Recruited by Williams

so i was also recruited by williams, but i'm a girl. i think the program is actually pretty serious, and they are consistently one of the best D3 in the country. for sure, you can be a fast runner there. it's a beautiful place and they pretty much do all trail running. the academics are top notch, ivy level stuff.

fellow recruit wrote:

so i was also recruited by williams, but i'm a girl. i think the program is actually pretty serious, and they are consistently one of the best D3 in the country. for sure, you can be a fast runner there. it's a beautiful place and they pretty much do all trail running. the academics are top notch, ivy level stuff.

Thanks for your reply. I'm very interested because of the academic reputation.

If there are some others out there that have run for Williams, were also recruited by them or have info on it for whatever reason, please comment.

Ok I'll bite. I ran for Pete for a couple years. He's a great guy and a great coach, the team is big with lots of slower guys too who are very much an important part of the team culture. The area is beautiful with great trails. If you need a big city, then it's not for you, but it's perfect for outdoorsy types. I was certainly never bored. People are a mixed bag at any school, but at Williams I guess they will trend very smart at least.

It's a great place, if there aren't any red flags for you, it's probably where you want to be.

If you have any specific questions, ask them here; the alumni meet is this weekend and I can get some current runners to look at this thread if they haven't by then.

Good luck!

the letter why wrote:

Ok I'll bite. I ran for Pete for a couple years. He's a great guy and a great coach, the team is big with lots of slower guys too who are very much an important part of the team culture. The area is beautiful with great trails. If you need a big city, then it's not for you, but it's perfect for outdoorsy types. I was certainly never bored. People are a mixed bag at any school, but at Williams I guess they will trend very smart at least.

It's a great place, if there aren't any red flags for you, it's probably where you want to be.

If you have any specific questions, ask them here; the alumni meet is this weekend and I can get some current runners to look at this thread if they haven't by then.

Good luck!

Thanks for your reply.

Can you please tell me if the team is tight knit and socially hang out together? Socially do the girls and guys team hang out together? If a runner didn't drink would it be socially awkward? I know lots of things change when you get to college but I've never even had a full beer or felt the need to! Please be honest.

The fact that you are going back for an alumni meet is a good thing. What kind of turnout do you expect?

Why did you only run a few years? Did you lose interest, was school too intense?

How is the travel for varsity runners? Does the coach respect the fact that academics come first?

Off the top of your head, what did you like the most about the team and what did you like the least?

Is it a good place for history, political science or econ majors? Is it easy to get internships there?

Do you have any idea how much pull the coach has if he wants to pull you in? Do they have slots? I have very good grades, SATs, subject tests etc. but without running, I would still have a chance but probably would not get in.

Sorry to ask so many questions but so happy to have someone who can help me.

I’d jump on the opportunity. Sounds incredible! What’s your FAFSA EFC like though? Are your parents willing to pay? Or can you get good need based financial aid?

Fun fact, Williams is the only Nescac school that has made the podium at nationals for men.

The men’s and women’s teams have the same practices and are run as a single team. As a result, the teams are VERY close. Most party’s are just the men’s and women’s team together. Both teams are very tight knit and tend to eat dinner together every day. Williams also has the “entry system” which also help people on the team branch out and meet other people - so it’s not one sided.

Pete places an emphasis on academics - more so than other programs I’ve been exposed to (I had friends on other teams). He tries to keep travel to a minimum so that people can focus on school and is flexible with schedules if academics get in the way. He also loves to hear about what people are doing in their classes, and goes to the thesis talks of everyone on the team. The average team gpa is above the average at Williams by quite a bit.

The alumni base is very loyal - I’ve gotten a few internships by just searching the database and sending emails. It almost feels like cheating...

Another thing to note is that there are a lot of traditions on the team, including TBear. These are pretty cool to be a part of.

Lololololil wrote:

I’d jump on the opportunity. Sounds incredible! What’s your FAFSA EFC like though? Are your parents willing to pay? Or can you get good need based financial aid?

My parents wouldn't get much aid but have said that Williams is one of the few schools they would be willing to pay for. The downside is that if I went to a school where I could get an athletic/academic scholarship I could use some of that money for grad school. Would it be worth it? Tough question.

It's been quite some time since I was there, so I'll pass most of your questions on to the current team. I'll show some of the guys this thread Saturday, hopefully they'll give some insight into current stuff.

I dropped out of school actually: my own issues, not related to Williams or the team. Hopefully it gives you some idea of my level of respect for Pete and Williams that I have good things to say about them despite that (and that I'm visiting for alumni weekend despite not actually being one). This will be my first time for that, but I lived on the other side of the country until recently.

The main thing I fell I can comment on is that running would be a big part of your life, but not necessarily the primary thing. Academics take priority, even for All-Americans. Pretty much everyone at Williams is smart and hardworking, so most of your teammates will be involved in other things very seriously, and this is encouraged.

