<p>I'm looking at selective SLAC's, and I really like the quirky culture at Wes, but I'm concerned about two things.</p>
<p>First, I'm interested in political science, but the reputation of the Government department at Wes doesn't seem to be as strong as those at some other schools (the Fiske Guide, which I trust much more than other college guides, doesn't list it as a strong major). Could someone familiar with the department confirm/refute this impression? Also, is CSS supposed to be a particularly strong program?</p>
<p>Second, I know that Wes has had trouble with its endowment due to bad investing. Is this something that affects campus life much (renovating facilities, class sizes, providing student services, etc.)?</p>
<p>As much as I like Wes, I'll need to have these concerns assuaged before I'll be comfortable making it my top choice. Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>It’s been a while since I was familiar with the Government dept, but, according to Moody’s, the average age of Wesleyan’s physical plant is 19.5 years, relatively higher than its peers. The good news is that thanks to the healthy liquidity of its financial position, Wesleyan should be able to address the long-term needs of its buildings and grounds in an orderly fashion and without resort to outside borrowing.</p>
<p>FWIW, Wesleyan currently lists two governors and a United States senator among its alumni.</p>
<p>One more comment about Wesleyan’s finances - the smaller endowment isn’t due to bad investing - it is due to prior overspending and a lack of frequent capital campaigns. Both of those situations have been rectified and the situation is slowly improving.</p>
<p>I don’t know about government, but CSS is one of Wesleyan’s strongest and most rigorous programs.</p>
<p>By “most rigorous” do you mean that CSS is considered harder than traditional majors? I’m not quite sure what makes it different other than its broader focus.</p>
<p>Harder isn’t the right word - intense might be a more apt description. It’s not a traditional major. It’s on its own calendar (trimesters) and has a different grading system, along with other differences.</p>
<p>It involves a great deal of paper writing. Instead of quizzes and tests, you receive writing assignments based on that week’s reading. At least, that’s the way it was for the sophomore-level courses. Falling behind in the reading is not an option.</p>
<p>Both CSS and the Government major itself are outstanding programs. I am a CSS alum myself from 40 years ago and my son is on campus now, and he confirms that CSS is just as rigorous as ever. The Government classes he has taken have been uniformly interesting, challenging and useful to his environmental studies. We have an on campus Albritton Center for Public Affairs and a Certificate in Civic Engagement, to boot. Several Government professors also teach within other programs at Wesleyan such as Environmental Studies, so you do not get “plain vanilla” perspectives. Wesleyan’s Government professors were one reason I was attracted to this school many moons ago (no pun intended as Professor Donald Moon is one of the most popular pros on campus), and to get the history of the department, click on here: [Department</a> History, Government - Wesleyan University](<a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/gov/departmenthistory.html]Department”>http://www.wesleyan.edu/gov/departmenthistory.html)</p>
<p>Hey sdkb01, I’m a freshman at Wes, and I wanted to confirm that CSS is a really incredible program. The workload is intense, and students read 500+ pages and write a 5-6 page paper every week during their sophomore year (in addition to taking two other classes). This scares away a lot of students, so the major consolidates some of the more intellectual and motivated kids on the Wesleyan campus. I also found that CSS majors become so proficient at time management that they can take on ambitious projects outside of the classroom. For example, a current CSS sophomore recently founded a student-run micro-investment and consulting firm that you can read about here: [Germinal</a> Fund - Microfinance for the Middletown, CT Community](<a href=“http://www.germinalfund.org/]Germinal”>http://www.germinalfund.org/)</p>
<p>In terms of the standard Gov major, I think it is a solid program. I took a freshman seminar in Constitutional Law that was a great experience. The professor, John Finn, is a wonderful personality and incredibly intelligent. Check out his ratemyprofessor page for some additional comments. Wes doesn’t really have any bad majors so I wouldn’t worry about the Gov major. That said, CSS would probably be the better academic experience if you can handle the intensity and enjoy the inter-disciplinary approach.</p>
<p>About the endowment, I know Wesleyan has less disposable funds than its peers but its hard for me to feel it while campus. Some schools like Swarthmore run a “cash-free” campus where every on campus event is required to be free. Wesleyan isn’t so strict about this, so some of the film series screenings cost $5, and occasionally a frat has a $2 or $3 dollar door fee. Even as a student on significant financial aid, I find this barely affects my experience and isn’t a big concern. Overall, buildings feel nice and new, and the administration funds more student events than I have time to attend. Our food is pretty fantastic too.</p>
<p>Thanks so much, cashewicecream; I’m honored to be the recipient of your first post! To update, Wesleyan has become my solid first choice school; I’m not doing ED, but I really hope I get in!</p>