<p>Hey. I'll be driving through the Wes area one Saturday and seeing as I can't take an official tour I was wondering if anyone could suggest anything particular that I see or do to get a real feel for what it's like to be a Wes student on a Saturday. Anything from a campus building, cafe, store..... Thanks!</p>
<p>Okay, first go to this site and download yourself a campus map:
<a href="http://www.wesleyan.edu/about/campusmap.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.wesleyan.edu/about/campusmap.html</a></p>
<p>The print is pretty illegible to the naked eye, but it at least gives you a general idea of where things are. That baseball diamond in the center of the map is not just a playing field -- it's the center of campus, Andrus Field. From there you can pretty much hit any activity you want to find: the main library is the big red brick building to the left of the baseball diamond (the entrance is actually on the other side of the building); Clark Hall, one of the main frosh dorms, is immediately to the library's right as you stare at it from Andrus (on the left should be the Public Affairs Center which will likely be pretty quiet on a Saturday.)</p>
<p>If this is a anything like a day trip, the campus will be pretty subdued until the afternoon. People are usually in recovery; you may spot a few people with last night's glitter and make-up, doing the "walk of shame" back to their own rooms. I'd poke my head into some of the snack bars and dining halls: the main spots are on opposite ends of campus Mocon (McConoughy Hall) is the round, glass and brick modern building at the top the page; the best way to get there is to just climb the hill until you are behind the Observatory and follow the paths. You will be surrounded by even more frosh dorms by this point. The newest ones (Fauver) are at the very end of the walk (as you proceed left on the map, with Mocon at the top.)</p>
<p>If you walk past the Fauver dorms all the way to Church Street, you can either go further up the hill to the Gym complex or, if you turn around and face the opposite direction, you'll see a salt box shaped building of old brick and sandstone, sort of standing off by itself with its back to Church Street -- that's Davenport, the old, beloved student union. </p>
<p>Davenport Center has a grill which may or may not be open -- it's worth stopping by anyway; there's also a nice balcony area on the top floor with a view of the countryside.</p>
<p>If you're not tuckered out by now, I'd shoot down College Row (the front side, in order to avoid construction.) There won't be much doing, but it's scenic -- and it leads to the Center for the Arts which you can reach by crossing Wyllis Avenue (again, be careful of construction crews.)</p>
<p>What I would do (emphasis on <em>I</em>) is go all all the way thru CFA until you hit Washington Street, one of the main arteries of Middletown, turn right and take a quick visit downtown (all of which is off the map.) Main Street should be a mere three blocks away. At Main Street and Washington, there should be a big, old-fashioned chrome and glass diner called, O'Rourke's; they do a brisk breakfast/brunch trade and it is where town and gown meet (I recommend their blintzes.) You'll see a good cross-section of Middletown there.</p>
<p>As you can see from the map, Wesleyan/Middletown is pretty sprawled out; and, what little I've given you could easily take a few hours. Don't feel obligated to see it all or even do it in any particular sequence. If you see a friendly face, just ask them where they are headed and would they show you. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>WOW! Thank you so much!! I'm going to print this all out and take it with me as a guide. You should def. be a tour guide! Thanks again.</p>
<p>If you want to get a feel for campus life, I'd recommend hitting the places where students are likely to be on Saturday during the day. As long as you're not only there in the wee hours of the morning (ie. 11 am), I'd suggest trying to get into the Fauver Frosh dorm, which is where tours pass through anyway, and seeing if you can get someone to let you in to see a room. It'll help you see what a normal dorm experience might be like. Check out the bathrooms... the soap dispensers are those awesome foamy stuff :P!</p>
<p>I'd also suggest hitting up MoCon (MoConogugy Hall) for lunch. Again, this is a freshman experience kind of thing, and it's where almost all the freshmen go for lunch. Wesleyan students tend to love prefrosh, so if there's someone nice looking (unfortunately, there are probably some people who aren't), you can always ask if you can sit at their table. Of course, this can be slightly awkward and unnerving if you're shy like me, and also if you're with parents, but it's something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>Also, even though there are no official tours, don't hesitate to stop by the admissions office and see what they can do to help you, because that's their job, and the people working there are pretty friendly. I'd highly recommend an overnight, even though they don't really happen much this time of year, and your only hope is an unofficial one atm.</p>
