<p>My niece is going to be a freshman at Wesleyan. I am excited about her choice, although I was directed to this website and have become a little concerned by how some of the existing students feel about the school. </p>
<p>My niece is not a pot smoker and is open minded to all political views, left and right. My concern is that the population is sounding rather homogenous. I'd appreciate if any existing students who've experienced the campus could comment. Thanks.</p>
<p>I have reason to believe a lot of those are jokes. I wouldn't worry, there are all kinds of people at Wes.</p>
<p>Edit: Also, a bunch of those negative comments were flagged as invalid by SR.com's system. Based on other threads in this forum, you can tell that some disgruntled people have cyber-vendetta against Wes. I wouldn't let it color your views of the school.</p>
<p>Why do you think they're jokes?</p>
<p>I've seen the anti-Wes stuff on this site - sad that people don't have better things to do with their lives.</p>
<p>But how do you see that the negative comments were flagged as invalid by SR.com's system?? If that's the case I'm quite relieved!</p>
<p>They may not all be hoaxes (though, I agree with Matt that Wesleyan seems to attract more than its share of trolls), but I'd be very wary of any poster that begins by saying they're against pot smoking and in favor of extreme academic standards (i.e., cut-throat competition) and ends by saying they're transferring to Brown (!!!)</p>
<p>Homogeneity is an issue for all LACs; they're simply too small and too expensive to always represent a cross-section of America; but Wesleyan does a pretty good job of it. If the trade-off has to be between a critical mass of social and political activists or a campus where everyone plays soccer and lacrosse (two sports that Wesleyan excels in, btw) and the latter are the only things that bring people together--I'd choose the political activism. </p>
<p>I'd also be aware of the fact that over 90% of Wes frosh return for their sophomore years; eighty-five per cent will finish in four or five years; fifty-five per cent of all alum contributed to the Annual Fund last year. There's a high degree of satisfaction among people who actually experience Wesleyan.</p>
<p>If you go to the dropdown menu next to "View" and select "Invalidated Data", you can see that two of the most recent comments were flagged as being from the same person. Also, there are 19 comments total. 4 are marked "negative." All of those 4 were submitted within 2 weeks of each other, whereas the rest of the comments span several years. I mean, anything is possible, but it seems like someone has an axe to grind if you ask me.</p>
<p>As JW points out, there is really very little attrition. Most people are satisfied with their experience at Wes and don't feel the need to sound off on internet forums. I wouldn't set too much store by what you read on here. The problem with places like this is that very few people who comment about a given school have ever been a student there. Rumors like the "naked dorm" hoax get repeated and repeated until they're assumed to be the truth, when in fact they're not.</p>
<p>Your niece will find her niche...and there are a lot of niches.</p>
<p>Good point...lol...about if only one thing brings people together on campus you'd rather it be political activism..lol...me too.</p>
<p>Re political activism, I think it's great, but I have observed that some of the most active people are also the most closed minded to ideas outside their beliefs. My niece is very open minded and tends to consider issues from multiple vantage points. I hope there's a niche for someone who's not an extremist.</p>
<p>She's a great kid, and I think Wesleyan's a good fit for her. She'll be there next month - after a bit, I'll let you all know how it's going.</p>
<p>Johnwesley, with all due respect you're hardly a dispassionate observer when it comes to Wesleyan. And shooting the messenger (the Brown transferor) because you disagree with the message isn't particularly helpful. </p>
<p>There usually is at least some truth behind reputations, especially ones as entrenched as Wesleyan's. And other LACs in fact do do a better job at fostering thought and political diversity than does Wesleyan.</p>
<p>I am well left of center myself, but having said that I was relieved when my son selected another LAC over Wesleyan. The truly open minded want to hear the opposite view.</p>
<p>I see by looking at your other posts, that you have a daughter (I assume
younger than your son). That was rejected by both Brown and Wesleyan and in your own words on one of your posts you understood why she was
rejected from Brown, but (in your words) were "miffed" when Wesleyan
rejected her. I hope your remarks on this thread are not a reflection of
being "miffed" at Wesleyan. I have a son who will be a junior at another
small New England LAC, my daughter will be a freshman this year at Wesleyan.
