<p>Hey guys,</p>
<p>I perused this website last admission cycle when I deciding upon which school to enroll. Now, that I've gotten used to Wake, I wanna come back to answer any questions that you all might have about Wake. I'm pretty active on campus, and I can answer any questions regarding academics, social life, extracurriculars, classes, etc.</p>
<p>any negatives you’ve seen after being on campus or from personal opinion?</p>
<p>How hard is it to join that team spirit club? What’s it called…Screamin Deacons, or something?</p>
<p>You mean Sreamin’ Demons. Not hard at all, per D (senior)</p>
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<li> how hard is it to get in with ED?</li>
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<p>what was your approximate academic profile?</p>
<p>My current profile:
GPA - 3.00/4.00 unweighted 3.4/4.5 weighted, with all A’s 1st quarter into senior year
SAT - 2060 CR660/MA720/WR680, took again on october
lots of ec’s and good recommendation and competitive high school
approximately top 25%</p>
<p>chance would be awesome</p>
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<li><p>Is it conservative/liberal?</p></li>
<li><p>Is it friendly/over-competitive/preppy/etc… (atmosphere)</p></li>
<li><p>Is it easy to join a fraternity?</p></li>
<li><p>Is the pepband/marching band join basis or audition based?</p></li>
<li><p>How big are the residence halls?</p></li>
<li><p>How are the food?</p></li>
<li><p>What are the most difficult courses?</p></li>
<li><p>IDK ill think of something more LOL</p></li>
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<p>Well, no school is perfect, so there are some negatives that the official admission’s office would like to not tell prospectives (I would know, I am training to be a tour guide…)</p>
<p>First, a possible negative to some people is that it is pretty greek-dominated relative to other schools. The Greek system is pretty diverse, in the sense that there are a lot of different organizations that would appeal from a lot of different students on-campus.</p>
<p>On the topic of diversity, while the school is trying to push for more racial diversity (my class has about 25% minorities), the school woefully lacks in socioeconomic diversity. Most student, regardless of racial background, are “well-off”. Only about 1/3 of the school receives need-based aid, so you have a good portion of the school who are full pay. So, for a bit of the campus, money comes off as almost irrelevant. </p>
<p>Also, Wake is not full of “intellectuals” per se. This is no UChicago, and many students treat their education as a tool to get further in life, many times, financially. There is a lot of emphasis on pre-professional education both by the students and the administration. That is not to say that there are not intellectuals on campus, nor does academic discussion ends after class. However, the majority of campus is too stressed out with their workload to talk about academic topics outside their courses.</p>
<p>With that, the courses are fairly challenging. They are fair but challenging.</p>
<p>Also, the party scene is pretty interesting at Wake Forest. First, most parties are hosted by Greek. Other organizations like Theatre, YAL (Young Americans for Liberty), ROTC and some other campus groups do host their own parties, but by and far, it is the fraternities. Most parties are off-campus, so to get to them, you have to wait outside the on-campus Greek lounge and then a pledge driver will come up and take you to the party. In theory, that sounds great because the pledge drivers are all sober and the on-campus cops won’t bother you. However, it can take sometimes nearly an hour for a ride, and the parties off-campus can get busted and you maybe written for a citation that requires you going to court.</p>
<p>Overall, I really love Wake, but if you want some less-than-ideal aspects of the school, here are some. I really do believe the positives outweigh the negatives, but the negatives cannot be ignored.</p>
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<p>I concur with CBB. It’s pretty easy. There is a waitlist, but if you came out on the first day and waited in line, you would get one.</p>
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<p>Well my academic profile would not be the norm to compare it to because I am here one of the full merit scholarships…</p>
<p>You have a chance though, 1380/1600 SATs (Wake doesn’t count Writing…)… your rank will hurt you because about 70% of the students are in the top 10% of their class. But you have a shot. A little of half of the people who apply ED get in. </p>
<p>2) The campus is moderate. There is an equal number of liberal/conservatives, although I feel that the liberal population seems to be growing bigger. Many of the students would consider themselves moderate with maybe a bent to the right or left. The campus is not very political, though.</p>
<p>3) The campus is very friendly. Everyone works together, and although the courses are tough, students are out there to help fellow students. It is generally pretty preppy, but I think people perceive that because the “preppy” kids are the most visible. There is more non-preppy kids at Wake that preppy, but the preppy kids are still the largest minority. So, it kinda seems like the whole campus is preppy when it is not. </p>
<p>There is a southern flare to it, but over half the kids come non-southern states, so it’s not like you will be hearing a southern accent everywhere.</p>
<p>4) I am a freshmen, and Wake has delayed rush (meaning we can rush starting in the Spring)… so I am not the best person to ask. I do plan to rush, and I feel that for the most part, if you wanna go Greek, there is an organization that will take you as long as you are willing to know the brothers/sisters.</p>
<p>5) Not in band, maybe someone else can help.</p>
<p>6) The rooms are a little above average - below average depending on which dorm you get. Luter/Babcock probably have the biggest rooms on average. The residence halls themselves have a good deal of lounge/common space so people can mingle.</p>
<p>7) The food…it’s nothing to write home about but it’s above average for dorm food. There is a decent selection and the staff seems willing to listen to suggestions. They tend to repeat a lot of the same ingredients…</p>
<p>The Mag Room is pretty good though. The staff is extremely friendly and the food is actually pretty good! Unfortunately, it is only open for lunch on the weekdays.</p>
<p>8) From what I heard, most pre-med courses are weed-out courses. Also, the business classes tend to be very hard as well.</p>
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<p>Uh oh. What do you mean by this? Is the “Work Forest” label accurate? I though I had heard it had been debunked in comparisons to other schools. </p>
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<p>ROTC throws parties?! Interesting. My son has applied for an ROTC scholarship and listed WFU as his first-choice school. Can you share any observations about the cadets, their workload, and if they have time for traditional student activities?</p>
<p>what is the rooming assignment questionnaire like? how do you not get placed in johnson?
