Wellesley College Top Questions

Wellesley is amazing. The best thing is how it looks- the campus is something of a wonderland with the buildings and the trees and the storybook lampposts. A close second is how diverse everyone is. I come from a small, mostly white catholic area and was drawn to Wellesley in part because there are so many international students and people from all walks of life. I was able to perform in an southasian dance show with a southasian friend and buy origami earrings from a Japanese friend at a cultural festival. Downtown Wellesley, or the Ville as we rather mockingly call it (Wellesley the town is quite rich!!), is nothing to write home about, mostly really expensive stores. But the bus to Boston is used quite frequently for both academic (classes at MIT) and social reasons. The size was good for me. After 4 years, I saw a lot of faces I know but always a bunch that I did not recognize as well.

Wellesley is the perfect size. Small enough so you know everyone by two degrees of separation, but large enough to avoid people is necessary. Many people on the west coast have never heard of Wellesley. The best thing about Wellesley are the female professors. Half of the professors I have had have been women. Being a science major this is especially rewarding since females are underrepresented in that field. The most frequent student complaints are the type of people Wellesley attracts. Hate to say, but there are some students who completely lack social grace. Another complaint is the lack of a social life on campus. One will notice on the weekends the campus is dead since everyone escapes to neighboring schools in Boston. The town of Wellesley is quite boring. Yes, it is upper-middle class, but the town is full or chain stores and very few restaurants. Did I mention it is also a dry town.....enough said.

Wellesley is the right size for me, but that's because I wanted a small school where profs would know my name and who I was. There isn't much of a relationship between Wellesley College and Wellesley the town- it's a very rich, snobbish town so they don't really like the fact that Wellesley has become so international and that lots of people there are on a good amount of financial aid. Wellesley can turn into a little bubble and you can be captured into the "all I have to do is study" and end up doing homework all weekend long. Try not to get caught into that and make sure you get into Boston- yes it takes some effort.. but that's what the senate bus is for.

The best thing about Wellesley is that since adversity and struggle break people together, your friendships are very meaningful and close. You have a lot of respect for your fellow student because at some level you acknoweledge that everyone is probably overwhelmed. The campus is small and usually dreary and gray but on a few sunny days in the fall and spring it is simply breathtaking. The lake adds a lot. Most people haven't heard of Wellesley so I usually just get blank stares. When they have a few are impressed and most are like, "that girls school? that must suck." I spend most of my time either in my dorm or in the science library. When I want to relax I have to leave campus even if its just to the grocery store, I can physically feel my stress going down. Wellesley, MA is probably the worst place for a college and Wellesley the school would be SO much better with a cool, thriving community of used bookstores, independent coffee shops, bars etc. Instead we have to go to Boston and spend money and tons of time to do anything and usually we flock uninvited to other campuses. I don't know anything about Wellesley's administration except that they should make it a priority to change the social life of the school, the personality types they admit, and make the "ville" better. Also housing is pretty bad. The closing of the overnight infirmary was a pretty big deal. School pride is kinda non existent except in a way "hey this is really sucky and we are all going through it together hooray." No one supports our hardworking sports teams. There is slightly more enthusiasm for cultural shows and dance groups, though not much. There is not one big event that truly unifies the school and given our small size you would think there would be. Wellesley is incredibly unusual. I think the reason our frienships are SO much more meaningful that at other colleges is a testament to how unique our experience is and also the women's college experience. Wellesley is an incredibly challenging, fast-paced (academically, NOT socially), and socially difficult place for some people. There are few schools to my knowledge that have such a diversity of people, life experiences and truly eccentric people. Wellesley students, while not politically motivated or that involved in anything other than their grades and grad school preparation, are very experimental as well. With their sexuality (probably due to boredom), sometimes drugs or alcohol, but mostly with their relationships.

