Perry
To a degree, yes. I think that beyond our academics, we just have a lot of students that work hard. We're all here because we did well in high school and most are still as Type-A motivated as ever. It's a pretty competitive environment; that is, if you choose to compete. This reputation can also be attributed to Wake's rigorous divisional requirements. It's gotten less overwhelming in recent years, but don't count on being able to take Football Physics instead of Calculus. As well, the language requirement is notoriously grueling to get through. However, as the saying goes, Wake Forest students work hard during the day but at night they play hard too, and sometimes even harder.
Before coming to Wake, I was forewarned that my nose ring and laid back clothing style might not be well-received, due to Wake?s preppy reputation. I hate to admit this, but I bought at least five Ralph Lauren polo shirts to make sure I would fit in with the rest of the student population. On move in day, in my carefully selected green polo, I was pleasantly surprised to find my fellow students dressed in a variety of styles. Today, I?m proud to say that I only don my pastel polos for Golf Pros and Tennis Hoes theme parties. To class, there are students in everything from sweat pants to dresses and boots to yes, double-popped polos, but no one seems to feel out of place. While Wake is a southern school with a largely conservative student body, one might be surprised to find a huge number of students from the north, particularly New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York. And while the weekly newspaper is consistently sprinkled with anti-Democrat comic strips, there is still an open environment for liberals to have their voices heard.
Matt
Wake is a very difficult institution, but there is plenty of time for students to have fun. As to the idea that all Wake students are rich preps, that's not true at all.
Tom
The majority of people here are preppy or try to make themselves look preppy to fit in; the student body is by no means all conservative, but the more vocal of the students are; the students here come from all different backgrounds, but if they are not rich, a good number try to make themselves seem as if they are; there are a huge number of people in Greek organizations compared with other schools