Wesleyan University Top Questions

The professors also amazing. You may not know it, but these professors are on par with those that teach at the best Ivy League schools and unlike those professors, the ones at Wesleyan are not preoccupied with their graduate students or their research: YOU are their greatest priority! Science classes tend to be a bit larger than humanities classes. But once you declare a major (in March of sophomore year), your classes will definitely decrease in size. As a freshman, I never had a class with more than 30 students. And my smallest class (Russian Language) had 10 students. Also, this is not a school where what is said in the classroom stays in the classroom. I have had passionate academic discussions with people in the dorms at 1am. It is really an unbelievable academic environment. For Wesleyan students, work comes first. There is no pressure to go out and party if you need to finish a big paper or study for a big test. Reading Week at Wesleyan is not four days to party, it is four days of study time/time to just chill. All the classes at Wesleyan are unique. Of the ones I have taken, Philosophy of Religion and Fairy Tales were the most mind opening. Wesleyan classes are ALL about learning for the sake of learning. If you want guidance on what profession you may be interested in, it isn't going to come from inside the classroom. But that's not a bad thing. The only thing that I do not love about the academics is the general education requirements. While the requirements are tame in comparison to some schools, Wesleyan requires all students to take 3 classes in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences each. It's not bad but there are just SO many interesting courses that sometimes the requirements get in the way of what you really want to take.

My first semester I had relatively uninspring classes, but that is only because I was nervous that Wes would be over my head so I signed up for easy stuff. Big mistake. I learned that yes, the school is as difficult as I had thought but, more importantly, that those challenges are manageable if you are motivated. Especially when you open yourself up to the fantastic faculty and students, all of whom are ready and willing to talk to you.

My teachers all know my name by now. The intellectual community is very active outside of class and students are genuinely fascinated by what they study. I'm a double major in art and government. I would tell everyone to take the government major RIGHT NOW. The teachers are the most amazing group of scholars, and they disguise the most interesting classes in the university with painfully dull names. "American Constitutional Law" in most universities is as dry as it sounds; at Wesleyan, it completely changed my point of view and made me decide to study government. Hard to get into higher level seminars w/o being a major but really, really great. The art major has taught me a huge amount, good and bad. The other art majors have provided me with the most fullfilling intellectual relationships of my life. The faculty is a collection of tallented, though often difficult, working artists, and classes can be very hard to get into. If a teacher doesn't like you, forget it, you won't be an art major. The younger teachers are generally awesome people who are easier to work with than the tenured faculty. Also, you will definitely learn what it means to be a working artists and to sort through a range of critisisms. Overall, way too personalistic, but a good program if you want to put up with a lot of bullshit.

Small yet diverse classes, good professors, strong curriculum. Pretty much everything has a liberal slant though (but it's not too overwhelming).

Academics at Wesleyan are very strenuous. They take up a great deal of time. Since I play lacrosse at school as well it becomes very important to balance work, sports, and fun. It is possible to get everything done, but its a chore and finals week is hellish.

The resources at Wesleyan are phenomenal. There are many, many wonderful professors and strong departments. Wesleyan is a very intellectual place - most students are incredibly self-motivated, and like to learn. I have several close relationships with professors, and we have shared many meals together. Students work very hard, but, at least in humanities classes, they are not competitive with one another. They work hard because they want to learn, want to master their subject, want to challenge themselves or their professor. Wesleyan's academic requirements reflect the nature of academics at Wes. Although there are General Education Requirements, students do not need to fulfill them to graduate; they need only to fulfill them if they wish to receive University Honors after writing a thesis in their senior year. I have to say, I have been a little bit disappointed with the African American studies department at Wes. After this year, the department will be losing some incredible tenured professors, and their shoes will be nearly impossible to fill. Over the past few years, the department has made much use of visiting professors, none of whom I have found to be very inspiring or informative. It is also difficult to form substantial relationships with visiting professors, because their status is only temporary. Also, because the department is interdisciplinary and only roughly 25 years old, it is not taken very seriously, by either the administration or by other students. It offers some really wonderful classes, and I do not regret for a second my choice to major in AFAM, but the department needs some work, some resources, and some administrative assistance.