<p>Definitely check out Olin library, because it's gorgeous, and on a Saturday afternoon there are bound to be tons of students there.</p>
<p>If it helps, this is the route the tours usually take: Starting at the admissions office, they head up the hill (Foss Hill is that big giant hill; in the early fall and the spring, it's full of people doing work and relaxing and enjoying themselves) and through the stone passage & staircase around the Hewitt dorms. These three buildings are for freshmen and sophomores and contain the single sex floors for those students who desire them. Moving past Hewitt, you arrive at the entrance to MoCon, which I already explained. Be careful not to stand over the railing, lest people think you are about to make an announcement and pound on the table. MoCon is cafeteria style (there are other options, even for freshmen: ie. Summerfields, which is more of a restaurant-style place) and has the 2nd longest salad bar in Connecticut. The building will be torn within the next few years, since everything it's used for will be taken care of by the new Usdan Campus Center. Leaving MoCon and taking a right, you will walk past the Nics (Nicholson) dorms and WestCo (West College). On your right, before you reach the intersection, will be Fauver Field, the brand-new frosh dorms with a plasma screen TV that we're quite proud of. Although it's a great dorm, keep in mind that there are other dorms that are just as nice, albeit in different ways: most other dorms have bigger rooms (though Fauver's are plenty large compared to most other schools!), some have balconies, some have "two-room doubles" and singles, and since they're older, the other dorms have built up a certain sort of character. After leaving Fauver, you can continue on down Church Street. On your right will be the science building and science library (SciLi), which is quite nice and includes Pi Cafe for yummy pastries and coffee and is definitely worth visiting, and a little further down on your left will be Olin Library. After visiting Olin, continue along the path until you reach the Campus Center, which will be on your right. This has additional dining facilities, student mail, meeting rooms for clubs, and all those goodies. Again, most of the things it's used for will be absorbed by the new campus center that's opening in fall '07. You'll then walk past College Row (a string of buildings that includes classrooms and the like, as well as '92 Theater where student productions go up and Memorial Chapel, where large events with a big audience are often hosted) and back to the Admissions Office. Obviously, this tour doesn't cover everything, like the Butterfield Complex (which has classrooms, Summerfields dining facilities, dorm rooms, the Kosher Kitchen, etc.) and Broad Street Books and Freeman Athletic Center, but it does a pretty nice job getting you to see the heart of the campus.</p>
<p>Thanks so much madjoy! You two are great tourguides! I'm actually a transfer so I don't need to see freshmen dorms so much. And the good news is I'm now going to do an overnight (I didn't know Wes. allowed them for transfers cos most schools don't). But seeing as I'll still be in the area on that Saturday your tips are still realyl useful. Thanks again. :)</p>
<p>P.S. What did you mean by there are some people who aren't nice looking?</p>
<p>Well, yea. If you're doing an overnite, there are plenty of things to do and see that I did not mention, including places to eat that are even better than O'Rourke's. I'm sure you'll be in good hands.</p>
<p>Btw, I think Madjoy means, people who may not look open to questions from strangers. They exist even at Wesleyan.</p>
<p>Haha, thanks johnwesley. That's pretty funny. I'm excited to get a feel from the campus. I feel like I know so much about the personality of Brown but not so much of Wesleyan. I do wish Wesleyan had a transfer club like Brown but I have heard good things about the transfer program. What's your major?</p>
<p>Erm, yeah... I didn't mean ugly people :P Just... there are always some students who might not appear friendly and willing to help out a random stranger. Fortunately, there aren't too many here, but they probably exist most everywhere.</p>
<p>A lot of support exists for transfers here, so it's pretty good. The only problem I've heard about is that some transfers feel isolated from other students and tend to hang out more with other transfers - though I'd guess this is a problem that would occur at most schools, and can certainly be overcome on an individual basis.</p>
<p>How did you enjoy your visit? :D</p>
<p>Thanks madjoy! I haven't been yet, I'll be going end of Feb (when I have a friday off- can't miss too many classes!). Yeh, I figured that would be a transfer issue wherever you go. But some schools do great transfer orientations whereas others don't (like Williams only has about 3 transfers each year so I guess it would be pretty hard there). I'm excited though, I really wanna see how Brown and Wes students compare in terms of friendliness, in the classroom and socializing.</p>
<p>lovejoy - did you see Wes? Please share impressions, very curious.</p>