<p>I am a first year at Wellesley college, and trust me, I know the stress of dealing with applying to schools and deciding where you want to go. I know many of my peers have basically abandoned College Confidential to embrace all that is college life, and to some degree I have, too. However, I wanted to come back and answer any questions you guys might have about the application process, student life, social life, classes, college etc. I will try to be as transparent as possible, but I will not chance anyone or tell anyone my own scores or what I wrote on my essays. I think these are all general things one can find on chance threads or essay-writing threads. One thing I've discovered is that chance threads are really not a great way to gauge your chances of getting into a school, so I would advice you against it. There are other websites that are more successful with chancing. Anyway, ask away and I will do my best to answer in detail with complete integrity.</p>
<p>As you probably know, I am a busy college student and finals are coming up, so I will be responding about once a week.</p>
<p>I will join in as well and like, inconspicuous.s.n., I will be buried in finals and such. However, I will try my best considering how blessed I was with the resources CC provided for me last year. :D</p>
<p>I’m a mom of a sophomore Wellesley student, so on her behalf (she’s not on CC) I will answer a few of your questions from her experience.</p>
<p>1) C’s on report cards - yep! They also have + and -. My D’s GPA in HS was 3.9 (unweighted) and her first year at Wellesley was a little south of 3.5 and included a C. She estimates she studies around 8 hours a day.</p>
<p>2) Long term relationships - yep! She met a guy from MIT within the first two weeks of her first year, and they are still dating now almost half-way into their sophomore year. </p>
<p>3) Freshman weight-gain - yep! I don’t know that it’s because of the food is good, she claims it’s just fattening. </p>
<p>4) I don’t know the statistic, but I doubt it’s that high?</p>
<p>I work in the Registrars office, so I know first hand the type of grades that Wellesley students make. I know plenty of people who had atleast one C on their report card (typically on their firstyear first semester report). By no means does everybody get A’s and B’s. Most people make mostly B’s and maybe one A. I think studying 8 hrs a day sounds a little high, but it depends on what your taking. I would say 6-7.
I’m not going to lie, there is a strong and present hook-up culture between MIT and Wellesley, but I know people who date men from all area Universities. However, I do know a lot of people who date MIT, BU, and Harvard (less common because we don’t really cross paths with them as often and their parties are near impossible to get into). There are plenty of girls here who meet guys, but as a first year it is very difficult to meet men for the first couple months. It gets a lot better, but at first…meeting men can be very frustrating. Meeting men has a lot to do with knowing people from area schools, so it might help to have a friend from MIT, BU or Harvard that can get you into parties (not MIT, or BU…those aren’t exclusive).
The food here is inexplicably healthy. There are so many healthy options and so much walking, that if a student were to gain the infamous freshman 15, it is because they made a beeline for the fried foods line or got dessert multiple times a day.
There is a visible queer presence here…more than at a typical co-ed school, but it isn’t overpowering. I come from a very conservative area and I have adjusted great! There are all different kinds of women at Wellesley, and I think a student who can’t deal with that would not feel comfortable here. I mean, they aren’t trying to hide their homosexuality, but they aren’t flaunting it either.</p>
<p>I applied to four of the major women’s colleges last year, so I think I can give a good. detailed description of the major differences.</p>
<p>Rank: I know it seems like we’re all stuck on prestige, but in the real world, it really does matter how prestigious your school is perceived to be. Wellesley is the highest ranking women’s college out of the seven sisters. Now, this is not to say that the other seven sisters do not have their strengths. All schools attract intelligent women from diverse backgrounds. It’s just that, because of Wellesley superior ranking, it’s more well known, and it attracts, in my opinion, some of the best professors in academia. I think places like Barnard, Smith, Mount Holyoke, etc, do as well, but I truly feel like Wellesley attracts the highest caliber in many different fields.</p>
<p>The connections: Wellesley students are able to take classes at MIT(well…it’s MIT), Olin(most exclusive engineering program in the US), and Babson(strongest undergrad business program)…all the highest/higher caliber coed schools in the US. The most similar thing to it is Barnard’s ability to take classes at Columbia, but they have a very antagonistic relationship with Columbia. MIT and Wellesley have a strong connection, and there isn’t a antagonistic relationship because they realize Wellesley is the best you can get for it’s particular brand of education and vice versa. It’s the Harvard of the seven sisters, essentially. </p>
