Academic Rigor of Wellesley

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wellesley College
1

<p>Hi all,
I'm applying to wellesley this fall and I would like to hear about the academic rigor at Wellesley. I attend a competitive public high school (top 50) where numbers are everything and frankly it is a rather disheartening if not poisonous environment. Teachers are not that great either.</p>

<p>I don't particularly want to attend a school where it'll be a repeat of my high school. I don't want to be stuck in my room from afternoon to midnight studying 7 days a week. </p>

<p>I've also heard that Wellesley classes have averages of B+s? What does this mean? I've also heard it requires a LOTTTTT of work to get an A while it's not too hard to get a B. This alarms me quite a bit- how much is "a LOTTTTTT" of work? While I am not an All-As-Forever-And-Always snob I am disappointed in myself the few times I get Bs.</p>

<p>Thanks for your time!</p>

2

<p>Oh, and if it helps any I’m a prospective English major looking to law school for the future. However Id appreciate responses for within my projected major as well as the general academic trends here. Thank you again!</p>

3

<p>Wellesley is not a relaxing environment academically. However, the faculty is excellent and it’s an amazing and outstanding educational experience. And a ton of work.</p>

<p>The B+ policy: at Wellesley the mean grade in 100 level and 200 level courses with 10 or more students should be no higher than 3.33 (B+). So since most if not all students at Wellesley are used to receiving nothing less than an A in HS, this means what was an A is now a B+. It is definitely a paradigm shift.</p>

<p>It’s a fabulous school for the right student, but it doesn’t sound like it’s what you are looking for.</p>

4

<p>My daughter’s first high school was a “poisonous” environment like the one you describe. Basically, it killed her desire to learn, because it was all about the grades. So she transferred to an academically solid private school that had a more balanced view of things. It was great for her, and this fall, she started her first year at Wellesley.</p>

<p>She loves it there. Although it is competitive and there are definitely very driven students there, for the most part, they are driven by the desire to learn something, not to stack up As for their transcripts. As the student speaker at orientation told the new class, “you’ve already gotten in, so you can relax.”</p>

<p>My daughter now feels free to take academic risks, such as trying a third language and taking courses in subjects not available in high school. I have no idea what her grades will be, but frankly, I don’t care, as long as she is getting something interesting and valuable out of her classes.</p>

5

<p>@Massmomm,
Thank you very much for the personal details and your individual piece of insight! Its reassuring that someone understands where I’m coming from.</p>

<p>It certainly sounds like a great environment, attending Wellesley with the goal of learning for the sake of learning. I’ve seen this reoccurring sentiment many times on different online articles and forums, and I genuinely want to be a part of such a community.</p>

<p>I do have one question, however- is your daughter planning on going on to grad school? Just wondering how grad school plays into all of this- because I do understand that grad school is still a competitive aspect and goal of many college students and at a wonderful but admittedly difficult academic setting such as Wellesley, I’m concerned I won’t seem as competitive of an applicant (academics wise) if it is so hard to get a good GPA here.</p>

6

<p>You can view information about the grading policy, including a cover letter that is sent with Wellesley transcripts, at:</p>

<p>[Grading</a> | Wellesley College](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/registrar/grading]Grading”>Grading | Wellesley College)</p>

<p>According to information published on their website, Wellesley students do fairly well in admission to graduate programs:</p>

<p>[Outcomes</a> 2011-12 | Wellesley College](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/admission/guidancecounselors/outcomes]Outcomes”>http://www.wellesley.edu/admission/guidancecounselors/outcomes)</p>

7

<p>My d (also a Wellesley freshman) went to both a to magnet school and a less rigorous public hs (we moved). She feels worked, and at times overworked, but she is living Wellesley, her classes, and her professors. First semester grades don’t count, and I think that takes some pressure off and helps students acclimate to the new environment and new expectations. She has been pretty active outside of classes, so it can’t be all work. :slight_smile: </p>

