are a lot of wellesley girls the type of people who wanted ivy like anything?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wellesley College
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<p>well, that's pretty self explanatory. i get the feeling that some of the women that end up at wellesley are there because it's the number 4 lac (according to stupid us news) has a great reputation, there are free online apps, and they need a match/safety although they really want to go to "insert ivy type school here"</p>

<p>while I know this is certainly not true for most students, the one person besides me I know who is applying considers W a safety and really wants to go to ivy-league type school who shall not be named aka top private research university in a big city. With the overachiever "wendy wellesley" stereotype, I was wondering if a lot of students did not really want to go to wellesley. also, the acceptance is a lot lower for wellesley than for comparable women's schools, leading me to believe wellesley women are less self-selected than those at smith and bryn mawr and the higher sats and, in my opinion, more agressive marketing, lead W to be a school that is competing with the ivies. obviously, it's just as good academically, or about as good anyway, and it SHOULD attract ambitious women that aren't going to college to meet guys and party all the time.
FOr me though, I'm wondering if it would be a good fit for me because I have been exposed to a lot of achievement machine type people that only care about getting into college basically and its just not a healthy atmosphere because it contributes to my own self-doubt and makes me channel my ambition and future-mindedness into less than healthy venues, such as CC. Anyway, in college, especially at a women's college, I kind of want to cocoon myself in a great community and realize my academic and personal potential. I don't want to be planning in freshman year where I want to go to law/med/biz/ grad school as my friends were in hs frosh year.</p>

<p>pleeez respond. I know i've already posted asking about difference between bryn mawr, smith, and wellesley before, but please give me guidance as to where best to find the atmosphere I'm seeking.</p>

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<p>I really, really don't think this is true. First of all, tell your friend that Wellesley is a safety for no one, and I mean no one. When reviewing applications, Wellesley, as a small school, has the possibility to look at the applicant's whole personality as opposed to just stats and grades. There is no way to predict if someone will get in or not.
I applied to Wellesley as well as one ivy league school, and I actually filled out my positive reply card for Wellesley before I heard back from the other school, that is how passionate I am about the school. And there are a lot of people who think like me. In fact, most of Wellesley students consider their school just as good as the ivies, and there are so many advantages that Wellesley has over them; it is a smaller school without a grad program, so we get a lot of personal attention; we have an incredibly tight-knit alumnae network; etc. etc. In addition, our grading policy is stricter than in a lot of ivy schools; because the average in each class should be a B+ (please, no one turn this into a grading policy debate!), an A at Wellesley actually means a lot. I have encountered very few people who are only here because they didn't get into their first choice. Most people are very proud to be Wellesley women. The community is great and nurturing, and the amount of advisors you get is incredible. And I do firmly believe that Wellesley is self-selective, and I see no reason why the lower acceptance rate should indicate anything else. Maybe there are just more people self-select themselves for Wellesley than Smith and Bryn Mawr.
Hope this helps!</p>

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<p>Women at Wellesley run the gammut from "I have the next thirty-six-and-a-half years of my life planned out" to "I haven't the faintest idea what I'm majoring in, and I'm supposed to declare, tomorrow". On the whole, I would argue that the students tend to be high achievers who consistently try to better their academic performances. Whether or not this pans out is another question :) Although Wellesley might not have been every Wendy's first choice, I never heard many people complaining that they were only here because they didn't get into some other school. If they weren't happy, they transfered to a school that was a better fit for them (or they complained to no end without taking a proactive step to change the situation).</p>

<p>My parents called variously called Wellelsley "the bubble" and "your Utopia". Like the other Sister schools you've mentioned, it's an insular community with highly engaged members. Not only do students and faculty interact with each other, but the community also recognizes and includes staff members. Librarians, custodians, Campus Police, the grounds crew, greenhouse keepers, department assistants, dining hall staff, ResLife workers ... they aren't invisible people wandering around campus.</p>

<p>Wellesley is a richly supportive environment. My class dean sent a sympathy card to my family when my dad passed away. She also planned to join our class at the pub the night before some forms were due so she could sign them. My first-year advisor always said hello and asked what I was doing, even though I dramatically changed my academic plans and rarely saw her after my first year. The Science Library's main custodian would help students with their Spanish assignments. My two favorite dorm custodians would greet us every day and let us know if we should bring a jacket or umbrella to class with us. </p>

<p>The college is not perfect. Students consistently raise valid concerns about mental health issues, support for students with children, and other problems facing the community. The discussions are often heated and passionate; I miss seeing that kind of dedication and focused intelligence. It is not an apathetic school: students care deeply about their interests.</p>

<p>On a lighter note, I've heard many rumors about t-shirts that say, "Harvard: Because not everyone can go to Wellesley." ;)</p>