Wellesley is definitely a very unique environment. The students there are definitely some of the brightest women in the country, and they know what they want. After all, coming to a women's college is not an easy decision to make. The greatest thing about Wellesley is definitely the academic environment. The professors are brilliant and accomplished and easily accesible. Its amazing how well you get to know your professors and how much they become more than just professors and more like mentors. When I first came to Wellesley, someone joked and warned me that every Wellesley woman becomes obsessed with atleast two of her professors. It couldnt be more true, you just get to know these amazing people and they become role models. Another advantage to Wellesley is our size. Its a quaint small campus with around 2,100 students. Around 50{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of our Junior class goes abroad and so we have only 2,100 students on campus at a time (another great thing about Wellesley is people's willingness to explore new things such as studying abroad- and Wellesley definitely caters to that). You get to know alot of the people on campus, and that makes it all the more fun. People dont generally react very well to hearing that I go to Wellesley. Alot of people tend not to know what it is, and many others gasp and ask how I could possibly be attending a women's college. However, occassionaly, you come across the more enlightened few that congratulate you and ask how you go to such a great school. I personally try to focus on the enlightened few. Another thing one must know about Wellesley is it's a politically charged atmosphere. Every woman has strong opinions about one thing or another and will not take it lightly if her beliefs are not respected. In fact the campus bookstore sells t-shirts that say : " Wellesley Women: I am offended." Its a Wellesley trait that we all eventually learn to love after we realize how much we contribute to it. Wellesley in general is not a place that one can adjust to easily. I definitely didn't. I spent my first semester in pretty bad shape, but my second semester has been a blast and I couldn't be more grateful that I stuck around.

I think a lot of people assume that Wellesley is a distinctly not fun place to go to college because there are so few parties and because most of the students make no secret of how seriously they take academics. When I've told people that I go to Wellesley, they frequently confuse it with Wesleyan, but when they are familiar with the school, they often ask me about the lesbian-until-graduation phenomenon, what it's like going to an all-women college... Although Wellesley is frustrating sometimes, largely because of the lack of boys and because of the very tame social scene, I really appreciate the atmosphere more than I dislike it. I'm not the biggest party-girl anyway, so I have no problem going off campus to party, then coming back to a nice, serene campus. The nice thing too is that if I want to stay in on a Friday night to get a head start on some homework, no one judges me or makes me feel like I'm wasting my life with my books. Everyone is very respectful of everyone else's decisions, at least in my experience so far. My only complaint is that Wellesley girls can sometimes be kind of cold, and that they don't make much effort to talk to other people.

I found wellesley to be the literally the perfect fit for me. there are always a handfull of wellesely women that end up transfering to coed institutions after their first year, because of the lack of males, or feeling isolated on campus. I found getting off campus with a few other girls actually really easy. if you want to explore boston, meet guys, and have a social life, you have to put forth the effort. Wellesley tries to make this easier for us with the bus systems which take wellesley students into boston every hour. from any of the bus stops you can then take the subway or taxi anywhere in boston. It takes homework, effort, and always helps to have friends with you. I found wellesely to be a both a stimulating academic enviorment, but also a safe one that i always returned to when i needed to focus. It does feel seperate from the rest of boston, but that is why i would go out every weekend even for just a movie with the girls.

Wellesley is good for academics. However, there are a lot of cons. It's much too small. You'll feel like you're in summer camp with a bunch of gossipy 12 year olds. I think that the gossip is fueled by the utter boredom and complete lack of a social life students fester in all semester. People also leave campus the second the weekend comes around, so don't expect to have fun on campus much. Wellesley administration talks a lot about multiculturalism but they don't have a clue as to what the words coming out of their mouths mean.

Wellesley is a beautiful place. It is located on a picturesque campus with a lake, tons of trees and beautiful buildings. The student body is about 2,400, perfect as far as I'm concerned. Oh yeah, and they are all women. However, we are not male-o-phobic. We interact with men/ boys however much we choose too. I don't miss them much in class. The facilities are great! Our library is beautiful and the classrooms are well-equipped. The campus center is also brand new. The athletic facilities could use a little work. The town of Wellesley (the Ville) is not a college town. It is an upper-class suburb of Boston. It does have some conveinent stores like CVS, Gap and Breuger's Bagels. Wellesley also has a great reputation among those in the know.

Starting with the Wellesley campus- gorgeous. It's a great balance between nature and city. It's a large enough campus that it is diverse and intricate and at the same time it is small enough that from opposite side of campus are within walking distance. When I tell people I go to Wellesley, I generally get one of two reactions: 1) Wow, it's so prestigious etc. 2) Where's/What's that? Given, I am from the opposite side of the country so not as many people might not have heard of Wellesley. But those who have are aware of the prestige and challenge that is Wellesley. There is a lot of school pride- mainly in the fact that we are an all women's college. We take pride in that- it takes a certain discipline to decide to attend a women's college. That's the unique thing about Wellesley- it's all women, aside from the few male students taking a course a Wellesley. These guys usually come from nearby colleges.