Chances at Wesleyan? Please Reply!

Chance Me / Match Me!
1

<p>First off, I'm only a junior and will be taking the SATs for the first time in Dec., so no score for that yet.</p>

<p>Personal: Vietnamese background, first generation American and first generation college-bound
GPA: 3.97 uw, 4.6 w
Rank: Top 10 among nearly a thousand in class of '06 (I go to a large public school in central Florida)
Courses taken: All honors or AP. By the end of this junior year, I will have completed 5 AP courses (AP Calc, English Lang., World History, European History [4], United States History)
I made a B in Cultural Anthropology and a C in Chemistry (regular university courses, not for kids) at CSULA, but I was only 12 (>.<)
I also have taken 25 courses (by the end of this year, I will have 26 credits)
ECs: Researcher/writer for non-profit Vietnamese-American Policy Research Institute (2 years so far), member of NHS, Mu Alpha Theta (math honor society that tutors), founding member of the video club, active member in the art club, new member in INTERACT (which is a branch of the rotary club), 2 years on the newspaper staff (one year as layout editor and another as club editor), and a crew member for our local television station, WOW-TV, part of the National Junior Classical League (for Latin)... I can't think of any more at the moment</p>

<p>So am I on the right track? I have my heart set on Wesleyan! I'm possibly majoring in film studies, English, philosophy, theatre, astronomy... I don't know, there are so many choices! I have an interest in practically everything non-science (besides astronomy)...</p>

<p>Here lies my dilemma: there was no room for Physics Honors this year on my sched., and because there are only 3 students, including me, are taking Latin 3 and will be returning next year, there might not be a Latin 4 or AP Latin class.</p>

<p>Wesleyan recommends 4 sciences and 4 foreign language, which I probably won't have. I don't want to look unbalanced with my 6 maths and 5 history courses (somewhere around there).</p>

2

<p>hey I'm a senior in high school that is obsessed about Wesleyan too. You seem to be on the right track and have better grades than I do. Good luck with everything.</p>

3

<p>Thanks! I really hope I am... if I don't get accepted next year (I'm going to apply ED1 for certain- nothing can change my mind now), I don't know what I'll do. Go to a community college, I guess. I'd feel like such a failure, since I'm really set on going there!</p>

<p>Anyhow, do you guys think my 3 sciences/3 foreign language will hinder me greatly? I might load on double-science next year. Who knows.</p>

4

<p>Effulgent...</p>

<p>While Wesleyan U. prefers 4/4, they also know that different schools may not have the capacity to ensure that every student can max out on science and math. It won't kill you, just make sure the recs, scores, and essays are excellent. Try and get 750+ on your SAT IIs, or take the ACT. Wesleyan can be unpredictable, like it was the last two years. I had a friend that got into "harder" schools than Wesleyan, but then got wait listed by the college.</p>

<p>Just make sure you have a few safeties, and you definately will not have to go to a community college if you choose not to. Just a suggestion. Try not to marry yourself to one school, I know it's hard, as I'm going through the same thing, although with a different school. Many of the other colleges on my initial list actually were similar to Wesleyan --like Carleton, Grinnell, Oberlin, Hendrix, Reed, Bates, Columbia, Vassar, Macalester, Whitman.</p>

<p>Anyhow, good luck on your app to Wes. :)</p>

5

<p>Hey there, Eff, I think you've got a good start there if you can nail your SAT I/II's (I'm actually unsure now if you have to take SAT II's...I'm sorry about that)</p>

<p>First, you've got some interesting EC's going for you AND you live in a geographically WesLess place (Florida). I think you've got a decent shot and I hope you consider applying ED if you can afford it, and RD if you have to wait for finaid.</p>

<p>However, please do take Blaineko's advice and consider some schools that are similar to Wes, like Oberlin, Grinnell, or Mt. Holyoke because like any top school, no one can guarantee admission to Wes until you have the acceptance letter in your hand. </p>

<p>But I wouldn't stress about it too, too much because wherever you end up, I think you've got a good start.</p>

6

<p>Well, there have been other colleges I have been looking at and am attracted to, but not on the same scale as Wesleyan.</p>

<p>Here's the deal: I <em>don't</em> want to go to an Ivy. I don't like schools that are excessively large and although they are prestigious, I don't have a great desire to attend one. The only massive prestigious schools I'd attend are the ones in England (Bristol, Cambridge, Oxford, Nottingham, etc.). I've always been an urban girl, and I love change (for the better, of course). I've lived in the suburbs for a little while, and I like its atmosphere a tad bit more than the urban one.</p>

<p>I definitely do not want to attend a public univeristy for the following reasons: a) they are massive, b) the intellectual atmosphere is not particularly stimulating, c) I could not care less about sports (which many of them have large emphasis on), and d) most do not have that unique quality I'm searching for. </p>

<p>However, I really like Vassar, Williams, and Carleton...</p>

<p>I prefer liberal arts colleges a teeny (miniscule, really) bit more than private universities.</p>

