<p>My d was accepted, and she is super excited. Wellesley was one of the last schools she decided to apply to, but it has ended up on top. She has some other great choices, but we think Wellesley will be the pick. She’s visited twice, and will go to the Admitted students overnight. Question: She is trying to figure out the “real” pros and cons of each school. Wellesley’s main negatives include grade deflation, substantial core requirements, and uneven steps (my d is a quirky kid). She is leaning towards poli sci/econ, with law school in her future. Any thoughts?</p>
<p>Wow I’m so excited! My stats were a 94.7 gpa at a competitive public school and a 2280 sat score, with multiple cultural and newspaper ECs. Also I wrote my supplement on reading a book about Madame Chiang Kai-shek when I was thirteen. My college essay was about interning at an international paper and my EC short answer was about waitressing outdoors in Times Square for the International Chinese Culinary Competition. I think I also had one really special rec from a history teacher.
I did EE and received a likely.
I also missed one finaid document and probably have to wait 'till April to find out because my dad’s business tax return doesn’t get filed for another week. :/</p>
<p>Sakacar – the uneven steps are a very important criteria! Yes, there are some that are uneven but you sort of get used to them and well, you really have no reason to go to the gym with all the walking and stair climbing you do on canpus! Granted when I was in high school I didn’t consider going to the gym at all but now that I’ve graduated I do really miss the hills and the stairs…</p>
<p>Anyways, back to your con list. Grade deflation is what it is. To be honest it hadn’t affected me that much. Yes when you compare to state schools your GPA might look lower but grad schools and recruiting companies know what GPA ranges to expect from each school. If you go somewhere where the average is a 3.8 and you have a 3.5, your 3.5 may look worse than a 3.3 from somewhere else…it’s all relative. </p>
<p>The number of graduate requirements is a complete positive in my mind. The number is daunting but I don’t know a single person who struggled to complete them. Everyone at wellesley has such varied interests (and generally are people who like to plan ahead) that most realize they’ve satisfied the requirements without even trying. The varied classes I took definitely differentiated my college experience from that of my hs peers and I wouldn’t have had it any other way.</p>
<p>So, I received the packet in the mail today. The hard copy of the admissions letter had a P.S. mentioning my CA essay. I thought that was a very nice, personal touch :)</p>
<p>Hi, I was “likely” EE and accepted Regular Decision.</p>
<p>SAT: 2200 (800 CR, 670 M, 730 W)
ACT: 31
GPA: 4.35 (roughly, weighted)
My school doesn’t announce rank, just a vague “Top 15%” for state scholarship purposes.</p>
<p>-Clubs: Model UN president, literary magazine senior editor, NHS, LHS (French), GSA, club basketball, art
-Lots of volunteering (mostly tutoring inner-city kids).</p>
<p>I honestly almost didn’t apply to Wellesley, but wrote a quick essay in one sitting shortly before the EE deadline because the app was free. I’m glad I did–Wellesley is now in my Top 3! It comes down to financial aid at this point.</p>
<p>Congrats to all the accepted students!</p>
<p>Hi Everyone!</p>
<p>I was accepted RD, no EE. I’m so excited! I wasn’t going to apply, but did so on a whim and it slowly crawled up to become my dream school. 
Stats : 2030 SAT (780 CR, 600M, 660 W), 790,750,720 SAT IIs (Chinese, English Lit and Biology)
IB student - predicted 38/45
ECs - President of national MUN chapter, Debater, some sports and arts. Lots of community work. </p>
<p>Again, I am so excited to meet all of you this summer. Can’t wait!</p>
<p>Are any of you going to the Open House in April? I’m going to be there on Monday and Tuesday, the 22nd and the 23rd, and will be staying overnight. Have any current students already done this? What was it like, and how did you manage your time??</p>
<p>Events are all planned for you during Spring Open Campus. There’s no need to manage your time per se – just go to the events, meet as many people (current students and your potential fellow classmates), and see if you think Wellesley is the place for you!</p>
<p>I’m so excited to go to the Open House!!</p>
<p>I loved the personal note at the bottom of my acceptance letter. It makes me feel as if I am already an individual with a name and a story in Wellesley’s eyes, not just a number or the sum of my stats.</p>
<p>This is so hard … yeah I am grateful to be in this position. I love Wellesley … and I love Smith. They both want me … but Smith wants me more. Smith is giving me Zollman plus STRIDE research stipend. I don’t know what to do. My parents are leaving the choice to me. Wellesley will be full pay … is it really worth $250,000 of my parents’ money for four years? I don’t know. Smith will cost $22,000 less annually … resulting in savings of $80,000 over four years. Serious money, I know. I don’t know what to do. Am I being selfish if I ignore the savings? Help!</p>
<p>If your parents can afford it and don’t need the 80K, choose for fit!</p>
<p>As you clearly appreciate both Wellesley and Smith are terrific schools. The academic and educational qualities of both schools are by most accounts on an equal footing. If the question of “fit” at both schools is not an issue, and both colleges offer areas of study that are what you are looking for then I would offer the following for consideration. The financial benefit to be received at Smith from the merit scholarship may allow an easier financial path if you wish to pursue graduate studies. But of even greater weight is the invaluable opportunity that comes from the research opportunity contected with the STRIDE program given as part of the Zollman Scholarship. To be able to engage in complex research with a Smith Professor in an area of interest is not only a great way of honing your academic skills and development but will provide the kind of backround that will help you achieve other goals after graduation whether that be graduate school or something else. In the interest of disclosure I am a current Smith student.</p>
