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.