<p>What colleges do you think I should note or would be interested in?</p>

7

<p>Other schools of note:</p>

<p>Bowdoin
Scripps
Mt. Holyoke
Connecticut College
Amherst
Smith
Haverford
Bryn Mawr
Swartmore
Wellesley
Reed</p>

<p>Just my 2 cents, again. :)</p>

8

<p>Effulgent
i can related. during the summer ive visited cornell, boston u, boston c, upenn, and some more. my parents want me to go to cornell for the obvious reasons: its an ivy. however i didnt feel at home. after visiting liberal arts colleges, i realized that these are the places where i want to go. all i can say is that wesleyan is like home away from home. its great. people there are smart. they work hard and play hard. ive also managed to sleep over and attend a class. the class size is about 11 at the one which i was in. if u r interested in schools with beautiful campuses, then wesleyan is probably not right for u. vassar is the most beautiful school. and u dont have to go to a community college, im sure there are other places u can get into.</p>

9

<p>What is the campus like, exactly? I know it's not gorgeous (I can appreciate beauty, but it's not necessary!) but is it really <em>ugly</em>? I won't be able to feel comfortable in a school that looks like the back of an alley. I have barely seen any pics of it.</p>

<p>My good elder and educated friends (who are friends of the family) says the Wesleyan name lacks the prestige. Sure, it's no jerker like "Yale," but it's definitely prestigious. Or am I wrong?</p>

<p>I still have my heart set on going to this school.</p>

<p>Also, I just became the first president of the Video Club (which I have a real passion in)! Definitely going in the right track (I hope)...</p>

10

<p>Wesleyan is not "ugly." It's not going to be as gorgeous as say Yale because 1) we're not as structurally as <em>big</em> as Yale. We have very few buildings in comparison because we need less. The buildings we have are buildings you'd see at any college campus really...red brink buildings, you know? It's decent and fits our needs, I think. I like our campus because it is tiny and so, so easy to get across. I don't even need a bike. Some days the campus is just gorgeous when the sun sets a certain way and half the campus runs out with cameras to take it all in. </p>

<p>Wesleyan has prestige where it counts. If you're looking at grad schools, law schools, med schools....they all know Wesleyan. I wouldn't worry about this too much. (Think about it in relation to Johns Hopkins, which is also a very, very good school that doesn't get the publicity of say, Georgetown.)</p>

<p>Some schools that are very similar to Wesleyan that I applied to were Carleton and Haverford. </p>

<p>I understand you really have your heart set on Wesleyan. I'm not trying to dissuade you from coming here <em>at all</em> (trust, if you get in, it'll be really easy to find me and share the good news). This is the epitome of small-schoolness that you seem to really want and I'm glad you know you want that already. Too many people on this board take prestige over pragmaticism. </p>

<p>Personally, the best thing I've found at Wesleyan as a freshman is that the profs really know you. You can walk up to them at office hours and talk about anything and they really care. You won't find that at some of these other schools people think have more prestige.</p>

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<p>Red brick? I have never even <em>seen</em> a red brick school. I used to live in suburban Los Angeles (the really bad parts) after moving from Arkansas (where I was born). My parents went from non-college Vietnamese (illegal) refuges cutting up chicken for Tyson (and when they weren't doing that, they picked blueberries) in Arkansas to working 18 hours per day in textiles (sometimes at the factory, but usually at home, where a cramped room was used as a factory). Our flat was wrecked from earthquakes. Needless to say, WE WERE POOOOOOOR. Then, we catapulted to middle class when we moved to Orlando (which was only two years ago). My parents now are the stereotypical Vietnamese who do nails.</p>

<p>I'm going to play up every advantage I have when I apply next year (far off and kind of exploiting, I know).</p>

<p>My first languages were English and Vietnamese. I could understand English, but couldn't speak it until grade school (parents didn't know any of it).</p>

<p>Will this work for or against me?</p>

<p>I have no EC (besides drama and newspaper) in my freshman year. Is this going to hurt me? I moved to Florida late and had a rough time finding my niche for the first half year. I couldn't stay after school because I had to help out with the family (my grandparents just immigrated from Vietnam and we were living with a generous aunt). It wasn't until we bought our own house (the first we ever owned, and my parents were past 40!) that I was allowed to spare time for socializing and expanding my horizons (and all those other hackneyed phrases). </p>

<p>Wesleyan seems perfect. Small school intimacy, enough prestige, different enough for my liking. </p>

<p>Sorry about posting my history. Got a bit carried away...</p>

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<p>Oh yeah, to clarify. My parents are no longer illegal aliens (they really came here by boat from refuge camps in Thailand and Malaysia) but proud American citizens! Some people take this country for granted... (sigh)</p>

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<p>If you can sort of encapture that into an essay, it will help you, I think. I can't be sure because I don't work at admissions.</p>

<p>I think you genuinely want to be here, which will show through in an essay. It's very important because Wesleyan is to many a backup to Harvard or Brown, not their goal, and those kids are weeded out of the applicant pool.</p>