<p>And, yes, she is planning on grad school (like most of her otters at Wellesley). The grading policy was a consideration, but she ultimately felt the school was worth it, and she’s happy with her decision so far. (She did say that for many students, it took a while, and not everybody felt similarly. She also said that she would have worked more on extended pieces of writing and research in advance of attending.)</p>

8

<p>Yes, missdeecee, my daughter is definitely planning on grad school! I really wouldn’t worry at all about being a competitive applicant, because all of the top graduate schools are aware of W’s grading policy. At the gathering for admitted students we attended in the spring, when my D was still undecided, many of the recent alums there were already in various grad schools, including two at Harvard and another at MIT. If you want to go to Wellesley, I really don’t think the relative lack of grade inflation will be a problem.</p>

9

<p>Thank you all so much for your helpful information!
@college_query for the statistics & helpful links,
@sakacar for the personal stories (and the smiley face :-),
and again at Massmomm for answering direct questions & providing personal accounts!!</p>

<p>If anyone else would like to continue to comment, that would be very nice of you however I do believe I have the answers I need! I will go with my original plan of applying anyways and see where that goes…thanks again everyone!</p>

10

<p>sakacar - first semester grades don’t count for what? I haven’t heard this and my D is a second-year! Doesn’t mean it isn’t true, just means she tells me little!</p>

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<p>[Grading</a> System and Policies | Wellesley College](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/registrar/grading/grading_policy]Grading”>Grading System and Policies | Wellesley College)</p>

<p>According to this link, first semester courses do not count for Latin honors (cum laude, etc.). I can’t find anything that indicates that they do not affect GPA.</p>

12

<p>deecee,</p>

<p>If a large part of your self-esteem is wrapped up in your grades, then Wellesley might not be the right fit. The professors like to teach students those who are there for the love of the subject and/or interest in learning for learning’s sake. I know it sounds hokey, but it’s true. Granted, there will always be those students who are wrapped up in their grades, but I think the goal is if you were one of those people in high school, try and not to be like that in college.</p>

<p>You say that you’d get disappointed in yourself when you got Bs. I’d say be prepared for Bs (and maybe even worse) at Wellesley, especially your first semester/year as you adjust to college work. I think I’ve posted this story before somewhere, but I remember getting my first chem exam back with a C-. Flick Coleman was my professor (now retired… so sad!) and that exam was take home, open book. I had never had anything like that before and assumed that the exam would just cover the material gone over in class. So I blocked out, I think, around 4 hours the night before it was due to do it. Huge mistake!! Flick’s exam was so not about regurgitating the material. It was about taking the material and applying it in new situations and problems not necessarily covered in class - totally unlike anything I had been asked to do in a science class before. It asked me to really really know the material, in and out, not just memorization. So that C- was a wake up call: we’re not in high school anymore. I had gone to a magnet public with a science and tech emphasis so this wasn’t my first science experience. I think I ended up with a B+ in the class, which I was totally happy with because I worked my butt off in that class and learned lots.</p>

<p>Basically, you shouldn’t think that putting in a lot of effort/time will automatically equal an A. It’s not about quantity of the work you do, it’s about the quality. So you’re right, there are no easy As. The grading policy changed while I was a student (I’m dating myself now) and it was so that professors could accurately distinguish the really top students who deserved As, the next level of students with A-s, etc. etc. If you think about it, the grading policy is still a bit skewed if a B+ is supposed to be average, but that’s my opinion.</p>

<p>I remember talking with my HoH (now called RD = Residence Directors) and her saying that a lot of her time with first year students was spent counseling/advising those who would come to Wellesley, be shocked that they were no longer the smartest or brightest, and had trouble coping. Or they’re struggling to adjust academically and think they’ve made a mistake coming to Wellesley. Come on! It’s Wellesley! Of course it’ll be more challenging than high school! The profs have higher expectations! I totally had to adjust my study habits because what I could get away with in high school did not cut it at Wellesley.</p>

<p>I’m not trying to be an alarmist. I think just about everyone has that period of adjusting their first year, especially as people are coming from high schools with varying levels of difficulty. By sophomore year, it all evens out.</p>

