Questions about Wellesley

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wellesley College
1

<p>I was wondering if someone in the know could answer questions I have about Wellesley. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>How often do students generally go into Boston? Every weekend? </p></li>
<li><p>Is it common to not have classes on Friday?</p></li>
<li><p>Are there kitchens/kitchenettes in each dorm? Is it easy to cook a few times a week if you want to? </p></li>
<li><p>How many hours a day do students usually spend studying? Is the workload overwhelming? Are the majority of students continually stressed?</p></li>
<li><p>Are the distribution requirements a nuisance? </p></li>
<li><p>Are Wellesley students happy? I've heard things about a love-hate relationship with the school...and the hate part of it scares me. I'd like to love the college I go to, if possible. </p></li>
<li><p>Online, I've heard bad things said about the advising system--how it's ineffective, doesn't work etc. True?</p></li>
<li><p>Someone who is hermitly (ie me) would generally fit in better at Wellesley than at a coed school, yes? Haha, I read things about the "lack of social life" (ie partying) at Wellesley and this, sadly, appeals to me immensely.</p></li>
<li><p>Would you say Wellesley is as "nurturing" as it makes itself out to be? (My idea of a nurturing school is Scripps. Somehow, Wellesley doesn't exude this same sweet/generosity/have-some-cookies-my-dear vibe, but am I wrong about this?)</p></li>
<li><p>How many extracurriculars does a Wellesley student have time to participate in? Could someone feasibly be involved in say, the literary magazine and an intramural sport and a club or two and still have free time outside of studying?</p></li>
<li><p>Does free time exist?</p></li>
<li><p>What's a typical week like at Wellesley in terms of workload? 3 papers and a test in a week? Less or more than this?</p></li>
<li><p>For someone who is easily stressed/ doesn't schedule themselves well/ procrastinates a lot, would this be reason not to go to Wellesley and instead pick a school that doesn't have such a big reputation for competitiveness/intensity?</p></li>
<li><p>What's the one thing you dislike most about Wellesley? What's something you wish you knew before you enrolled? </p></li>
<li><p>Compared to other schools, Wellesley is more _______ and less ________. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Thank you. I'm hoping someone kindly manages to stop by and answer these many questions of mine. :)</p>

2

<p>My thoughts: </p>

<ol>
<li><p>It really depends on the student–some definitely do go every weekend, and I would say it is easily feasible to do so, but I have never gone anything like that often and it isn’t a problem for me in terms of happiness that I don’t. </p></li>
<li><p>Not particularly. Classes are generally either Monday-Thursday or Tuesday-Friday with a third meeting, if required, on Wednesday. Later on in your college career might have more once a week classes, which would make it easier to avoid class on Friday, but otherwise quite a bit of machinations would be required to do so. </p></li>
<li><p>Yes, there are kitchens/kitchenettes, although you have to have cooking utensils (pots, pans, etc.). I don’t think it would be too hard to cook for yourself when you want but relatively few people do so often, I would say. </p></li>
<li><p>Really depends on the person. In general I haven’t found the workload overwhelming, but in my most difficult classes I sometimes have. I find that I really work in fits and spurts–sometimes I only study a couple of hours, sometimes I spend a whole day on a problem set. </p></li>
<li><p>In general I would say that the distribution requirements are not bothersome, because you really have a lot of latitude in terms of choosing which classes you will take to fulfill them. One exception, which is maybe not a distribution requirement per se, is the language requirement–I know that people who have started a language at Wellesley (and thus have to take two full years in college) often resent that requirement to some degree. </p></li>
<li><p>I think so. It varies, like anywhere else. I think that if you think Wellesley is a good match for you, it probably is and you will likely be generally happy. The unhappiest people I have known generally had reservations coming in/didn’t have a good idea of what Wellesley would be like. </p></li>
<li><p>Hmm, I have mixed feelings. Professors are great and will give tons of help and advice if you ask. However, I feel like “teacher’s pets”, for lack of a better term, definitely get favored. For example, I took all the classes I was interested in and never followed a certain professor or professors. Everyone pays lip service to this as the good and noble thing to do, but I don’t have the kinds of relationships with my professors as those students who took every class the professor offered. Some of this is my fault for not being more outgoing, but not all of it. Also, I think that the career center is sort of mediocre for those of us who don’t have our life planned out already. But I do think there is good advising out there–I just wish it was more guaranteed that any given student would receive it. </p></li>
<li><p>I think you can have as little/as much of a social life as you want. As another hermity person, Wellesley has been great because it let me be hermity without being a freak when that was what I wanted but it also provided me with opportunities to come out of my shell if I desired to take them. </p></li>
<li><p>I find all the adults at Wellesley (faculty, res staff, etc.) generally nurturing in terms of wanting to help the students, understanding that the students sometimes feel very stressed, wanting to connect with the students in more informal ways, etc. However, I wouldn’t say that people generally go out of their way to check up on you unless they notice that you particularly aren’t doing well. That can be both a plus and a minus depending on your personality and situation. </p></li>
<li><p>Depends on the person! I personally have never been able to handle a whole lot of extracurricular involvement–down time is really important to my sanity. But I’ve managed to do a couple of extracurriculars most semester. The kind of involvement you describe is significant but by no means unheard of. </p></li>
<li><p>It does for me. I always take at least one day a week completely off (no class/no homework), and I have free time during the week as well. </p></li>
<li><p>I would definitely say less–at least, less graded work. In a quantitative class, you will probably have at least one weekly assignment–problem set and/or lab report, for example. In a paper course, you will probably have a fair amount of reading for each class and maybe some smaller assignments every week or so. Generally a course at Wellesley has three major assignments–two midterms and a final or final paper or two term papers and a final paper. </p></li>
<li><p>I think Wellesley is the same as any academically challenging schools–if you are <em>really</em> easily stressed, not good with your time, or a bad procrastinator, any academically challenging school will be difficult. I don’t think it is necessary to be super-stressed out at Wellesley, but if being around stressed out people makes you really stressed out, then Wellesley may not be the best for you. </p></li>
<li><p>I do wish I got better advice at Wellesley–my time here has been really good but I think it could have been better with a few tweaks and that makes me a little sad. As I said above, though, part of the responsibility rests on me, so I don’t blame it all on Wellesley.</p></li>
</ol>

