Are Harvard or Williams better for small class sizes?

Williams is the better choice if small classes and close faculty interaction matter most. It is a liberal arts college built around undergraduate teaching, with tutorials and discussion-based courses that are central to the academic experience. Harvard absolutely offers small seminars too, but as a large research university it has more lectures, more graduate students in the mix, and a less consistently intimate classroom feel.

One big difference is scale. Williams has a much smaller student body, so the campus is designed almost entirely around undergraduates, and that tends to show up in class format, advising, and access to professors. At Harvard, undergraduates have access to enormous academic resources, but introductory courses are more likely to be larger and some student contact can happen through sections led by teaching fellows.

Another concrete differentiator is the role of faculty teaching. At Williams, professor access is one of the school’s defining strengths, and the tutorial system is especially notable because it creates a very close, high-accountability learning environment. That format is much closer to an Oxbridge-style conversation than a typical college lecture. Harvard has outstanding faculty, but undergraduates are part of a broader university ecosystem where research and graduate education also shape the academic structure.

If what you care about most is that your classes regularly feel small, discussion-heavy, and professor-centered from the start, Williams has the clearer edge. Harvard can still provide that experience, especially in upper-level courses, but it is less uniform across the undergraduate experience.