She was accepted at 3 of the small New England LAC's, (one of which we assumed that would pick). We had visited Wesleyan in the fall, and I went back down with her for admitted students day (WESFEST), which is the big party weekend. I excepted to see really wild looking kids with green hair, etcc, but instead found the same mix of kids that I've seen at all the other
New England NESCAC schools. The kids we met were great. I've visited
all the NESCAC schools twice on college tours. My son was a sports recruit and he did over night visits at 4 of the NESCACs. He plays on a
team, and since we live in Massachusetts we're lucky enough to spend time
at each of the NESCAC schools. Not everyone at Wesleyan is a one-sided
political radical. </p>
<pre><code>After having been through the college process twice, my best advice to
</code></pre>
<p>people is to visit, spend time at a campus and make up your own mind.</p>
<p>Polarbear mom,</p>
<p>Your and johnwesley's responses are uncanny in their similarity -- both question the motives of the poster before responding to the actual message. If this is typical of debate style of Wesleyan students and Wesleyan supporters -- shoot first and ask questions later -- it only confirms my view that Wesleyan is not a school for those interested in open and honest debate and critical self-examination.</p>
<p>I'm not sure what poster you are referring to, but, if it was the one on the studentreview site, I wasn't questioning his motive--I was questioning his <em>logic</em>. No one transfers to Brown if they want to get away from pot smoke and laid back academics. If we can't question each other's logic, then, there's no point in going to college in the first place, is there?</p>
<p>Well, johnwesley, again with respect you can label it what you will but the comment was still uncivil and did nothing but detract from your otherwise reasonable argument. Not to mention that you misquoted the student. She never said she wanted to get away from pot smoke, she merely suggested that Wesleyan students in general smoked too much pot. I dare say that, as a current student at Wesleyan, she is better positioned to have this opinion than either of us is -- and it's certainly not illogical.</p>
<p>Debate is more healthy when it is respectful.</p>
<p>People are free to form their own opinion of the SReview post (which out of the 19 listed we both apparently picked out immediately) and my reply. I don't think it's disrespectful to paraphrase someone's own words.</p>
<p>You're right that paraphrasing isn't disrespectful. But you didn't merely paraphrase - you distorted the message and belittled the messenger. Ask yourself again if you could have made the identical point in responding to the poster without your first paragraph. The answer is clear. </p>
<p>In any event, there's no reason to discuss this any further - there's no changing closed minds.</p>
<p>Good luck to your son/daughter, Parent2009.</p>
<p>parent2009 - I think if you examine this thread, you will notice that I waited two whole posts from you wherein you practically "called me out" by name. Why? I'm not sure; you certainly could have made whatever points you wanted to without any help from me. In the meantime, I think I have been courteous and responsive to you in all respects. If your point is that there is pot smoking at Wesleyan, then you may join John Leo and others in the Claude Rains Casablanca Club ("I'm shocked--shocked that there's gambling in this establishment.") My point is that not only does pot smoking exist everywhere but, that the people who self-select for Wesleyan are probably the least likely to participate in it out of feelings of peer pressure. That was true for me; I know it's true for students there today. If you are open to the possibility that that is true, then I don't think that we are that far in disagreement. :)</p>
<p>I'll be a freshman next year at Wesleyan, for perspective's sake.</p>
<p>Judging from posts I've read on various forums, the consensus seems to be that Wesleyan students tend to be close-minded and not consider opinions that differ from their own radically liberal beliefs. However, from my own experience of students I've met, this isn't the case at all; I was a little surprised, because I chose the school semi-counting on the crazy activism as a clash to my high school atmosphere. But after visiting the campus, meeting other pre-frosh, students, and profs, it just... isn't true. Surely most people are left-of-center, maybe more so than at an average university and particularly more than at BYU (sigh, poor school, picked on so much), and there's a fair amount of joyful Bush-bashing. But on individual issues, I have found that most students are so radical that they don't even stick to the stereotypically radical opinions and judge by issue. Personally, I really value that, being a pro-life vegeterian semi-libertarian globalist ANTI-DRUG-DRINKING animal-rights LGBTQ-rights activist.</p>
<p>I have a few Wes friends with piercings. Probably a few more of them will get more piercings over the next four years. Guess that's what college does to ya. Overall, I've heard overwhelmingly positive things, and the people I've met have been friendly and helpful and wonderful.</p>
<p>I love you, Wesleyan. <3</p>
<p>"My niece is not a pot smoker"
Yet. Your niece is not a pot smoker... yet.
;)</p>
<p>yeah, all 2700 students at wesleyan are pot smokers, all 5200 undergrads at yale are gay or lesbian, all 2000 students at williams are jocks, and all 2300 at middlebury are preppy skiers.</p>