<p>I would really like to hear from parents/students of Illinois Wesleyan. Please tell me how you liike the university, faculty.</p>
<p>I'm a sophomore in IWU majoring in bio and philosophy. In overall, I like this place. Sure the town can get kinda boring, but I think it's what you make out of it. Classes are small, in fact 2 out of 5 classes I am in this semester have less than 10 students. Science, music, and musical theatre programs are amazing. Others are not as well known, but still fairly good. Our choir program rocks! I was in U-Choir last year. I like having constitution trail and upper limit in BlooNo. Religious life is fairly strong. What else... Dunno what else to add, but you can drop a line if you wanna know more</p>
<p>Thanks for your response. Even though there is a small Jewish student population, do you think there is diversity on campus? Is the atmosphere diverse and accepting? Do you think that the university provides enough activities to keep people involved?</p>
<p>My D did not like it so I am obviously biased. General feeling that I got was it is little too similar to HS, cliquish and friendly to "right people". My niece who is decent student but would be in the lower 50% of their scores was not made welcome and subtly shown that she is not candidate for them. There also was question about flexibility of the programs. Since my D was planning to apply for sciences we were told that they will only have 80 slots available for science major so she would not be competing with other students to get in but those who declare science major will be competing between tehmselves for those 80 spots. I never heard anything like that before and I have been questioning other colleges since then and none of them follows that route. IWU has succesful result with med school admissions but I think it is more due to careful weeding/ admitting right candidates than actually nurturing people.
On positive side, it is very up and coming school in IL, with excellent academics. If student gets above 28 on ACT they about garanteed to get 10 K scholarship. Though students generally tend to be from well to do families.
Their dorms are great and food is quite decent.
It is also one of the school that openly says they count each and every one sign of interest shown toward college. So if you kid is interested make sure you keep VERY close relationship with them.</p>
<p>"Since my D was planning to apply for sciences we were told that they will only have 80 slots available for science major so she would not be competing with other students to get in but those who declare science major will be competing between tehmselves for those 80 spots. I never heard anything like that before and I have been questioning other colleges since then and none of them follows that route."</p>
<p>There are often majors to which one must apply that have limited spots even at very large universities. At the University of Washington, I believe if one is interested in majoring in neurobiology, one must apply to the department and compete with others for one of 48 slots or so open each year.</p>
<p>Its not clear to me whether lindalana's D is a student at IWU or merely visited campus. I would like to know since my D has just about decided that IWU will be her choice for next year, based on her visits to campus and on feedback we have received from current students. lindalana's report differs a bit from what we have heard to date. Basically we have heard that (i) there is plenty to do on campus and in town if you are an active and engaged person, (ii) Bloomington/Normal is not the typical small college town in the middle of a cornfield. It is a major center of higher education (as the home of both IWU and Illinois State University) and is also home to several major companies. This provides plenty of opportunity for exposure to a range of ideas, cultural events, a variety of ethnic cuisine and so forth, and (iii) there is a definte concentration of students from the Chicago area but diversity is embraced by the generally bright and welcoming student body. So far we have been under the impression that IWU students are not overly cliquish or shallow. The other impression I have about IWU versus other schools we have visited is that the kids do tend to wear more unripped jeans and sport more uniform haircuts than the kids at some other schools. I have mixed feelings about this personally because I do endorse a campus atmosphere where kids feel free to go to class in their pajamas, to dye their hair a color not found in nature and to put a safety pin through their eyebrows. On the other hand, I would prefer that my D not do these things.</p>
<p>Noslom2 my D was interested in IWU in the beginning of the search process and initially considered it quite closely so we visited it several times. She never applied there and as I said earlier I am biased in my opinion. If your D likes it and want to apply there it is all that counts. Normal is home for ISU so students who can not find enough to do at IWU can very easily to ISU parties/events so it does not feel claustrophobic. IWU certainly has very strong academic reputation and excellent medical/ graduate school placement. I met some kids who said they fell in love with IWU the moment they visited and that is how they decided to go there. I did see a lot of theater, singing, art and other EC kids were involved after classes.</p>
<p>Thanks for the clarification lindalana. My D is a graduating senior and aready has been admitted to IWU. She will complete an overnight visit next week before making her mind up for sure but I think that this may be just a formality.</p>
<p>I think she falls into the category of kids for whom IWU was love at first sight.</p>
<p>My S is finishing his freshman year at IWU and loves it. He is in Music Theatre and has scores of friends in many different areas of the university. He knew no one when he enrolled but students (including upperclassmen) were welcoming and not at all cliquish. He has always found lots to do - the university programming is excellent (there is constantly something going on in athletics, arts, or university-wide events at the Hansen Center). He loved going to football and basketball games, took classes at the Fitness Center, sang karoke, went to concerts (Adam Pascal of "Rent" fame is there this Tuesday), won prizes at casino night, went to poetry readings and student recitals, played intramurals, etc., etc. He and his friends also like to try out different restaurants in town and go shopping at the mall. They've gone to ISU for concerts and lectures and are never lacking things to do. Plus, the faculty has been extraordinarily interested him as a person and when he had a health problem that required him to miss some school, they were so understanding and helpful that he didn't miss a beat. He had a great advisor through the Gateway program who also was very supportive. Let me know if you have any other questions - I'll be glad to help!</p>
<p>Hi Baymom - </p>
<p>Is your S a BFA or BA student? My S is still trying to decide, but is looking at the BA program. Are you aware of any sense that the BA kids are "looked down on"?? </p>
<p>Thanks,
Aletia</p>
<p>By way of update, my D did the overnight visist, loved it and sent in her enrollment card immediately upon her return.</p>
<p>She continues to be impressed by how friendly and welcoming people are at IWU. I can't comment on whether BFA students look down on BA students. My D's experience suggests that the vast majority of IWU students are too mature and decent to behave that way but you never know. </p>
<p>We held our breath during the overnight because of the many horror stories about such visits posted elsewhere on this board. Happlily there was no puking, drug use, sexual predation or being sexiled during her visit. Instead she found a bunch of lively, intelligent and fun-loving people who answered all her questions and generally took excellent care of her.</p>
<p>we wanted both of our boys to go to school here! my oldest chose the u of i instead, and i think he has regretted it ever since! my youngest was really interested in IWU, and we had stopped by and visited the campus at least twice. he made other visits and ultimately did choose a different school that i think will be a very good match for him. however, i still think illinois wesleyan is a wonderful school</p>
<p>ahmorgan -</p>
<p>My S is in the BFA program but for the first two months he was there he had no idea who was BA and who was BFA (other than the Music Theatre students which is a very small group). They are all friends together with no distinctions. They did a freshman musical which had both BFA's and BA's in the cast and orchestra. No one looks down on anyone - it's just an amazingly supportive atmosphere. He has had such an incredible freshman year - and learned so much - it's hard to find any negatives about the school!</p>
<p>My D is in the BFA MT and I totally agree with baymom. She is from Southern California, so there were many adjustments to make (weather), but she has made some good friends and enjoys the social life. Academically it is solid and people do seem to truly care about each other. We've visited a couple of times and are impressed by how the community supports the school. As we finish the first year, we are happy.</p>
<p>I am a first year student here at IWU and agree with the comment that the feeling is a "little too similar to HS". Students are not very active in volunteering or other causes and do not truly care about learning which can lead to a somewhat blase feeling on campus.</p>
<p>baymom and fosselover, how are the faculty in the MT program? Are they nice to your kids? I’m a rising senior looking at programs and I honestly don’t know much about this college but I’m interested in applying. Anything you would want to say about campus life or performing opportunities, etc?</p>