3

<p>Im a prospective student and I wanted to know if/how Wellesley helps with students aiming to apply top top graduate schools. Do professors have connections with the admissions people at top graduate schools that help? or are students really left to fend for themselves?</p>

4

<p>This is a quick response to autumn123, I’ll do a longer response for the OP later today.</p>

<p>Autumn, and for anyone else thinking about graduate school admission:</p>

<p>A word of caution for those students who are solely focusing on applying to “top graduate schools.” Graduate school application and admission is (or should be) very different from undergraduate admission. As much as there is an emphasis during the undergraduate process about the right “fit” versus just the “top name” schools, it is even more important and relevant for graduate school admission.</p>

<p>The “top graduate schools” can vary quite widely depending on the academic discipline. In other words, it is wrong to automatically assume that the graduate programs at HYPS are the top for every single field. Graduate school should be even less about the “name brand recognition” than undergraduate, because programs are much more focused and specialized. It is really more about what you want to accomplish in the program, what you are looking to specialize in, with whom you’d like to work, etc. etc. </p>

<p>Wellesley faculty are very well versed in the nuances of these graduate programs within their specialties. I’m not sure how you think graduate admissions work, with your comment about faculty having “connections with the admissions people at top graduate schools,” but it’s not really about students having to “fend for themselves” vs. professors having to rely on their “connections” to get students into certain programs. Graduate admissions is even more dependent on the individual effort and achievement of the student.</p>

<p>I’m going to concentrate on the sciences, because that’s the discipline with which I’m most familiar. Graduate programs in the sciences put a heavy emphasis on a student’s prior research experience and the quality of that experience. This, in conjunction with the rec letter from your research adviser, would be heavily weighed in the admission process. The advantage of going to a school like Wellesley, which is undergraduate focused, is that students have earlier opportunities for research, and the quality of that research is very high. You don’t have grad students to compete with in the lab for space, time, resources, etc. etc. The research you do is not “J.V.” research on a lower level because you’re piggybacking on someone else’s project. </p>

<p>In the sciences, some graduate programs have students come in knowing which professor or lab they’d like to work in, while others have students do a general course study for a year or so before you pick which lab you work in. Therefore, making connections at science research conferences can be quite important. These should be connections that you make yourself, not your professor for you. So an undergraduate institution that gives its students more opportunities to go to and present at conferences can be very advantageous for anyone interested in science graduate programs. Therefore, a student might be applying to a graduate program because she made a great connection at a conference and would like to work in a certain researcher’s lab, as opposed to the “name brand recognition” of an institution. </p>

<p>Autumn, please don’t think I’m picking on you or your question. I’m taking time to answer this because there seems to be a lot of students on CC recently thinking about Wellesley vs. other school and asking “which school places more students in top graduate programs.” To be honest, it’s not a good question to be asking. It’s not about which school puts more of its students into HYPS, it’s about how many students get into their first choice graduate program. The first choice graduate program for different students will vary highly depending on their major and discipline. </p>

