<li><p>middletown. i really liked wesleyan’s campus itself when i visited, but the town was kind of ehhh. i was a bit freaked out by the newspaper headline about the part of town known for its high rate of drug dealing. is middletown…safe? and perhaps this is a dumb question, but do they run a bus or something to get people to and from the airport at the beginning and ends of breaks?</p></li>
<li><p>getting into classes. i got the impression from several sources that getting into the classes you want is difficult. i thought i liked the larger size of 3000 but if it means you can’t take what you want…not so sure. how does the whole registering for classes system work? like at my town’s college (big state u) the freshman get first pick, then sophmores, etc. how much of a problem is it?</p></li>
<li><p>maybe this is another stupid question, because i haven’t heard of a college that doesn’t have it, but: wellness/substance free housing. is there such an option, or floor of a dorm, or whatever, at wesleyan? couldn’t find any info on their website. i don’t like being around drunk people so much.</p></li>
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<p>if anyone actually read this, thank you : )</p>
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<li> Middletown is sort of ehh. The last of the blue-bloods who occupied the mansions along High Street died in the 1950s; but, Middletown was decidedly proletarian way before that. Stone cutting and quarry work attracted immigrants beginning in the late nineteenth century. An entire town in Sicily sent its young people to Middletown to find work and they built a church on Washington Street (about a block from Honors College) that was based on the one that occupied the Sicilian town's square. When the Sicilian church was destroyed in WWII, a delegation was sent from Sicily to draw blueprints from the one on Washington Street.</li>
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<p>It's a fairly conservative town and well policed (it just elected a Republican mayor.) It was rumored back in the seventies that certain connections with the old country actually kept all but the pettiest crime out of Middletown -- and in New Haven, where it belonged. But, times change and the older Italian families have moved further out from town , leaving some holes in the formerly reliable, blue-collar neighborhoods that abut campus. I would say, that Middletown is still a relatively safe place; you <em>can</em> tempt fate by getting intoxicated and walking around alone at 3:A.M. -- I just wouldn't advise doing it on a regular basis.</p>
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<li> Wesleyan has a great curriculum with nearly a thousand wonderful courses to choose from, but, every year there are some that get singled out as especially cool and the competition becomes intense to get into them. Some of this has to do with distribution "expectations" -- everyone wants to get them out of the way as soon as possible and some of the more accessible (to non-majors) NSM courses are always in heavy demand. You may have to talk your way in, but, with patience, everyone eventually gets the courses they want.</li>
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<p>Government courses seem especially prone to over enrollment these days, and the administation is taking steps to correct it.</p>
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<li>Wellness dorms do exist and I believe there may even be a theme house that matches that description. I believe certain floors in Butts are deemed substance-free, but, Matt would know more about that. :)</li>
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<p>J.W. is right. There's a (very small) sub-free hall in Butt C and a program house called Well Being House (probably a more proactive option if you're really into that).</p>
<p>Expect some competition for classes like Intro Sociology or Intro Dance, and some of the NSM GenEds designed for non-science majors. I've never, ever had a problem getting into my classes, but that is not surprising for an astro/physics major like me.</p>
<p>1) As a freshman, I don't really go into Middletown all that much. But when I do, Main Street is a really short walk away, and it has gazillions of delicious ethnic restaurants, a movie theater, and lots of places willing to give you meager student discounts so you waste your money on their stuff. There are some reports of violence, but I really don't think it's that serious. Students here have been pretty safe. There have been reports of "townies" coming into dorms and trying to steal laptops, so lock those up and you should be okay.</p>
<p>2) There's a strange system of choosing classes that will be explained to you when you get here. Personally, I haven't had a problem with it and have gotten every class I wanted - if there's a class you want to take, and you don't get into it during course registration, if you just talk to the professor and explain why you really want to take that course, they're usually happy to let you in. However, due to complaints about the system, they're currently looking into alternatives and finding out how much of the time students really don't get the classes they want.</p>
