Thought on Wake Forest?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is there a large Asian-American presence? Do they fit in?

No.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were very impressed with Wake when we toured it and speaking with alums. Our kid was waitlisted. Any guidance on how much the waitlist might move (and when) this year?

+1. NP, would also love any guidance on how to approach being on the waitlist without having toured. Is this a school to say yes to without having visited in person?

My DC liked Wake on paper and online, but not so much after the tour. Lots of talk about grade deflation, “Work Forest,” work hard/play hard. It wasn’t the idea of working hard that was a turn off, it was the fact that it was emphasized so much during the tour. Winston Salem didn’t seem very vibrant either. Greek life is huge. Lots of outdoor activities nearby though, if your kid is outdoorsy. This is obviously one kid’s opinion! YMMV

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a large Asian-American presence? Do they fit in?

No.

No to which question?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:William and Mary is better.

Now THAT is funny! Look at the rankings and the campus and the education.

+100

Rankings don't matter. For my kid, stats are above both schools 75th, but W&M is a much better fit. Wake is a non-starter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, while Wake Forest seems to be ranked #28 on US News, its global rankings are atrocious, and in all other national rankings it looks to be in the 60 - 100 range. A decent school for sure, and I believe US News is the most relevant ranking, but it does give some color and context.

NO! US News is known to be a very flawed ranking system, because it relies too much on self-reporting, compared to other rankings that don't use self-reporting at all, or some that use it more sparingly and give more weight to other criteria. The issue is that Americans are used to it, and most don't even know other rankings exist.

The best ones are:
QS, or Quacquarelli Symonds (British, published since 2004)
THE, or Times Higher Education (British, new methodology dating from 2010)
ARWU, or Academic Ranking of World Universities (Chinese, published since 2003, earliest of its kind for global rankings)
ARTU, or Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities (meta-ranking of the first three rankings)
CWUR, or Center for World University Rankings (United Arab Emirates)

Here's QS: https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2021

That has some odd spots. UCSD over all the other UC schools (except Berkeley) and Brown?

[Anonymous]

Is Wake a liberal arts school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were very impressed with Wake when we toured it and speaking with alums. Our kid was waitlisted. Any guidance on how much the waitlist might move (and when) this year?

+1. NP, would also love any guidance on how to approach being on the waitlist without having toured. Is this a school to say yes to without having visited in person?

Honestly, I can't imagine saying yes to any school without having visited in person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We were very impressed with Wake when we toured it and speaking with alums. Our kid was waitlisted. Any guidance on how much the waitlist might move (and when) this year?

+1. NP, would also love any guidance on how to approach being on the waitlist without having toured. Is this a school to say yes to without having visited in person?

Honestly, I can't imagine saying yes to any school without having visited in person.

Well, that's the reality for many kids in class of 2021. Many are trying to pull off visits this month, but waitlist visits are harder to justify, so they'll have to wing it with virtual visits if they get in, I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Wake a liberal arts school?

Wake is a university, not an LAC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is there a large Asian-American presence? Do they fit in?

No.

No to which question?

Both.

[Anonymous]

Wake is a school of the 1%. Yes they work hard but they also travel all over the world. That is a big draw for some students. Before they become workaholic professionals. It’s a good school. But it is what it is.

[Anonymous]

IMO, its a decent school but nothing special. It's in the general range of mid-sized privates that provide a good undergraduate education but don't have the research profile or national reputation to make much of a difference over a flagship or SLAC.

It's also 50% Greek, and in the South. Southern Greek Life culture is a bit different than Greek Life in other regions of the country, lets just say.

What is the attraction to Wake? Generally suburban DC area kids will fit in better at a Northeastern or West coast school, unless they are a WASP (and even then, they will be continually be reminded of being from the North - the South has a very "interesting" culture.)

[Anonymous]

The school accepts so many EA. The waitlist doesn’t move.

[Anonymous]

Davidson is a better SLAC but very small.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The school accepts so many EA. The waitlist doesn’t move.

Did you mean ED? Or were you not referring to Wake?