Wesleyan University Top Questions

Yes and no. There are absolutely no hippies at Wesleyan at this point. The largest stereotypical demographic is hipsters which is extremely mainstream at this point. I would say most people here are not very alternative and are just nerds. However, compared to other schools there is definitely a lot of "different than mainstream" people.

The picture of the university painted by the students it accepts certainly portrays a degree of accuracy through all of these stereotypes, but it largely seems to be exactly what underlies all of the institutions' 'diversity'; namely, it is an elite private university wanting to boast of important alumni in the future. Of course, with this effort comes a potentially excellent education in an atmosphere sometimes frustrating, but also sometimes strikingly hopeful and enlightening. The stereotypes in many cases seem to disintegrate upon experiencing them, upon realizing the shortfalls of the images themselves.

To some extent

as hyperboles

Yes...in a good way. Active, not in a politically correct kind of sense but in a constant questioning way. Independent, which is interesting, but often times hard to find tight knit groups of friends.

Things seem to have gotten a little more conservative than they used to be, but overall, I'd say yes. It seems to be a place where people of all different shapes and colors can find a home, but I think that probably depends who you talk to, and at what moment in time. It's not unheard of to see students protesting things that aren't even on the public radar yet, or writing fantastic, irreverent blogs about things that you might hear about in the news 3 years later. The classes are definitely demanding, and the classroom environment is competitive, but not in a threatening way.

are any? ever? what a dumb question. Of course they are

Yes and no. Lots of flowy skirts and lots of tight pants superficially reinforce the stereotypes. But everyone has a little something extra; everyone surprises you. Students are far too unique and diverse to fit into any category.

they relate to many of the students

Like any set of stereotypes, they contain a grain of truth. Yes, there are people on campus who believe strongly in gender-neutral pronouns. Yes, there is a contingent of hipsters and obnoxiously fashionable NYC artsy types. Yes, quite a few students also applied to Brown and were rejected. But to envision Wes as an amalgamation of these groups would be to do it a severe injustice. Wesleyan has every type of people you can imagine, from the hard-partying jocks to the mega-activist hippies and everything in between. And the best part is that all the groups mix to an extraordinary degree. I know an Asian track star who lives in the Jewish house, frat brothers who live in Buddhist House, etc. The unifying factor is that everyone here is extremely talented at something, and often it is the thing you would least expect.