Williams College Freshman Life: Dorms, Culture, & More!

[@arnavtiwary1008]

Everything's so beautiful! The campus, the dorms, the groups and the best of them all, your narration with actual clips of the activities!

[@AD-xz3xp]

Yeah, I'd be interested to hear about your classes, clubs, jobs, etc! Maybe once you've declared, you could talk more about your experience in your major department, research, and why you chose that subject - good luck this year!

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Absolutely, thanks for the feedback!!

[@LeafTheEph]

Gwyn I can’t believe you’re a sophomore I’m so emotional😭😭

[@hamzinii4264]

Tip for future vids, try lowering the background music and maybe check out some chill lofi beats? That music lowkey sounded like college tour video music.

[@jacobchen4299]

Hi Gwyn!!

[@emilyromerosalinas4639]

hi gywn!! thank you for the lovely video, it was super helpful!! btw, what are you interested in majoring in atm?

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

So glad it helped! I'm planning on majoring in Geosciences, possibly doubling in History! I do research in the Geos department :)

[@shujayethossain6554]

Hi, great video! What kind of jobs do Willam students usually do on and off campus? Thank you!

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

All sorts of jobs! Students who are on financial aid get priority for some jobs, like working in the library and dining hall, and you get to take home all of those earnings (no work study). Many students are also employed as teaching assistants and research assistants, typically sophomores and older. These are some of the most common jobs, but there are jobs all over the place. Off campus, some people baby/house/petsit or work at restaurants in town.

[@shujayethossain6554]

@@GenuinelyGwynThank you so much for the information. Do people in the campus area use Uber a lot? Have you seen students driving for Uber part-time?

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

No, there isn't much Uber infrastructure in the area.

[@mynameis4080]

Hi, I was admitted to Williams’ Class of 2025, but I am currently taking a gap year. What are essential academic skills that I need to prepare for? What are the hardest parts about the academics for you? What are things that I should prepare for living when arriving at campus? As an international student, these are the things that I am worried about. Thank you.

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Congratulations!! I would highly recommend speaking to your class dean for the best advice on this. being able to skim/read a lot of content is important, but it’s a skill you’ll learn/improve doing what it takes on your gap year to avoid burnout is probably more important. The bell book has lots of general advice about first year life!

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Also, the international orientation leaders are fabulous and will help your transition a ton

[@thegratefulguy826]

W KZbinr 💯

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Chip the KZbin star! 🤩

[@flannerymonaghan-morris7461]

Hang on a sec…this is where the one and only late great Stephen Sondheim went, right?

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Yes indeed!

[@katycollege6847]

I'm a prospective student. Williams is my top choice. The academics/tutorials are really appealing to me, as is the campus location -- hiking is super important to me, so living in the Berkshires and participating in WOC would be a dream come true. I have read that there is a big jock/drinking culture. I don't like sports and am not interested in the party scene *at all*. Would a nerdy outdoorsy kid fit in at Williams? Is the jock/drinking culture stereotype true?

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

So glad you're excited about Williams! I felt very very similarly to you; those were definitely one of the biggest concerns coming in. In short, yes, I bet you'd love it here. However, it can feel like everyone goes out partying on weekend nights; there's kind of a self-perpetuating idea that it's the only thing to do on a weekend night. I think a higher percentage of the student body probably parties here than at some state schools with Greek life, in part because everyone's welcome at most parties and it's easy to just show up for a few minutes and be a part of what's going on. But I think that culture is fairly isolated to Friday/Saturday nights unless you're on certain sports teams/actively pursue it at other times, and you can 100% find friends who would rather stay in and do more wholesome things (my friends and I often order pizza and watch movies instead of going out, and I'm very happy with that). As for the sports thing-Williams is super good at sports, so we have a lot of talented athletes who take their sports seriously. But they're at an academically elite D3 school, so they're also just regular students. The vibe varies from team to team, and if you ended up with a bunch of friends who were athletes I could see how you'd feel like that culture dominated, but in generally I don't think it dominates the culture. Athletes tend to come from more privileged backgrounds, which is something we're grappling with a lot as a diverse student body (I would describe that side of the culture as more preppy than jock-y). I didn't like the idea of the PE requirement, but I actually got to do fun things like hiking with dogs through snow. I think a lot of people go to athletics events not because they're super into sports, but because the community is strong and we want to support our friends.

[@henrychang9776]

Dear ! I am studying toward Williams College. I want to enter medical school after graduation. Which medical schools do most Williams Pre-Med graduates enter? I wonder if many applicants get into top medical schools. Sincerely

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

I once heard a statistic that Williams has a higher acceptance rate into Harvard Med than Harvard College does. I don't know if that's true, but we definitely send tons of students to very prestigious med schools!

[@kaio5847]

Do you have Instagram?

[@bellaseasons9835]

Are there any Indian students in your class?

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

Definitely! And there’s an Indian restaurant in town. You might be able to find info on student demographics from the admissions page but most likely that would just tell you how many international students are from India

[@bellaseasons9835]

@@GenuinelyGwyn thank youu!! Applied RD this year. Hopefully I get in✨

[@GenuinelyGwyn]

@@bellaseasons9835 best of luck!!

[@hamfahimkabir]

If girls are this beautiful at Williams. I'm going to Williams. Btw thanks for the insights.