<p>????????????????????</p>
<p>emsibdn:
My D is thoroughly enjoying herself. I know she hasn't had much sleep since arriving and there have been many Frat parties to attend. :) Is that the norm? As you know classes start today so i hope she slows down on the parties.</p>
<p>Haha, I must be out of the loop since I don't seem to recall many parties, perhaps a few small ones. Pretty much for the first four weeks, it is standard, but as classes start up and the hard work begins, at least I, started to focus. About three weeks in most cut back partying to just fridays/saturdays. Don't worry.</p>
<p>I've been here for like two weeks now so I'm starting to settle in. Marching band and premed work is a lot to handle at first and I'm trying to get myself into a regular schedule. (I'm not absolutely 100% premed yet...I'm just taking the first sequence of bio and chem and seeing where it leads me.) But I'm glad orientation is over now so I'm able to get into a more regulated groove.</p>
<p>I haven't been to a party yet...I'm not really the party type, because I don't like to drink. But a lot of the girls on our hall were going out pretty much every night during orientation, haha. They've calmed it down somewhat now, I think.</p>
<p>I'm not sure how much the prep factor is going to bother me yet...IMO, it's huge around here, and I came from a fairly preppy private HS (or so I thought). I'm already tired of the popped collars...but that's just me. I'll probably get used to it eventually.</p>
<p>Give me a month or so before I tell you exactly what I think...I'm still formulating my opinion.</p>
<p>Juba2jive- keep us posted- I am very interested in your opinion, as my non-preppy son is applying! Thanks!</p>
<p>We returned last night from visiting our son at Wake - had fun tailgating at the football game and celebrating his 18th birthday. He absolutely loves it! He was lamenting the fact that the first five weeks have flown by so fast, and he hopes the rest of his four years don't go as quickly, because he doesn't want it to end. He has gotten involved in Theatre activities (his intended major) and has enjoyed seeing a number of plays in Winston-Salem and Greensboro. He's been to several parties with the theatre kids and has had fun, even as a non-drinker. He likes all his classes and professors and gets along well with his roommate. Overall, a great atmosphere for him.</p>
<p>Hi, I am so glad to hear your son loves Wake! Good luck to him, and may the four years go by slowly! My son just applied, do you mind me asking stats that got your son in? I am not being nosy, just worried, it seems last year it was very competitive. We have visited twice, (from N.J.) and my son had an interview in August. He also is a non-drinker, and Wake is his dream., Thanks if you can help, njmom</p>
<p>njmom,
If you click on my user name above, you can search my previous posts to see my son's stats. We feel very fortunate that he was not only accepted to Wake, but received one of their large merit scholarships. It was still a tough decision for him, because his other top choice was a BFA program in Musical Theatre where he was accepted by audition and where he also had a scholarship. But I think he's very happy that he picked Wake.</p>
<p>Onedown, out of curiosity, what did you think of the band's halftime show at the game? ;) Just fishing for compliments, haha...</p>
<p>I would say I've settled in a little better now, and the time is starting to pass much more quickly than it was. Yes, the preppies still bother me, but I'm kind of going back to my original attitude...that I'm going to do my thing and they'll do theirs. Yeah, I still feel like I get the occasional strange look because I like to be different, but it doesn't bother me so much anymore. And I think it'd be pretty impossible to realistically think I could get along with/please everyone. </p>
<p>I'm still working on the "making friends" front, which is difficult for me because I'm an introvert. But I'm trying. And the band kids are really cool, as are the club softball girls and the kids in the other club I'm in. I still haven't really been to a party...kind of sad...but that's just not my thing at all. As I said, I don't like to drink and I'd much rather hang out quietly with a small group of friends than go crazy with a bunch of people at a party.</p>
<p>I definitely stay busy...band eats up my Saturdays, softball practice Sunday and Wednesday, two night labs, some studying thrown in there somewhere...I like to be involved. But it's forcing me to manage my free time quite carefully, which is actually better than just wasting it, IMO.</p>
<p>The only two things that are sort of bothering me is the Wake "bubble" and the food. Unlike, say, W&M where you don't even need a car because everything you need is in walking distance, you pretty much have to drive somewhere should you need to make a Food Lion/Target/dinner run. And since my free time is quite limited and the freshman lot is so far away from my dorm, I don't go out very much (like once a week), which can get sort of old. There is a shuttle, but it never seems to run by when I want to go to my car, so I just end up walking. Therefore, I have to really need something for the trip to be worth it...so I don't get out much, haha. I already can't wait to be able to park on campus next year. And I can't wait to be able to downgrade my meal plan next year to as few meals as possible. The Pit is probably better now that it's been redone, but the food's already getting old and the selection could be better, with more vegetarian options. But then again, I've talked to a lot of people that love the food, so to each his/her own, I guess...</p>
