Wesleyan University Top Questions

(I'm going by questions here, not sentence fluidity) The best thing about Wesleyan is the the diversity of people - I have not been to a school with the range of personalities, interests and skills that I have found at Wesleyan. The school is the perfect size, and I will always stand by that. There are few enough people that when I walk around I see plenty of people I recognize, but at the same time plenty of people I have never met. It makes the party scene a lot more fun. When I tell people I go to Wesleyan, most people say, "isn't that where Hillary Clinton went?" and then I have to correct them. Honestly the outside reaction usually isn't that enthusiastic unless they are from the NESCAC or go to an elite school somewhere... which most people don't. That is pretty frustrating. I spend most of my time in Olin, my room, and the fitness center... all three are pretty great. Middletown isn't really a "college town" but it functions for all practical reasons. It's biggest draw for Wes students is the bar scene on Wednesday nights, restaurants, and the Rite Aid. I have no opinion of the Wes Administration, I don't know them well, but I suppose on the surface they have been nice and accomodating.

This is sort of abstract, but I would like to see more community at Wesleyan, as in school-wide community. There is plenty of it within the various groups, but there isn't a general communal sense, which I think comes from the surplus of (sometimes desperate) individualism on campus. Coming from a high school with a total of 400 students, Wesleyan has been the perfect size for me: small enough that I've not felt lost in the crowd or unable to connect with professors because of huge class sizes, but also big enough that by the end of senior year, there are still people in my class year who I have never seen before. Peoples' reactions are totally dependent on geography and demographics: if I'm in my small hometown in California, most people have never heard of it, but some people confuse it with Wellesley; if I'm on the East Coast, most people will have heard of it, but the chances are higher that they'll think it's Wellesley. If people do know the school, invariably they'll say "Oh, what a great school." but I think that's a pretty generic response when talking about small liberal arts colleges. With that also often comes the judgment about how much it costs to go here, which is not totally unwarranted. This year, I spend the majority of my time in the library, at the gym for cross country or track practice, in the film screening room, at the places on campus where they sell food, or in my or my friends' senior woodframe houses. College town? I don't really think so, though Wesleyan is trying its damndest to gentrify or "revive" Middletown, which has been in an economic slump for a long time. Main Street is full of restaurants and coffee shops, and has definitely become more boozhie (or however you spell the slang for "bourgeois") since I was a freshman. But there still aren't any legit music venues and unless you're hungry or want to see a movie or need to buy some booze from the liquor store or vitamins from the drug store, you're outta luck. The administration seems a little disconnected from the student body, try as they might to bridge the gap. There's a ridiculous amount of bureaucracy. But we've got this new young President Roth, who seems to be trying to turn things around...we'll see how that goes. The biggest controversy by far this year has been the new dining service. There have been issues with the food and with the service, which is pretty much just the fallout of breaking peoples' habits. But most importantly, there have been huge issues between the food service workers union and the dining service company. Benefits and hours have been cut, there have been unwarranted firings, and the general manager is pretty much a pariah among the food service workers and much of the student body. Workers and students have rallied to the cause, and I think things may be getting better, but they aren't totally resolved, either. School pride? No. At least not in the pep rally sense. People are quick both to criticize Wes from within and to defend it from without. From what I gather, Wesleyan is a pretty unusual place as far as small liberal arts colleges go. But that also may be inflated by hype and self-importance. One thing that is unusual and very very cool is that the majority of seniors get to live in real woodframe houses owned by the University. The downside is that pretty much everyone has to live in university housing all four years. Oh, and everyone, even seniors, is required to be on a meal plan, which is pretty much highway robbery. Wesleyan students love to complain. Pick your issue.

