<p>I'll be a senior come September, and am considering Wesleyan (others on the list include Carleton, Vassar, Kenyon, Bates, Colby, Haverford...) am wondering a bit about the social climate. </p>
<p>I visited the school last year, and after my lively Info Session and tour, really loved it. But, lately I've been doing a lot of reading in college guidebooks, and have gotten a feeling that there might be some social ostracization I didn't see while on my picture-perfect tour.</p>
<p>I'm politically liberal and don't dress head-to-toe in J. Crew, but I'm not completely "out there" (as my parents would say). I don't smoke (as I hear many at Wes do) nor am I very radical-- in my views, my dress, etc. From those at the school, is exclusion widespread for us "normal" (ha. That's a good one. But relatively speaking...) folks? It's not that I'm not quirky, I'm just not full-out wierd. :)</p>
<p>Sorry if this question is rather confusing and long-winded, but it's been on my mind. I read one college book that said you'd be "shunnned" at Wesleyan for "dressing like the borgoueis."</p>
<p>The majority of people, at any college, are not crazy and out there. The majority of people are liberal, but to be honest, you're a lot more likely to be ostracized if you run around yelling about fur and periodically stop what you're doing for purposes of meditation, than if you are politically liberal but generally a normal, intelligent kid - just like almost every other school.</p>
<p>Seriously. Most people I know are normal. I have never heard of anyone being shunned for being normal. I don't know where the guidebooks get this stuff.</p>
<p>There are people who "self-ostracize" themselves; you've seen them; they're the Brown rejects who even though its junior year, are still making snarkey remarks about anything or anyone that's the least bit enthusiastic about Wesleyan; about how everything would have been better in Providence. </p>
<p>And if you've ever been around them, you often just want to grab them, shake them, and say, "Get over it! Providence is just Middletown with an Amtrak station!"</p>
<p>A lot of people are blinded by the reputation and stigma that's placed on Wesleyan, but the truth is, like most stereotypes and reputations, they tend to be exaggerated. The school does have it's share of people who are ridiculously liberal (hippies), and it does have it's really preppy jock-type individuals, but ostracization should be the least of your worries. Everyone at this school pretty much gets along with one another, regardless of how different they are. It's a very laid back atmosphere where no one really gives a **** whether you're a "normal" kid or a "weird" kid. It doesn't matter what type of person you are, you will enjoy Wesleyan as a school academically and socially if you choose to attend.</p>
<p>I've never smoked weed or ciggs, and I don't plan on it. I play sports and do dress with the occasional polo short (sans the popped collar), and I love wesleyan and just about everyone I've met there.</p>
<p>The thing about wesleyan is that if you feel any pressure to do anything that can be accounted for through negative peer pressure, then it's a figment of your imagination unless you have dooshish friends who use you. I made friends over a weekend at wesleyan who i've been in touch with ever since and with whom I'm going to have a blast over the next four (maybe 5 years).</p>
<p>College is what you make of it. What I liked about wesleyan was that given the academics, opportunities, and everything else, it had more students than most lacs. Coming from a large HS (over 2400 students) i didn't want to go to college with less kids than were in my graduating class. Plus, you get an awesome feeling when you get facebook messages from friends asking you to do stuff in Uganda because they were volunteering there and want you to gain some of the insight that they did during their travels.</p>
<p>After ~4 years of prefrosh asking this fairly ridiculous question, I think the best advice I could give to anyone is to just not read college guidebooks. </p>
<p>If you want to read a book about college admissions (and/or about Wesleyan) check out "The Gatekeepers." It puts the best human face on the admissions "industry," and it also makes it fairly evident that there's too much going on at Wesleyan for us to waste time ostracizing those who aren't "weird enough"... whatever that's supposed to mean.</p>
<p>Alright, let me make one thing clear right now. Just because a few crackpots (or crackheads) at Wesleyan run around screaming about meat does not mean the rest of us are screwed up in the head.</p>
<p>I sympathize with the OP, because when I was considering where to go after I got my acceptances back, the question of Wesleyan's "overwhelmingly liberal student body" was a serious deterrent to sending in my check. So what did I do? I emailed the person most likely to be picked on for having conservative views: the head of the Republicans' Club.</p>
<p>Even he said that the majority of Wesleyan students don't really care if you're liberal, conservative or martian. They care more about whether you're a total douche or not. Hell, I'm a conservative libertarian and from what I can tell, there's not a single person in my class who I'll be unable to get along with - liberal or not.</p>
<p>And on the rejectees of the People's Republic of Brown, seriously, get over it, people. I got over Cambridge, MA (I was waitlisted at Harvard), and now I'm in bloody love with Wesleyan. Besides, Wes is right up there with Brown and if someone really feels like their dear, crazy liberal heart belongs at Brown then I say let them transfer and quit their bellyaching.</p>
<p>Sorry about the combative nature of this post. I guess I just write like I'm in a debate naturallly. ;)</p>