Wesleyan University Top Questions

Wesleyan academic environment is very open. There are no true requirements, only general expectations about what classes students must take, and most students easily fulfill them. Students are extremely intellectual and class discussions often carry over outside of class. Classes are small, professors are very engaged with their students and students take academics seriously but without being competitive with each other.

Academics are good, though sometimes the non-artsy classes can be a bit dry. Students are not competitive at all, which is nice, and grades are not really discussed. Film Studies is a great department, although film majors have been accused of being elitist and separate from the rest of Wesleyan. The academic requirements are not that tough, but the classes themselves may be.

Take classes that have great teachers--it doesn't matter what they're on. C. Miller, R. Cameron, K. Kolcio, D. Moon, I. Karemcheti, S. Bachner, S. Mccann, K. Tololyan, C. Crosby are a few. Students are quite engaged. The dance department is better for academic dance than a rigorous physical training.

Academics are not universal in any sense. That is to say, the amount of work that people do, how seriously they take it and how they view their efforts in that arena changes from major to major, class year to class year and even seat to seat in the same class. People here are smart and generally work really hard at something. It just may not be their academics. This is also generally accepted and appreciated. you don't have to be a study nerd or a bookless meathead to fit in. There are communities for both and neither is penalized to seriously for their choices. (Though jocks certainly get the short end of the stick from the largely unathletic and stereotypically comptetive student body) (And I am not a jock either) Certainly education at wesleyan is for education's sake. Learning and enlightenment are virtues beyond their application to a specific job or career. That said, a lot of people take the opportunity to do lab work, make connections and co-write papers that will assist their resume later on. Professors are always graciously available. Its so complete that I forgot that there are schools where seeing professors is an ordeal. No classes are taught by TAs. CSS is awesome. I have forgotten the millions of pages I read. In it's place I have been gifted with a keen and critical analytical brain that can process massive amounts of information, form arguments and format them in a remarkably short period of time. (I think this may have been their goal all along) Students constantly have intellectual debates out of class to the point that it can get really irritating. Politics often plays a role in these debates and leads to heightened tensions and tempers.

Most professors I had know my name. I even had dinner at one of my professor's house with her family. I know that is totally cliche, but it happened to me (I was her TA for semester, but it was still cool). Students study a lot. It's challenging. Classroom participation is encouraged in most classes. Most of the education at Wesleyan is geared toward learning for its own sake. The students at Wesleyan try very hard, but they're not competitive, which I loved!

Wesleyan professors are awesome. They're intellectually stimulating and very eager to help with any questions about class material. They're concerned about students not only as students but also as people. While Wes is an elite institution, students are not competitive amongst themselves, but rather learning is a community experience.

For the most part, I felt that I had good academic experience. Some exceptional classes, some mediocre. It all depends on the professor. My favorite class was a small psychology class that met once a week for three hours in the retired professor center. The professor was an inspiring man: he was intelligent, non-judgmental, enthusiastic, and incredibly caring about his students. The class taught me about everything from literature to psychology and became close with every other student in it.

Professors definitely know your name, and they make a point to be available whenever you need them. They have tons of office hours and are very accommading. My favorite class was probably one of my Psych classes, maybe Research Methods in Social Psych with Professor Carney. It actually really surprised me because when I thought of taking a class on Research Methods, I wasn't too excited. But it turned out that we created our own survey and actually conducted it, which was really great. The class was only about 15 students, so it was a very comfortable atmosphere. But all the Psych classes I've taken have been great. I wouldn't recommend ECON 101 with Professor Rayack. It was probably the most boring class I've taken at Wes. Students definitely work hard, but you can pretty much make it as hard as you want for yourself. When you buckle down and work hard, you can do extremely well. And that's not to say that you can't have a social life as well. Wes has the perfect balance between school, social life, and athletics. It is really doable. Class participation is very common, especially in smaller classes. But even in lecture classes, if Professors encourage it, many students will participate. I've found that in some of my language classes, participation is not as common because students are intimidated by speaking another language, but there is still participation. And if the professor is teaching the course correctly, there is a great deal of participation. Students are not all all competitive with one another, which is great. Wes is definitely not a stressful environment. You can tell that other students work hard if you see them in the library all the time, but it isn't really talked about. In terms of academics, everyone kind of does their own thing. The General ED requirements are perfect because there's no core curriculum, but you're still encouraged to take a wide range of courses. Definitely geared toward learning for its own sake.

Professors know your name if you make sure they do. In big intro classes, obviously that's difficult, but if you make the effort professors are happy to work with you. My favorite class was in an FYI (First Year Introductory) in the English department called "American Autobiographies."The professor was incredible, it was a class capped at 19 so it was very intimate, and was also engaging and thought-provoking. Outside of class conversations are... plentiful. I'll leave it at that. I'm a double major in the College of Social Studies and Psychology. The College of Social Studies is one of three interdisciplinary majors you can take. It involved Economics, Government, History and Philosophy, and I'm currently in it s most intense year: sophomore. It is one you apply to as a freshman to be accepted as a sophomore. My main class that I take has only 7 people in it, which is amazing, and it's with some of the best professors on campus (in my opinion). It's a lot of work with a lot of reward. Psychology is much more straightforward, and it's nice to have the contrast. I'm a Teacher's Assistant for the Intro class which has given me some interesting perspective on the whole testing and teaching practice. I don't think it's common in a lot of schools to allow undergrads to TA -- that has been amazing.

I've been consistently impressed by professors who know my name, even in larger classes. And certainly by the time you're a senior the professors in your major and professors whose classes you've taken more than once will know you by name. Film classes are really good for the most part, but then I'm a film studies major. But anyone can take the intro courses, and the one taught by Scott Higgins is one of the best I've ever taken - anyone who can make 150 students love him and the subject while talking about silent film for a month's worth of three hour classes is just brilliant. I've been in some really legit history classes, especially 20th century U.S. History, taught by a tenured professor, and Medieval Spain, taught by a visiting professor. The latter was an anomaly, though, because my general experience with visiting professors has been TERRIBLE. My opinion may be skewed by how much time I spend in the library, but I would say that most students study every day. If someone says, "I didn't do any work today/for the past two days," it's pretty significant, but also not like apocalyptic. I know this sounds trite, but one of my favorite things about Wesleyan is that people's intellectual engagement extends outside the classroom. I regularly have good conversations with friends about intellectual, political, artistic, and social (as in, societal) topics. I would say that people here are generally and genuinely interesting and interested. Film Studies is a pretty polarizing major, both within the department and at Wesleyan in general. It's really hard to get into the major, which only adds to the elitism that people who are interested in film - not "movies" - already possess. People who like to study film from an analytical, historical and theoretical standpoint are generally very happy in the major, but it's tougher if you're mostly interested in production because that's not really favored as much as it should be. There's a lot of blatant favoritism and some pandering to students whose parents are either famous in the industry or ridiculously wealthy. Also, it's a ridiculously well-funded department, but only because Jeanine Basinger, who for better or worse is pretty much the queen bee, has done all of her own fundraising among the alums who constitute the "Wesleyan Mafia" in Hollywood. Wesleyan has no formal academic requirements, and it's awesome. Most of the classic liberal arts majors don't really prepare you for a job in the real world, but all the econ majors seem to find six digit jobs fresh out of college. But isn't that always how it works when you go to a school that offers majors in "Feminist, Gender and Sexuality Studies" and "Science in Society"?