<p>3) There's a small substance-free hall in the Butts that isn't very popular with the students who live there, and for sophomores/juniors there's a Well-Being House which is made up more primarily of students who actually want to be there. But I'm in a normal dorm and totally substance free and totally happy. As for drunk people, sure, there are a fair share of them on weekends, but no matter where you live and what school you go to, you can't really avoid that completely.</p>
<p>There was a student run jitney system that used to ferry people to and from the airport that I found extremely helpful at my last reunion/commencement visit. Not sure how that works, now.</p>
<p>Most of College Confidential consists of post after post of "OMG OMG 800/800/800/800/4.0/5.0/5/5/5/5 chances at Harvard?!?!?!?", so it isn't that helpful. I guess potential Wesleyan applicants are lucky this board is slow enough and perused by 4-5 levelheaded students and alums on a regular basis.</p>
<p>It's off in a little tucked away corner in the Butterfields (a dorm which is a little bit tucked in the corner of campus itself). Some of the people there didn't even request to be in substance free housing, but they didn't have enough people who did, so they were put there anyway? (At least, I have one friend who this supposedly happened to. I'm not sure if it's completely true.)</p>
<p>Really, there's a large enough "straight-edge" population here that you shouldn't be overly uncomfortable anywhere :D</p>
<p>Most Wes students are pretty savvy and realize that if they don't want to drink, they don't have to and it's still very possible to have a good time. And if you want to, it's possible to just drink a reasonable amount and a have a good time without getting "wasted" per se.</p>
<p>That said, some people really want to live in a community that actively affirms a substance-free lifestyle, so that's what the sub-free hall is. If you're into promoting that lifestyle, though, living in Well Being House is a good option after freshman year. They sponsor a host of programs including a Root Beer Keg party, board game night, and a dumpster diving clinic (?)</p>
<p>"It's off in a little tucked away corner in the Butterfields (a dorm which is a little bit tucked in the corner of campus itself). Some of the people there didn't even request to be in substance free housing, but they didn't have enough people who did, so they were put there anyway? (At least, I have one friend who this supposedly happened to. I'm not sure if it's completely true.)</p>
<p>Really, there's a large enough "straight-edge" population here that you shouldn't be overly uncomfortable anywhere "</p>
<p>the butts are definitely not the prefered dorm at wes. i was talking to one of the weswell counselors and she said that most of the kids who come in because theyre having trouble making friends and stuff live in the butts and that the butterfields freshman experience is FFFAAAAAARRRRR different than the foss hill freshman experience. they were physically designed to not facilitate student congregation or "riot proof" as they are called. they're also isolated from the rest of campus. I really like wesleyan, but the butterfields are most likely its worst feature.</p>
<p>I must respectfully disagree with WesRegular, as a two-year Butts RA. I really did not enjoy living in Foss Hill my freshman year. It was a zoo and my hall was exceptionally cliquely. Most of my friends lived in the Butts and I hung out there all the time. As an RA my hall in both years has been very social and probably not produced any more cases for OBHS than average. We have a central courtyard and our own dining hall and a fairly close-knit community.</p>
<p>Your opinion is yours, and my opinion is mine, but I would scarely call the Butterfields "the worst feature" of Wesleyan.</p>
<p>i know alot of people who also enjoy living in the butts, but they're alot more outgoing than I am. the butts can work for a certain type of person. IMHO if you are a little shy or anythingg similar, the butts and especially the coppenhagens, arent the best fit for you. It also helps if you have an involved RA as xmatt seems to have been. for my personality type and my experiences i would say that the butts are the worst feature. But, keep in mind that i love wesleyan so the butts being the worst feature doenst mean their like a death camp or anything. its just the one thing that keeps wes from being as great as it could be for me.</p>
<p>hey man, i can totally see myself hitting up the butts soph year -- as far as not making friends and coppenhagens and the like, one of my best friends at wes lives in one... it is a little out of the way, but she took the time to come and chill in fauver, and now we're tight. and her living in the butts makes us eat at summerfields more... mmm. </p>
<p>but yeeah, fauver is pretty hott. dude, i'm home on thanksgiving break and i miss the craziness. good people too. ^.^</p>