<p>Campus: Wellesley’s campus is the best of both worlds. It’s in the suburbs, which can be great because students can be academic and focus when they need to. The town of Wellesley is lame, though. However, Wellesley has access to the commuter rail and peter pan to Boston, a major city. We have a better campus life than Barnard. Barnard’s is sort of nonexistent because it’s in New York city. Mount Holyoke is rural, but just over the bridge from Smith, which is in Northampton (a small town). None of those two are by a major city.</p>
<p>I have to STRONGLY disagree with inconspicuous s.n., and I’m a sophomore, so I think I may be a bit more qualified to comment on these particular aspects of Wellesley life.</p>
<p>Regarding the food: it is NOT healthy. Healthy options do exist, but the vast majority of food is terrible for you. You’ll love it for about a semester and a half, and I guess that’s the period in which most girls gain weight (I didn’t happen to fortunately), but after that…holy god, it’s painful to eat the food here. I’ve lost 10-15 lbs since I first came here because the food is THAT BAD.</p>
<p>Regarding Harvard parties: they really aren’t that hard to get into. The likelihood of your getting in depends on a few things: your year, your appearance and who you know. First years definitely have an easier time because guys perceive them as more easily taken advantage of (and unfortunately it’s often true–I speak from personal experience). If you’re conventionally attractive, you have an infinitely better chance of getting in. But if you know someone with the power to get you into a party, be it a member of a finals club or the host of a dorm party, none of the aforementioned factors matter, you’ll get in.</p>
<p>Honestly, the hardest thing about Harvard parties is finding them. Everything else is pretty straightforward.</p>
<p>I generally use the senate bus when I’m going out to party, occasionally I’ll go into Boston for the day but there just isn’t that much incentive. It’s definitely more interesting than Wellesley but it costs $6 round trip and I have trouble justifying that when I’m usually going out later that night anyway. Last year I was out pretty much every weekend, as of late I have become a little bored with Boston (and with the party scene) so I don’t use it as much.</p>
<p>Teas…I went to one tea for Phi Sig. Not my thing. I just can’t force conversation like that. You need to be really charismatic and good at schmoozing which is totally not me. There are cool girls in societies but among the people I know/hang out with being in a society is not exactly a good thing…not really a BAD thing either per se, but they get judged. Justifiably, I think, if you need to join a society to make friends then you’re probably doing something wrong. </p>
<p>I’m not so much into the traditions. I went to Lake Day for the first time this year and it was kind of fun–they had a little train running around campus that we could ride, a bounce house, random things like that. </p>
<p>I guess my favorite traditions aren’t really what are conventionally referred to as traditions, but they are things that happen every year and that everyone knows about: Dyke Ball and Block Party. Dyke Ball is amazing, I was very fortunate last year and managed to get ahold of a ticket (they usually sell out in a matter of hours). It’s a celebration of queer pride and people generally dress in as little clothing as possible (literally: thongs and duct tape over nipples are common. I saw a girl with a strapon too). Block Party is sponsored by SBOG (Schneider Board of Governors, they organize on-campus parties/big events) and the three societies. They usually bring in big musicians but I can’t remember who they had last year. Both parties are crrrrrazy–a lot of people get HAMMERED and go wild. </p>
<p>I forgot! We have Fall Fling, which they bring big artists in for as well. This year it was Chiddy Bang. They have an equivalent event in the spring but I can’t remember what it’s called. Last year they had Passion Pit for that. </p>
<p>AND there are free shirts if you get there early for Fall Fling which is awesome!! Free clothes!!</p>
<p>Yeah, I was reading about societies and tea-ing and they definitely don’t fit me… I like what you said about joining a society to make friends is a little iffy.</p>
<p>But thank you so much! What you said helped quite a bit. ;)</p>
<p>wellesleygirl had a pretty comprehensive answer but I have a few points to tack onto hers. The Senate Bus runs all day Friday and directly to Boston after 6pm on Saturday and Sunday. Any earlier buses take you to the Riverside T stop, which costs 1.70 to ride and has a lot of stops on the way to Harvard Square and can take up to an hour and 10 minutes to get to Boston. Transportation is one of the few issues that I have with Wellesley. I think we should be able to get a few buses directly to Boston on the weekend. It’s really inconvenient.
I have no personal experiences with societies and tea-ing.
