<p>I responded to a student contemplating the differences between Vassar and Wellesley on the Vassar list and I thought I'd make the same point. The student was concerned about the level of competition at Wellesley and here is what I said:</p>
<p>When my DD and I visited Wellesley, I asked a random student we met on campus about the competition among students. She said it depended on what your major was. If it was government/international relations, etc, it was more competitive; if it was humanities, it wasn't. She was a business major and had seen the distinction in some of her classes. We also know a young woman at our church who just graduated a year ago who adored her experience there, who found it extremely supportive from both students and profs, etc. I believe she was a Medieval and Renaissance Studies major. So it all depends!</p>
<p>I would welcome hearing from any current students about their experiences.</p>
<p>I'm a little bit confused about the business major? There is only economics at Wellesley, not business, so I'm guessing that's what she was. At any rate, I don't agree that Wellesley is "competitive", at least not as that word is often defined, in that I really have found my classmates to be all over friendly about working together, helping each other out, being willing to pass on notes if someone missed a class, etc. Not backstabbing or anything like that. I've taken classes in German, Music, Art History, Math, Economics, and Political Science, so I feel decently able to judge across departments. My more typical conception of Wellesley as a competitive place has to do with students' own expectations/aspirations for themselves; ie I push myself to work hard to reach my own goals, not because I'm terribly concerned with how my fellow student is doing so that I might be able to beat her.</p>
<p>I would agree that Wellesley students largely compete with themselves. However, I do agree that the department corresponds to the level of competition as well as the individual crop of folks that make up the majors roster. My friends and I did our Physics together. One night, we decided to have a "sleepover" in a friend's dorm room on the weekend. We all came down to the dining hall in our pajamas the next morning, an upperclasswomen in our department seemed surprised that the junior majors were friends. We were surprised the seniors weren't friends like we were.</p>
<p>By reputation only, I would say students who do pre-med or economics/business are more competitive, perhaps at EVERY university.</p>
<p>Yes, there is the competition one has with oneself and the competition one has with others. Unfortunately, I really don't know which one the "business" student was emphasizing as I didn't clarify it at the time. WendyMouse, I've noticed that my daughter's HS class has some very different general characteristics from the years preceding and after theirs; maybe that's some of what you experienced in your physics sleepover. I guess, like most everything else in life, competition is relative! Thanks for your thoughtful comments.</p>