<p>How is the bio/chem/phy major in Wesleyan? And how is the student body over there?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>NSM (natural science and math) majors are treated pretty much like hot house flowers at Wesleyan. This is because the facilities are so sophisticated and the competition from the largely humanities and social science oriented student body is so minimal. While more glamourous majors like Film and American Studies generate a lot of buzz around campus, NSM students tend to labor with their lights under a bushel; deep down inside they know they have the best combination of undergraduate science opportunities anywhere, but, so far it is one of the best kept secrets in America.</p>
<p>A typical example is the Astronomy Department--by no means a giant as such departments go-- but, thanks to a lot of pluck and dedicated faculty they do solid, cutting edge research. And, unlike Berkeley and Rice it can't operate without the help of undergraduates; on a per capita basis, more Wesleyan undergraduates are listed as co-authors of scientific papers than any other college in the country.</p>
<p>It goes without saying that the pre-med program is pretty good, too; >90% admission rate to med school.</p>
<p>There are a LOT of pre-med students I've met in my classes - I was actually quite surprised. The Career Resource Center is great for helping students plan getting into med schools, even though there's no specific "pre-med" major. I thought I'd be a crazy minority as a Neuroscience & Behavior major, but I'm not at all. Undergraduate research opportunities abound.</p>
<p>The sciences -- including the pre-med scene -- are really chill and laid back at Wesleyan. All the classes schedule regular TA sessions where all or most of the class will show up, hang out, and work on the problem sets. The profs really care about you and your research opportunities. They try to accommodate people taking lots of NSMs and not all set the same due date for problem sets. There's almost no grade competition or cattiness about grades.</p>
<p>Side note- University Relations has seen fit to trot out the astro department all over the place recently (see the latest issue of the alumni magazine -- wesleyan.edu/magazine) as a shining example of the university's approach to the sciences. You can see me busily playing TextTwist in the control room at Kitt Peak in one of the photos in that article.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot.
Is double major possible? And how do you like the school?</p>