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<p>I picked one of those shirts up at the Reunion store a couple of years back.</p>

<p>Wellesley being Wellesley, students who apply there do consider Ivies. I myself am a proud Ivy reject and have no idea where I would have ended up had I had the option of choosing. I sure am glad I'm at Wellesley and it's funny because most of what I'm involved in at Wellesley doesn't exist (as far as I know) at any other school I applied to. Read: President of a club in support of something I NEVER did in High School. For that reason, I'm really glad I'm not anywhere else because I would have no idea what I would be doing with my life at any other school. Do I wish I was at Harvard? Only when I remember that I heard that the hardest part about the school is getting in, and I wish I didn't have to earn my education like a normal person. </p>

<p>If you really want to know how many Ivy/HYPSM rejects go here, hunt down the CC threads from April. I do have one friend here who applied to Harvard, Princeton and Wellesley, got rejected from the first two, and didn't set foot on Wellesley's campus until orientation seeing as she didn't have a choice in the matter and figured visiting beforehand was useless. The admission topic only comes up occasionally and I have just as many friends who were ED/first choice/what do you mean you wanted to go somewhere else? etc.</p>

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<p>thanks for the replies</p>

<p>why is wellesley consistenly ranked higher than other sister schools and have more people apply? can you just conjecture on that? I think i've tried to ask that question before without knowing what i was asking, asking all those ?s about w vs the other sister schools. i just want to know which is the best fit for me. i guess it's just another way of asking "why wellesley"</p>

<p>anyway, i've decided I want to go to a college with an educational philosophy that distinguishes it from other schools, so thinking in terms of where i could realistically be accepted and where i'm applying, i think it may come down to the women vs the jesuits.</p>

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<p>I honestly can't tell you as I've never set foot on a women's college that wasn't Wellesley. My discovering Wellesley was an accident, and my choosing Wellesley was inevitable after that accident.</p>

<p>But if I had to guess, I would say inertia. How do people hear about colleges? US News/college guide books, College Mail, family members who went there, friends who went there, mention in movies/popular culture, and sports teams. In general, students get very peeved when they proudly tell their relatives and friends that they are going to "BlahLibArts College" and their relatives admit they've never heard of the school. Which happens with Wellesley despite its reputation. I hadn't heard of it before junior year.</p>

<p>If a school gets a reputation for being a smart school, or the "best" school, it attracts students looking for the "best" school, and the application pool becomes competitve enough that you reject people who are pretty darn good. Schools get their reputations from the people they accept and reject. If your school's Valedictorian goes to, say Mount Holyoke, you're going to associate MHC with smart people. If she got rejected, from say, Dartmouth, anyone from your high school who gets in is going to feel proud of themselves. Dartmouth may seem mythical to students because Jane Valedictorian didn't get in. So, every year, all the smart kids get their parents to pay the application fee for Dartmouth to see if they might be better than Jane. More people apply to Darthmouth from Jane's high school and every high school and now Dartmouth has a larger pool of applicants and Dartmouth gets to reject more people and now more kids want to go. It's a vicious cycle. In short, Wellesley is the best Women's College because several years back it got that reputation and the reputation stuck. </p>

<p>The reputation is helped by the fact that Wellesley, being the best, is also the least obscure Women's College. So if movies/popular culture want to represent a Women's College, Wellesley is the one to stereotype because more average Joes will get the reference. Can you name all of the seven sisters?</p>

<p>Alums also help the college, both in name recognition and in hiring purposes. Famous alums like Hillary Clinton get Wellesley name recognition. Incidently, a group of 2010ers got Bill to wear a Wellesley scarf they were selling at a fundraiser, and their are currently pictures of Bill with his 2010 scarf all over campus. Non famous alums give Wellesley a reputation as well. I am told by other students that investment firms like hiring Wellesley students, because they ones they have already hired are hardworking and intelligent. I can name the colleges of several of my high school teachers went to as well, because they liked to promote them too.</p>

<p>But I go to Wellesley. I like it here: my mom likes to say that it was the only school that made her say wow in terms of the programs Wellesley has and what the students were doing (something admissions loves to emphasize). It does live up to its reputation, but from everything I hear from the rabid Smith dads (BJM8, TheDad), you're going to find as amazing stuff there.</p>

<p>In short, I don't think you can go wrong looking at a women's college. Or a Jesuit education either. My sister and a good high school friend went to College of the Holy Cross and loved it as well. Wellesley and Worcester are about 45 minutes away (I would know :-) ), so take a tour of both (if you haven't already).</p>

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<p>I never thought of myself as "rabid." But...thanks for the compliment!</p>