<p>How are you doing? I know that I am only a student that was just admitted to Wesleyan, but I learned quite a bit from speaking with my guidance counselor and with other people as well as from applying and taking standardized tests. So, I'm willing to help any concerned parents and/or students who find an interest in Wesleyan. Please address any concerns here. I'd be glad to help! </p>
<p>Is Wesleyan's financial aid office really as bad as they're coming off to me? They're very difficult to get in touch with (it's Tuesday 12:48, no one picks up and the message still says "we'll be back in the office on Tuesday at 9:00 AM), they are requesting a ton more stuff than any other school, and the lady that answers the main phone is usually distant and rude.</p>
<p>but all things have its goods and bads with them. what don't/didn't you like about wesleyan?</p>
<p>describe wesleyan students.</p>
<p>if I apply ED early, would I get a reply early? Say I send in my app way before 11/15; would I get a reply near the end of 11/15 or sooner? I'm guessing a lot sooner if I apply very early?</p>
<p>Can I send in things with my application as an undecided major? Things that you have made or done, stuff like that, that you can send in to show another side of you?</p>
<p>I'm going to skip jyi90's questions 1 and 2. Having just graduated I don't think I've really finished digesting all that happened to me over the past four years, and I also think the student body is too diverse to lend itself to a one-paragraph description. Just visit and stay overnight and check it out for yourself...talk to people.</p>
<p>As for applying ED, it doesn't matter when you apply. Everyone is notified on the same date (I believe it's around December 15 for EDI, and February 15 for EDII, but I didn't look those up so I don't know -- the dates are definitely listed on the admissions office's site though). The same applies for RD (and ED deferrals). Everyone is notified around April 1 regardless of when their app arrived at admissions.</p>
<p>Also, you can send supplemental materials (many people send artwork samples if that's something they were really invested in in high school). Remember that the admissions staff has to figure out a way to evaluate it. If it's some sort of art or music type thing, they might give it to a faculty member in the department to evaluate, or something. Before sending something, just try to put yourself in the adcom's shoes and imagine whether this would help you understand where this applicant is coming from, or whether it would just be burdensome. Good luck!</p>
<p>brand, normally, I wouldn't condone this, but I feel that you should leave a message urging them to call you back and to speak with you about Financial Aid. If the lady is rude, feel free to ask to be forwarded to a higher person (if there is a higher person) or e-mail the Wesleyan Financial Aid Office at <a href="mailto:tbarone@wesleyan.edu">tbarone@wesleyan.edu</a>. Wesleyan truly has an amicable admissions office, since they did not necessarily delay in sending you e-mails or in sending you decisions on their proposed date. Also, I feel that a lot of Financial Aid Offices have that same problem of not being able to answer Financial Aid questions very often. As for the rudeness, the lady at one of the schools that I applied to was very rude (though I won't mention a name for the sake of being courteous to that school.) Good luck!</p>
<p>Jyi90: Ok, what I don't like (and keep in mind that despite these problems I think this school is amazing).</p>
<p>First: self segregation along race lines. It happens. A lot. For a school that's supposed to be "diversity university," there seem to be a LOT of program houses devoted to minorities (esp. black and Latino populations, but Asian too), and large chunks of those populations seem to live in those houses and only associate with each other. It makes me kind of sad. </p>
<p>Second: Bureaucracy stuff. Class registration can be really annoying. And the housing lottery makes me want to tear my hair out—it's a good thing that Alpha Delt (which I am a member of) had open rooms after I got my lottery number, because otherwise I would have gotten TERRIBLE housing, and a few of my friends still don't know where they are going to live next year! </p>
<p>Third: A huge emphasis on political correctness. I'm for political correctness, but people here sometimes go overboard (IMO). OTOH, there are also plenty of people here who agree with me, so it's not that big a deal, just sometimes kind of annoying. </p>
<p>Ok, student body. As xmatt said, it's hard to describe in one paragraph, and you really should visit. Bu the words I like to use to describe it: quirky, passionate, intelligent, fun. We aren’t all the hippy/hipster activists that the stereotypes would indicate, but most Wes students are a bit quirky, somehow not mainstream (though there are the more "mainstream students too"), and really passionate about something. We're generally a smart bunch, sometimes an intellectual bunch, but we also know how to have fun. </p>
<p>Also, you can totally send along extra stuff even if you are undeclared.</p>
<p>I wouldn't bother. Most any place worth driving to (New Haven, Bradley Airport, Atheneum Diner, Wadsworth Falls, Lyman Orchard, or the train station in Meriden) will either attract volunteers or drivers for a reasonable fee.</p>
<p>brand: I'll have to think more about the money/good things to bring, but you def. want Hewitt or the Nics for dorms if you can get them...they're only Foss Hill dorms open to non-freshmen. Either one is good for a social person.</p>
<p>If you have a car easily available to you to bring, definitely bring it. Parking is very plentiful and a yearly parking sticker is cheap ($50 for the year). There will be some time when you want to go to Stop & Shop or Athenian or something and will be glad you did. There really isn't any other means of transit in/around Middletown other than walking, unfortunately.</p>
<p>Great I think ResLife said they set aside some spots in Hewitt and Nicholson for transfers. I'm thinking I'd like to stay in a dorm the first year and then maybe in a wood house my senior year, though I'm sure those are insanely hard to get.</p>
<p>Has anyone taken Japanese classes and are they really tough or doable? I like the language a lot but don't want to be stressed to the point that my GPA suffers as I'm planning on law school (philosophy major).</p>
<p>brand, what's the meal plan situation like for transfers? Will you be taking all of them at the Uz? Frequency of midnight munchies do play a role in the question of whether to have a car. Also, I don't know whether Xmatt meant to imply this or not, but, I almost get the feeling as though cars are being used like armored personnel carriers for getting around at night. Am I completely wrong about this, guys?</p>
<p>I didn't mean to imply it's unsafe to walk around Middletown, if that's what you mean. I never felt unsafe (although a 6'0" male I acknowledge my experience is different than other people's) It's just that Middletown Plaza (where Athenian, A&P, Japanica, Home Depot, etc. are) and Stop & Shop (also Bob's, now that it moved) are not within walking distance unless you're willing to trudge for over half an hour.</p>
<p>I am going into my sophomore year at George Washington University and I am starting to rethink my decision not to transfer.
I am from a very artsy, hippie town (northampton, MA, if you know it) and being home for the summer has made me realize how cut off i felt from that atmosphere and that crowd while i was at GW.
Wesleyan came to my attention as a school where i might be able to be around more of the type of people that i feel comfortable with, but i am not extremely confident about my chances of getting in.
is there anyone here who also based their decision to go to wesleyan on the characteristics of the student body, who can reccomend other liberal, active, open-minded schools on the east coast that i could apply to and maybe have better chances of getting into?
thanks</p>
<p>cma921: Vassar is another good one. Probably not much or any easier to get into than Wes, but if you can afford the application fees it can't hurt to try both. Also check out Bard, Hampshire, Sarah Lawerence, Connecticut College, Skidmore, Goucher. You might find some of them appealing and probably easier to get into than Wes (though I don't know anything about their transfer rates/stats). </p>
<p>PS. If you reconsider the east cost criteria, Oberlin, Grinnell and Reed would also be good options.</p>
<p>PPS. Northampton is a really cool place. I can see why GW might seem really different!</p>
<p>john - the meal plan is similar for any other Wes student in that I can choose any plan. I'm not sure which I should pick though yet. I do get the midnight munchies and hear the convenience store on campus is expensive.</p>
<p>xmatt - is there not public transportation to these places?</p>