<p>I am a Jewish Northeasterner who wants to study Creative Writing and political science. I enjoy a good hippie/hipster/alternative culture at any school, but was turned off by the extreme level of inwardness I found with the students at Wesleyan. I would like to go to college where students are genuinely engaged with their studies and will take stimulating/intellectual discussions outside of the classrooms. I appreciate diversity and even though I lean left politically, I am somewhat frustrated with an intense level of political correctness to the point where it becomes discriminatory. In regards to substances, I'm okay with drugs and alcohol around me but not to where I'm forced to do it by my peers.</p>
<p>I would say that Bard and Oberlin are slightly more eccentric and have a bit more of a hippie culture. Middlebury, on the other hand, is slightly preppier. Also, Vassar has the least isolated location (even though the campus itself is a bubble within Poughkeepsie, there’s easy access to NYC). Your post essentially described my experience at Vassar thus far. You’d love it here.</p>
<p>I will comment on my perspective on Wesleyan with a strong candor.
Please understand that I think it is an outstanding school academically and I have good friends who want to go there.</p>
<p>In part I felt the school was like a huge inside joke. The architecture was an odd combination between modern brick and new england gothic, to the point where it felt like the administration was making fun of the way college campuses are designed.
Furthermore, I was distressed by the attitude certain students had. I felt that these particular individuals were complacent, not interested in their studies and just molding into the scene, as seen by how many people were just laying out on the “beach” by mid day. Our tourguide couldn’t give a full description of the academic life, she was just “Yeah, that’s the theatre. Mhm. That’s our arts facilities.” It appeared that one didn’t fit in at Wesleyan if he or she wasn’t a Ray-Ban wearing hipster or a frat boy (strange combination). It was as if there was no in-between. No place for debate nerds like me or my school friend who went there and wasn’t happy. </p>
<p>One other thing and this was personal. I felt that the college delved too much into addressing social justice and lambasting any view to remedy society’s ills that wasn’t boiler-plate far left. Speaking from my own ethno-religious standpoint, I felt the school on the whole was deeply anti-zionist and the lack of a hillel was not promising for Jewish life.</p>
<p>For some reason I thought you graduated from Wes…hmmn. Now I am a bit more sceptical of your comments since I am frankly not sure what they are based on.</p>
<p>It’s easy to ascribe an entire student body as one thing or the other, based on the level of activism at the school. And, Wesleyan does have a high degree of political activity. But, if you look around, that’s a pretty low benchmark to meet; most colleges, including some of the most elite, are a pretty apathetic lot. </p>
<p>I might also point out that that some of the most “anti-zionist”, or at least, anti the official Likud Party interpretation of zionism – are other Jews.</p>