Why don't more kids want Wesleyan?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is very progressive-liberal. You really have to want this kind of intolerance-in-the-name-of-tolerance mindset to be happy there.

I have noticed among my kids' peers, there has been a dramatic decline of interest in the LACs among boys and even many girls who just want a non-political environment to study and have fun for four years. It's unfortunate but the schools have themselves to blame.

What’s amazing about the world is we have data. None of the LACs talked about on this forum are struggling with enrollment and have the highest amount of applications year over year. You’re making a generalized statement based off of…how many kids do you know? If you want to make a political statement or whatever, make it, but no need to make up mythical children and their desires when you can just speak openly that you have an agenda.

This isn’t a diss, by the way, on conservative education. I’m well aware there’s real education to be had at hillsdale or liberty or what have you, but if those are your type of schools, live in with it and leave others alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, the title of this thread is "Why don't more kids want Wesleyan?" I won't go into all the details, but I'll tell you that if you look through other threads, talk to alums, and look at online surveys, you'll find that my kid is not the only one with this impression. Not fed by me. Of course different kids have different experiences and move in different crowds. I like the school and we know multiple happy kids there. I'm answering OP's question and giving one data point based our DD's visit and her conversations with many current students. If you'd like a thread where no ill is spoken of impressions of the school by prospective students, feel free to start one!

This is only if you take the post for granted. Wesleyan gets a healthy amount of applications more than some of the top lacs. It’s pretty damn popular.

We don’t particularly care about the the kids who want to go to USC or Alabama, because that student has preferences that have little in common with Wesleyan. The question becomes why would a student choose Pomona or Williams or Middlebury or Grinnell over Wesleyan? Those environments aren’t any less “progressive liberal” than Wesleyan, so it’s something else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look, the title of this thread is "Why don't more kids want Wesleyan?" I won't go into all the details, but I'll tell you that if you look through other threads, talk to alums, and look at online surveys, you'll find that my kid is not the only one with this impression. Not fed by me. Of course different kids have different experiences and move in different crowds. I like the school and we know multiple happy kids there. I'm answering OP's question and giving one data point based our DD's visit and her conversations with many current students. If you'd like a thread where no ill is spoken of impressions of the school by prospective students, feel free to start one!

This is only if you take the post for granted. Wesleyan gets a healthy amount of applications more than some of the top lacs. It’s pretty damn popular.

We don’t particularly care about the the kids who want to go to USC or Alabama, because that student has preferences that have little in common with Wesleyan. The question becomes why would a student choose Pomona or Williams or Middlebury or Grinnell over Wesleyan? Those environments aren’t any less “progressive liberal” than Wesleyan, so it’s something else.

My post quoted above was responding to the two earlier questions about DD's visit there and impressions. I should have quoted in my response to make that clear. She is applying to many of the SLAC's you named here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, the title of this thread is "Why don't more kids want Wesleyan?" I won't go into all the details, but I'll tell you that if you look through other threads, talk to alums, and look at online surveys, you'll find that my kid is not the only one with this impression. Not fed by me. Of course different kids have different experiences and move in different crowds. I like the school and we know multiple happy kids there. I'm answering OP's question and giving one data point based our DD's visit and her conversations with many current students. If you'd like a thread where no ill is spoken of impressions of the school by prospective students, feel free to start one!

The negative reviews on niche mention the drug culture. So it likely exists to some extent, like many other schools. I never ran with any one in the drug crowd, so mentioning it likely wouldn’t have occurred to me.

The net cost of attendance seems significant. If financial aid is generous, really a huge factor.

[Anonymous]

The drug culture stuff is crap. I am a goody goody who has never touched drugs and felt very comfortable there. It was very to each his own. Never felt peer pressure.

[Anonymous]

DC was an athlete recent grad - had a great experience, but the athlete divide is real. He was able to make some good non-jock friends but he said the majority of teammates (helmet sport) rarely spoke to (or interacted with) non athletes in their 4 years on campus. They party with the same girls team every week, sit with themselves at dinner every night (all year not just in season), and take the same classes together. Hard pass for younger siblings based on this social divide

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC was an athlete recent grad - had a great experience, but the athlete divide is real. He was able to make some good non-jock friends but he said the majority of teammates (helmet sport) rarely spoke to (or interacted with) non athletes in their 4 years on campus. They party with the same girls team every week, sit with themselves at dinner every night (all year not just in season), and take the same classes together. Hard pass for younger siblings based on this social divide

I feel like this is typical lots of places, especially SLAC's. Truth be told, I think it's reduced at Wesleyan because of the relatively large size and the general non-sports-bro vibe. Never heard discussions of the divide between athletes and NARPs at Wesleyan ("non-athlete regular people") like I have at Amherst and Middlebury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC was an athlete recent grad - had a great experience, but the athlete divide is real. He was able to make some good non-jock friends but he said the majority of teammates (helmet sport) rarely spoke to (or interacted with) non athletes in their 4 years on campus. They party with the same girls team every week, sit with themselves at dinner every night (all year not just in season), and take the same classes together. Hard pass for younger siblings based on this social divide

I feel like this is typical lots of places, especially SLAC's. Truth be told, I think it's reduced at Wesleyan because of the relatively large size and the general non-sports-bro vibe. Never heard discussions of the divide between athletes and NARPs at Wesleyan ("non-athlete regular people") like I have at Amherst and Middlebury.

