Wesleyan needs some fundamental changes and a whole lot of cash!

Colleges and Universities A-Z Wesleyan University
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<p>Englishman wrote:

Yea, and, after that, they’re going to put Amherst on an austerity budget:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/07/09/amherst-college-canceled-science-center-exposes-tension-between-vision-cost/89xffBujQhiIyDIFWwoLYO/story.html”>http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/07/09/amherst-college-canceled-science-center-exposes-tension-between-vision-cost/89xffBujQhiIyDIFWwoLYO/story.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

102

<p>@circuitrider, I’m allowing myself some Schadenfreude about the aborted Amherst building :smile: </p>

103

<p>Why are IB jobs the gold standard with which to determine a school’s prestige and exit opportunities post graduation?</p>

<p>I have news for all of you: Banks are no longer the go to place for top talent, even in the business fields! Tech companies like google now get their pick of the litter from top schools. Tech offers better pay, better hours, better perks, better culture, and you actually get to create something. Goldman and the likes may have had a monopoly on talent before, but now they are getting the tech giant’s leftovers. </p>

<p>Where Wesleyan needs to invest is in its computer science program. For having such a renown science department, its comp sci leaves something to be desired. Its not even its own department! Comp sci is lumped in with math. They only have 4-5 professors. THIS is where Wesleyan needs to invest. The major is gaining significantly in popularity. </p>

<p>To Wesleyan’s credit though, Google does have a “college ambassador” here which they don’t do at every school. Wes needs to attract more silicon valley giants.</p>

<p>check out this article if you don’t think so:
<a href=“Pinturas y cuadros de la Antigüedad - Página 30 - El Gran Capitán”>Pinturas y cuadros de la Antigüedad - Página 30 - El Gran Capitán;

<p>This Is Why damnit</p>

104

<p>I just looked at the 2013-2014 Wesleyan Annual Financial Report and see that the endowment has now reached $793mm as of June 30, 2014. That’s a gain of $104mm from the same time the year before. Earlier I had predicted the number would come in over $760mm, but I figured I gave myself some room. Still the current number is quite a bit better than I expected. It looks like the year’s percentage growth outdid most, if not all, of the other NESCAC schools. Contributions to the endowment were $23.8mm versus $25.6mm the year before. So it was the performance of the underlying investments that provided the bulk of the growth. Thanks, too, go to the conservative spending policies now in effect that make gains like this possible.</p>

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<p>Not a Wesleyan article per se, but two of the three colleges profiled are NESCAC: How Smaller College Endowments Still Reap Big Returns/The New York Times.</p>

106

<p>The article contains some eerie pre-Madoff statements. </p>

107

<p>The title of this thread, with modification as appropriate, could be useful at times. For example:</p>

<p>Q: Why was I declined for this mortgage?
A: You need some fundamental changes and a whole lot of cash!</p>

<p>Q: Why was my son rejected at Harvard?
A: He needs some fundamental changes or you need a whole lot of cash! </p>

<p>International boundaries need not present a hitch:</p>

<p>Q: Why is our unemployment rate so high?
A: Greece needs some fundamental changes and a whole lot of cash!</p>

<p>And for particularly uncomfortable situations, you may not want to change the wording at all, as a way of alleviating tension:</p>

<p>Q: Why are you divorcing me?
A: Wesleyan needs some fundamental changes and a whole lot of cash!</p>

108

<p>@merc81‌

It’s interesting how the Wesleyan and Bowdoin endowments have returned to their pre-Great Recession highs:
<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/business/yourmoney/04endow.html?pagewanted=all”>http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/business/yourmoney/04endow.html?pagewanted=all&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

109

<p>Bowdoin’s endowment is almost 50% higher than its pre-Great Recession high and Wesleyan’s is more than 10% higher than its high from 2007. Out of the top 50 college endowments only Harvard’s has not reached a new high!</p>

110

<p>Wes endowment now less than 1/3 of Amherst and still no new dorms…</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.gazettenet.com/home/14682287-95/amherst-college-endowment-now-at-215-billion”>http://www.gazettenet.com/home/14682287-95/amherst-college-endowment-now-at-215-billion&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>But more to the point what are these colleges doing with their endowment…</p>

