If flying is out of the questions, then I think it’s out.
Wake Forest is a great school! Everything said above is pretty spot on. Greek life has a lot of participation but it’s not a separatist type of thing, just another activity really and the kids we spoke to who were not Greek said it wasn’t really a big deal after the initial hype of joining. When D18 was selecting colleges Wake was on the list, visited loved the vibe, saw herself there, returned for an interview … We both loved the community feel, campus is gorgeous, food was great, good science dept (she’s Chem major, wants to teach or research, not med school) and the big draw for her was the campus-wide service projects - they have these campus service activities (walk-a-thon, Fall Festival, etc) to help the greater Winston-Salem community. The application was the most fun to her… VERY creative and atypical!!
Unfortunately, she applied RD and was wait-listed at Wake. Got accepted EA to UVA-oos, URichmond, Furman, Bham-Southern which are all great schools and might meet your stats and financials as well if Niche popped up Wake … she also applied RD to Vanderbilt and Wm & Mary-oos and was accepted to both: had applied EA to UNC-Chappel (denied). Honestly URichmond was her top choice until the end, but she is thriving and happy at Vanderbilt so all good.
Happy to answer any questions you have about what financial packages we were offered or our experience with the application process (mostly used the Common App), we personally toured every school I’ve mentioned plus several in that area that others have mentioned but she decided not to apply to - Elon, Davidson, Duke, Washington & Lee, Georgetown, Birmingham-Southern… and Rice but it’s not in that area.
^ Congrats to your daughter on those amazing admits. Great to have such wonderful choices. Vanderbilt is a fantastic place and Nashville, oh my gosh, how fun!
If your student is premed I would be very concerned about grade deflation as has been discussed here on other threads.
Also, Wake has a very conservative, Greek, white upper class pre-professional reputation. May or may not be what you are looking for?
Lastly, if your D won’t fly I would look for colleges in the Northeast (Boston, NY, DC, etc). With that said if she has a fear of flying, I would seriously look into getting her some professional help as this could seriously limit her the rest of her life. I worked with a colleague who also wouldn’t fly and he could never travel to where his clients were, attend any national trainings, or travel with his family to Europe, Caribbean islands, Asia, etc.
Our daughter was pre-health at Wake for about a year. She started out loving psych, but didn’t initially want to major in it due to feeling conscious of a dynamic on campus in which the pre-professional students look down on the liberal arts majors. Whether that was all in her head or not, who knows, but there is definitely a strong pre-professional pressure cooker atmosphere at Wake. We found the pre-health advising to be surprisingly weak. The pre-health weed-out classes were pretty brutal. And Wake makes it almost impossible to take your pre-health requirements at another school over the summer and transfer the credits. All in all I would proceed with caution if your student intends to be pre-med.
She dosen’t have a fear of flying, I do!
Pre professional students look down on the liberal arts students? Doesn’t sound like a very collaborative environment. I thought, once kids got to college, they would worry about themselves and not care what other kids major in.
Any Wake kids out there who get the vibe that they are being judged by fellow students about their major?
My DD has not found that pre professional students look down on liberal arts students at all. She also does not find there is grade deflation at Wake. Coming from private school, she has found the work load similar and the grading similar to her HS. She had to work in HS and is continuing to do so at Wake.
@UGG2023 Thanks for responding. Our D21 is very interested in visiting Wake and thinks it could be a really good match for her. I feel like I see a lot of negative posts about the school so that worries me. We know two families with kids there but don’t know them very well. I’m hoping to talk to them this school year to get their thoughts.
What do you think about the extracurricular life there? Are there a lot of campus-sponsored events? Our S is at Bowdoin and he cannot even find time for all of the things he wants to do on campus. D21 would like an experience like that. Also, I’m curious about the need to show ID to get back onto campus. Does that mean that the area outside of town is unsafe? Other campuses have towns that aren’t super safe and they don’t have this rule. Curious how students/parents feel about that. I’d also love any opinions on the parties. They are all off campus, right? How do kids get there? Are they walkable from campus? Just trying to figure out what a typical Friday or Sat night looks like for a student who will probably pledge a sorority.
I attended WFU for a summer session. Although long ago, Winston Salem was then regarded as the most segregated city in the US. As a distance runner, I experienced this first hand when crossing over into areas where I was a distinct minority.
Although I love WFU, I am less enthusiastic about Winston Salem. Hopefully the racial divide no longer exists to the extent that it did then.
P.S. In my view, WFU is a lighter version of Wash & Lee. If you like W&L, but want a bit more diversity, then WFU may be the answer. Great weather, beautiful campus, nice people, gorgeous state.
@Publisher right. I think there was a shooting at a party last year at The Barn (which is on campus) and the police do not have a good relationship with some of the people in the town. Trying to fess out how that affects the kids’ experience at the school.
Wake Forest has a reputation being conservative, primarily white (70%), pre-professional, well-off, and Greek heavy (e.g. 60% females in a sorority) which may or may not appeal to some students. I think if I was Asian (only 55 students out of 1421 freshman) it might be a culture shock!
@homerdog my DD is a freshman at Wake and I will try to answer all of your questions. If i’m Not able to answer them I encourage you to contact your admissions rep to connect you to current students that would be happy to help answer any questions.
