<p>Accepted to both schools - picking one is tough. Any insight on the pros/cons of these two schools for a potential poli sci major would be much appreciated!</p>
<p>What was your feeling when you visited both?</p>
<p>I have a very similar problem - accepted to both, can't decide which I prefer. (I'm also interested in social sciences, possibly even political science.)</p>
<p>Here are the differences, as I see them right now:</p>
<p>Haverford is smaller, but it is part of a consortium with Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore so class options and social circles are expandable. Haverford is in a "nice" college-town like suburb; Philadelphia is easily accessible and offers a plethora of cultural/educational/social experiences. Haverford is also probably preppier.</p>
<p>Wesleyan is larger, but is on its own and is not part of a consortium. It's a hybrid of sorts - either a very large liberal arts college or a very small university. Middletown is an actual city, not just a college town, and it's faced with all of the problems and poverty that real cities have, but it's not as large as Philadelphia. Wesleyan is also quirkier and more liberal.</p>
<p>If possible, you should visit both. I'm hoping to visit mid-April. Reading student newspaper can also be helpful:
<a href="http://www.wesleyanargus.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.wesleyanargus.com/</a>
<a href="http://www.biconews.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.biconews.com/</a></p>
<p>It’s mostly about fit. </p>
<p>Regarding Wesleyan being “quirky” and HC less so, I’d like to encourage you to expand your definition of “quirky”. Personally, I think that students who decide to enroll in the smallest of the top LACs and who decide to go to a school with Quaker roots that formally encourages discussion on such issues as “consensus”, “community” and “respect” is pretty out of the mainstream too. If, by what you mean, “quirky” as being “weird” or “eclectic” or “dressing alternatively” (I had blue hair in college), Wesleyan is so in the “traditional” sense but, on further exam, that type of “quirky” seems somewhat conventional in my opinion… expressing your creativity or individuality by appearance or how wacky you can be. </p>
<p>The running joke at HC is that some of the most “normal looking” people are some of the “quirkiest” and I was regularly surprised and impressed (yes, and rarely disturbed) by the people I met once I talked to them... whether they wore Abercrombie or not.</p>