Wesleyan University Top Questions

solid.

The academics, especially liberal arts, are excellent. Professors are highly intelligent and lecture well. It is easy to find favorite classes and favorite professors, and you'll still find new ones every year. My personal favorites included a wide range: Medieval European History, Modernism in Literature, and Classical Film Theory. As a film major, I think the film dept. is too small but very solid. Although some of the professors there are not so talented, at least two are brilliant. And it is very well funded (for example, Michael Bay, an alumn, donates some of his riches regularly)- the cinema is massive and brand new, and taking 10 person classes in its 400 seats is a joy. As for getting a job, I do feel a little left in the wind, but maybe that's cause I'm a junior struggling to find my career path anyway.

Do you thrive on competition? Because if you do, forget about Wesleyan. Here, everyone has their own intellectual agenda, and usually don't give two-hoots about fighting it out with another competitor. The best part about Wesleyan's liberal education is that you can stick your thumb in every academic pie there is available, time willing. In my freshman year, I got to sample music, theater, anthropology, dance, astronomy, art history and German literature. And what about advanced academics? If you have the capacity to strive for what's out there, a simple email to a professor will suffice. It's not uncommon for students to participate in Graduate level seminars and major forums. As a sophomore, I had already done 2 music major seminars and 2 graduate level seminars that had an immense bearing on the way in which I conceived my major topic. Most of the Professors here are incredible thinkers who have produced bodies of work that continue to shape the international intellectual landscape. A quick roundup of who has taught at Wesleyan: Hannah Arendt, Haydn White, Judith Butler, John Cage ... the list is purely jaw-dropping. Wesleyan also has a knack for sourcing out visiting professors ready to bloom, so you just might be there to catch them before they become the next big thing in the academic world. All my classes with visiting professors have been intellectually engaging, fun and exciting. Although professors have predetermined office hours, they are more than willing to challenge you to a brain duel on the latest issues concerning politics, Iraq and anything that gets your mind ticking. Quite simply, Wesleyan was the best educational choice I could have made given my diverse intellectual interests in almost everything!

Academic opportunities at Wesleyan are varied and extensive, but it takes work to find the right classes and professors. Some introductory classes are disappointing and fairly large, but they vary based on professors. First-year initiatives sound like a great opportunity to be introduced to college courses, but again can be very disappointing; a class with all first year students is prone to turn in to free-for-all discussion. The system of registering for classes and adjustment is a bit complicated, but often Professors are more than accomodating during drop/add with letting more students in. Students are serious about their work but generally non-competitive.

Had really close relationships with two professors. Most of my classes were seminars, and had less than 20 people. The creative writing program is too small. The east asian studies program, history, art history, film and studio art departments are great and allow you close contact with professors. Education at wesleyan is definitely geared toward learning for its own sake. My favorite class was "The Problem of truth in modern china", "Empire and erotica: Indian painting," and a short fiction class. My friends do have intellectual conversations outside of class.

professors know my name--I have tea with them, play with their dog... etc. the other students are the best part--there's a awesome culture at wesleyan filled with creative minds and dedicated social action. they participate a lot in class. There no competition among students. Feminist Gender and Sexuality studies is an awesome way to study social justice at wesleyan--so are the african american studies program and american studies. Great professors and are interested in helping you learn and dedicated to social justice. The administration, however, could be more helpful and work with students more. Wesleyan is geared toward learning. not getting a job (unless you're a science major). The opportunities for science majors are unlike any other i've seen. Most are doing undergraduate research by sophomore or junior year (I do stem cell research as a junior)--this is unheard of at most colleges.

I personally have had a terrible academic experience at Wesleyan. While I have learned a lot from certain classes essentially every class I have taken has had a major flaw. My view is definitely biased, most of my friends have had excellent academic experiences where they find their work and classes extremely engaging and rewarding.

The reason I go to Wesleyan. It is also the reason I would never leave it, even if one of the only. Wesleyan can, and should, boast of strong departments in both the humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Classes can be very small, around seven students, or as big as 100. However, professors are wonderfully responsive to student inquiries, inside and outside of class. They do, after all, offer excellent intellectual and scientific backgrounds to discussions and lectures, and more often than not provoke students not only into unexplored territory of consideration, but demand an exactitude in dealing with such considerations. One would need willingly, forcefully, to relinquish one's mind in order to be 'bored' in, though this is my view, any of Wesleyan's classroom settings. Professors truly serve as models for students, though it is certainly up to the student to decide how hard they want to work to get there and farther.

Double-majoring, class participation, and a lack of course requirements or prereqs make the classrooms here exciting and diverse. Most students take academics fairly seriously and are personally involved, though there are of course exceptions, and it's not too competitive. I've been in a small department and there's a very familial feeling about it, which I love. Academics are definitely not job-oriented, they're liberal arts all the way. Study abroad is very popular.

classes range between large lecture classes of a few hundred students and small discussion classes of less than 15. either way, most teachers strive to establish a good student-teacher relationship and get to know your name or at least your face. with no core cirriculum requirements, it's nice to be able to take any classes you want without having to take certain classes to cover requirements. the credits system is basic and fair. i would have to say that the classes are generally geared towards learning for its own sake over getting a job, but that's not to say that they don't prepare for the real world.