Hamilton or Wesleyan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmm ... the school founded by Alexander Hamilton (Hamilton) vs. the school that educated the creator of the Hamilton musical juggernaut (Wesleyan)???

Might be another Aaron Burr v. A. Ham level match up ...

I'll play. I preferred Wes' campus to Hamilton and so did my kid.

My kid loved Hamilton but said 'we're done' 30 minutes into their Wes visit. Didn't end up at either.

Where did they end up?

Bowdoin

I like Wes, it was a "feel" thing. Kids are weird; they ruled out Holy Cross because they didn't like the name.

How was holy cross campus and student energy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain what’s with the historic eliteness to Wesleyan? There’s not a single standout program there that clarifies to me why everyone is riding on its past prestige? Every other top LAC has easily identifiable academic programs that make them well known, but Wesleyan just…doesn’t?

Used to be called little Yale or little Ivy back in the day.

Got a lot of interest recently for theater crowd because that is where Lin Manuel-Miranda went and where he staged an earlier version of the Heights I think.

None of that is academic programs. Yale has the best law school in the country and is elite across the humanities; its history department is the best in the nation. What does Wesleyan have?

+10000, Wesleyan is not that impressive, it just happened to have good associations with better schools. For how much alum talk about its arts, it doesn’t lead in a single program amongst lacs. If they were any smart, they’d close the grad programs, convert that funding to undergrads with more professors and facilities, and put their eggs in a basket where their image could change. Amherst rides heavy on its law school outcomes, Williams has the Econ and math grad outcomes, etc. Currently, there’s nothing demonstrable that Wesleyan gives you elite outcomes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmm ... the school founded by Alexander Hamilton (Hamilton) vs. the school that educated the creator of the Hamilton musical juggernaut (Wesleyan)???

Might be another Aaron Burr v. A. Ham level match up ...

I'll play. I preferred Wes' campus to Hamilton and so did my kid.

My kid loved Hamilton but said 'we're done' 30 minutes into their Wes visit. Didn't end up at either.

Where did they end up?

Bowdoin

I like Wes, it was a "feel" thing. Kids are weird; they ruled out Holy Cross because they didn't like the name.

How was holy cross campus and student energy?

I liked it and I think that the kid did as well. Pretty typical kids for the most part and they seemed bright and engaged. This kid is picky, Skidmore was too artsy, Wes too artsy and didn't like the buildings. Field in the middle of everything felt different. I think that HC would have stayed on the list if not for the name. Like I said, kids are weird; I don't ask, I just pay the bills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hmm ... the school founded by Alexander Hamilton (Hamilton) vs. the school that educated the creator of the Hamilton musical juggernaut (Wesleyan)???

Might be another Aaron Burr v. A. Ham level match up ...

I'll play. I preferred Wes' campus to Hamilton and so did my kid.

My kid loved Hamilton but said 'we're done' 30 minutes into their Wes visit. Didn't end up at either.

Where did they end up?

Bowdoin

I like Wes, it was a "feel" thing. Kids are weird; they ruled out Holy Cross because they didn't like the name.

How was holy cross campus and student energy?

I liked it and I think that the kid did as well. Pretty typical kids for the most part and they seemed bright and engaged. This kid is picky, Skidmore was too artsy, Wes too artsy and didn't like the buildings. Field in the middle of everything felt different. I think that HC would have stayed on the list if not for the name. Like I said, kids are weird; I don't ask, I just pay the bills.

Me and your kid seem very aligned. Wes campus just confuses me and looks horribly sad to my eyes, but many love it.

[Anonymous]

Wesleyan is known for its deep connection to the film/tv industry, often tagged as "the Hollywood mafia."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is known for its deep connection to the film/tv industry, often tagged as "the Hollywood mafia."

Nope, that’s Emerson. And that title is stupid and been attributed to various schools. The reality is that Hollywood has way more UCLA, USC, NYU, and Yale/Harvard grads than people Wesleyan has ever graduated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can someone explain what’s with the historic eliteness to Wesleyan? There’s not a single standout program there that clarifies to me why everyone is riding on its past prestige? Every other top LAC has easily identifiable academic programs that make them well known, but Wesleyan just…doesn’t?

Wesleyan has historically had a very strong science program as compared to other SLACs, and still does. That is because it is larger than other SLACs, grants PhDs in the sciences, and has excellent science facilities, giving undergraduate science majors many more opportunities than are available at the smaller LACs.

It provides great support for kids who want to get MDs or PhDs. At one point in my department in a top 3 medical school we had a senior faculty member, a junior faculty member (me), and 2 residents who had graduated from Wes.

I’ve rarely meet faculty members or trainees (resident or fellow) from other SLACs, but Wes alumni of all ages are all over the place in medicine.

If you aren’t in science or medicine then you might not be aware, but this is truly a “standout area” for Wesleyan.

This is where my ?s form. Wes isn’t a top 20 grad feeder for any of the sciences, and I was being generous and tried to include CS, Psych, and Math just in case I missed something. It isn’t even in the top 40 for almost any of those. It also isn’t unique in its premed matriculation- all of WASP and most top 20 LACs have a better med school acceptance rate with a very similar amount of students applying to med school (Wesleyan is around 50 applicants per year, and most WASP schools are a similar number, Amherst has a higher applicant total and acceptance rate).

Lastly, I work in the sciences. I’ve been to various national conferences and do work in Optics. Wesleyan grads are nowhere interesting to be found or anywhere more common than other grads. I’ve frankly met way more people from Williams, Pomona, and Mudd than the 2-3 Wesleyan grads I can recall.