thanks!</p>
<p>Hm-m-m – disagree with OP re dorm room size. D was in Luter as a freshman. The 2 doubles sharing a connecting bath was fine, but the rooms are probably among the smallest dorm rooms I have ever seen. There is only one configuration of beds possible if you & your roommate want to unbunk the beds – which then leaves you with almost no floor space. Her rooms since freshman year have also been very small.</p>
<p>The questionnaire is very basic - I think just 5 questions on whether you are a smoker, whether or not you are very neat, whether or not you study with music, whether or not you go to bed before midnight, forgot the last one. You won’t be placed on the substance-free floor in Johnson unless you request it, but you could end up elsewhere in Johnson - it is random - you cannot selct your dorm.</p>
<p>On the workload - my son is a freshman - so far - not too bad. He feels his AP Couses were good preparation. Of course, it is hard to say for sure, as he has received very few grades so far. I guess mid-term grades will be available shortly and that will give him a better idea of how he is doing.</p>
<p>DougBetsy – here’s a link to a previous discussion thread on the “Work Forest” topic. If you do a search, there be other threads, as well.</p>
<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wake-forest-university/312029-please-provide-your-opinions-regarding-wake-forest-k-work-forest.html?highlight=work+forest[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wake-forest-university/312029-please-provide-your-opinions-regarding-wake-forest-k-work-forest.html?highlight=work+forest</a></p>
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<p>The “Work Forest” label is accurate for some classes/majors, and not for others to be honest. I think most intro pre-med classes are quite difficult (which they would be in most schools to weed-out kids…) and business courses are generally quite rigorous. </p>
<p>The school is not impossibly hard, and but there is a lower average GPA at Wake than its peer schools. Check <a href=“http://www.gradedeflation.com%5B/url%5D”>www.gradedeflation.com</a> for more information.</p>
<p>Overall, I think the reason why it’s coined “Work Forest” is because most kids do a lot outside the classroom too. So we are always busy. Also, some courses tend to combine two semesters of intro classes into one here (an example would be Intro to Econ vs Intro to Macro/Intro to Micro in some other universities).</p>
<p>Also, first semester is said to be the hardest just because it is a time to adjust to college life and a lot of freshmen have trouble finding the right balance of having fun and working hard. </p>
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<p>I have been to one ROTC party, and honestly, it is pretty much closed to only 21+ years old cadets. It was also very small and low key from personal experience. None of my freshmen friends who are cadets can even get alcohol at those parties.</p>
<p>The freshmen cadets I know, which about 7, do vary in their partying behavior. All but one go out and socially drink. One of them parties heavily and goes out 4-5 times a week. </p>
<p>One of my good friends on my hall is a cadet who always is busy. When he isn’t doing ROTC things, he is either working out or working on his homework. During the weekend he usually goes out one or two times, and he does partake in some the normal activities like footballs games too. But I can tell it takes a lot of discipline to manage everything a cadet has to do and still maintain a solid GPA.</p>
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<p>It’s about 6 questions. It’s pretty vague and it’s pretty much hit or miss in terms of compatibility for roommates. You can ask to be placed into Johnston by requesting a substance free dorm. Some students are overload from Johnston, but they do not have to sign to be substance free if they did not request it.</p>
<p>ok.
thanks!</p>
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<p>There isn’t an audition, but you have to march in order to do pep band. Let me know if you have further questions re: the band. :)</p>
<p>WFU_Student2013 – just want to sincerely thank you for your insights and willingness to state your honest opinions on subjects that some may be reluctant to ask admissions. While I don’t have any specific questions, I’ve gained a lot from reading your comments. Please keep posting!</p>
<p>hey, thanks for the help on my previous question. I have one more thing that I am wondering about. How does the laundry room situation work? Different for every dorm building?
thanks!</p>
<p>There is a laundry room in each building, which is accessible via your deacon card. There’s no charge for doing laundry, and there’s usually 6-8 washers and 6-8 dryers per building.</p>
<p>The other nice thing regarding laundry at Wake is <a href=“http://www.laundryview.com%5B/url%5D”>www.laundryview.com</a>, where you can check which washers and dryers are taken and which are open at any time of the day. Certainly makes it convenient when you’re multi-tasking!</p>
<p>Also, a general tip, be prompt with your loads. Don’t leave them sitting, or someone will take them (either a greedy fellow student or an RA collecting them for the Goodwill truck). It sounds crazy, but I lost three towels (at one time!) once last year. I don’t know who on earth would want them, but I learned my lesson!!!</p>