- My DD absolutely LOVES Wake so far, and has nothing negative to say. As a current parent, and first time college parent I LOVE Wake so far. Their communications to parents is excellent. Their communication and guidance with students is excellent weather is was for selecting courses, move in, orientation, adjusting to college life, etc.
- There are numerous activities, clubs, and campus sponsored events. It seems like there is a club for almost anything for your student might be interested in. This year, they extended fun activities for freshman past the initial orientation period.
- There are 2 gated entrances to campus. After 10pm, one of them is closed until the morning. The other requires campus ID to be shown from 10pm until morning. So random people cannot drive into campus after 10pm. Winston-Salem is like any small city, there are areas that have more crime than others. The neighborhood around campus is residential, very nice and is safe as far I know. It’s my feeling that Wake is trying to make their campus as safe as possible and I like that the campus has gated entrance overnight.
- In my DD’s experience the parties are off campus in the neighborhood right next to campus and not really walkable. She and her friends take Uber/lyft OR fraternity pledges (designated drivers) to and from parties. They always go in groups. There seem to be multiple parties Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights as well as day parties some Saturdays. She says some students go out all of those nights and others go to just some, depending on homework/tests, mood, etc. Sorority rush for freshman occurs in January the week before class starts.
- There was a shooting 2 years ago at the Barn, neither the shooter or victim were Wake students. Maybe this is why they now require ID to get onto campus after 10pm?
Wake now has a downtown campus in the middle of downtown Winston-Salem in a former tobacco factory. The downtown seems to be going thru a real revitalization. There are restaurants, bars and 2 upscale hotels. Having just visited our DD last weekend we saw all types of people enjoying downtown.
The negatives of Wake/Winston-Salem for me as a parent are (and I preface this by saying we live in the northeast 1 hour from both NYC and Philadelphia):
Students can’t really walk to get anywhere off campus (parties, internships, restaurants, shopping, etc) and she wants to have her car there next year.
Wake is less diverse (race, religion, soc-eco) than what my DD is used to (her private school was very diverse and we live in a very diverse area)
The retail choices are somewhat limited. We went to the Hanes mall and our DD said it looked like the mall from Stranger Things. She is doing a lot of online shopping.
Because W-S is small, culture is somewhat limited (theatre, art museums, etc)
Please visit Wake Forest and Winston-Salem to see what you think. My perspective and opinions might be very different from yours.
@UGG2023 thanks so much! Super helpful. I do wonder where the parties are still. If the college is in a neighborhood then why are the houses with the parties so far away that kids have to Uber? Are these houses that upperclassmen live in? Then they have to drive to school each day for class?
@homerdog: After reading the above posts, I suggest that your daughter look elsewhere. Seems as though WFU–really Winston Salem-- has gotten more dangerous than when I went there for a summer term.
I would be interested in you & your daughter’s impressions of Washington & Lee.
Safety should be one’s top priority.
Davidson College, Wash & Lee &, maybe, the University of Vermont Honors College. (Burlington, Vermont was just rated as the city with the cleanest air in the lower 48 states.)
@homerdog Wake is a fenced in campus separated from the neighborhoods boarded by woods, golf course and fields and access in and out, by car or on foot is only at either entrance. I’d say Wake is surrounded by residential neighborhoods but separated from them by somewhat busy roads. From my DD dorm, parties are 1-2 miles away by car (5-10min). She could walk 1-2 miles but it would take a while to get there (15-30+min), and it’s dark and I don’t know if there are sidewalks, etc. The parties are at houses of upperclassmen (fraternity, sports boys). I’m assuming they drive or bike to campus for class. I would not want my DD walking 2 miles home from parties at 2am.
@Publisher I’m not sure how anything I’ve said has given the impression that Wake or W-S is more dangerous or even dangerous at all. Wake is adjacent to a city and therefore a higher population. The more people the more chance of crime, that’s just the way it is. The schools you referenced are mostly rural and therefore not comparable in terms of location or even size. I’m not sure why you would be giving advice regarding a place you attended for 1 summer, years ago. You are not a parent of a current student, not a resident of W-S, nor does it seem you have visited campus or W-S recently.
I encouraged @homerdog and anyone else considering Wake Forest to talk to current students, admission rep., and visit campus if possible.
Sure seems to me that there have been negative posts recently about Wake from people that either have an axe to grind, or don’t really know what they’re talking about (cough, cough - one summer decades ago). Please take posts on this site with a grain of salt and visit Wake and Winston-Salem to get a first-hand experience for yourself.
I am a graduate and a parent of a current freshman. I had no qualms whatsoever about sending her there. In fact, I was thrilled beyond words when she decided to apply ED last summer. Her experience in her first month there has only reinforced what a great decision she made.
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Just research crime stats for Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
The fact that one of two gates on to the campus is locked all night and that those coming onto campus after 10PM through the remaining gate have to show ID offers some insight.
@Publisher we will most likely visit because we are seeing Richmond and Davidson too and I have to say I am crazy curious about Wake after reading a lot about on CC and on other forums. So many good things. But I do not understand the social life that means kids have to find rides to houses that are two miles off of campus. I’m ok with our daughter liking the idea of a sorority, but the gated thing (when USC or U Chicago are not gated) seems like an interesting idea. I can’t think of any other school that is gated like that.
I’m less concerned about the posters who have an ax to grind about the academics (grade deflation, kids not supporting each other) as I think that’s a personal experience someone may have had but not the overall vibe I get from reading up on the school.