Brown vs Williams for undergraduate teaching: which is better for small classes and professor access?

For undergraduate teaching, Williams is usually the stronger fit if your top priorities are small classes, close professor access, and a campus built almost entirely around undergraduates. Williams is a liberal arts college with no graduate schools, so faculty attention and classroom resources are directed at undergrads. Brown offers excellent teaching too, but as a research university it has more variation in class size, especially in intro courses, and professors are balancing undergraduate teaching with graduate students and research.

Day to day, Williams is more likely to feel discussion-based from the start. Its tutorial system, modeled loosely on Oxford, is a real advantage if you want very small, intensive classes with direct faculty feedback. Many students there find it easy to know professors well, both because the college is small and because undergrads are the center of the academic experience.

Brown still does a lot well for undergraduates. The Open Curriculum can make classes feel more exploratory and student-driven, and many upper-level seminars are small and taught by strong faculty. If you are proactive, you can absolutely build close relationships with professors at Brown, but it may take more initiative and the experience can depend more on department and course level.

If the question is strictly which school is better for small classes and professor access, Williams has the edge. If you also want the broader range of departments, research opportunities, and university environment that Brown offers, then Brown may still be worth that tradeoff.