Other than that, don't be afraid to e-mail Pete and ask questions. He is a really honest, upstanding guy and will be able to point you to good resources. You can trust him to give you an accurate picture (for team culture, you'll need to talk to athletes).

First of all, if you're interested in Williams, visit the school for more than an hour or two. Do an overnight here, and run with the team. While that's still an imperfect way of figuring out how much you like the school, it's a lot better than just asking letsrun.

As for some of your questions, the team is large––I'm guessing it's larger than pretty much every other college XC team, because Pete loves walk-ons––but is very closely knit. The entry system helps a lot in terms of branching out, and it's absolutely possible to have close friend groups, clubs, or interests outside the team, but the team itself is very close.

Pete's been coaching for over 40 years, and Williams has perennially been excellent on the D3 level. The coaching is top-notch, but don't expect to be told exactly what to do each day. Pete likes to treat you like an adult and for you to be the master of your own training in terms of how much mileage you want to do and what group to train with. If you need advice, he or the other coaches are always available to talk about it, but only relatively rarely will they tell you exactly what to do.

The men's and women's team practices at the same time and has all the same coaches for XC, so we're closer than many other schools. Non-drinkers are absolutely welcome, and many of our top runners and captains don't drink (as well as many of our lesser runners).

We travel overnight a couple times each season, but academics comes first and if you have a test you need to study for or a paper you need to write, as long as you let the coaches know, they're always ok with you missing a practice.

You should do your own research as to whether Williams is the right school for you academically, but we do have many history, polisci, and econ majors on the team. In terms of internships, I assume Williams is the same as any other top school, and probably isn't appreciably different from Amherst, Yale, whatever.

But bottom line: don't trust what I've written here just because I claim to go to Williams. Letsrun isn't the best place to find out about Williams. Talk to the coaches more, do another visit here, and determine for yourself whether you want to go here.

My son goes to Tufts and runs for the Tufts University Jumbos! Goooo Jumbos!

go to williams! fantastic school, tight-knit and successful program. The only reasons I can see for not going there are:

-Wanting a specific academic concentration that they don't offer e.g. an engineering track

-Being a truly elite HS athlete (read: sub 1:51, 4:08, 9:00) and wanting to compete at the D1 level

-Weather concerns if you're from a warm climate

Financially you should be set up with an excellent ROI

The other reason to not go there is if you don't think you can handle the academic expectations. If you are a good enough runner and have halfway decent GPA and test scores, the coach can get you in, but you need to decide if that's what you want your college life to be about.

Someone who knows wrote:

The other reason to not go there is if you don't think you can handle the academic expectations. If you are a good enough runner and have halfway decent GPA and test scores, the coach can get you in, but you need to decide if that's what you want your college life to be about.

That brings up something I'd been curious about: what exactly is the level of academic rigor? I consider myself an intellectually curious person, and would love to be challenged, but with that being said don't want to be buried in work to the detriment of the rest of my life.

So, is it possible to do find academic success there without killing yourself with stress and/or having no time left over for anything else?

Thanks for all the previous replies, everything helps.

The coach can get you in, but you most of the time it's for people who do early early decision and you still need to be around probably a 32 ACT and mid-90s GPA and you have to be fast enough for him to want you. If you're senior you need to contact Pete ASAP. The academic rigor is very similar to most other schools. It's good for all the majors you listed and internships are easy to come by. As other people have said, drinking is totally optional and there's pressure to drink with the team. Men's and women's teams are pretty close but both teams are so large that a lot of different pockets of friends form.

Oops, lots of typos in there. There's NO pressure to drink with the team. I think you catch my meaning for the others.

It's hard to give you advice because we don't know your other options.

In general, if you can get into Williams, you should go there. It's one of the best schools on the planet. (No, I didn't go there.)

But, I don't know what your other options are. I would say that D3 vs D1 is a big decision. If you're weighing Williams vs. an Ivy, for example, the academics will be similar, but the athletics are very, very different.

It comes down to whether you have the drive to excel and prioritize your running. If not, I don't think you can go wrong with Williams. It has a much better balance between academics and athletics vs. an Ivy.

I’m assuming “Williams” is a school.

willy um wrote:

go to williams! fantastic school, tight-knit and successful program. The only reasons I can see for not going there are:

-Wanting a specific academic concentration that they don't offer e.g. an engineering track

-Being a truly elite HS athlete (read: sub 1:51, 4:08, 9:00) and wanting to compete at the D1 level

-Weather concerns if you're from a warm climate

Financially you should be set up with an excellent ROI

It is a great place and a great education. I would just add that the college basically is the town. Social life & interactions are with other students, and you certainly won't be anonymous -- not a bad thing & maybe a good thing -- but it is a much different affect than if you go to a larger school or even a similar size school in a larger community.

Lol why would you look at Williams when Amherst has a better team? Amherst DEMOLISHED Williams at Little Threes. 4 in front of their 2nd. Williams went home DEVASTATED. Farwell is old and washed up. Amherst has the next 15-20 years on lock. Williams has no shot.