<p>So, in summary, I'm less unhappy than I originally was, and I'm not thinking about transferring quite so much anymore.</p>
<p>juba:</p>
<p>good for you - it does take some time to settle in doesn't it - my D has talked about transferring as well but always on im and never when we have a phone conversation (which seems infrequent at best) She refers to the Wake bubble in the negative as well. I'm hoping that in a few weeks she will be more positive about it but i'm not sure yet. Hope things pick up for you as well.</p>
<p>The food is definitely better than it was. That said, I'm getting kind of tired of it already, too. And rumor has it that they're working on getting more meals for the vegetarians (believe it or not, one of the selling points of the meal plan last year was that they'd have more vegetarian options).</p>
<p>I completely understand your feelings, juba2jive. You just almost described my first two months here (right down to the two labs a week. I assume that they're bio 112 and chem 111? At least those seemed to be the two most common labs my first semester). As for the Wake Forest "bubble," there will be times that you're glad for it, too. Not leaving campus much does tend to foster closer friendships. And sometimes you've just got to ignore the preppies. I was still ambivalent about Wake when I went home last year (though I was sure that I was coming back), but the beginning of this year has definitely made me certain that I've come to the right school.</p>
<p>And some of us have managed a year and counting without going to a frat party...</p>
<p>I'll chime in and say I don't like the food. Is it cooked? Yes. Is it fresh? Yes. Is it quality food? Nope! The food isn't what you'd find in a local grocery store such as Harris Teeter. The food seems like it was produced in some third world country, in terms of quality. Maybe I'm being too picky, but none of the food is brand name--most of it is from companies I've never heard of before. The only brand name things I see is the ketchup, mustard, mayo, and perhaps this one time they served Hunter's ice cream. But, oh well, it could be worse. Like I've said before, come to Wake for the laptops and professors! Food is, I suppose, a minor issue. About the bubble, I dunno.</p>
<p>EDIT: Oh, yeah, I don't like the long lines. If I don't get to the "Le Pit" as it opens, I don't bother going. And this is a problem because I have so far racked up 30 meals or so. 38 this Wednesday. They need faster service pronto.</p>
<p>Is there a minimum of how many meals you can purchase for freshman year?</p>
<p>For this year it was 14 min for freshman. I feel sorry for the poor soul that either got 17 or unlimited as he is either losing a fortune of money or is morbidly obese.</p>
<p>yeah, I have a problem using my 8 meals a week. I can't imagine trying to eat 17.</p>
<p>Yeah, I usually go sometime between 1 and 1:30 for lunch. For the first couple days I tried going at 12...forget that. Never doing that again. I'm so glad I have 14 meals, because I don't even eat that many...17 or unlimited would just be a huge waste.</p>
<p>Oh my goodness, they actually had REAL PIZZA for lunch today. I was excited. And it was actually halfway decent (or at least the spinach and feta kind was). I was getting sick of the calzones (and I like vegetarian food, but the brief introduction of the vegan calzones with tofu cheese was not a good idea - they were not good at all.) I never understood why they were just making calzones anyway. Before school started, like during band camp, they just made pizza, and then once school started, they stopped...it was weird.</p>
<p>I don't think I'm being that picky about my food...I just like a bit of variety and freshness and stuff that isn't quite so bad for you sometimes.</p>
<p>14 is a ton!! I would be perfectly content stuffing my fridge with lean cuisines next year, but i guess that doesn't happen at wake! what's with the whole vegetarian thing? why are they so into pleasing vegetarians when there are way more meat eaters?</p>
<p>Actually, they don't really have that much vegetarian food at all. They've been experimenting a bit in the past week or two with expanding the selection...but some of their experiments (such as the vegan calzones) haven't gone over so well.</p>
<p>I'm not totally vegetarian but I hardly ever eat meat (like once or twice a week, if that much). So I appreciate what they're trying to do, and I think they're looking for the happy medium to please both the meat-eating and non-meat-eating populations.</p>
<p>Eh, I would guess of all the food at Le Pit, 25% is for vegetarians (salad bar, and whathaveyou. About the calzones and pizza deal, the reason they stopped baking pizzas and switched to calzones is because Pizza Hut in Benson has a monopoly on pizza on campus and raised hell about Le Pit's serving pizza. I haven't been there is about a week, but I'll check out the pizza section (I really like the oven they have there).</p>
<p>What's Winston-Salem like?</p>