Transfer into Wes/social scene

<p>Does anyone have any experience transferring into Wesleyan? Also, what is life on campus realllly like? parties? is there alot of school spirit? What are the ups and downs to Wes life? be honest! Thanks!!!</p>

<p>My D transfered to Wes four years ago. It went very well for her. The transfers have a whole week of orientation. There were about 60, so they shared the expereince together and became very close. About half of her very good friends by the time she graduated were transfers, and half weren't. I can't tell you about the feel of life there except from what she said, but she had a fabulous time--became very active in many ECs, and really liked her classes. She found registering and getting into necessary classes to be a real pain, though pulling the transfer card helped for about the first year or two. campus life seems to be very eclectic; many different groups with different interests, much tolerance for differences. Not as monolithic as often portrayed. I know that above all, she considered it a fun place to be, and feels she got an excellent education. Never regretted transfering for a second.</p>

<p>Note that the old "click system" registration process has been retired as of this semester. Starting in the spring there's a new "algorithm system" that is supposed to make registration less stressful and more fair. But it remains to be seen how successful it will be.</p>

<p>Thanks! Any other info on social life at Wesleyan?</p>

<p>It's fun... a lot of students live in houses which are nicer venues for parties than dorm rooms. There's also a wonderful film series and student theater coop, fairly active campus band scene, and so forth. It can get kind of stuffy and boring in the winter when no one wants to go outside though. </p>

<p>Having a car is a big plus since public transit in Middletown is somewhat lacking. If you have a car, getting to NYC is very easy (park at New Haven/Union Station, take Metro North to Grand Central). Boston is a ~2 hour drive. New Haven and Hartford are both 20-30 minutes depending on traffic.</p>

<p>ive found that wesleyan is not very diverse at all, at least not in the way that you would be led to believe. lots of different types of people are there, but the amount of "inter-group bonding" is rather low. There is always the international students table, the asian table, the black table, etc. its not completely balkanized but that dynamic is at play, so be warned. it's one thing for the admissions office to get all these people here, but its a totally different thing to get them to talk to eachother. I have also found that most folks at wes are really really similar. if you look on anyone's facebook profile, everyone has like the exact same music, very similar intrests, and almolt universally the same political affiliation. I've met one republican the entire time i've been there, and he doesn't even like to talk about it.</p>

<p>If you get assigned to the butts, be prepared to have challenging social life. the location of the dorm does alot to keep kids from other dorms from hanging out there so ur limited to the folks that live there and considering that they are layed out in such a way that doesnt facilitate lost of hanging out, its a pretty dead place to live.</p>

<p>if ur not really into drinking/getting high then you'll really have to search out where to hang out. you could go to parties and just not drink, but its no fun to be around a bunch of drunks when ur sober. </p>

<p>I am really enjoying wesleyan in terms of academics and in the extra curriculars, but socially i'd say its kind of a drag. that's probably a function of me living in the butts rather than the people there, but that's been my experience.</p>

<p>?</p>

<p>I definitely would not say that it's that segregated. Yes, there is a decent amount of self-segregation, but I certainly have friends that are international students, Asians, Latino, etc. I haven't met many Republicans - but honestly, I can't say I've met many hardcore Democrats, either. There seem to be a lot of libertarians and independents who don't stick to party lines.</p>

<p>There are a ton of parties and social events if you don't drink or get high. There are gratuitous amounts of dance parties (at least one a weekend), lots of movie watching and hanging out, plays to go to, concerts to go to, people to talk to.</p>

<p>The layout and location of the Butts really isn't the smartest thing to improve the social lives of college students, but still, when you get some crazy kids in there, it's still pretty lively. I hang around in Butt B fairly often and there are always things going on.</p>

<p>well, the point of my post is that there is more self-segregation that what the admissions brochures would lead you to believe. it is different for different people. with me being an soc, i notice the pressure to sit at certain tables far more than non-soc's. its not an overwhelming thing or anything that stops me from sitting elsewhere, but it's there. idk if the forum starter is an soc or not, but in my experience, the table thing and its implications CAN be a major thing sometimes to some folks within the soc group. you wont get beaten up or anything, but there is a little peer pressure at play there.</p>