<p>I read on u n i g o that wesleyan is full of outspoken people who are really politically active, as well as active in the community and just.. really active in general-strong in their beliefs. I'm kind of still discovering myself.. (i dont really believe strongly in anything) and i'm quite on the introverted end. Would I fit in at Wesleyan? Also, I'm asian and i come from a high school where i'm literally the only asian surrounded by pompous rich white kids who party every weekend...worst experience of my life. Thus, i'm pretty not confident and insecure.. Would i fit in at Wesleyan? oh, also, i hate pretentious people.</p>
<p>Wesleyan may not be the best place for you. If you come in (even assuming you are admitted) already thinking every white person you meet is either pretentious or rich, you’ll never make it past freshman year.</p>
<p>you’ll fit it. people arent THAT much of crazy activists</p>
<p>DON’T COME HERE.</p>
<p>If you don’t like being surrounded by rich white kids partying, you really won’t like Wesleyan. You’ll definitely be able to find a group that doesn’t get drunk every weekend, but it will be a small group and it may take a while to find.</p>
<p>that being said, good luck at any college if your peeves are activism and drunk people.</p>
<p>Razalman, I’ve heard that Wes students are pretty diverse and quite open and welcoming. Is Wesleyan’s student body really that white and pretentious? I am curious because I would love to go to Wes and your statement seems to indicate that the students are all the typical college student… explain? =)</p>
<p>WRONG WRONG WRONG. the ACB is not the place to go for an accurate depiction of student life. the acb is an extreme outlier… please do not judge the school off that. people post random crap there for no reason, because it’s all anonymous.</p>
<p>Lizzybee13, most of Wesleyan’s student body is diverse, open, and welcoming. Of course there are going to be pretentious students - you’ll find that at any New England LAC. However, most Wes students are very nice, just as much if not moreso than our peer schools. If Razalman is a current student, it’s possible they by chance found all the pretentious people first, but the school is as you hear.</p>
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<p>There is another solution: don’t go to college in New England. Problem solved. Seriously, though, I don’t quite get why some people feel the universe begins and ends in the northeastern part of the U.S. I say that as someone born and raised in the region.</p>
<p>Lizzee, my impression here is that there are two parts to the university: the rich white kids who were tutored all through school and thus really only got in because of the money behind them. Most of them are wonderful people with something to offer, but quite honestly they don’t have much perspective and I was surprised that so people without much analytic ability got into wes. </p>
<p>That being said, they’re rich, and it’s their money that allows the wonderful people of Wesleyan to attend. There are many wonderful people here, super creative, super motivated, super smart. Everyone coexists together, and of course there’s a lot of overlap (wonderful, smart rich people and quite frankly dumb kids on heavy financial aid do exist here), which makes for an interesting student body. Depending on which group you fall into when you first get to campus (which is heavily reliant on which dorm you’re placed in, at least for the first few weeks), means that very different Wesleyans exist for different people around campus. Most prevalent are the people who go out and drink heavily, frequently. I say most prevalent because (1) it’s impossible NOT to see them, even if you spend all your time in the library, and (2) in some dorms they are the vast majority.</p>
<p>As for Wes being an open, accepting campus, i’ve found that it’s more apathetic than it is accepting. People won’t bother anyone for dressing/behaving against heteronormative standards, but that’s more because they just don’t care, and not because they are actively in support of open gender and sexuality expression. While this is wonderful and unusual in today’s world to a certain extent, if you come here looking for an “open” and “accepting” campus, you will be sorely disappointed.</p>
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what exactly were you expecting?</p>
<p>political activism, or at least an interest in understanding the differences in others instead of just not caring that they’re different or why.</p>
<p>I was planning on applying ED2 Wes, but Razalman’s post might have discouraged me from doing so. I was really looking forward to the quirky, liberal, accepting atmosphere at Wes. Apathy is not a word I’d like to hear…</p>
<p>That’s pretty much the atmosphere at West College, and, for better or worse, Westco is at the center of campus life at Wesleyan. It’s one of the things that continues to drive the Doonesbury controversy. :p</p>
<p>my two cents on acceptance vs. apathy (I’d take the latter, but use a different word). If I were gay/minority/trans/what have you, I wouldn’t want to walk around campus being applauded for being who I was or be treated differently than any other student. I’d want people to treat me the same as anyone else, and if that constitutes “apathy” then so be it. I think not harassing/judging people based on their dressing against heteronormative behaviors is a pretty good definition of “acceptance.” Maybe I’m looking at this the wrong way or misunderstood the argument, and if so feel free to question.</p>
<p>Two things.</p>
<p>1) Soothsayer, i just saw your most recent comment about the ACB. Please do disregard it. That place is awful, mostly ■■■■■■■■, and is as if you put all the most unhappy people at a school in a room with complete anonymity to just complain, and complain, and complain. It’s no fun, and doesn’t represent the school. Very much.</p>
<p>2) Tutm1123: I am gay/minority/trans/what have you, and I don’t expect people to applaud me or treat me differently. The fact that people don’t care about my sexuality is wonderful and wouldn’t be the case in a lot of places.</p>
<p>However, Wesleyan loves to sell itself as some politically active, diverse, accepting, progressive place. Or at least that’s part of the impression I got before I applied and after I got in before enrolling. Wesleyan is, for the most part, not politically active. It’s diverse, but I don’t think particularly more so than at others schools, and self-segregation is a big problem here. Technically accepting, most Wes students don’t care that others are different but also don’t care to educate themselves about those differences. And progressive? One must actively seek change to be truly progressive, in my opinion (and I know many would disagree).</p>
<p>So, my problems with the apathetic student body are twofold. First, the fact that they constitute the majority of the student body means that the University is misrepresenting itself. People who enroll for the artsy atmosphere or the NESCAC experience will probably enjoy themselves. Those who come looking for PCU and a politically/socially passionate student body will be in the minority, a fact that both surprised me and has negatively impacted my experience at Wes. </p>
<p>Second, once here most students will exclaim that they are progressive and for solid environmental policies and this, that, or the other social justice issue. However, most students will also do absolutely nothing beyond that exclamation. I’m happy that people support the same issues that I am passionate about. It would be nice if more of them did something to pursue those issues, and I thought that Wes would be the type of place where tons of people did pursue these things. Not so.</p>
<p>So that’s my issue with the apathy. I don’t want a leg up or for people to clap as I sashay by. I want(ed) Wesleyan to live up to its reputation.</p>
<p>Valid points. I’d say that as long as there is at least a niche which shares your views that is not TOTALLY marginal in size, then there’s still hope. Of course, I’m talking out of my nether regions because you’re there and I’m not (yet). I’d say that the diversity/politically active label is not one that’s endemic to Wesleyan, as most LACs claim to be full of diversity and such, at least their websites dictate as much. I’ll agree though that when I first visited, this was one of the selling points. Then again I only visited 2 other schools, neither of which were LACs, so I can’t really speak from a completely educated point of view. I did, however, get some “passionate” vibes from my friends/other students who go to Wes and whom I met. </p>
<p>I think am a pessimist and optimist at the same time: a pessimist because I know that my views about political awareness and activism are pretty romanticized when it comes to Wes, but optimistic because I have a feeling that if I look in the right places, I’ll find something/a group of people who share my views. You could say that this is true for any college, but I really think that Wes is at least a little above the rest. Hopefully I won’t be proven wrong; see you next year :). </p>
<p>I’d like to write more, but unfortunately I’m still in high school and have too much pride to let the grades in all my classes turn to dust. That and it’s midnight</p>