<p>I'm hoping some current Wesleyan students can offer some guidance here. My daughter is estatic to have received an early write -- she hasn't cured cancer or won an Oscar lately, so wow! -- but would attending Wesfest be the best way to experience the "real" Wesleyan? Or would visiting another date in April give her a truer sense of the day-to-day life/learning/culture/etc. of this great school? Thanks in advance for your help!</p>
<p>Good question. Wesfest is probably the surest way for her to fall in luv with the place; she will meet lots of prospectives like herself and student hosts (themselves not much more than frosh, usually.) She’ll have a great time. But, yea, there are lots of weekends when Eclectic will not have a live band playing til midnight, or when Foss Hill will not be loaded cheek by jowl with blissed-out kids. Factor in all the rainy days in April, and that most nights of the week you can hear a pin drop along High Street. She may have to get by with (heaven forbid!) just a house party or two, to get a real flavor of what campus life is like.</p>
<p>Well, there are parties going on every weekend, but not like there are during Wesfest. While Wesfest isn’t the most representative night of the “real Wesleyan”, I wouldn’t say that it’s un-representative - just super-representative. What I mean is, everything that normally happens at Wesleyan happens - there’s just more of it. As a prefrosh, it’s hard to access all that’s going on on-campus on a normal night, because it’s harder to know what’s going on where and when. You’ll miss events that as a student you might have gone to. But Wesfest makes it very easy and accessible to find the events that are most suitable for your interests - and, you get to meet a lot of other prospective students as well, which gives you a better idea what the student body is like. I highly recommend going to Wesfest - as a senior, I’m still really good friends with a bunch of people I met at Wesfest and of my 4 housemates, I met 2 of them there. (The other two didn’t go to Wesfest - so don’t worry, if you don’t go, you’ll still make friends when you get here!) If you couldn’t tell, I highly recommend attending Wesfest. It’s not essential, and it’s certainly a more-exciting-than-typical weekend, but in my opinion it’s still the best way to experience Wesleyan and see if it’s the school for you.</p>
<p>Either way, make sure you stay overnight with a student and don’t just come for the day, and don’t just stay in a hotel room.</p>
<p>I’m just a prefrosh, but I have heard that WesFest is like Wesleyan CONCENTRATED. All the events, social and otherwise, in rapid-fire craziness. People generally <em>do</em> get a sense of the character of the school, though maybe not the pace of it.</p>
<p>So you guys would recommend doing an overnight for Wesfest? I’m from California and my mom hasn’t even seen where I’m going to school yet. 
Do you recommend going by myself to WesFest and maybe having her come a few days later so she can see the school afterwards?</p>
<p>There are events for parents like student and parent panels, special tours of the film center, library, and Freshmen housing options, and FA drop in hours. Its a really great experience for the students and the parents that come along. WesFest definitely helps undecided students and skeptical parents(from personal experience) So i think it would be fine if your mom came during Wesfest, but she could have a separate agenda from your own, so you could experience student life.</p>
<p>Wesfest is absolutely worth attending, for parents as well as students. For those who already know Wes is their first choice, it’s a great introduction to the place. For those unsure, it’s a great help in the decision. And prospective students definitely should arrange to stay overnight in the dorms rather than in a hotel.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice :)</p>