Why don't more kids want Wesleyan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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).

Also a Wes parent of a local public school grad and this about sums it up. And FWIW, Wes had a record number of applicants for the class of ‘29, so I think the suggestion that it’s unpopular is a little misplaced. Not a frequent topic of discussion on this board is much more accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

+100 I feel the same way about Wes (and the ranking of top SLACs) even though my kid ended up choosing a different NESCAC in the end.

[Anonymous]

Can't afford! NPC makes the cost unrealistic for my kid.

[Anonymous]

It wouldn’t hurt to beautify a bit. Pretty campuses are good for faculty retention and campus community.

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan does have a different looking campus

But my boarding school roommate ended up there and she was brilliant!

She just didn't get into Harvard even though her parents were alums of H & R

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't afford! NPC makes the cost unrealistic for my kid.

Same. Any suggestions for Wesleyan-adjacent schools that offer merit? Maybe Oberlin...

[Anonymous]

NP: I think in general, Wesleyan has a good reputation. The issue seems to be a combination of its target audience and competitive set.

It's not well know outside of the Northeast or among international students, so the target audience pool is smaller than the other top schools say Georgetown that may have a comparable level of academic rigor and faculty quality as Wesleyan. In my community (Northeast private school not in the DMV), every family has heard of Wesleyan, however, the families that would be most interested in this kind of left-leaning artsy LAC education Wesleyan has to offer will always choose Yale, Brown and Amherst first over Wesleyan. In our school, the top kids never go to Wes, so despite lots of positive feedback on the school over the years from kids who ended up there, it is perennially treated as a backup. Wes also competes with schools like McGill and St Andrew's.

I know 3 kids at Wes right now, all great kids and are super happy now but none picked Weslyan as a first choice. In fact, one waited until July to commit last year because they were waiting to clear wait list at a similarly ranked LAC after not getting into a couple Ivies and WASP, and almost decided to go to McGill instead.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP: I think in general, Wesleyan has a good reputation. The issue seems to be a combination of its target audience and competitive set.

It's not well know outside of the Northeast or among international students, so the target audience pool is smaller than the other top schools say Georgetown that may have a comparable level of academic rigor and faculty quality as Wesleyan. In my community (Northeast private school not in the DMV), every family has heard of Wesleyan, however, the families that would be most interested in this kind of left-leaning artsy LAC education Wesleyan has to offer will always choose Yale, Brown and Amherst first over Wesleyan. In our school, the top kids never go to Wes, so despite lots of positive feedback on the school over the years from kids who ended up there, it is perennially treated as a backup. Wes also competes with schools like McGill and St Andrew's.

I know 3 kids at Wes right now, all great kids and are super happy now but none picked Weslyan as a first choice. In fact, one waited until July to commit last year because they were waiting to clear wait list at a similarly ranked LAC after not getting into a couple Ivies and WASP, and almost decided to go to McGill instead.

Except that doesn’t actually seem to be an issue given the number of ED applications, which is the same as if not higher than peer SLACs (many of which are also second choices after Ivies). No one denies that many of the students at Wes had another school as their first choice…but find me a liberal arts school, with the possible exception of the top five, where that’s not the case (and I know of kids at Amherst and Pomona who had other schools as first choice).

This is a conversation in search of a problem. Many students have Wesleyan as a first choice. More, possibly, have it as a second or third choice. Many don’t find it appealing at all. This is the case for 99% of schools in the country.

[Anonymous]

As a class of 26 parent I know of four kids from three schools currently waiting on ED1 decisions from Wes, so it seems pretty popular. The only school where I’ve heard about more EDs for this year is Brown. apparently “everyone is EDing to Brown,” so some things never change

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Way way too liberal has been for over 50 years. No thanks!

+1. This. Kids not interested

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Now someone is just blithering.

Bucknell’s town gets rated as one of the prettiest towns. Not sure what you are talking about. Seems you got rejected and have a chip on your shoulder.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL4-dhisAni/?igsh=dHZtam5lYXRkYXhx

[Anonymous]

Ultra liberal school with limited Northeast limousine liberal appeal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan does have a different looking campus

But my boarding school roommate ended up there and she was brilliant!

She just didn't get into Harvard even though her parents were alums of H & R

Harvard & Reed ???

[Anonymous]

Radcliff ???

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan is seeing record numbers of applicants and they accept like 16 percent of them. It's a highy regarded school and difficult to get in.

What was the question again?