Wes, as you know if you are reading this, is one of the highest-ranked liberal arts schools in the country. It goes without saying that the academics are unparalleled. What I love the most is that no matter what subject you study, and no matter what classes you take, every single department works hard to offer at least one course relating the department topic to certain controversies that go on in the real world. For example, I can't think of one department that doesn't have a class relating to Sexism or Race Relations or even Socio-Economic relations. Even the economics department has a class on the economics of gender. Class sizes are generally not too big, unless you're taking a film course, and even my intro lectures to courses such as literature only totaled up to about 60. Kids typically do work on most weeknights in the library, but Olin usually turns into a social scene if you stay on the first floor. I know (and may be guilty of) people who actually consider what they are wearing before heading to Olin on weeknights, because you never know who will be there to distract!

Small classes, no manditory gen-eds, few brown-nosing former valedictorians. Most kinds at the school are extremely bright, but probably weren't as grade-grubbingly ambitious as many peers. The athletes, you can tell, REALLY don't seem to fit in. Education geared MUCH more to learning for its own sake, not to getting a job. Many graduate without defined career goals.

professors are great, classes are perfect size. you can eat lunch with them or only see them in class, but it's your decision. i love that there are no required classes, this is college, i want to study what i want to study. education is geared towards learning for learning's sake...people are supremely intelligent and there is no competition about grades, which i love.

Professors for the most part know your name. Of course, it is not a one way street. Students have to make an effort to get to know the professors too, but I think it's probably much easier at Wesleyan because of the small size of the school. I love Wesleyan's requirements because basically there are none. I am a very eclectic person, and I have a lot of interests in varied subjects, so next semester for instance, I am taking an econ course, a dance class, rowing for fitness, a math class, an astronomy class, and a political science class. Because there are no requirements outside your major (and I only have three math classes left to complete my major requirements) there is a lot of opportunity to explore other areas of interest. Of course, this depends on your major. I think Neuroscience majors, for example, have more required credits than most majors. And of course if you're premed you have all those requirements, so it differs depending on what you want to study, but overall there's a lot of freedom in the courses you can take.

I've taken classes at a bunch of universities, and Wesleyan has some terrific and accessible professors. Wesleyan is definitely geared towards learning for its own sake, there is really much less of a pre-professional feel to school than at other colleges. I enjoyed the low student/professor ratio, and I really did learn a lot in my time here. I don't spend time with professors outside of class, but I've been able to meet with professors and have conversations with them whenever I want to, something that is truly remarkable.

Wesleyan students work their butts off. But they are the types that fool you into thinking they are not working at all. A laissez-faire attitude is consistently backed up by countless hours in the library everyday. The professors here, at least in the history department, expect a lot. They are scholar/teachers, (with an emphasis on teacher), and derive much of their pleasure from seeing students work hard and succeed. You can get A's, but you will put in the work to get them. Professors are easily accessible, and most often they leave their office doors open even outside of ususal office hours.

There's little more you could ask for in Wesleyan's academic atmosphere. Professors are generally both great teachers and scholars and most of them seem to genuinely care about getting to know and help their students. Some departments could use a little more funding or a few extra professors, but there are really no weak departments. Outside the classroom, intellectual conversations are definitely commonplace, students truly enjoy talking about what they have learned or want to learn, it's a very intellectual atmosphere.