111

<p>If we’re parsing, it’s not quite less than ⅓ (793 million vs. 2.15 billion) but what is sad is that in 1980 the endowments of Amherst and Wesleyan were equal. Wesleyan spent and Amherst saved and fundraised. Wesleyan has rectified its spending policies and is now quite conservative with its endowment management. </p>

112

<p>true dat and you can see the difference that makes… :frowning: </p>

113

<p>@Englishman‌

</p>

<p>I don’t mean to be mean, but, for a school with a third of its competitor’s endowment, Wesleyan seems to be doing pretty well. Let us count the ways it’s better than Amherst: Wesleyan has one of the best STEM programs among any uber selective LAC and certainly better than Amherst’s; two of only three or four internationally recognized academic disciplines in NESCAC (Film and Ethnomusicology); a beautifully designed campus - the buildings may need a bit of TLC, but no one at Wesleyan ever complains about lack of usable spaces to entertain, socialize or organize (does anybody really <em>like</em> Amherst’s rather pokey Keene Center? Or, the food at Valentine?) The fact is that Amherst is in the process of bulldozing every dormitory it built in the 1960s because they were were isolated, ugly and never lived up to their name - “the social dorms”. And, thanks to Amherst’s tremendous endowment, they’re going to be replaced by slightly less ugly dorms that will be even more isolated.</p>

<p>Here’s what they’re saying on one totally disinterested CC forum:

<a href=“Chance Me ED? - #4 by JoBenny - Bowdoin College - College Confidential Forums”>Chance Me ED? - #4 by JoBenny - Bowdoin College - College Confidential Forums;

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<p>You’re being mean! Wesleyan is a funny school, I initially liked it, but it’s not really a competitor anymore ( for the better students), perhaps during your undergrad days it was, but no more. :(( </p>

<p>Never visited Bowdoin but I’d like to, I hear Maine is pretty</p>

115

<p>Some relevant hoots here in this closed Wes thread. JohnWesley helped in flaming it out. Lots of background, but a central theme throughout of declining quality at Wes. </p>

<p><a href=“What has happened to Wesleyan? - Wesleyan University - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/wesleyan-university/1191404-what-has-happened-to-wesleyan.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Similar issues btw at Oberlin, substantive article here:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.oberlin.edu/alummag/summer2011/features/rank.html”>http://www.oberlin.edu/alummag/summer2011/features/rank.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>@Englishman, your attitude toward Amherst seems uncritically worshipful and toward Wesleyan flip and denigrating. While Wesleyan may not presently be competing directly with the tippy-top LACs, it remains a very desirable school for brilliant and open-minded (and mostly liberal) students. I truly hope that Wes receives a windfall and can restore need-blind admissions for all applicants very soon as well as initiating some programs that speak to the world’s urgent needs and distinguish it from peer schools, which would be entirely congruent with the Wesleyan ethos. I spent a fair amount of time at Amherst and have to say that my strongest impression, aside from the terrible food, was one of bland perfection, of tremendous competence but little passion, something Wesleyan has never lacked for. </p>

117

<p>@wesleyan97‌

</p>

<p>I agree with you in one respect: You almost never hear matriculated Wesleyan students voice regret at not getting into Amherst. I doubt the number cross-admits are that significant given that Wesleyan receives a few thousand more applications a year than either Amherst or Williams. The most common “dream school” that Wesleyan loses cross-admits to is Brown University, an Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode island.</p>

118

<p>I know a few Brown kids who were very disappointed when Amherst rejected them, so perhaps through the transitive principle…</p>

119

<p>Thanks for letting me know Brown’s location and athletic affiliation, lol. Both are jealously guarded secrets!</p>

120

<p>@wesleyan97

</p>

<p>Perhaps. OTOH, you don’t see a lot of Brown students/parents hanging around the Wesleyan CC forum at just about this time every year (and again when acceptance letters go out) straining to make the case that their school is superior. I can’t help but thinking were that true they wouldn’t have to prove it quite so often. When Willy Sutton was asked, why he robbed banks, his answer was, "“Because that’s where the money is.” </p>

<p>This forum obviously has some sort of attraction to certain uber parents and students. :smiley: </p>