I have a FA offer and WLU is impressive, but it is a school of the 1% – no one from my high school there. Would I have a social life as a FA student? I visited and other FA students said that they loved the school but not the social life. Is WLU preppy and obsessed with Greek life? Or should I concentrate on the positive academics and not worry about social life?
80% of women and 74% of men are in a sorority or fraternity and they are very expensive at Washington and Lee.
https://www.wlu.edu/student-life/student-activities/greek-life/resources/faq#Percentage
Most people will not care or notice. The few who do you wouldn’t want to hang out with anyway.
Your social life is what you make it at any school, not just W&L. @vistjay is right, few will notice or care. But you will have more connections and options if you are open, approachable, friendly, and don’t write off all Greeks as snobs. You might not be able to afford a spring break trip to the beach (although those can be done cheaply), but most frat parties are open and free if you want to go. Most school-sponsored events are free or low-cost.
Over 50% of the school is on Financial Aid. Given. most on FA are middle-class (not low-income), but it’s something that’s truly barely noticed at the school. Greek Life can be accessible (many frats have discounted dues for low-income students) and is not all rich students at all.
I am in and around W&L regularly as an active alumnus. I also have with high school aged kids who are looking at colleges. I meet lots of perspective students, current students, and grads and interview and hire a few most years.
You ask a great question. I attended W&L as someone who was not middle class but poor. Back then there were not much in grants so I graduated with more debt than they allow students to graduate with now. No one from my high school had ever been to W&L and no one attended since…that I know of. I worked jobs on campus and in the summer to pay tuition.
While I could not afford to be in a fraternity I had a great group of friends (in fraternities [this was before coeducation] and plenty not in houses). I went to school with sons of some of the richest people in the country. There was never a more decent group of men to go to school with. Fraternities were open for parties and no one knew or asked about anyone’s financial circumstances. Students and teachers cared about your intellect and character. From the students I have meet this still seems to be the case.
Where “money” comes into play, in the form of businesses and family connections, did and still should matter to a prospective student. Family companies and connections affect internships and employment recruitment. There are still internships and jobs that are not family connected but many students come from families that own businesses (big and small).
So you will need to work harder than a connected student when looking for an internship and job. If you are attracted to the school for the Honor System, speaking tradition, rigor, and a great faculty then it is a wonderful choice just double down in your internship and job searches. If you are attracted by rankings showing high salaries remember these statistics are likely skewed compared to what you may face.
This same skewed warning is true for Colgate and a few other “non target” liberal arts schools that do well in salary surveys. There is a friends and family base helping support the lower end if needed - and that keeps averages high.