<p>Instead, you should ask more about the advising structure at the institutions you’re interested in. A good adviser, regardless of what your major is or what you’d like to do after graduation, will give you good guidance in what’s the best way to accomplishing any goals you have. And surprise! It might not be going to grad school at Harvard immediately after you graduate. Remember: life is not a race.</p>

5

<p>Hi blarghh,</p>

<p>Here are my opinions to your questions. For a reference point, I graduated from WC some years ago as a biology major.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Totally depends. I went into Boston every other weekend or so, depending how much work I had and what other things were happening on campus. Truthfully, I think prospies and first years think their social life will be mostly outside of Wellelsey and imagine themselves going into Boston at least once a week, and then they get to campus and realize that it doesn’t have to be that way. I admit, my first semester first year I went into the city a lot, and then realized that there was a lot of cool things happening on campus as well. Generally, the attitude is you do what you want to do, where ever that might be.</p></li>
<li><p>Confession: I’m old enough that I remember when classes were on a Tues-Thurs or Mon-Wed-Fri schedule. They changed the class schedule while I was a student. Basically, too many professors were offering classes on the Tues-Thurs schedule (so that you get 4 day weekends) to the point that people couldn’t get the classes they needed for their majors because they were being offered concurrently. So now with the Mon-Thurs or Tues-Fri schedule, it’s pretty unusual not to have classes on Fridays. Not impossible, but certainly unusual. It’s more likely that you won’t have any classes on Wednesday.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes. Come with a small pot, a spatula, a few dishes and utensils, and you should be all set. If you’re looking to make something more elaborate than ramen and boxed mac n cheese, then bring a small frying pan, a small cutting board and a knife. </p></li>
<li><p>I think it’s hard to get an accurate account of how many hours an average student studies, because I think it really depends on your major. I was a science major. That probably meant around 4 hours minimum daily, with it being a lot more around the crunch times of midterms, finals, lab reports, etc. etc. I had friends who were more humanities or social science majors who had lots and lots of reading. You are more likely to be stressed if you suck at time management. Really, the more on top of your game you are in terms of knowing how you learn, the better. And be prepared to adjust your studying skills from high school to Wellesley. You might find that what you used to do in high school to get by or get good grades won’t be enough. No need to go into a tailspin about it - you acknowledge it, you learn how to adjust your study skills, and you move on.</p></li>
<li><p>Please don’t think of the distribution requirements as a nuisance!! Really. The whole point of Wellesley being a liberal arts school is that you should be excited we have the distribution requirements! Some of my favorite non science classes, all that helped fulfill distribution requirements: Medical Anthropology, Life of Modern Japanese Girl, Sociology of Film. My first year, I went through the course catalog and took classes that sounded really cool. I ended up fulfilling a lot of my requirements that way.</p></li>
<li><p>I once heard a friend describe her relationship with Wellesley to how she felt about her family. She loved Wellesley, but there were times when she couldn’t stand it. I think overall, students are happy about Wellesley and all that it has to offer. But that doesn’t mean that the day to day grind of being a student won’t get you down sometimes. I guarantee you that you will find similar sentiments at any college. No one (not on meds) could be happy all the freakin’ time. It’s unrealistic. I’d say that overall, most students find that the positives outweigh whatever negatives they feel.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m not really sure what you mean about the advising system being “ineffective.” I thought I got great advising, mostly because I found professors with whom I really connected. My first year adviser was OK. My major adviser was nice, but I didn’t end up going to her as often as some of my friends did with their major advisers. There was another biology professor that I really connected with and she helped me a lot about advice on all sorts of topics. Look, you get to choose your own major adviser, so it’s up to you on how great or not that relationship would be. But you’re not limited to only getting advice from your major adviser, so it would behoove you to be proactive and find someone with whom you do click.</p></li>
<li><p>Maybe, but it wouldn’t be smart to think that Wellesley is mostly made up of “hermit-y” students on campus. There’s a whole range of personalities here, including plenty of the loud and extroverted as well as the more quiet and introverted. You’re right that Wellesley isn’t really much of a “party school” of the kind that you see in movies (huge binge drinking greek parties), but there’s plenty of things to do, i.e. you can have a social life.</p></li>
<li><p>I definitely think Wellesley is nurturing, especially compared to any large university. Mostly, it’s hard to fall through the cracks completely. However, I definitely think there is an expectation that students also need to be advocates for themselves when necessary. As in, the college wants to help you before you hit rock bottom, but won’t know you need help if you don’t say you need help. As for the have-some-cookies vibe, I loved the afternoon teas we had! I hear that they’re not really done anymore. Booooo I say.</p></li>
<li><p>I think most people end up being really committed to 2, maybe 3 things, and then dabble in and out in a few more. And then go and support their friends in their extracurricular activities by going to their performances, shows, etc. etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Yes, as long as you schedule it. Just Kidding!! Yes, it is possible for you to have free time.</p></li>
<li><p>Depends on your classes and majors. As a science major, I had a problem set or two a week, lab work/lab reports per week, and then 3-4 exams per semester. That’s for each science class. I’ve had non science classes where it’s 3-6 readings a week and then 2, maybe 3 longer papers a semester. No matter what, you always seem to have that one hell week where everything is due within the span of 2 days. Those suck, but you generally know about them way before because professors are good about giving a syllabus at the beginning of the semester with important dates for the class.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ll be honest - if you already know that this tends to be your style, then Wellesley will be stressful. You don’t want to get so stressed out that you essentially freeze and then can’t do any work at all. That would be bad because then it’s just a vicious cycle. My first year, I could procrastinate and put in moderate effort and still get good grades. Not so starting my sophomore year and beyond. By senior year, I was much more on top of my things and actually started my papers way before the deadline and not having to pull as many all nighters! You don’t have to be a type A student to be successful here, but you need to be able to balance out your academics and work load to be happy here. </p></li>
<li><p>One of my biggest regrets was that I didn’t take more advantage of the amazing opportunities available. Amazing speakers, internships, trips, conferences, etc. etc. I did my share of all of those things, but there were lots of times that I let deadlines or applications go by because I was too lazy to fill them out or just wasn’t tracking on when they were due. Or I was felt too “tired” to walk across campus for something that was going on. I know it’s impossible to do everything, but I felt I could have done more than I did. I had a great education and a wonderful experience, but it possibly could have been better!</p></li>
<li><p>Compared to other schools, Wellesley is more intellectually stimulating and less stodgy than you think.</p></li>
</ol>