As the parent of an athlete at Middlebury whose best friend and roommate is a ‘NARP’ I will say that the athlete/NARP divide at Middlebury exists mainly in the minds of people here on DCUM. The larger teams do tend to stick together more than the smaller ones but aside from ‘pre-game’ the parties are open to all. Different groups with common interests tend to hang together just like anywhere else but nobody is excluded.

[Anonymous]

I never get these posts about divides. I mostly ate slept and partied with the same people at a massive state school, because those were the people I liked and knew. Nothing really crazy about it. I guess this matters to people who desperately want to be friends with an athlete for…reasons? But it really all seems like a made up problem-athletes are people lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is very progressive-liberal. You really have to want this kind of intolerance-in-the-name-of-tolerance mindset to be happy there.

I have noticed among my kids' peers, there has been a dramatic decline of interest in the LACs among boys and even many girls who just want a non-political environment to study and have fun for four years. It's unfortunate but the schools have themselves to blame.

I think just the opposite: you "have to want this kind of intolerance-in-the-name-of-tolerance" to cross schools like Wesleyan off your list out of fear of them. It's a complete fantasy, so only people who really want to believe in it will find it a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is very progressive-liberal. You really have to want this kind of intolerance-in-the-name-of-tolerance mindset to be happy there.

I have noticed among my kids' peers, there has been a dramatic decline of interest in the LACs among boys and even many girls who just want a non-political environment to study and have fun for four years. It's unfortunate but the schools have themselves to blame.

This is spot on accurate. Kids are exhausted with the political climate and it's wrecking their mental health.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wesleyan is very progressive-liberal. You really have to want this kind of intolerance-in-the-name-of-tolerance mindset to be happy there.

I have noticed among my kids' peers, there has been a dramatic decline of interest in the LACs among boys and even many girls who just want a non-political environment to study and have fun for four years. It's unfortunate but the schools have themselves to blame.

I think just the opposite: you "have to want this kind of intolerance-in-the-name-of-tolerance" to cross schools like Wesleyan off your list out of fear of them. It's a complete fantasy, so only people who really want to believe in it will find it a problem.

I don’t so. It sounds awful if you are not super lefty.

Wesleyan Is Too Liberal For Our Own Good: Why Shutting Out Conservatism Is Detrimental to Our Education

https://wesleyanargus.com/2024/02/05/wesleyan-is-too-liberal-for-our-own-good-why-shutting-out-conservatism-is-detrimental-to-our-education/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look, the title of this thread is "Why don't more kids want Wesleyan?" I won't go into all the details, but I'll tell you that if you look through other threads, talk to alums, and look at online surveys, you'll find that my kid is not the only one with this impression. Not fed by me. Of course different kids have different experiences and move in different crowds. I like the school and we know multiple happy kids there. I'm answering OP's question and giving one data point based our DD's visit and her conversations with many current students. If you'd like a thread where no ill is spoken of impressions of the school by prospective students, feel free to start one!

“Drugs permeate daily life” is pretty specific—and it’s just not true. And, honestly, “look through other threads” is pretty hilarious as a source of evidence. “I’m making an unfounded assertion based on other unfounded assertions I found on this anonymous forum known for unfounded assertions!” LOL.

Now, if you had said, “my daughter doesn’t like weed,” maybe you’d have something—it’s certainly true that weed is as prevalent as alcohol at Wes, so if your daughter is looking for keggers and doesn’t want to see marijuana use at parties, Wes absolutely would not be for her. I’m guessing that this is true of most schools now, but my current direct knowledge is only of Wes, so I won’t make any assertions based on second- and third-hand internet rumors.

[Anonymous]

Well, to be fair, I also mentioned online surveys and other methods. Here's just one of several that suggest that weed use, in particular, is more widespread at Wesleyan than at other top LAC's. Straight from recent student surveys ("Note: No ranking list reflects The Princeton Review's opinion of (or rating of) the colleges. A college's appearance on a ranking list in the book is entirely the result of what its own students surveyed by The Princeton Review reported about their campus experiences as well as how they rated various aspects of their college life."

https://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings/?rankings=reefer-madness

[Anonymous]

Wes has long been known as a druggie school.