<p>My sister has found herself in the rather fortunate situation of having to choose between Tufts, Wesleyan, Brandeis and Hopkins. She likes all four schools, however, no one stands out to her as "the best fit." She's planning on attending the accepted student days for each of the schools. Basically, what she's looking for is some guidance on what to pay attention to at the accepted student days as well as general advice on whether or not Wesleyan sounds like the best fit for her.</p>
<p>A brief description of my sister: very bright and driven, but in such an unimposing way that you'd probably think she was a bit lazy upon meeting her. She's interested in a double major in music and chemistry and wants to be able to participate in some on-campus classical music ensembles. She doesn't make friends easily, which is probably in part due to the fact that she'd rather practice her instrument or draw than go to a party. On that same note, she has no intention of joining a Sorority in college. A school full of jocks is pretty undesirable for her, as is a school full of hipsters, hippies, preppy people, etc. Basically, she wants to go somewhere that's going to be pretty hardcore in terms of academics and music.</p>
<p>Other factors to consider: She's a physical science scholar at Brandeis. She was rejected from Peabody, but if she attends Hopkins, she plans to reapply for it next year.</p>
<p>So what do you think? Is Wesleyan the best fit, or should she plan on attending one of her other options?</p>
<p>She sounds similar to me in that I’d rather draw/talk/whatever instead of party, and I’m also interested in classical music and serious academics. I have a few very close friends, but I’m not the “social butterfly” Phi Beta Bimbo type. I have an unusual double-major in mind as well. I chose Wesleyan, and also applied to Brandeis and considered Tufts. PM me if you’d like :)</p>
<p>She sounds like she’d fit in at any of those places though, honestly, so no worries.</p>
<p>johnwesley: What? That doesn’t sound like Wesleyan at all. A school full of jocks? A school full of hipsters? I don’t think so. Yes, we have a larger hipster scene than most schools, but by no means is this a school totally full of hipsters. I would say the student body “type” here is pretty diverse, with plenty of geeks, hipsters, hippies, preppy people, athletes, and with these categories often intersecting and not being too cliquey.</p>
<p>I go to Wesleyan and my brother goes to Hopkins, so I know the two schools pretty well. The major requirements are MUCH tougher at Hopkins, whereas double majoring at Wesleyan is relatively easy and common. There’s also a laidback attitude toward academics - while the curriculum is rigorous and the students are deeply intellectual, there’s a low-pressure non-competitive environment, which is not what I’ve experienced at Hopkins. There’s also more of a friendly campus atmosphere here, with more of a communal feeling than I’ve experienced when I visited Hopkins. Hopkins has its strong points - for example, if she’s interested in engineering, Hopkins is a much better choice.</p>
<p>Hopkins is a better fit for my brother than Wesleyan is, though, and the main reason is that he’s very introverted and likes staying in his room much of the time. I think that when he visited Wesleyan he felt overwhelmed. Wesleyan has lots of social activity going on all the time, which I view as a plus, but unfortunately, Wes culture is also fairly intolerant of people who would rather not be with people than be with people. That’s not to say that I don’t have friends who are shy, but friendliness and extraversion seem to be valued more here. My brother loves Hopkins; it wouldn’t be for me, but it’s definitely right for some people.</p>
<p>I think that visiting campus (and doing an overnight) is the best way to learn more about these differences. For me, one of the schools I visited just “clicked”. Congratulations to her! She has some great options.</p>
<p>Mad - Wesleyan has more varsity athletes than NSM majors. I’m just sayin’…if the OP’s sister is allergic to jocks she should probably avoid all the NESCAC colleges.</p>
<p>I would definitely, definitely not worry about there being “too many jocks” at Wesleyan. Maybe too many hipsters, but even that’s stretching it. The student athletes at Wesleyan do <em>not</em> generally (with the exception of a few teams) fit the “jock” profile whatsoever, and it’s certainly not an overwhelming part of campus culture.</p>
<p>I mean there are jocks here but they exert a limited amount of influence on the social scene.