6

<p>I have a sort of weird question: How politically involved is Wellesley? I’m not really big into politics but I always got the feeling a lot of the students are.</p>

7

<p>Thank you so, so much advantagious and jacinth_ambrose!</p>

<p>I feel that I’ve learned more about Wellesley and some of my misconceptions have also been cleared up. Yay! I really appreciate the responses :)</p>

<p>I’m hoping to visit this month to get a better sense of that intangible “vibe” , but on paper Wellesley seems like an awesome fit for me.</p>

8

<ol>
<li><p>How often do students generally go into Boston? Every weekend? I go every weekend, and is very convenient. I also take a class in MIT so I go to Cambridge two times a week.</p></li>
<li><p>Is it common to not have classes on Friday? Yes…last semester I made my schedule on a way that I only had classes mondays and thursdays lol</p></li>
<li><p>Are there kitchens/kitchenettes in each dorm? Is it easy to cook a few times a week if you want to? yes and in each floor. Yes super easy but I doubt you’ll want to or have time. </p></li>
<li><p>How many hours a day do students usually spend studying? Is the workload overwhelming? Are the majority of students continually stressed? We get tons of reading, but def super interesting.</p></li>
<li><p>Are the distribution requirements a nuisance? no</p></li>
<li><p>Are Wellesley students happy? I’ve heard things about a love-hate relationship with the school…and the hate part of it scares me. I’d like to love the college I go to, if possible. I am happy…I do think however that the typical Wellesley girl does not like to go out. I had a hard time at first meeting people, and making friends that are guys outside of school. Now, its super easy and I’m always getting invited to parties and events outside of campus. </p></li>
<li><p>Online, I’ve heard bad things said about the advising system–how it’s ineffective, doesn’t work etc. True? Not at all…you get a lot of attention!!! like the max amount of students you will have in a class is 35 and that is a lot.</p></li>
<li><p>Someone who is hermitly (ie me) would generally fit in better at Wellesley than at a coed school, yes? Haha, I read things about the “lack of social life” (ie partying) at Wellesley and this, sadly, appeals to me immensely. It has a lack of social life, but its not impossible to go out and meet people. </p></li>
<li><p>Would you say Wellesley is as “nurturing” as it makes itself out to be? (My idea of a nurturing school is Scripps. Somehow, Wellesley doesn’t exude this same sweet/generosity/have-some-cookies-my-dear vibe, but am I wrong about this?)</p></li>
<li><p>How many extracurriculars does a Wellesley student have time to participate in? Could someone feasibly be involved in say, the literary magazine and an intramural sport and a club or two and still have free time outside of studying? I’m in College government but I have friends who do two sports and manage their time perfectly. </p></li>
<li><p>Does free time exist? Yes, and procrastination too…</p></li>
<li><p>What’s a typical week like at Wellesley in terms of workload? 3 papers and a test in a week? Less or more than this?</p></li>
<li><p>For someone who is easily stressed/ doesn’t schedule themselves well/ procrastinates a lot, would this be reason not to go to Wellesley and instead pick a school that doesn’t have such a big reputation for competitiveness/intensity?</p></li>
<li><p>What’s the one thing you dislike most about Wellesley? What’s something you wish you knew before you enrolled? </p></li>
<li><p>Compared to other schools, Wellesley is more _______ and less ________.</p></li>
</ol>

