Penn v Wesleyan

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wesleyan University
1

<p>Hey guys, I know this is super late in the game, but I have a little over a week to choose to attend one of the two schools above, a decision I’m torn on. I'm cross posting in both forums, so hopefully any bias will be canceled out. :)</p>

<p>Anyway, I was fortunate enough to be accepted in to Penn CAS, and Wesleyan. I'm a public school girl and I'm potentially looking at environmental studies and doubling that with either another major in biology or economics. </p>

<p>I'm indifferent to drugs and alcohol. I know Penn's a big party school, but I'm more worried about Wesleyan's reputation for being a pothead school, so I wonder how much truth there are in those stereotypes? </p>

<p>I'm also a little apprehensive about Wesleyan political culture. While I'm solidly liberal myself, I'd prefer to have diversity in perspectives, and I'd rather find myself challenged by other people's thinking. But I've also heard that Wesleyan students in general are very accepting, whereas Penn students in general might not be as nice (I care about this when it comes to conformity in material aspects). </p>

<p>I don't know what a pre-professional atmosphere feels like; I'm ambitious but I definitely prefer to be in a place where competition among students isn't blatantly overt.</p>

<p>All in all, I feel like Penn's the safer bet and it might put me in a better place post-college, but I feel like I might really enjoy (or really dislike) time at Wesleyan, and though I might make more out of an education there.</p>

<p>Thoughts? </p>

<p>Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>Wesleyan’s College of the Environment ([College</a> of the Environment - Wesleyan University](<a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/coe/]College”>College of the Environment - Wesleyan University)) sounds like it’s right up your alley. It’s an ENVS program that requires students to major in another discipline (BIO, ECON, etc.). The icing on the Wesleyan academic cake is the freedom, breadth, and depth of the open curriculum which provides more than enough opportunities to pursue another major, minor, certificate program, and courses in just about any discipline that interests you.</p>

<p>In regards to your concerns about Wesleyan’s rep as pothead school, as an alumnus I can tell you that is an outdated view of the student body. Do students smoke pot? Yeah, but they’ll do that at any school you attend. You don’t have to be a part of that scene if you don’t want to, and nobody will ostracize or shun you for declining a toke. The students are very open to and respectful of their classmates’ lifestyles.</p>

<p>The same can be said for the political climate at Wes. Sure, it’s a liberal place, but students choose to go to Wesleyan for the diversity of thought and experience in all arenas. There are Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Socialists, Anarchists, etc. From what I understand, the national treasurer of the College Republican National Committee is a Wesleyan student!</p>

<p>The overall atmosphere at Wesleyan in collaborative and inspirational. That being said, it can still be considered to have a competitive student body, but not in the traditional sense. Students are competitive with themselves, constantly working at the highest level to be better than the person they were the day before.</p>

<p>Ultimately, both institutions will provide you with the opportunities and resources to be successful. Wesleyan’s reputation as a pioneer in liberal arts education and curricular innovation and as leader in comprehensive diversity initiatives makes it distinctive amongst its peer institutions. If you’re looking for a self-directed academic experience in an environment filled with passionate, collaborative, and fun students, then you can’t go wrong by picking Wes.</p>

3

<p>penn is more preprofessional, let’s get down to business sort of atmosphere while wesleyan is more learning, exploring, intellectual sort of thing. so… it depends what you want out of life.</p>

4

<p>If it helps, I chose wesleyan over penn and harvard because of MooMoo52 said. The students at Wes are amazing too.</p>

5

<p>Thanks for your replies!</p>

<p>IncognitoMathWiz, not to appear like a total stalker, but you were still talking about taking the SATs in your post this January. How did you get to apply to schools at the same time?</p>

6

<p>well at Wesleyan we do have many people who chose wes over the big ivies. I personally know people transferred from UPenn.</p>

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<p>Attending Wesleyan. Thanks guys!</p>

8

<p>Congrats on your decision! I hope you will come back and post after you’ve been there a while. I am curious to find out how you will ‘reply’ to the concerns you noted!</p>