Tell us about Wake Forest

[Anonymous]

Lots of darties (day time parties).

[Anonymous]

At every school.What is unique about that?

[Anonymous]

Graduates come out amazingly prepared. “Work forest” with excellent sports, super small classes, gorgeous campus, well connected alumni, elite guest professors. But wow, the price tag...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just can't get excited about Wake Forest. Blah town, mid-tier reputation, and no specific programs of note.

Mid-tier reputation that is ranked above UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a safety school for aspiring Duke and Vanderbilt students. Good school with a solid regional reputation. A step above a Davidson.

Regional? On some lists, it is #27 in the nation!

[Anonymous]

Produces successful, well rounded, hardworking community-driven individuals. Would love for my kids to go there but don’t know if they can get in. Also heard that merit aide is not generous.

[Anonymous]

A school that will really struggle pist Corona. AVOID.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A school that will really struggle pist Corona. AVOID.

Why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A school that will really struggle pist Corona. AVOID.

Why?

They are struggling to get students to apply as it is now. And they have been test optional for decades. While also maintaining low test score averages.

With more schools going test optional, the advantage of being a test optional school decreases as there is more competition to enroll the same students.
They're also very tuition dependent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A school that will really struggle pist Corona. AVOID.

Why?

They are struggling to get students to apply as it is now. And they have been test optional for decades. While also maintaining low test score averages.

With more schools going test optional, the advantage of being a test optional school decreases as there is more competition to enroll the same students.
They're also very tuition dependent.

I don’t think that is true. They are one of the most financially fit institutions in the country. Better than UChicago, Tufts, Vanderbilt, Amherst, and others.

[Anonymous]

Grad here. Many of the pros have been mentioned:

Amazing, friendly accessible professors
Small classes
Beautiful campus
Excellent preparation for pre-professional
Study abroad houses
Great size. Not so tiny everyone knows everyone. But small.

Neutral (kid dependent) :

Very Greek . I wasn’t, and had a great social life. But Greeks dominate.

More conservative than many schools— old school Republican, not Trumpian

Negatives:

It’s Southern and race issues (black/white) have made depressingly little progress.

WFU is very isolated from W-S physically, and W-S is not a college town. And is pretty disappointing for a DMV kid. I grew up near WFU and still go back to see relatives. My parents insist the arts scene is awesome. It’s not. It’s just a lot better than it was 20 years ago.

The campus being physically isolated means Greek parties (which are often open) dominate social life. It’s a school where having a car on campus should be very. Very helpful.

Their humanities programs hear kids for professional school. It is not known for and doesn’t do a great job producing humanities PhD candidates. Non-premed STEM (CS, physics, math) are the weaker departments.

If you are a smart, wealthy, white pre-med, pre-law, pre-business kid who wants to do Greek, are preppY and good with a drinking heavy culture, you will love it. If you are “different” in Race, class, goals, That difference might not be celebrated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A school that will really struggle pist Corona. AVOID.

Why?

They are struggling to get students to apply as it is now. And they have been test optional for decades. While also maintaining low test score averages.

With more schools going test optional, the advantage of being a test optional school decreases as there is more competition to enroll the same students.
They're also very tuition dependent.

No. They are coming up in the rankings and much more competitive than formerly. Working in a niche for the top 5% and 1% who are preprofessional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grad here. Many of the pros have been mentioned:

Amazing, friendly accessible professors
Small classes
Beautiful campus
Excellent preparation for pre-professional
Study abroad houses
Great size. Not so tiny everyone knows everyone. But small.

Neutral (kid dependent) :

Very Greek . I wasn’t, and had a great social life. But Greeks dominate.

More conservative than many schools— old school Republican, not Trumpian

Negatives:

It’s Southern and race issues (black/white) have made depressingly little progress.

WFU is very isolated from W-S physically, and W-S is not a college town. And is pretty disappointing for a DMV kid. I grew up near WFU and still go back to see relatives. My parents insist the arts scene is awesome. It’s not. It’s just a lot better than it was 20 years ago.

The campus being physically isolated means Greek parties (which are often open) dominate social life. It’s a school where having a car on campus should be very. Very helpful.

Their humanities programs hear kids for professional school. It is not known for and doesn’t do a great job producing humanities PhD candidates. Non-premed STEM (CS, physics, math) are the weaker departments.

If you are a smart, wealthy, white pre-med, pre-law, pre-business kid who wants to do Greek, are preppY and good with a drinking heavy culture, you will love it. If you are “different” in Race, class, goals, That difference might not be celebrated.

2003 grad here and I tend to agree with pretty much all of this. I had a fantastic time my four years and loved a lot about it (I was not Greek, but was friends with, partied with, and dated them). The study abroad opportunities were amazing and that was one of my favorite semesters. Essentially I wanted to go to a smaller school that still had great sports and great academics, and WF fit the bill (bball and football were still fun to watch back then).

All that said, I will not encourage my kids to look at it unless they somehow miraculously qualify for some amazing scholarships. It was ridiculously expensive when I went 20 years ago, and is even more insane now. While I think it is a fantastic school in many ways, I couldn't in good conscience justify the cost.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's a safety school for aspiring Duke and Vanderbilt students. Good school with a solid regional reputation. A step above a Davidson.

Ah, no. Davidson is harder to get into (Davidson ranges from 14% - 19% admittance and WF's best ever was Class of 2021 with a 26.9% admittance rate. Not even close.) Definitely not a step above! WF is a great school, but my DD hated everything about it on her visit. Not sure why, it was a feeling she got and she was not impressed at all.

[Anonymous]

My daughter came very close to committing to Wake. We visited it 3 times. I would describe it as a rich southern party school with hard classes and a huge emphasis on greek life.