9

<p>Questions about Wellesley
I was wondering if someone in the know could answer questions I have about Wellesley. </p>

<ol>
<li><p>How often do students generally go into Boston? Every weekend?
Depends on the person.</p></li>
<li><p>Is it common to not have classes on Friday?
As often as you might not have classes on Monday. Classes are M/Th or T/F, there are 5 typical timeslots a day. You do the math. If a class meets Friday, you go!</p></li>
<li><p>Are there kitchens/kitchenettes in each dorm? Is it easy to cook a few times a week if you want to? </p></li>
</ol>

<p>There are kitchens in each dorm but groceries are a pain to come by and/or pricy at the convenience store. The dining plan is all-inclusive so you are wasting your time and money by not not eating food you paid for.</p>

<ol>
<li>How many hours a day do students usually spend studying? Is the workload overwhelming? Are the majority of students continually stressed?</li>
</ol>

<p>I never think of studying as “I’m going to sit-down and read my books for 3 hours over and over”. The amount of stress and the degree the workload is overwhelming depends on one’s procrastination habits. There is a “more work than thou” culture though.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Are the distribution requirements a nuisance?
No.</p></li>
<li><p>Are Wellesley students happy? I’ve heard things about a love-hate relationship with the school…and the hate part of it scares me. I’d like to love the college I go to, if possible.
I was fairly happy. I wouldn’t disagree about the love-hate relationship being a typical response.</p></li>
<li><p>Online, I’ve heard bad things said about the advising system–how it’s ineffective, doesn’t work etc. True?
Never heard this.</p></li>
<li><p>Someone who is hermitly (ie me) would generally fit in better at Wellesley than at a coed school, yes? Haha, I read things about the “lack of social life” (ie partying) at Wellesley and this, sadly, appeals to me immensely.</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Yes. It’s nice. That also means that there is a quorum of hermitly people there.</p>

<ol>
<li>Would you say Wellesley is as “nurturing” as it makes itself out to be? (My idea of a nurturing school is Scripps. Somehow, Wellesley doesn’t exude this same sweet/generosity/have-some-cookies-my-dear vibe, but am I wrong about this?)</li>
</ol>

<p>I’ve heard students say that they feel overnutured, so possibly.</p>

<ol>
<li>How many extracurriculars does a Wellesley student have time to participate in? Could someone feasibly be involved in say, the literary magazine and an intramural sport and a club or two and still have free time outside of studying?</li>
</ol>

<p>Yes. That sounds about average. People do a lot.</p>

<ol>
<li>Does free time exist?</li>
</ol>

<p>You take it.</p>

<ol>
<li>What’s a typical week like at Wellesley in terms of workload? 3 papers and a test in a week? Less or more than this?</li>
</ol>

<p>It’s college so tests and papers don’t happen that often. Psets, readings every week.</p>

<ol>
<li>For someone who is easily stressed/ doesn’t schedule themselves well/ procrastinates a lot, would this be reason not to go to Wellesley and instead pick a school that doesn’t have such a big reputation for competitiveness/intensity?</li>
</ol>

<p>You are going to procrastinate and be stressed whereever you go and whatever you do. It never goes away, even after college. If you are a (good) procrastinator, you will procrastinate to the level of the work you have to do until you have only what you need left to finish it. You want to go somewhere when you have to work, you work for real, not somewhere where you are putting off something that only takes a minimum of effort.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>What’s the one thing you dislike most about Wellesley? What’s something you wish you knew before you enrolled?
Nothing’s jumping out at me here. I think the most helpful thing for me was that I talked to disillusioned students and decided to come knowing that Wellesley wasn’t the perfect school. That allowed me to say I’m not going to be too worried about things, and not to be too surprised about much.</p></li>
<li><p>Compared to other schools, Wellesley is more _______ and less ________.
I think that Wellesley is a good place for people who aren’t ready to be living on their own yet compared to other schools.</p></li>
</ol>