I absolutely loved Wesleyan. The best thing was the other students - passionate, brilliant, wildly creative, and totally impressive, but by and large so much more down to earth and fun than kids I've met at, say, Ivy League schools, who I often (not always, of course) found to be more uptight, self-important, etc. Middletown is cute and nice, but people don't spend that much time there, which I didn't mind at all. There's more amazing stuff happening on campus than you could ever actually attend anyways, and if you want, you can always go to NYC for a weekend. Wesleyan controversies typically revolve around identity politics (race/class/gender/sexuality). That stuff gets really, really intense on campus. Wesleyan is super progressive on gender and sexuality issues (by the end of freshman year, nobody I knew even believed in gender any more). It's definitely a bit of a bubble, but I thought it was great. There's tons of pride about Wesleyan being weird and radical. Under the past president (Bennett), there was also a pretty widespread impression that Wesleyan's administration was actively trying to mainstream-ify the character of the student body, supposedly for financial reasons (activists and artists don't make a very strong alumni donor base), but I've heard that the new president (a Wes alum himself) appears to have a stronger commitment to keeping Wesleyan unique, diverse, etc.

Size: good. Academics: probably fine. Who really knows. Reputation: largely undeserved. Financial Aid: great. Best part of Wesleyan: Middletown, CT. It's a gem of a town with an amazing laser tag arena. Least appreciated part of Wesleyan: Middletown, CT. Most of the students (and especially their parents) look down their noses at it. Biggest controversy: ban on chalking. No, really. Remember what I wrote about political activism on campus? Wesleyan administration: bloated, inefficient, opaque, unresponsive, unilateralist, paternalistic. In other words, typical. But damn, they sure do pay their RAs well. Biggest surprise: the students' parents are effing RICH.

"Ohio Wesleyan? Illinois Wesleyan? Oh is that the all girls school in massachusetts? Senator Clinton went there right?" No. Wesleyan Univeristy, in Connecticut. "Oh hmmm. Interesting."

I think the best thing about wesleyan is its size. It's just small enough that i recognize a lot of faces, and most of my friends no each other from random places. AT the same time, it's big enough that there are still a lot of people i don't know, and random hookups can be relatively not awkward.

It is a very small school but I love it that way. Middletown has a few bars to go to which is much better than some of the colleges I've seen. The one thing I would change is that there is no real rivalry between the frats and there are no soroities.

the best thing is really the amount of amazingly talented and wonderful people. it's cheezy but it's really true that there are just so many "good people" here. size-wise it felt just right freshman year and now as a senior it feels way too small. freshman year i was only friends with people from my dorm in the nics and then sophomore year i met a lot more and those are the people im still friends with today (and several from freshman year but mostly soph year). so what id change is: id make social groups much less isolated and cliquey. i sort of assumed everyone would come together senior and be friends- which has happened to some extent.. but id really like to see it happen even more by the spring. there is definitely a lot of school pride in some groups of friends, though anyone who does have major qualms with the school is not afraid to voice those. that's fair and i agree with many qualms (expensive tuition, dining system, etc) but sometimes i wish people would think about the bigger issues in the world outside the bubble.

I think it is about right though we are more like a research university than a liberal arts college, especially having graduate students changes the student body dynamics and some aspects of student life.

1. The best thing about Wesleyan is the academic situation. There are so many different courses in various departments. People can truly learn about anything they want at this university. 2. One thing I would change would definitely be the number of parties on campus. Personally, I'm not one to just sit about and do nothing on a Saturday night so more dance parties or things of that nature would be appreciated. 3. Most people are not aware of Wesleyan so their reaction is usually, "Oh, how's the all-girls thing working out for you?" 4. The student body is definitely the most unusual thing about Wesleyan. This campus is full of the most wonderfully idiosyncratic people you will ever meet in your life, which is great. Also, there are tons of little traditions that just demonstrate how open and awesome the school is. There is a day where everyone sits in the library in their underpants as tour groups walk by. During orientation, there is Foss Cross, for which one cross dresses and has a generally awesome time dancing. 5. I think some of the most frequent student complaints come when people make road generalizations on a subject. One professor gave a lecture in which he made many statements such as: "I'm quite sure all of you in this room and on this campus..." Wesleyan is not a school at which someone can make a broad statement of this nature and get away with it.