they mainly hang out at their frats and play their sports; that’s about it, they don’t seem to get involved in anything else going on around campus. more importantly, non-jocks don’t feel any kind of magnetic draw to the frats/jock scene - we leave them alone and they leave us alone.</p>
<p>I have a similar decision to make, also having been accepted to Wesleyan, Tufts, and Brandeis. I’m leaning towards Wes as opposed to Tufts since I think it lines up with my personality an interests more–a place where I can be artistic and intellectual, while still encouraging me to explore and experiment academically. I definitely want to go to the most academic rigorous place possible, but I think that Wes and Tufts are close enough in this regard that I can get the same experience out of Wes as Tufts if I’m smart about it.</p>
<p>For your sister, I might say JHU or Tufts, although I’m not exactly an expert. Still, it does seem like Wes is a campus of extroverts, as madjoy implied.</p>
<p>I also wouldn’t worry about too many jocks/hipsters here. The vast, vast majority of Wesleyan students are just smart people who aren’t necessarily a part of some clique. Also, the fact that we have a lot of athletes doesn’t mean they’re all “jocks” who only hang out together. I know a lot of people who are athletes, but I wouldn’t call them jocks.</p>
<p>Wesleyan sounds like a good fit for your sister. Music is incredible here. Also, I think she would ok socially even if she’s not a social butterfly. People at Wes are really welcoming. When she visits the schools, hopefully she’ll get a feeling for what the best fit is.</p>
<p>seriously, i have never heard anyone suggest that wesleyan is anything even close to “full of jocks.” that is completely ridiculous.</p>
<p>if she really wants to do both science and music, i think wesleyan is the perfect place. i can actually think of several people who’ve double-majored in a science and music, and many more who were highly involved in campus music stuff and majored in science.</p>
<p>i think the extraversion thing has been a little overstated. i think introverted people do just fine here, if they understand that about themselves. i think it’s one of the greatest things about wesleyan is that literally every kind of person can find a niche and have close friends. not everyone socializes in big-group settings.</p>
<p>My son spent a fair amount of time at Brandeis and Wesleyan, trying to decide between them. He finally chose Wesleyan because he felt it was a bit more rigorous academically. </p>
<p>He is a double major in music and philsophy. He found music (especially strings, choral, classical in general) to be stronger at Brandeis and to have many more course offerings. Wesleyan is better known for jazz and world music and S wishes that the population of classical musicians were larger. Still, he’s really happy at Wes and is very glad to be there.</p>
<p>Even though there are a few frats at Brandeis, S thought that frat culture and sports were much more central at Wesleyan than at Brandeis. He’s not minding this as much as he thought he might. He found the students and faculty to be friendly and accessible at both schools.</p>
<p>Tufts has a brand new music building that is supposed to be beautiful, but its reputation in music is just starting to build. Brandeis and Wesleyan have had solid reputations in music for a very long time. S didn’t like the pre-professional, preppy scene at Tufts and much preferred the artsy vibe at Wesleyan and Brandeis. </p>
<p>What area in music is your sister interested in?</p>
<p>Hey everyone… thanks so much for the replies: they’re really helpful. To clarify a few things that have come up:</p>
<ol>
<li>My sister is a definite introvert. She’s really not a people person and is very quiet and reserved.</li>
<li>Her interest is in classical music… she’s never really been exposed to world music and doesn’t really like jazz.</li>
<li>When I made the comment about jocks, hipsters, hippies, preps, etc. I really meant that she’s looking for a school where no one common “type” seems to dominate the scene.</li>
</ol>
<p>Ohhh. well, none of those groups <em>dominates</em> at Wesleyan.
Seriously, in my mind’s eye I can visualize your sister living on Lawn Avenue and beating a path between her dorm and the Science Center; there would be nothing unusual about that, at all. I think all of this will resolve itself at Wesfest, I’m sure. Good luck to you both of you!</p>
<p>Oh I see, Skie. She plays the flute, piccolo, and piano, but is planning on concentrating on flute.</p>
<p>And no, I didn’t convince her to apply to Vassar. Of course, it would be an excellent fit for her in terms of her interests, but the fact that I’m here negated that. We were in school together or about thirteen years, and now that I’m gone from our high school, I think we’ve both come to appreciate attending separate institutions.</p>
<p>Sorry, I don’t know details about flute life at any of the schools. Will your sister get to visit any of the campuses during accepted students’ days? She’s got such great choices here. Hard to go wrong with any of them. You’re a good sister!</p>