<p>And don’t worry about grad school. I remember reading something some years back where the school did research like 5 yrs after they implemented the grading policy and found no difference in grad school/med school/law school/etc. acceptances - both in percentage and the types of schools - from what they were before the change.</p>

<p>good luck.</p>

13

<p>I guess I’ve been too busy teaching college and giving out C’s, D’s, and F’s to notice that somehow or other the average grade at an elite LAC has leaped to B±-and parents are complaining about that! Thirty years ago when I was a grad student TA at one of Wellesley’s neighbors, the TAs “learned” that the average grade should be a B-, and most of us found that outrageous. So what we have here is even more astonishing and might be due in part to the incredible pressure parents put on institutions to ensure that their Adam and Eve get into professional or grad schools. A B+ is a ridiculous average grade, and the students in my courses would give their eye teeth for a grade higher than a B+. It leaves no room to reward that rarest of virtues: excellence. You guys have created monsters if you and your children are complaining about a B+ average as too strict. This ain’t high school, folks. Do you understand that if 9 students in the class have 90 averages and one student gets a 65, that the class average would be a B+. So it only takes one poor student or student having trouble at home that semester to push everyone else’s assessment into the land of EXCELLENCE! The heck with their grades! Encourage your children to love learning and to learn to be inquisitive, moral, compassionate humans and you will have created the best young lawyers, doctors, and engineers that you can.</p>

14

<p>This parent is not complaining about the Wellesley grading policy, and I don’t see any such complaints in this thread (nor do I recall complaints elsewhere in the Wellesley forum).</p>

<p>There is an interesting description of how grade inflation had gotten out of hand, and the steps the college has been taking to address the problem:</p>

<p>[CCAP</a> Grading Policy FAQ | Wellesley College](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/registrar/grading/gradingpolicyfaq]CCAP”>http://www.wellesley.edu/registrar/grading/gradingpolicyfaq)</p>

15

<p>jkeil911, the average doesn’t HAVE to be a B+; the mean grade cannot be HIGHER than a B+. And no parents are complaining, we were trying to answer the OP’s question. </p>

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</p>

<p>Receiving a grade of B at Wellesley requires an incredible amount of work. And my D was thrilled to receive a passing grade in a few of her classes!</p>

16

<p>I misunderstood then. I apologize. Is there a smiley face for chagrin?</p>

17

<p>My D is also at Wellesley and has found it very challenging. Her GPA after her first year was quite a bit lower than it was in high school, and she’s working much harder. I want to second what Jacinth_Ambrose said about grade consciousness; Wellesley students need to get over it fast and focus on the work itself, not the marks they’re getting for it. If you do not enjoy learning for its own sake, you will not be happy at Wellesley.</p>

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<p>There was actually a scheduled talk during orientation for first years to deal with this sort of thing. D didn’t go because she’d already been through the whole grade consciousness issue in her first high school, but her friends who went said that it was very encouraging.</p>

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<p>That’s reassuring.</p>

20

<p>My D (a current Wellesley 3rd year) shared this graph with me last year, which shows the effect of Wellesley’s “grade deflation” policy very effectively:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.gradeinflation.com/figure5newest.gif[/url]”>http://www.gradeinflation.com/figure5newest.gif&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I believe that other LACs have also tried to address this issue in the past few years and I would curious to see what a more recent evaluation of GPAs in the same colleges would show today.</p>

<p>My D’s experience at Wellesley mirrors that of NJSue’s D: she too has worked harder than she ever had in her IB high school for lower grades, but it hasn’t seemed to faze her at all. She’s gotten A’s in the classes that she is really good at, where her maximum effort results in a high quality of work. Where she has gotten lower grades, despite her maximum efforts, it has been in areas she is not as strong (chemistry/math) and she acknowledges that the quality of the work she was able to produce didn’t warrant an A. And I, for one, think that is as it should be. At some point in one’s life, you need to be rewarded for results alone, not effort, since that is the way the world generally works!</p>