Wesleyan has an awesome environment. It's large enough to offer a good selection of courses, have plenty of diversity and interesting people to meet, and host enough activities to keep me busy. It's small enough that I run into people I know all the time. Many people have not heard of Wesleyan, or convince it with Wellesley. Luckily, those people are not employers, most of whom know Wesleyan. While on campus, I spend a lot of time in friends' rooms. I feel fortunate to have a dozen or so friends on my hall alone! Middletown, CT, is not the most appealing town. It does have enough good restaurants, a movie theater, and a drug store, though. Wesleyan's administration is trying to improve our reputation by making things "more normal". The problem is that most of the students came here because of how different and wonderful the environment is. Changing that seems foolish.

Going to Wesleyan, like going to most small liberal arts schools, is basically a surreality removed from the woes of normal human existence that your parents finance. Everything is sort of dreamy and wonderful, the campus is compact and beautiful and people seldom leave it (Middletown sucks), public safety seldom hassles you, and the weekends/weeks are not void of debauchery. One nice thing about Wesleyan is the ivy league quality of education (classes, teachers, facilities) without an air of stuffy academia. Students work hard and are intelligent but most are more than willing to kick back and get down like a good heathen.

I love the people at Wesleyan. so, so, so many people I've met here are just incredibly, genuinely nice and fascinating--tons of great conversations on every topic imaginable. I think the school isn't too small (especially compared with other liberal arts schools), but at least for me, I tend to get stuck in a couple of groups. Even though I see lots of people every day who I don't know, once you get into your little niche it's kind of harder to branch out, though I do have a few different groups I hang out with, so it's not terribly cliquey or anything like that. Middletown is not the greatest place on Earth, though the food is good...and if you don't have a car it's a pain in the ass to get anywhere. I haven't figured out the bus system, cabs are ridiculously expensive, and both the airport and the train station are far away (though if you take a shuttle from Meriden to New Haven, that's only about 10 minutes away). controversies? well, Roth is being kind of a dick about the whole Zonker Harris day thing (we have to change the name, which is a BIG DEAL among Westcovians), though that's a little underground. also, chalking? what the hell? when I say I go to Wesleyan, people still think I mean Wellsley, or Ohio Wesleyan or some shit like that. unless they know what they're talking about, in which case they think that that's pretty cool.

The best thing about Wesleyan is the student body. The school feels a little small at times. When I tell people I go to Wesleyan they usually don't know what school I'm talking about. The relationship with Middletown can be very tense, some students work in the community, but many don't seem to care and often speak negatively of "townies." The Wesleyan administration is usually helpful, but for such a small school there can be quite a bit of red tape.

Wesleyan sucks. Unless you love to protest retarded causes, are "confused" about your "sexuality", believe that people should live in the dark and not take warm showers to prevent "climate change", love talking about "social constructs", want to take classes about reproduction that involve interpretive dance . . . do not come because you will be completely out of place. I never imagined there could be a place where normal people are discriminated against! For all its claims about valuing diversity, Wesleyan has absolutely no tolerance for conservatives.

From a big picture standpoint, the best thing about Wes are the students. If you want to be around the most amazing, intellectual people with unreal stories, this is your school. If I could change anything, it'd be the weather - winter in CT lasts from November through end of March although the weather in the Northeast sucks in general during the winter, anyway. As for size, it's on the small end but I really like this because unlike other larger schools you CAN run into people you know all the time. At the same time, I'm steal realizing there are so many people I've never seen before. Middletown is alright. It's not the best college town but it's got some nice restaurants and everything to fufill basic needs (including lazer tag). It's about an hour and a half to both NYC and Boston which is nice. I'd say we have school pride in the way of loving our school. Everyone gets excited to hear the fight song. When it comes to school spirit through sports events, it could be better but it's getting there.