<p>I think it depends on the availability of resources and what specific advantages each school can offer.</p>
<p>While I never attended either, my d got in to both. Smith is pretty much off the table for a bunch of reasons (although I know plenty of very happy, successful Smith grads who would choose differently, including my bf in high school).</p>
<p>Wellesley has a different vibe, and a different reputation. It has different academic partners. It has a different location.</p>
<p>Do any of these things mean anything to you?</p>
<p>If not, I’d be hard-pressed to turn down the money.</p>
<p>My d has a similar situation with Scripps. Great money, lots of love, sunny weather, strong consortium.</p>
<p>If I had to bet, I’d bet Wellesley will win. But then, she’s been wearing a Hilary is my Home Girl t-shirt since seventh grade, and she’s looking to become Wellesley’s third S of S. :-)</p>
<p>@futureinfinance - I was in the exact same position as you (accepted to Smith with Zollman and STRIDE), as well as a slew of other schools. Between Smith and Wellesley what did it for me was fit. I liked being so close to Boston which gave me the chance to not only meet other students outside of Wellesley but also gave me invaluable connections for finding internships and jobs. As you say you’re interested in finance, some W students get internships during the year at banks which immensely helps for Wall Street recruiting. It’s access to those types of experiences that I couldn’t have gotten from many other schools that outweighed the $$ and Smith research opportunities for me.</p>
<p>Press release from Wellesley today – this was the most selective year in 30 years! Congratulations to all those who have been accepted into the class of 2017 
Great job!</p>
<p>[Wellesley</a> College Reports Most Selective Admission Rate in More Than 30 years | Wellesley College](<a href=“http://www.wellesley.edu/news/2013/03/node/34484]Wellesley”>Wellesley College Reports Most Selective Admission Rate in More Than 30 Years | Wellesley College)</p>
<p>My decision got a bit more complicated today. I got into Stanford … yaay. But now what? Stanford is also full pay … no aid (bummer). I have no idea how they calculate EFC from CSS. (I dislike CSS.) FAFSA reported our EFC as $37k … so why no aid from Wellesley and Stanford.</p>
<p>@wellesley10 - Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the decision you made. I assume you attended Wellesley as a full-pay student. Did you have to take loan? Did your parents paid for everything (free of loan)? I know someday I will have an MBA and make tons of money. But that will not happen with just an undergrad degree. Median starting salary for Wellesley grad … maybe around $60K a year? I am hesitant to take a big loan for undergrad degree. Salary won’t be there to support loan payments. I will be more comfortable taking loan for my grad school.</p>
<p>Not to get super in the weeds here, but “knowing that you’ll one day get an MBA and make tons of money” is just an assumption. MBA degrees and the value you get from them (salary included) vary by school and your goals for the program. Dont pick a college based on where you think you’ll go to graduate school; pick a school where you’ll be comfortable and be able to reach your goals for the next four years.</p>
<p>You also can’t assume anything about my financial background based off what I’ve said, and I’m not giving details about that here. Over 50% of Wellesley students do receive aid, and salary-wise depending on what career you start out with you’ll be able to pay off your loans regardless of where you go to school (you have great options here). I really wouldn’t worry about the details of that yet – many people will end up in a similar situation and everyone makes due after graduation.</p>
<p>You also don’t know what job you’ll get after graduation so how do you know you won’t make lots of money (“lots” here also varies by person and socioeconomic level)?? You say you’re interested in finance. If you stay on that route and end up on Wall Street you could potentially make 6 figures or close to it straight from Wellesley. Again I wouldn’t count that as your be all end all. College is a time to explore academic areas and to figure out who you are. You could end up doing something for internships and jobs that you never considered before, all because you took a class that sparked your interest or you had a great conversation with a professor. That’s the beauty of attending a smaller school where you get to have all those interactions.</p>
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<p>FAFSA almost always shows a lower EFC than CSS/Profile, because it does not consider things that CSS/Profile does, i.e. your parents’ home equity, retirement savings, income of non-custodial parents and stepparents, etc. If your parents have a lot of home equity, for example, they would be expected to take out a loan against their house to send you to Wellesley or Stanford. FAFSA would not take this into consideration; their figure is mostly based on custodial parents’ income alone, not assets. If your parents have their own business, they also will probably see a higher EFC from CSS/Profile than from FAFSA.</p>
<p>How much in loans would you need to take out to afford W or S? If it is not more than the Stafford maximums, it may be worth it for fit. However, if you have to get your parents to co-sign large private loans, it is probably not worth it. Smith is a great school.</p>