<p>Co-education really screwed things up. Each school reacted differently depending on their insecurities and explains a lot about why they are the way they are today. Wesleyan and Williams were traditionally the most isolated and decided to to maximize the number of women they could bring to their campuses. Wesleyan did it by doubling in size; within a very short period of time they were matricualting enough women to fill a campus the size of Bryn Mawr. </p>
<p>Wesleyan worried from the beginning that it did not offer enough courses that would be of interest to 1,000 women, so in a slightly sexist way it reacted by building acres of art, theater and dance facilities, tilting it dramatically toward the progressive, laid-back LAC it's known as today.</p>
<p>Williams had exactly the opposite worry; it was traditionally the smallest of the Little Three. It worried that with Wesleyan and Amherst holding on to its male student base while it was slowly trading its own for more females, that they would begin losing at athletics. They reacted by tilting heavily toward "scholar athletes", especially among male applicants. The result is a student body that is probably more sports oriented today than it was even in thirty years ago. </p>
<p>Amherst, because of its long relationship with Smith and Mount Holyoke, was reluctant to bring additional women to historic Pioneer Valley. It admitted the fewest women and grew the least. The result is that today, at 1600 students, Amherst is only a few hundred students bigger than it was in 1975. I think this explains a lot.</p>
<p>I always enjoy the Wesleyan man, John Wesley's, unique perspective, but I believe he overstates the sexual themes in distinguishing Wesleyan, Amherst and Williams. Wes does, indeed, have the highest female percentage, 53% to 47%. But Williams and Amerherst each have a 50%/50% ratio.</p>
<p>Wes' decision to "counter program", as it were, had less to do with the coming of co-education per se, than to other factors, including a far more leftist faculty and administration.</p>
<p>Even as Williams jocky reputation has persisted, and both Williams (1,995 students) AND the smaller Amherst (1,618 students) fill an eye-popping percentage of the freshman class with athletic recruits, both have held onto the top link of the teeny-tiny academic food chain - along with Swarthmore - while Wes (2,704 students) has lagged.</p>
<p>Creating an additional student body the size of an entire LAC is no easy task. Wesleyan handled it swiftly, efficiently and with lots of pluck. Other than the urinals in the co-ed bathrooms, there's little evidence today that Wesleyan was ever anything other than a co-ed college. There was a time when its selectivity dipped as a consequence of growing so fast, and this was reflected in a somewhat lower USNews ranking (it also effects other USNews indices like per capita spending and endowment--but, not class size; and, faculty/student ratios are very similar between the three colleges.) Wesleyan's 26% admission rate today is not that far from Swarthmore's 24% last year:
<a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/admissions/class_of_2008.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.swarthmore.edu/admissions/class_of_2008.html</a></p>
<p>Do any of you know anything about Sarah Lawrence? If you go to the SL post, there's somebody else that's interested. I'd like to find out more about the school too...</p>
<p>You're right, sorry! Brown is on top of my D's prospective college list. We plan to visit the campus this spring. Any advice on a 'must see' on the campus?</p>
<p>I didn't actually see much of the campus when I went. I wish I had, because now I know I will be attending, and, of course, it's currently one of the main things I think about. There are not really any "must-sees" of which I can think. I would see the main parts of campus that are most used/important (i.e., Lincoln Field, Van Wickle Gates, etc.). The tour should hit them. I also recommend getting a frozen lemonade if the weather is warm enough :)</p>
<p>I think some of the most breath-taking parts of campus are inside buildings, areas not normally seen on the tour.</p>
<p>I would suggest:</p>
<p>Take a peak inside the main hall of Sayles Hall, right on the main green. With Buttresses, chandeliers, old portraits, and the largest hutchings-votey organ in the world, it's a really impressive space.</p>
<p>Look at the reading rooms of the John Carter Brown library (also on the main green), the John Hay library, and the AnnMary Brown Library (at the back of this library is a crypt)</p>
<p>If you can, briefly visit the John Brown House and the RISD museum </p>
<p>Walk down picturesque benefit street--it is a continuous line of very old houses, many of which pre-date the revolutionary war</p>
<p>Check out prospect terrace at the corner of campus for an amazing view of the entire city of providence</p>
<p>Although Brown has a reputation for being politically correct, we should judge each human being individually and not based on the stereotypes associated with him/her/it/them/shem. Just kidding. Really, I'm sure there are a few hypersensitive politically correct people at Brown who give the school this reputation, but nearly every Brownie I've met (I know at least 50 people who will attend, have attended or do attend Brown) is laid back, difficult to offend, and accepting of different viewpoints. Take me, for example. I'm going to Brown next year, and I'm about the most offensive person at my high school. I even made a cartoon series mocking the school for its political correctness, and I don't think I'm an exception to the Brown student body. The school has a progressive, somewhat flexible philosophy, so of course it's going to draw a few PC liberals (or else it wouldn't have a reputation for being PC), but I'll bet these kids are a political minority.</p>
<p>Where are you from, Tore? Boston is a great city in which to walk around and go shopping. There are a good deal of shows and cultural events, but the city shuts down at around 10 PM and all of the clubs and bars are 18+ or 21+. Do you like it where you live?</p>
<p>I am from California. It is OK, I suppose, but Brown's being in Providence certainly had something to do with my preference for it. I was really focusing on the Northeast (New England especially) while choosing colleges. My grandparents live on the Cape and I really like the East Coast.</p>
<p>I've never been to California, but I do agree with you: the east coast is awesome! We may be cold and elitist, but we're sincere and educated. Yeah easterners!</p>