<p>Exactly how safe is Wesleyan?</p>
<p>Take the same precautions you normally would at home and you should be fine. Thieves know that students can be careless, particularly at the beginning of the school year. You learn to not leave a first floor window opened or a house unlocked when leaving. There were one or two muggings a while back and people -- mainly the administration -- seem to focus on a public housing project (anywhere else it could pass as a condominium) near campus. But, the truth is anyone can come from anywhere and commit a crime on the Wesleyan campus or any campus, no matter how secluded it is. You need card keys to gain entry to all the dorms and quite a few other places, but Wesleyan remains a fairly wide-open and friendly place and people seem to prefer it that way.</p>
<p>My S recently had his cell phone stolen -- left things on field with other kids' cells and belongings when they went to play something-or-other sport. His WesCard and keys turned up but not his cell or sandals (?). He was naive.</p>
<p>If you have common sense, you'll be fine. It's frosh in their first few weeks who show up with a "wooooo!!! college!" mentality and don't close their ground-floor windows who get their laptops stolen.</p>
<p>In terms of personal safety, there's a van system that runs every night from 7pm-4am running students where ever they need to go on campus. Really nice in the cold winters during late-night study sessions at the library. Also, from any point on campus, you can see at least one (if not two, three, or four) blue-light emergency phones to call public safety should you feel uncomfortable. However, I've never felt the need, and I've definitely made some treks across the camps in the wee hours of the morning. </p>
<p>So Wes is VERY safe, if you're smart.</p>
<p>There's a parents' listserv in which worried parents bicker about how terrible safety at Wesleyan is, but from the students' perspective, it's really pretty good. I've never had any problems personally, nor have my friends. However, it's a good idea to lock your laptop up to your desk, and to keep your door locked (you'd be surprised how many students just leave their key in the door when they're not around.) Also, use the RIDE late at night.</p>
<p>Most of the safety incidents appear to be situations where drunk Wesleyan students and drunk high school town residents provoke each other, from what I can tell.</p>