Why don't more kids want Wesleyan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s Brown lite. No moderates and certainly conservatives would ever step foot at Wesleyan and this predates Trump by many decades.

Not true. Certainly conservative students are in the minority, but they're there. My DC at Wesleyan has a close friend who is conservative (from TX) and another friend whose boyfriend is conservative (homegrown from CT). I get the sense that they are like George Bush-type old school conservatives, but still, they're not liberal. And they have friends and social lives at Wes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously- I think it is one of the best schools out there, much better than the top LACs due to the sheer DIVERSITY of academics one can take part in- Along with the typical liberal arts subjects, Wesleyan allows study in the College of Letters/Social Science, Molecular Biophysics (the sole undergraduate liberal arts college to be designated a Molecular Biophysics Predoctoral Research Training Center), Design and Engineering Studies, Integrative Sciences, and a fully-equipped Science and Technology Studies program. It gives students both the option to graduate in 3 years of 5 years with an MA, has a writing dorm community known as Writer's Block, has an amazing Public Affairs Center with very active programming with students, is constructing a new massive science center rivaling Amherst College, a new integrative arts lab, and most importantly the president is very level-headed and improving faculty diversity of thought and campus speech invites.

It is a much larger LAC (~3000 undergrads), has faculty with phd level projects, and it overall is a much more dynamic and diverse lab than the ones being propped up. What's keeping it behind?

If you can get in Wesleyan you can get into many places that are better looking, more fun, more famous, have better locations, are cheaper, and/or have better weather.

[Anonymous]

If Wesleyan was on metro north, it would be much more highly desired.

Seriously, even bridgeport would be better than being in middletown.

Ideally wesleyan would be in norwalk or stamford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both pomona and wes aren't all that impressive when it comes to academic horsepower of their students

Pomona has 1766 undergrads
436 freshman
155 freshman submitted sat
only 116 have sat above 1500

Wes has 3805 undergrads
824 freshman
335 freshman submitted an sat
only 83 have above 1500

Have you done this analysis for other colleges? I’d be interested to see you post it for all of the Top100 or so.

Are people really looking at what percentage of students have an SAT higher than X before committing? What a weird grinder/striver mentality.

My high performing DC wants to be around others like them. If you had a 1590 first sitting SAT as a sophomore, linear algebra as a soph you too would understand.

I'm not sure about that. My kid had a 1560 as a sophomore on her first and only try and the number of kids who had similar SAT scores wasn't really a consideration.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If Wesleyan was on metro north, it would be much more highly desired.

Seriously, even bridgeport would be better than being in middletown.

Ideally wesleyan would be in norwalk or stamford.

Agree that if Wesleyan had better access to public transport, it would be more people's #1. But disagree about Middeltown being terrible. It really isn't. Have you been? There's a sad strip mall area outside of town that you pass on your way in, but that's not Middletown proper. The town itself has a pleasant downtown and some nice restaurants, all walkable from campus. I think people just drive through the strip mall bit and assume that's all there is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both pomona and wes aren't all that impressive when it comes to academic horsepower of their students

Pomona has 1766 undergrads
436 freshman
155 freshman submitted sat
only 116 have sat above 1500

Wes has 3805 undergrads
824 freshman
335 freshman submitted an sat
only 83 have above 1500

Have you done this analysis for other colleges? I’d be interested to see you post it for all of the Top100 or so.

Are people really looking at what percentage of students have an SAT higher than X before committing? What a weird grinder/striver mentality.

My high performing DC wants to be around others like them. If you had a 1590 first sitting SAT as a sophomore, linear algebra as a soph you too would understand.

Consider applying to mathematics at Oxford or the like. Or a big state school that lets you skip prerequisites so she can find intellectual peers in the upper/grad level math classes.

[Anonymous]

The issue with schools like Wesleyan is that you pretty much have to do a post grad - Law, Business, etc.

No one is getting a job just doing a BA in Art or Sciences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Wesleyan was on metro north, it would be much more highly desired.

Seriously, even bridgeport would be better than being in middletown.

Ideally wesleyan would be in norwalk or stamford.