It's Wesleyan. The classes are run by awesome professors who know their shit and know they know their shit.

for the most part, i really enjoy wesleyan academics. as a liberal arts school, they stress pursuing many different areas of study. i find it essential because it allows exposure to many different perspectives and raises questions otherwise never considered. however, as a science pre-med student, i am also left plenty of room to pursue serious science courses and fulfill requirements for grad school. i think i love about wesleyan is while students are intellectual and creative, they are rarely looking to advertise it. some conversations or class discussions may seem intimiating at times, they serve to motivate students to pursue greater knowledge of the topics rather than feeling overwhelmed or competitive in the academic environment. while certain individuals may be competitive, it is rare to find much tension within the classroom and between friends. people tend me more much more helpful than competitive when it comes to classes. the teacher-student relationship is completely available and can be as initimate as the student desires. i emailed some professors weekly about articles and class discussions, while some professors i spoke to once or twice per semester. it all comes down to how much interaction you would like to have with your prof. while some complaints revolve around not recieving an education geared toward a specific profession, i think that wesleyan teaches the essential skills in approaching problems and situations that will lead to innovative, exceptional skills in any work situation. however, this is too something to be pursued from studies. a student walks away with as much as they look to learn. the same goes for experience outside the class setting.

Academics are challenging. Students work hard, and the majority of them are incredibly smart. People aren't overly competitive for grades, but there's a little bit of peer pressure to study. Like, "everyone else is studying so hard for this test, I guess I should too". Still, its easy to find a good balance between academics, athletics, clubs or jobs, and a full social life. Intro classes can be up to 150 or 200 students, but most of my classes had about 25-35 students. This makes class participation easier, but it can also make it more difficult to get the classes you want. I got pretty lucky with course selection, but I have a few friends who were disappointed with their courses. After my freshman year, I've really learned to value my education, not my grades. Professors are, for the most part, very approachable, and many of them really make an effort to get to know their students.

Wesleyan is very challenging academically, but it is anything but competitive. Cooperation and study groups are the norm, and I've never heard of anyone trying to hold someone else back, or even complain that someone else did better. Academics are a big part of students' lives, and intellectual issues will often make their way into even the most idle conversations. At the beginning of each semester, as I get to know my new professors, I realize yet again what an amazing wealth of knowledge and expertise we have at Wesleyan. I have liked almost all of the professors I've had, and stop to say hi or chat with them when I see them outside of class. I've found almost all of them to be really committed to us as students, and it is clear that they respect us and value our opinions, incorporating student participation even into large lecture classes. One of the only negative experiences I've had with a professor was with someone who was very nice, and who I was told was a great teacher in other classes, but in the particular class I was taking simply didn't know the material well enough to teach it effectively. My major, the College of Letters, is a program that combines literature, history and philosophy with a focus on the European cultural tradition. This means reading a lot of dead white men, but in the process you gain an in-depth understanding of the intellectual and cultural traditions on which Western society has been founded. You also still have plenty of time to balance the cultural bias by taking other classes in African-American history, Animal Behavior, or Javanese Gamelan, if you want to. The core of the COL, and its greatest asset, I think, is the discussion-based colloquium that you take every semester with all the other students in your class year. Over time, you build up a sort of intellectual community that it is difficult to find anywhere else.

Wesleyan's academics are wonderful. As a junior I was easily able to get into classes with 7, 11, and 12 people. This close interaction with professors is invaluable. I feel like a lot of my professors really know me, and are excited to see me learn and grow. People's excitement about their classes often goes way beyond the classrooms, and I have not experienced any significant competition with my other students.

One thing I can say for Wesleyan students is that we're not competitive. The professors want you to do well, just as much as the other students. Almost all of my professors knew my name (most classes even freshman year are small), and were available outside of class during office hours for help. Though most students work hard and classes can take a lot of your time if you want them too, most find a healthy balance between work and fun. And because there are only "expectations" rather than distribution requirements, students are free to experiment with a variety of classes.

The Psychology department is the second largest department at Wesleyan, and it is by far the least staffed. If you want to be in Psychology, go to Swarthmore. Seriously, you wont get any research time, there are no courses to take, and there is no way to specialize in anything.