Wesleyan University Top Questions

Wesleyan is a great place for education, but its location is not supreme. Most people focus on academics or on-campus activities, so the surrounding areas aren't that important. When people do leave campus, they go to New York. This makes an isolated community with warped morals and social standards.

I love Wesleyan almost irrationally so at this point. The school is a perfect size, in a location that's close to any major destination in the North East, and filled with a student body of incredibly smart, creative, and open people. Wesleyan has a massive amount of activism on campus, which is manifested through protests, music and art shows, and general student interest in current affairs.

Wesleyan is a school full of truly engaged students. Students are very progressive, politically involved and active in a whole variety of extracurricular activities including the arts (particularly film), comedy, theater, and many, many others. Students are also an extremely intellectual group, meaning they are very intellectually engaged outside of the classroom. Classes are small, and for the most part Wesleyan students are extremely happy at the school.

Wesleyan is a great place. It's small, which I liked, so it's easy to know most people if you try. How do people react when I tell them I go (went) to Wesleyan? "What's Wesleyan? Isn't that an all-girls school?" School pride: not so much. We all like(d) Wes, but not in a paint-your-face-and-cheer type of way. Although the fight song was always fun. Most frequent student complains: "The administration is not understanding enough of our diversity, diversity, diversity." Middletown is OK, but getting better.

If you are plannng on going to a liberal arts university, Wesleyan will expose you to views and populations that are present but less vocal and listened to at other institutions.

Wesleyan may be too small. It was just right for me. It's large enough that by Junior year, everyone looks familiar but you don't really know who they are. There is nothing really to do in town. But its okay because there are literally a panoply of options on campus. There are art shows and guerilla theatre, visiting artists and musicians, secret tomb parties, frat keggers, blue-grass open mikes and dorm parties. And, of course, house parties. Wesleyan's residential housing for upper classmen is a tremendous financial burden on the university and one of the reasons for its lower than its peers budget. So it makes good financial sense that they are gradually divesting themselves of the blocks of houses they own. The unfortunate aspect of this is what a tremendously unique and wonderful thing the neighborhoods of students living in houses is. To sit on your porch and eat cerael and chat with people as they make their way to morning classes is one of my favorite memories. Sleeping in my hammock on the back porch. The administration gets a bad rap. In reality they are among the most receptive and committed around. Unfortunately, Wesleyan students have a tremendous sense of entitlement and a deep commitment to being responsible for their surrounding (at least when it is convenient and fun) So they whine a tremendous amount and nothing the administration ever does is good enough for the vocal minority of rabble rousers. For most of us, I think we view the administration the way we view all bureacracies. Slow and at times inefficient. This aside, they truly care and work very hard. I think they have a hard job and get shit on a lot for trying to do it right.

I like the size of Wesleyan. You get to know a lot of the people in your class, but you still meet new people all the time. Middletown has its charms, but most of the fun you have at Wesleyan is created by the students and stays on campus. House/dorm parties are the most common. The campus has a big hill and field in the center of campus where kids go to hang out. It's awesome when the weather's nice. The Wesleyan administration is okay, but they try to make Wesleyan into just another top East-Coast liberal arts school. They could do a better job of letting Wesleyan be its unique, open-minded self.

Wes is a great size. As a senior I have yet to be bored with the people here - I'm forever meeting new and interesting students on campus while running into old friends everywhere. While there's no big football team and less athletic pride in the general population than at other schools, there is a tremendous amount school pride.

Wesleyan is the perfect size: you are able to meet a significant portion of the student body, you don't feel anonymous at all, yet you still meet new people from your class year the last week of senior year. I sometimes wish that Wesleyan were a bit more known across the country (it's irritating when people mix it up with Wellesley for example). I think the students are passionate about many things, but are able to be silly and not take everything too seriously. I got a wonderful education at Wes, and had so much fun throughout.... it was the perfect mix of work and play, which is what I think college is all about.

I love that the student body is as eclectic as it is. There is truly no stereotypical student. Everyone is welcome and accepted. There can tend to be some segretation between athletes and non-athletes on campus. As an athlete, I find myself hanging out with other athletes the majority of the time, which can make Wes feel a lot smaller than it actually is. But once you branch out, you realize that there are a lot of cool people to meet. When I tell others that I go to Wesleyan, they are either impressed, know nothing about Wesleyan, or think that I go to Wellesley in Mass. Middletown is definitely not a college town, but there isn't really any need for a college town because everything happens on campus, and there is always a ton to do on campus. The most frequent student complaints are about housing. Housing for Sophmores can be really great or really crappy. It's based on lottery numbers, so if you get a bad number, you could end up in a dorm, or house that isn't too great. Spring Fling is one of the most fun times at Wes. It's the day after classes end and a couple of bands come to perform. Basically, the entire student body is on Foss Hill the entire day, and it's absolutely amazing.