Why don't more kids want Wesleyan?

[Anonymous]

DD ended up somewhere else, but she liked Wesleyan a lot. It was her second choice. One thing I particularly appreciated was that there was a professor on the pre-tour panel. No other school that we visited had that. And he was amazing! DD even said that she had no interest in the subject until she heard this person speak. It was exactly what I'd want my child to experience from a liberal arts environment.

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan is very popular at our NE private. Kids seem to like slightly larger student body, artsy laid back vibe where social life isn’t dominated by athletes and club athletes. Middletown isn’t huge, but the downtown strip has more restaurants, shops, cinema, than a lot of the more remote SLACs. My DC chose different SLAC, but good students ED to Wesleyan from our private every year, and they seem to have a good experience.

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan, like its NE peers, will always be an academically rigorous and respected institution. Geographically they are located between NYC and Boston. They are surrounded by the most well funded secondary schools, both day and boarding, in the nation and the world. They don’t need marketing mailers, they don’t need to do much of anything because they will be spoon fed the majority of their classes through channels they trust, understand, and have been tested. That includes the jocks from Taft, Deerfield, Andover. Mind you Bill Belichick was one of these jocks. As for the merits of the school? Who cares. The outcomes and demand speaks for itself. It does not mean it is for everyone, but remember not every school is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had the pleasure of meeting Michael Roth at a Scripps College Event, and it was so amazing to talk to a president who truly cared about his institution beyond the dollars. He clearly understands what makes Wesleyan great and doesn't muddy that with ridiculous corporate messaging about academia.

Michael has joined the chat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan, like its NE peers, will always be an academically rigorous and respected institution. Geographically they are located between NYC and Boston. They are surrounded by the most well funded secondary schools, both day and boarding, in the nation and the world. They don’t need marketing mailers, they don’t need to do much of anything because they will be spoon fed the majority of their classes through channels they trust, understand, and have been tested. That includes the jocks from Taft, Deerfield, Andover. Mind you Bill Belichick was one of these jocks. As for the merits of the school? Who cares. The outcomes and demand speaks for itself. It does not mean it is for everyone, but remember not every school is.

Bill Belichick you say? The one with the girlfriend who is younger than his granddaughter?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is very popular at our NE private. Kids seem to like slightly larger student body, artsy laid back vibe where social life isn’t dominated by athletes and club athletes. Middletown isn’t huge, but the downtown strip has more restaurants, shops, cinema, than a lot of the more remote SLACs. My DC chose different SLAC, but good students ED to Wesleyan from our private every year, and they seem to have a good experience.

As a Wes parent (with a kid from public school, fwiw), I think this nails it. Broad range of kids, great artsy vibe for the kids who want that but also a strong “normie” presence. The kids there just seem happy, and wow, so many of them are so talented, and most of them are not pursuing the arts academically. There’s always something artsy going on, which makes it feel really vibrant. And when there’s a football game literally in the middle of campus on a Saturday, it’s so lively—a unique experience.

I’m always surprised by people’s perceptions of Middletown, which I’ve always found to be a generally charming New England college town, and as PP says, the downtown is pretty robust compared to a lot of peer-school towns.

One thing people haven’t mentioned is the “progressive independence” housing model, which has students in campus housing all four years but graduating from regular dorms (lots of singles available for freshmen, btw) to apartments junior year and then what they call “wood frame” houses senior year. The school bought a bunch of charming old houses on streets adjacent to campus, and they are filled with seniors who are living very independently and seem to love it.

Anyway, not every school is for everyone! My kid hated Middlebury when he visited, and his friend at Middlebury hated Wesleyan. That’s how it goes. But the idea that it’s not in-demand is belied by the actual data (e.g., ED apps).

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan presents an option that is different in that it is larger & more progressive than most LACs. Wonderful option for the right kid, not so good for one seeking a different type of campus culture.

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan has a grad school, although I don't know how permissive it is od lowerclassmen taking grad classes the way Ivies and MIT are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agreed that Wes' campus could be cuter but, as a top-10 R1 professor, I'll say that its faculty is far and away superior to nearly all but the best SLACs. That's where they put their money and effort...not a bad decision IMHO.

For which fields are you making this statement? I doubt a physics professor could be knowledgeable with their humanities department's caliber or vice versa.

How is its physics faculty outside of molecular biophysics?

[Anonymous]

I think the reason for the lack of popularity is that (most) public school kids can't swing or justify the cost.

My kids went to a public school. We are seen as an affluent school but we really aren't that affluent. My son is a freshman and he has very few friends going to expensive private schools. Those that are going private are usually going to play a sport at a less competitive school.

Even the private high school kids are different these days because a lot of grandparents are stroking that check.

[Anonymous]

I visited Wesleyan with my son and wasn't impressed with the campus. It's on my daughter's RD list despite the fact that she has never seen it, but hopefully it won't be a top contender.

The president is a sanctimonious attention whore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Campus, location and town left a lot to be desired. It was depressing, similar to Bucknell tbh.

speaking from firsthand experience with both schools… Bucknell nicer town, nicer kids, and better outcomes. Wesleyan kids are like the town - gloomy and depressing
Please, stop the boosting. It's boring.
Says the Bucknell booster.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I visited Wesleyan with my son and wasn't impressed with the campus. It's on my daughter's RD list despite the fact that she has never seen it, but hopefully it won't be a top contender.

The president is a sanctimonious attention whore.

Roth is one of the best among leading school Presidents today.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I visited Wesleyan with my son and wasn't impressed with the campus. It's on my daughter's RD list despite the fact that she has never seen it, but hopefully it won't be a top contender.

The president is a sanctimonious attention whore.

Wes parent here, and I agree that Roth is an attention whore. I find him personally grating and generally annoying, and so do the students.

But he’s putting his attention whore-y-ness to very good use right now as one of the very few university presidents speaking loudly and clearly about the dangers of the Trump administration.

Most university presidents suck in some way or another. I’d rather Roth’s version of sucking—eloquently and forcefully speaking up for higher ed and its important role in liberal society—to the version on display by most presidents, who are putting their tales between their legs and submitting to the demands and depredations of this president.

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan offered my middle-class kid much better financial aid than the robustly endowed Yale, Dartmouth, Penn, or WashU, for which I'll be forever grateful. My impression is that the buildings aren't as nice as richer schools, but Wes spends its money on the things that matter, such as financial aid and top-level professors. Vibe/culture-wise, it's not for everyone, but the educational quality is fantastic. (My kid ended up on the West Coast, but I wouldn't have objected if they had picked Wes.)

That said, while I agree with OP that Wes is great, I think OP's premise--Wes is superior to better-ranked LACs--is flawed. I think all the top LACs, Wes included, offer something unique. People here are too fixated on ordinal rankings and abstract notions of prestige.