Agree that if Wesleyan had better access to public transport, it would be more people's #1. But disagree about Middeltown being terrible. It really isn't. Have you been? There's a sad strip mall area outside of town that you pass on your way in, but that's not Middletown proper. The town itself has a pleasant downtown and some nice restaurants, all walkable from campus. I think people just drive through the strip mall bit and assume that's all there is.

That’s what I have been thinking throughout this thread - all of these people must have driven into town from the west and didn’t check out the rest of the area - the strip mall area on 66 is pretty sad, but downtown Middletown is absolutely fine.

While there’s no train service in town, the closest commuter rail station is only about 15 minutes away.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Wesleyan was on metro north, it would be much more highly desired.

Seriously, even bridgeport would be better than being in middletown.

Ideally wesleyan would be in norwalk or stamford.

Agree that if Wesleyan had better access to public transport, it would be more people's #1. But disagree about Middeltown being terrible. It really isn't. Have you been? There's a sad strip mall area outside of town that you pass on your way in, but that's not Middletown proper. The town itself has a pleasant downtown and some nice restaurants, all walkable from campus. I think people just drive through the strip mall bit and assume that's all there is.

That’s what I have been thinking throughout this thread - all of these people must have driven into town from the west and didn’t check out the rest of the area - the strip mall area on 66 is pretty sad, but downtown Middletown is absolutely fine.

While there’s no train service in town, the closest commuter rail station is only about 15 minutes away.

I don’t understand how anyone could visit Wesleyan and not see Main Street? It’s like three blocks from campus; I just assumed everyone stopped there for lunch or a snack after the tour. I was just there visiting my kid, and it’s all decorated for the holidays—so charming.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both pomona and wes aren't all that impressive when it comes to academic horsepower of their students

Pomona has 1766 undergrads
436 freshman
155 freshman submitted sat
only 116 have sat above 1500

Wes has 3805 undergrads
824 freshman
335 freshman submitted an sat
only 83 have above 1500

Have you done this analysis for other colleges? I’d be interested to see you post it for all of the Top100 or so.

Are people really looking at what percentage of students have an SAT higher than X before committing? What a weird grinder/striver mentality.

Weird Asian grinder/striver mentality.

Who weirdly love to troll SLAC threads, yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue with schools like Wesleyan is that you pretty much have to do a post grad - Law, Business, etc.

No one is getting a job just doing a BA in Art or Sciences.

This is total BS. Just say you hate SLACs and keep it moving Asian NOVA Mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both pomona and wes aren't all that impressive when it comes to academic horsepower of their students

Pomona has 1766 undergrads
436 freshman
155 freshman submitted sat
only 116 have sat above 1500

Wes has 3805 undergrads
824 freshman
335 freshman submitted an sat
only 83 have above 1500

Have you done this analysis for other colleges? I’d be interested to see you post it for all of the Top100 or so.

Are people really looking at what percentage of students have an SAT higher than X before committing? What a weird grinder/striver mentality.

My high performing DC wants to be around others like them. If you had a 1590 first sitting SAT as a sophomore, linear algebra as a soph you too would understand.

This sounds so depressing. Hope your kid has fun with "others like him"!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If Wesleyan was on metro north, it would be much more highly desired.

Seriously, even bridgeport would be better than being in middletown.

Ideally wesleyan would be in norwalk or stamford.

Agree that if Wesleyan had better access to public transport, it would be more people's #1. But disagree about Middeltown being terrible. It really isn't. Have you been? There's a sad strip mall area outside of town that you pass on your way in, but that's not Middletown proper. The town itself has a pleasant downtown and some nice restaurants, all walkable from campus. I think people just drive through the strip mall bit and assume that's all there is.

No I've been to the downtown. It's not horrible but it's not great either. So many better college towns out there. It's just...well, mid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The issue with schools like Wesleyan is that you pretty much have to do a post grad - Law, Business, etc.

No one is getting a job just doing a BA in Art or Sciences.

And yet, somehow, many people find a way to never have to to graduate school

[Anonymous]

I'm one of the PP's who found the town to feel run-down and kind of depressing, and we were on Main Street, walked around a bunch, and had a couple of meals. But I will say that DD did not seem to care that much. She crossed Wesleyan off because of the drug culture. Yes, yes, yes it's at all schools but apparently permeates daily life more at Wesleyan than some others.