<p>Hi, I was wondering if any of the parents/students have visited Clark or Wheaton in MA? I was looking for match/safety schools and came across Clark which seems to have a good psychology/education program. I also found Wheaton which was a "new" one for me. It seemed to be a small but solid college, but I don't know what strengths it has, if any. Both seem diverse too which my S would like. Any input from anyone with more info would be appreciated. We would like to make a MA trip this summer and hit a few.
Thanks!</p>
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<p>Debruns, check out the Wheaton thread here on CC....I've written a couple of things about the college as an alum......good luck!</p>
<p>I'm a Wheaton alumna, although I graduated before it went coed. One of my S#1's friends is a sophomore there now, and he is very happy there. When TC entered 2 Septembers ago, there was a huge housing crunch, but I understand that they have rectified that problem. The traditional departmental strengths at Wheaton have been (in no particular order) art history, economics, government/international relations, classics, English, philosophy & religion. Which is not to say that the sciences are not well taught; they are, but they don't attract as many students.
The campus is the epitome of "New England Ivy covered LAC" -- you couldn't do better in a Hollywood design studio. It used to be the oldest women's college in the USA, before going coed, but has never had the name recognition of the "Seven Sisters." It was founded by Mary Lyon who went on to establish Mount Holyoke several years later.
If you will pm me with some more specifics, I may be able to help more. </p>
<p>About Clark, I am clueless :)</p>
<p>We took a look at Clark. It was one of the school's my daughter would have applied to if she didnt get into her early decision choice.</p>
<p>Something they have that is intersting and very appealing - they offer a fifth year FREE to students who maintain a certain gpa - and it wasn't a ridiculously high one either - we were told a good percnet qualify and of those a fair number take advantage of it. My daughter was interested in education so this seemed like a particularly interesting (and affordable) way to pick up a masters degree.</p>
<p>Something else that characterizes Clark - they pride themselves on the diversity of their student body. There were some schools we looked at where we sat in the cafeteria looked around and thought everyone looked alike - definitely not the case with Clark - and it was one of the things we liked about the place. And I'm not even just talking about minority representation - just a lot of different types of people.</p>
<p>We also looked at Clark and my daughter absolutely loved the psychology program there as well as the diversity. What she didn't like was the location - we really didn't like Worcester and it was too far from Boston. Had it been located just about anyplace else I think it would have been one of her top choices.</p>