Hi! Wesleyan has been one of my dream schools forever it feels, and I was wondering if anyone could tell me a more in-depth description of what the school is like, Middletown atmosphere, student life and of course the film major/program! Thanks!
At around 47,000 permanent residents, Middletown is not vey big as far as cities go, but not very small as far as small towns go. As such, it has a dual character to it. West of the campus, you’ll find winding country roads, apple orchards and some gorgeous sunsets. In the opposite direction is the Connecticut River and an attractive downtown. What’s missing, IMO, is any sense of a thriving residential neighborhood within walking distance of campus. Thanks to decades of urban renewal, entire blocks of working class houses and businesses have been bulldozed only to be replaced by office space, parking lots and some public housing. None of which are bad in and of themselves (the one pubic housing project near campus is actually nicer looking than the dormitory next to it), but, taken together, they lack foot traffic, particularly at night. Consequently, there’s not much incentive to patronize the many inexpensive restaurants and bars that line Main Street for nearly a mile. There’s a definite Wesleyan bubble, but, because it’s Wesleyan, not many students look upon that as a problem.
Wow, thats powerful, thanks! Very interesting @circuitrider
Adding to @circuitrider … qualifier, no kid in attendance, but two have been through the recruiting process - one turned it down by a hair to attend Middlebury - hated it - transferred to and now attends Pomona - second one would choose it but likely won’t get through the pre-read, and if she does, I fear she’s one of those kids who might get that far and still face a risk of a rejection. Can’t waste that ED on anything but the safest bet.
With that out of the way, it is my distinct impression that the kids do make their way down to Main and use it as an alternative to campus food. We were blown away by the restaurant options there. Much more than you’d expect from a town like Middletown. And, as @circuitrider writes, Main Street is relatively charming.
Several blocks north of campus (if I have my compass set right) is a somewhat gritty neighborhood. No big deal, but it’s there.
If you want bucolic, it’s not in Middletown. At one point, I had two kids at Middlebury. One loved it and stayed; the other hated it and left, as I mentioned. The one who loved it loved campus life and appreciated the town. The one who hated it found campus life adequate (other than his coach), but could not stand the isolation and considered the town a detail that did not compensate for anything. What are you gonna do? [Dad shaking head at recalling all this].
Soooo, it depends on what you want. We found Middletown to be neither fish nor fowl. It’s not Mystic and it’s not Boston. It’s a small city or very large town. Main street is nice and it does offer some options for diversion, especially culinary. But it’s not enough in and of itself to compensate if you don’t like campus life. At lease in my opinion.
I think there’s a lot going on at Wesleyan … it always seemed like a really busy place when we visited. I think I would have liked to have attended there myself as an undergraduate if I’d known more about New England LACs.
Thank you! 
@MiddleburyDad2
@MiddleburyDad2 wrote:
I think that’s pretty accurate. Ultimately, I think the only solution for colleges with historic downtown locations is to stop waiting for gentrification to come (the days when you could lure a world-class biochemist with the promise of a modest one-car garage home on a tiny lot are LONG gone) and instead encourage commercial retail development. Lots of it. And, if you can’t finance it yourself, the way Yale did twenty years ago, move different components of your campus to where the commerce is:
@circuitrider what’s your take on Wes’ ability to buy the frat houses on High Street?
Most people don’t realize it, but, Wesleyan already owns most of the former fraternity houses on campus. Wesleyan has been quietly taking them over for years. Forty years ago, my freshman year, nine of them formed a rakish archipelago of contrasting architectural styles that stretched the length of the main drag, High Street. For a small campus that had only recently accepted women, they were still the psychological center of campus, especially because many of them served food.
By my senior year, two of them had been converted to office space. A third has kept its name and functioned relatively well as a coed “literary society” until last year when it ran into trouble. Two others lead fairly conventional lives as ordinary dormitories.
Of the remaining four (DKE, Psi U, Alpha Delta and Beta), only two are in danger of losing their houses permanently: DKE and Beta. Psi U’ s national chapter has consented to its going coed. Alpha Delt has been coed since the 1970s.
In answer to your question, no other entity on this planet, but, Wesleyan has any stake in keeping those buildings in their present form. From a purely business point of view, they are due for the wrecking ball as soon as any outside interest purchases them. So, if the alum have any sentimental attachment to the physical structures at all, they have no place else to go but Wesleyan.
I may be underestimating how trashed they are on the inside, but DKE and Beta hardly look ready for the wrecking ball. Great exteriors that add to the campus aesthetic.
Also, are property values that high in the area?
It’s hard to imagine a private developer choosing to work within the confines of the present structures. The rooms are too small; there’s only one kitchen per building; no private bathrooms. In essence, they make very good dormitories, but not much else. Wesleyan could easily take the position, “Let the commercialization of High Street begin!” I don’t think there’s anything to lose by having a Starbucks or Uniqlo outlet next door to Fisk Hall.
I’m no expert, but, there are signs of an uptick in development in the area below High Street.
I hear ya. But, there are several properties that are more ripe for the picking before getting to the nice looking fraternity houses. I would think Wesleyan would find historical significance in them and could, like their NESCAC peers, find alternative uses for them. My daughter did her interview at Bowdoin in a old fraternity house, where admissions is currently located.