Williams

There are three academic divisions (humanities, sciences, social sciences), 24 departments, 33 majors, plus concentrations and special programmes. The majors on offer include: American studies, anthropology, art (history, studio), Asian studies, astronomy, astrophysics, biology, chemistry, Chinese, classics (Greek, Latin), comparative literature, computer science, economics, English, French, German, geosciences, history, Japanese, literary studies, mathematics and statistics, music, philosophy, physics, political economy, political science, psychology, religion, Russian, sociology, Spanish, theater, women’s and gender studies.

Williams also offers two graduate programmes: Master of arts in development economics and history of art.

Tuition fee (per year): $31,548; Board and room: $8,762; Total: $40,310

NB $=Rs.45

Summiya Yasmeen