<p>I've heard Wesleyan described as a "hippie school" Are there a lot of dedicated idealists, or is it more of just a trendy thing?</p>
<p>It's a little bit of both. While AWS has the reputation for harboring hordes of prep school graduates, no school where over half the families are paying full freight can truly be considered proletarian. Anyone following the "Top 20 Matriculation Lists" thread elsewhere on this site can spot an interesting trend: that Wesleyan appears more often than any other LAC. Thus, Wesleyan has found itself in the position of serving as the unofficial world headquarters for the Closet Preppy. The closet preppy is part idealist; he or she looks around the world (has often been around the world) and knows that it's a horribly inequitable place. OTOH, they know that if they don't work their own buttocks off, they will never be able to settle down and raise kids in the manner to which they themselves were accustomed--in a big house in the suburbs. Thus, the dilemma. Wesleyan tops the list for Peace Corps and Teach for America recruits every year, yet, some of the most vociferous activists will admit to you privately that they will likely apply to med school or even business school within five years of graduation.</p>
<p>Does Wesleyan also attract some idealists from a more disadvantaged background? What % feels like sheltered prep-school types to you? (not because there's anything inherently wrong with being prep-school, since people don't choose their background, BUT I've noticed I tend to have more in common with people from more colorful backgrounds where not everyone was epected to go to college let alone a private college.)</p>
<p>Btw, what % Wes students on financial aid?</p>
<p>About 13% of the Class of 2009 are the first members of their families to attend college. That's up slightly from the Class of 2008 (10%), down slightly from the Class of 2007 (15%.) This feels about right to me. Frankly, I think everyone at Wesleyan is an idealist to some extent; it's just a matter of how much time they are willing to take away from their studies --and from having fun. Wesleyan would be a very dull place if everyone wore sack cloth and ashes.:)</p>
<p>Oh, I luv fun:) I was only worried about being able to meet enough down-to-earth yet idealist sorts. So if I'm originally from a little redneck town where my middle-school friends are in the army or have babies, and I'm dedicated to sex education activism, and I want to make good grades because in the future I think I might want to go to grad school then work for an international NGO dealing with environmentalism and indigineous rights', I'd fit in somewhere...?</p>
<p>Escape: you could be my D (if you're a girl :) ). She comes from a middle class town, many classmates go to college, but many do not, no big houses here (6 room tiny house on .07 acres), has no need for big bucks because she didn't have th UMC background. Her first job after graduating from Wes was enviromental organizing. Now in NYC looking for an activisty job in an NGO. Activism and good grades (and fun) were all very important to her at Wes, and she accomplished all of them there.</p>