A generation ago, Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts was known as a haven for the prep school crowd. And I think that reputation was well deserved. It has changed tremendously since then. While Williams continues to land in the top 3 most selective liberal arts colleges in the country year after year, what has changed is its student makeup. Like many colleges of its ilk, Williams truly values diversity and is seeking to make sure that previously underrepresented student populations have a chance of admission at Williams - and the chance to thrive there. As such, although the prep school crowd is still a significant chunk of its student population, Williams is now only about half caucasian, a huge shift from years ago. Williams is making an enormous effort to eradicate racial and socio-economic disparities on its campus. Toward that end, they have summer pre-enrollment programs for first-generation college students as well as those from underrepresented minority groups to facilitate the transition to Williams, develop competencies for their academic success, introduce them to the academic opportunities at Williams and potentially inspire a career in academia in this cohort of students. Because academics at Williams are rigorous, make no mistake. In addition to the usual course offerings, Williams offers about 65 Oxford University-style tutorials per semester. These are full credit classes with 2 students and one professor whereby the students drive the learning by doing independent work and critiquing it. You don't find this at most colleges. Williams students also have the opportunity to invite their professors to a lyceum dinner, which is a formal 3-course meal catered by the college with the sole purpose of fostering intellectual conversations between students and faculty outside the classroom. It's clear to me that Williams works hard to build a sense of community, starting with freshmen coming 10 to 12 days before the start of their first semester for "First Days," and then spending 4 years on campus living together. Williams doesn't have fraternities and sororities anymore; they haven't in quite some time. They've converted the old frat houses into upperclass housing - Williams is a residential campus where students actually need permission to move off. With a third of the students involved in varsity athletics, and many of the other students involved in club or intermural sports, it's definitely an athletic bunch. But the arts thrive here as well - in a big way. Its own Museum of Art and the nearby Clark Art Institute boast very impressive collections. Williams also has the oldest student-run theater group in the country, and hosts the nationally renowned Williamstown Theatre Festival each summer. Though Williams is a very remote, rural campus with a student population of just over 2000, it's an ideal college for a very bright, very intellectually curious young person who is hungry to learn, think and explore.