Wesleyan is lot more open to ideas of the non traditional/ the non status quo than other Universities and I think that that is a positive. I would make Wesleyan larger and I would have Wesleyan be in possession of a larger endowment so that the many students who can not go here anymore because of financial reasons or who have graduate school loans because of Wesleyan's poor finaid could actually successful attend and graduate from Wesleyan

Easily the best thing about Wes is the student body. I made friends at Wesleyan whom I expect will remain central figures in my life for a very long time. They are unique, passionate, and fascinating, and will, in many cases, teach you as much as the professors will. When I was there, there wasn't a main hang-out area on campus, outside of the hill, which only functioned in warm weather. Now, however, the Usdan campus center is supposed to be pretty excellent. Middletown definitely fits the "what college town" description, as there was very little to do off campus unless you were willing to drive a bit. There are efforts to improve that, but there's quite a way left to go. The most frequent student complaints are everything. The student body as a whole is generally angry about something, often loud about it, and usually wrong. However, one ultimately realizes that the outcry is merely coming from an extremely vocal minority, and it's probably best to ignore them.

So far, I think Wesleyan is a pretty incredible place, but I've also definitely come to learn that any college is going to be what you make of it. Most people I know are really happy, and those who aren't probably would be if they experimented with new things--that's what I did. I love, love, love the cultural activities that are always going on--the Film Series is AMAZING, there are always great art exhibits, the lecturers brought to campus are great, etc. Sometimes I think Wes is a little too small; other times I think it's a little too big. I guess what I'm saying is the size is actually just right--I know a lot of people already, but there are always new faces, too. I have friends at smaller schools who already know EVERYONE on campus. When I tell people I go to Wesleyan they are either really impressed or think I'm going to Wellesley, an all-women's school. One thing I'd change about Wesleyan is the new campus center. It's very nice and everything, but it looks really corporate and sterile. I thought Wesleyan would be a little funkier and cozier, but our new campus center is all black and white. The only color is a kind of tacky "Diversity" painting in the basement. Middletown is OK as far as "college towns" go. Everything you need is on campus--you'll rarely be bored. But Middletown has great restaurants. Tuscany Grill is really lovely, as is Typhoon. There's also lazer tag (which I hear is really fun) and a big movie theater all within walking distance. I'd say there's a good deal of school pride--they teach you the fight song on the first day of orientation, and you hear it every so often at random places. It's pretty cool to have that kind of pride and community. Most complaints I hear are about the new campus center being poorly designed and the food service being kind of bad food-quality-wise and unfair to its employees/the labor union. My favorite places on campus are Olin--6 floors of stacks and lots of places to study. I like to go to the top floor, where there are windows that look out onto Foss Hill. Foss Hill is also a great place to hang out (in the warmer months!). I have a lot of amazing memories from the beginning of the school year, hanging out on Foss Hill late at night. Some of the prettiest buildings, I think, are Alpha Delt (a coed society) and the Center for East Asian Studies. I also love the Center for Film Studies--it has an incredible screening room. The administration isn't bad. Our new president, Michael Roth, is pretty much a celebrity among students. A Roth-sighting is an exciting event.

The thing I love most about Wes is the huge variety of people here. No matter what type of people you're looking to meet and hang out with, I promise you they are here somewhere. Personally I find the size of the school to be perfect- not so small that I already know everyone's life story, but small enough that I can recognize and say hi to some of the people walking around campus. When people who know colleges hear that I go to Wesleyan, they are generally pretty impressed. When people that don't know much about colleges hear where I go, they generally ask me if it's the women's college where Hillary Clinton went. Middletown is actually pretty nice- it has some really great restaurants, a movie theater, some stores, and some cheaper cafes and places to eat as well. I love going in for dinner once in a while. The small town girl in me is afraid to go there by myself or at night, but you really shouldn't go anywhere by yourself anyways. I've personally never had any problems with the Wesleyan administration. They seem to be pretty genuinely concerned about their students, and if you make the extra effort to contact them with problems, I've found that they'll work with you to help solve them.