<p>i have heard that wellesley has a very competitive atmosphere and the workload is extremely heavy to the point of interfering with social life (i know that a judgement like that is quite subjective)
any thoughts?</p>
<p>i should have labeled the post differently...i don't mean competition getting in, just once you get in</p>
<p>I do <em>not</em> agree with this assessment at all. I'm going into Sophomore year at Wellesley, and I can honestly say that I have never once felt like I was "competing" against a fellow student in any of my classes. Most of the professors I've met actively encourage students to work together (obviously, not to the point where you're submitting a joint piece of work instead of individual projects). But honestly, this is the most supportive academic atmosphere I've ever been in. If someone does something well, they ought to be rewarded for it, not isolated or envied. Most of the time, Wellesley is a great community to be in for someone who's working hard.</p>
<p>The workload is big. I do feel that people can overburden themselves if they aren't being careful about managing time and respecting their own limits. There are times when I've really hated missing out on some cool extracurricular due to existing commitments, but you do have to pick and choose. </p>
<p>As to "interfering with social life": Wellesley is not competetive, but it is intense at times. There is a subset of the population who really enjoy their classes, and want to get the best out of the academic side of Wellesley; as a result, they put a lot into their courses. For some, this means limiting their social life so they can devote more time to the work. Others, like myself, find that they work best when they have extracurriculars (which in my case is really sort of a focused social group), so they pick one or two they really like and get into those. Tho it's a complete cliche, you really <em>do</em> get out what you put in.</p>
<p>thanks- i go to a competitive hs where some people don't sleep, if you know what i mean, so i just would rather go somewhere where i won't feel like a slacker if i sleep and have a life</p>
<p>When I arrived at Wellesley (Fall '01), the dominant attitude on campus was that your grades are nobody's business but your own. By extension, this meant that no one went around saying, "I got XX%, what did you get?" I loved it. With a passion. It reinforced the idea that each student competed with no one but herself. The only questions I heard were along the order of, "I felt unprepared for that exam. What did you think about the problems?"</p>
<p>Unfortunately, the anti-grade inflation policy has made students a little edgy, and there's more comparison than in the Gilded Past. Still, it's not a cut-throat environment, and most students go out of their way to ensure that they feel socially fulfilled. Social activity varies greatly from one person to the next. Some students wanted to partake of the frat scene, others really just wanted popcorn and a movie with friends.</p>