I’m more convinced that Wesleyan had a bit of an overstated reputation due to its “Little Three” affiliation and hasn’t really found its bearing in a program or outcome that’s unique. Reminds me a lot of Haverford, which has a similar history of being compared to the top lacs (it was seen in a similar light to how swarthmore is today) but hasn’t rediscovered or realigned its strengths with the times.

+10, Wesleyan has not been a household slam dunk WASP peer for decades. It really isn’t much different to Hamilton now, may be worse.

A lot of people who do the hiring are, however, older, and running at least 10-20 years behind the current trends. We also don’t obsess over fine gradations in SLAC rankings (until our kids apply to college).

I went to Wes, so I always take a second look at alumni applications. My spouse - who did not got to Wes, but says he thinks I’m smart - has hired 2 Wes grads in the last 10 years, and both have been fantastic.

So we know that if we hire a wes alum then there’s a good chance that we can get a smart and hard-working individual who is curious about the world and can write coherently.

However, I think the same about most SLAC grads! Although, oddly, I am not very familiar with Hamilton, and may not have even clocked it as a SLAC until our kids started thinking about college.

In summary, not that long ago Wesleyan far better known than Hamilton, and both hiring managers and grad/prof school selection committees skew old, so - fairly or unfairly - Wes might still provide an edge in thar respect.

Don’t you maybe think you have this perspective, because you’re an alum? I’m in a highly competitive industry, and if I see a Wesleyan student, I’m not taking them as seriously as I will a WASP/CMC/Middlebury alum.

I've heard references to SWAMP rather than WASP reflecting Middleburys increasing strength particularly in Finance.

Middlebury is not at that level yet. Half of WASP isn’t even known for finance, it’s about historic legacy, grad school admission, and unique undergraduate offerings at the elite level.

Middlebury was T5 in LACs for decades until they started adding nonsense like FGLI et al to the USNWR rankings. Middlebury was also slow about aggressively expanding their endowmentthough hopefully that will cahnge with Patton out the door.

I looked it up. Top 10 for 17 of the last 20 years, and top 5 for 11 of those years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is known for its deep connection to the film/tv industry, often tagged as "the Hollywood mafia."

Nope, that’s Emerson. And that title is stupid and been attributed to various schools. The reality is that Hollywood has way more UCLA, USC, NYU, and Yale/Harvard grads than people Wesleyan has ever graduated.

What's with all the Wes hate? Wesleyan has an impressive and respected film presence/influence, particularly for a LAC. The number of Wes alums in the industry in positions of creative/financial power is greater than many of its peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is known for its deep connection to the film/tv industry, often tagged as "the Hollywood mafia."

Nope, that’s Emerson. And that title is stupid and been attributed to various schools. The reality is that Hollywood has way more UCLA, USC, NYU, and Yale/Harvard grads than people Wesleyan has ever graduated.

What's with all the Wes hate? Wesleyan has an impressive and respected film presence/influence, particularly for a LAC. The number of Wes alums in the industry in positions of creative/financial power is greater than many of its peers.

And this is documented where and how. The issue with Wes folks is they run on emotion.

[Anonymous]

I am an academic in the humanities and encounter people who went to Wesleyan all of the time in my line of work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is known for its deep connection to the film/tv industry, often tagged as "the Hollywood mafia."

Nope, that’s Emerson. And that title is stupid and been attributed to various schools. The reality is that Hollywood has way more UCLA, USC, NYU, and Yale/Harvard grads than people Wesleyan has ever graduated.

This is actually correct - and comparing Wes to Emerson is ridiculous because it’s a far for academically selective and rigorous school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is known for its deep connection to the film/tv industry, often tagged as "the Hollywood mafia."

Nope, that’s Emerson. And that title is stupid and been attributed to various schools. The reality is that Hollywood has way more UCLA, USC, NYU, and Yale/Harvard grads than people Wesleyan has ever graduated.

This is actually correct - and comparing Wes to Emerson is ridiculous because it’s a far for academically selective and rigorous school.

Emerson…not rigorous? Maybe if you don’t respect arts education, which makes this comment absolutely inane.

[Anonymous]

Since 2010, the average rank of Wesleyan has been 19. It is not a serious or elite school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is known for its deep connection to the film/tv industry, often tagged as "the Hollywood mafia."

Nope, that’s Emerson. And that title is stupid and been attributed to various schools. The reality is that Hollywood has way more UCLA, USC, NYU, and Yale/Harvard grads than people Wesleyan has ever graduated.

What's with all the Wes hate? Wesleyan has an impressive and respected film presence/influence, particularly for a LAC. The number of Wes alums in the industry in positions of creative/financial power is greater than many of its peers.

Wesleyan is renowned for film thanks to an outstanding professor (now retired)

https://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/jbasinger/profile.html

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/jeanine-basinger-wesleyan-film-professor-845817/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/alexander-payne-documentary-jeanine-basinger-1235880434/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is known for its deep connection to the film/tv industry, often tagged as "the Hollywood mafia."

Nope, that’s Emerson. And that title is stupid and been attributed to various schools. The reality is that Hollywood has way more UCLA, USC, NYU, and Yale/Harvard grads than people Wesleyan has ever graduated.

What's with all the Wes hate? Wesleyan has an impressive and respected film presence/influence, particularly for a LAC. The number of Wes alums in the industry in positions of creative/financial power is greater than many of its peers.

Wesleyan is renowned for film thanks to an outstanding professor (now retired)

https://www.wesleyan.edu/academics/faculty/jbasinger/profile.html

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/jeanine-basinger-wesleyan-film-professor-845817/

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/alexander-payne-documentary-jeanine-basinger-1235880434/

Now retired, and the school is on the downtrend.