Brandeis vs. Wesleyan vs. BU?

College Search & Selection
1

I was accepted to all three of these schools as a transfer student. The deadline is coming up in the next two weeks so I really have to start making some decisions. This year I attended Colgate University and I really disliked how fratty / ultra rich, ultra preppy the culture as a whole was. I also didn’t really get much from the heavy sports culture, and the location was so isolated. The one thing I did love about Colgate was how excellent the professors were and the classroom experience as a whole.

I am looking to double major in English / Film. As a person, I would say I’m nerdy, but not super weird - I’m fairly mainstream. I do drink but not a huge drinker. I know Wesleyan has an amazing film program, but the location is really making me hesitate (I would really like to be near Boston). I love Brandeis’s location / initial vibe I got from the school during my visit, and I know academically it is really strong, but they didn’t offer me housing. I truthfully don’t know as much about BU as I do about the other two, but I don’t love that it is directly in the city.

Just any guidance as to what the typical student is like there / how easy it is to double major at these schools / what the social life typically is like at these schools?? Thanks in advance!

2

You’ll be transferring as a what?

3

@circuitrider as a sophomore! i was a freshman this year, sorry for not clarifying

4

As a sophomore at Wesleyan you’d very likely be housed with other sophomores in a traditional dorm either on Foss Hill or The Butts (short for Butterfield.) Wesleyan guarantees you housing for all four years, with gradually more independent alternatives each year. I say go with your gut. If you’ve already visited Brandeis and you like it, I can’t honestly say that Middletown offers anything even remotely equal to being a station stop on the Boston T. Wesleyan is a self-sufficient bubble with a highly talented student body that manages to fill every nook and cranny of performance space on campus every weekend. Even native New Yorkers have been known to miss being there during lengthy school breaks. I think the alumni network is stronger at Wesleyan, but, if you go there, it would have to be because you like being on campus (with normal school breaks) and not because it’s convenient to any city bigger than New Haven.

5

@abemoose FYI

4 metrics:

  1. Percentage entering elite professional schools (for MBA/JD/MD).
  2. Production of “American Leaders”, who are mostly leaders in business, government, and the arts.
  3. Percentage winning prestigious national student awards.
  4. Percentage getting PhDs.

Wall Street Journal’s Top 50 Feeder Schools.
Wesleyan #27
https://hubpages.com/education/Wall-Street-Journal-College-Rankings-The-Full-List-and-Rating-Criteria

6

Wesleyan is probably the polar opposite of Colgate. It’s quite arty and hippie, smart, and liberal. But its rural. Not as rural as Colgate. But you are not going to be near a city. The town is cute, but it’s a town. BU, smack dab in the middle of a city, very urban. Personally, I don’t like it. Brandeis, a bit nerdy, smart, tolerant kids. I don’t know it well, but it’s repected. Wesleyan is the most prestigious of the three. In your shoes, I would choose Wes, but I really like Wes. I like arty hippie types. If I wanted more normality, I would go for Brandeis. I would not choose BU, too urban, too big, too ugly.

7

Personally I think Brandeis sounds like the best fit. There is a good amount of off-campus housing easily walkable but of course late in the game for next semester. You can keep on the Housing Office. My d is an alum but when she was a junior and returned from semester abroad she lived in a dorm that consisted of a common room, no real kitchen facilities but 2 bathrooms and individual rooms for about 6 people. It was her and 3 friends, a random person they didn’t know and one room was vacant. I can’t remember the name but it was right near the newly opened Village. I had another friend’s d who lived off campus with a mixed group of male/female but she was ill when she returned to campus for her senior year and needed to live in a more-sterile environment and they quickly accommodate her.

8

I have to respectfully disagree with those who believe that Wesleyan’s location is remote and that Middletown is a small town. Admittedly, it is not near (or in) Boston like the other two. However, having spent several hours in downtown Middletown with my daughter on three separate occasions when she was a prospective student, my opinion is that you can and will find that it does not feel small or isolated in the way you found Hamilton, NY to be. Hartford is seventeen miles away, and Boston and New York City are within striking distance for the occasional day trip. In addition, as pointed out by @circuitrider, you would benefit from an abundance of social and cultural activities right on campus. Based on how you describe yourself and what you are seeking, I see you at Wesleyan.

9

@apple23 @circuitrider @Lindagaf I went to see Wesleyan today and I really liked it! The location is still not ideal, but the campus feels very much like what I’m looking for. What I’m mostly concerned about right now is the film program, which they made sound highly selective? One of the biggest reasons I’m transferring is that I want to major in film (which I can’t do at Colgate), and going to Wesleyan only to be rejected from the film major would be a nightmare. Since you spoke about Wesleyan, what do you know about the film major there? Is it something that a lot of people get rejected from? Or is it just you need to be a good student in order to get in? For context, I maintained at least all A-'s in all of my classes at Colgate, with an A+ in the intro to film class I got (my GPA for the year is probably around a 3.8 - 3.9ish?)

@bookmama22 what was your daughter’s experience with Brandeis beyond housing?

Thank you all so much! This is very helpful

10

Post on the Wesleyan forum, you will get a better answer. Good luck.

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Getting into the Film Major.
http://www.wesleyan.edu/filmstudies/prospective/major.html

12

I vote Wesleyan with Brandeis as runner up. Among other things, the housing complications give me pause.

Middletown is no big whoop, but is hardly “rural,” especially compared to Hamilton & environs.

Waltham’s proximity to Boston is nice, but it would be worth asking how much students actually take advantage of that day to day.

13

I’d contact the department chair of the film studies department at Wesleyan and talk with them about getting into the film studies major as a sophomore transfer. You have to meet with the department chair to apply to the film studies program, anyway, so it’s worth getting a handle on. I’d also spend some time thinking - what would you do if you couldn’t get into the film major at Wesleyan? What would you do instead? Would you resent being at Wesleyan (especially in a big town instead of nearby Boston) if you had to major in English only rather than majoring in film?

Brandeis also sounds like an excellent fit and it does have an open film & TV major. What do you mean they didn’t offer you housing? Does that mean you have to secure your own housing as a sophomore? How would you go about doing that?

It sounds like you’ve already ruled out BU in your mind.