Favorite traditions…well, I wasn’t able to do this, but I think it’s really adorable how they trick all the firstyears into going to the lake and jumping before classes start. I also really love Lake Day. It’s a day where classes are usually canceled (or people skip) and relax on Severance green with all the cupcakes and fried dough you can eat!</p>
<p>Oh, and yes, Fall Fling was absolutely amazing! Chiddy Bang and Best Coast came to perform for us! The concert had the most adorable ending too: this wellesley girl proposed to her girlfriend on stage for everyone to witness. It was the cutest thing ever!</p>
<p>Also, Wellesleygirl, how is that disagreeing with me? You are agreeing. If you have to know someone, then that is the equivalent of exclusive. You can’t assume that everyone knows someone from Harvard. Also, to be perfectly honest, Harvard parties never live up to their hype. The crowd is always fairly homogeneous. There’s barely any dancing 95% of the time.</p>
<p>I think the food is healthy for the most part, but as far as options go, I think AVI fresh needs to diversify their menu. I eat at StoneD a lot and the food is ALWAYS the same thing.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what you mean by tricking the first years into jumping in the lake…it’s just part of the tradition, you do it if you want to and don’t if you don’t want to.</p>
<p>My point was that you don’t need to know someone to get in, but if you DO know someone then you’re in no problem. </p>
<p>I’ve been to probably one or two Harvard parties where there wasn’t any dancing, and I’ve been to a lot of Harvard parties. It’s a big school. It’s really difficult to make a generalized statement about what their parties are like because there are all different kinds of people throwing all different kinds of parties. I’ve been to dancing parties and non dancing parties. I’ve been to parties that absolutely sucked and I’ve been to parties that were awesome. The people I party with tend to “go hard” (geting pretty drunk and dancing), so that’s why most of the parties I go to have dancing. Homogeneity, maybe…never really noticed that w/ regards to race, but in terms of social class, definitely. </p>
<p>The only generalizations I can make from the parties I’ve been to at Harvard are the three points that I made in my last post. And that you will be looked down upon by the vast majority of Harvard men (and women) you encounter, but most of them will try to hide it until it becomes clear that you’re not going to hook up with them. This is not descriptive of everyone there, but this has been my experience with most people. If you find cool people there, HOLD ONTO THAT FRIENDSHIP!!</p>
<p>I live in Stone-D too and the food is horrible horrible horrible. The staff there really just don’t care about the food they’re serving or the people who eat it–in fact I know at least one of them actively despises us and has made this very clear on several occasions (I’ve talked to AVI about this, they said they “disciplined” the worker but who knows what that means). I lived in McAfee last year and the service/food at Bates is infinitely better. The people who work there are soooooo nice and they really make an effort with the food; even if it’s not always great, I appreciate their attempt to be creative with what they’ve got so much.</p>
<p>I meant tricking as in pranked.
Contrary to popular belief, knowing someone from Harvard is not as easy as it seems. The only people I know at Wellesley that have Harvard friends are people who knew them in high school.
Harvard parties are always fairly homogeneous race-wise. I’ve found this to be a huge issue as a woman of color.
I mean, I think the stereotype that Harvard people are conceited is somewhat true, but I feel like thats really because of their circumstances. I mean, I don’t really mind their attitudes. How are they supposed to act? They are in an environment that is considered the best everywhere. I’ve met conceited people at Wellesley, too. I’ve also met a lot of people at Wellesley with inferiority complexes about Harvard…but, then again, that’s pretty much every top school with the exception of Harvard.
Fausto in Stone D is really sweet and there is one other guy who is really nice as well. I would agree that the rest of the workers are meh.</p>
<p>That’s what I’ve always said too. If I went to the best school in the world–literally–I don’t think I could help but be a little elitist. But that’s not an excuse for how they (people who act elitist) act. You can feel that way without expressing it through your behavior.</p>
<p>I don’t think you’re understanding my point though. I know how difficult it can be to meet people from other schools–in this case, Harvard. I came from a public high school that definitely didn’t send anyone to Harvard and I didn’t know anyone there; the people I know there now I only know because my Wellesley friends were already friends with them.</p>
<p>I’m saying that you do NOT need to know someone to get into parties. You really don’t, but you will definitely have a more difficult time without knowing someone. BUT, if you DO know someone, you will have no trouble getting in. </p>
<p>About expectations…difficult to say. I honestly didn’t have many. Wellesley was the only liberal arts school I applied to and, out of all of my schools, the one I least expected to go to. I didn’t interview or visit until after I was accepted. I didn’t know what to expect, which was really stupid, I should have done more research.</p>
<p>I think the one expectation I had was that it would be really, really hard, and that hasn’t exactly been my experience thus far. The first semester of my first year was really tough because, like I said, I came from a public high school and was not in any way prepared for the Wellesley workload (but I also took the “explore! take whatever classes you want!” thing literally and took two difficult classes). But you adjust quickly, and if you’re smart I don’t think it’s THAT difficult to get good grades (not to say you’re not smart if you don’t). For many classes, you don’t need to put in a ton of effort to get a B, but getting that A requires a llooootttt of work. A lot of my friends don’t think that one letter grade higher justifies the amount of effort it takes, but I tend to be a little more obsessive.</p>
<p>Also, inconspicuous, I’m not trying to take over your thread–hope you don’t mind me answering questions :(</p>