<p>I am a grad of Ohio Wesleyan University. Feel free to ask any questions that you may have about the liberal liberal arts college. Thanks.</p>
<p>How would you describe the political and social climate? How are they on merit aid? How strong are they in the hard sciences? Do the students stay on campus as D would be 1000's of miles from home (that's a biggie)?</p>
<p>The political climate...well, the students are pretty liberal. For instance, PRIDE Week just ended. One of the sites says that the student body of OWU is deeply involved in all aspects of campus life. It is a matter of pride among students, alumni, faculty, and administrators that undergraduates play a major role within the entire University community. Major departments incorporate the contributions of student academic boards in planning coursework and requirements. The School president and other upper-level administrators meet frequently with the student Archway Committee to discuss issues of importance to the campus. Student organizations report to student-run oversight groups such as the Small Living Unit Board and the Interfraternity and Panhellenic councils. I believe The liberalism of the college is to be expected. It is a liberal arts college, after all. </p>
<p>The social scene is pretty much dominated by the various independed houses (called SLUs), where parties are organized on various themes...by The Modern Foreign Languages House, International House, Peace and Justice House, Women's House, etc. Also, Greek life exists, but I wouldn't say it is as strong as at other liberal arts colleges in Ohio. Then, of course, you have things happening in Delaware, Ohio (the home of Wesleyan). It is not the most exciting place in the world, but there are certainly lots of things going on every day in the Arts Castle, The Strand Theate, coffee shops, various social clubs downtown. Also, Columbus, OH is only 20 minutes away. </p>
<p>Merit aid is great if you are a strong student. The admissions office gives aid only to people with SATs >1300, I believe...but I am not sure about the exact number. </p>
<p>The hard sciences are actually the strongest departments here. You only need to look at the average MCATs (where Ohio Wesleyan has one of the highest averages of all liberal arts colleges), recent placement of science grads in the Ivies, the money spent on the new Science Center to believe that science is valued here and being a science student at Ohio Wesleyan pays off. The English and the Humanities Departments are also very strong with several faculty members being really well-known in their fields. 90% of the students stay on campus and 10% percent off-campus. It is a residential college and so most students stay on campus.</p>
<p>Thank you for that very helpful report . If D can get her head out of that physics notebook I'll have her check it out on-line and post her next Q's. Thanks again.</p>
<p>Can you provide me any information on the performing arts? My daughter is interested in Musical Theater, so information on theater, dance and drama would be useful. We are coming for a visit in Nov. Is there anything we should make sure we see or do? What did you major in? What are you doing now? How is the quality of life? Food? Dorms? Academics?</p>
<p>bump.........</p>
<p>are most students ohioan?</p>
<p>It is about 50/50. Perhaps a bit more East coast kids and definitely a lot of internationals.</p>
<p>what about weeding. Percents mean nothign when everyone is being kicked out except the top top top students.</p>
<p>Huh? I am afraid I don't quite understand your question.</p>
<p>i don't like the stipulations of the scholarship 3.5 minumum otherwise you lose it. That's a bit too high especially ify ou're in the sciences where grading is more harsh and harder to get a 3.5 whereas a history major or psyc or anthro major has is easier.</p>
<p>OWU doesn't address this.</p>
<p>I think what he meant by weeding was that OWU doesn't let students apply to med school if their gpas aren't what OWU likes, and doesn't give them recommendations. As a result, most students don't apply to med school so if 100 students started out in freshmen year premed, and senior year 10 remain.</p>
<p>Out of those 10, say 8 got in, you have an 80 percent acceptance rate.</p>
<p>Kinda sketchy ain't it?</p>
<p>What's sketchy? Giving money to smart students and creating incentives for them to stay that way is sketchy? It is rational, if you ask me...</p>
<p>If you are planning on being mediocre from the start, then yes, Ohio Wesleyan is not the best place for you. 3.5 is a perfectly legitimate hurdle for students who want to say that they excel in their fields. In fact, in many cases (read in many fields), it is a rather low number to even be considered for acceptance in an excellent graduate school program. </p>
<p>I personally agree that it is more difficult in some subjects to obtain this GPA, but this kind "what if I fail?" mindset will be problemmatic for many reasons for one if one plans to start with that mentality and wants to be a successful graduate student anywhere.</p>
<p>On the financial aid issue, I can not stress the importance of having a STRONG incentive for students to study and be what OWU thought they were when they were given merit aid. It is only meant to prevent what some people call "moral hazard". On the opposite side of the case that you use, what if you have a 4.0 HS GPA student who gets a full-ride at OWU and then gets a 2.5 GPA in a physical education major at Wesleyan? Is it fair to other students? For someone who has a 3.3 HS GPA, does not obtain merit aid from Wesleyan, but then becomes a 4.0 GPA undergraduate student in Mathematics at OWU?</p>
<p>The bottomline is: there is a price one has to pay for getting huge scholarships and one needs to make sure that he/she maintains the standards under which the decision for such aid was made. </p>
<p>Of course, all of this is my own thinking...I have no idea, although I can surmise, what the OWU administration thinks about it.</p>
<p>i'm saying that people in the sciences for example have to cross more hurdles than someone in the liberal arts areas</p>
<p>this often means that thee harder the science, the much mor difficult it is to get a high grade. </p>
<p>many high quality graduate schools understand that the sciences are difficult compared to easy majors and so if a person gives his best effort, and maxes out on the possible gpa he can get (say 3.3 for example), he is penalized for working to his maximum and can lose his scholarship. A person majoring in aeronautical engineering for example can get a 3.0 and still get into a strong grad school.</p>
<p>the gpa minumum is a bit too strict considering how the academics here are more challenging than what may expect from a school of this size/tier whatever. </p>
<p>the 3.5 stipulation may work for the liberal arts, but quite frankly, for the sciences and math fields, its a bit too exacerbated. </p>
<p>And using that extreme of the 2.5 gym major 4.0 gpa student is a bit too radical for the point i'm making. It's not a matter of fairness to other students. For one, the student himself improves the colleges image (statistically), and has worked in high school to receive the reward. Versus the person who didn't work as hard as the other student in high school, he suffers because of his lack of work or whatever.</p>
<p>Why is it that OWU has a stipulation of 3.3 for the lower level scholarships while 3.5 fo r the higher ones? Isn't this a bit unfair for the person who worked harder than another person?</p>
<p>If he gets a 3.4 there goes his scholarship, and he pays more than the person who needs to get the 3.3 scholarship.</p>
<p>You are preaching to the choir with your point about sciences being more difficult. I did major in Math & Economics (in addition to Classics) at OWU so I surely know about how difficult it is to get 3.5 not with one tough major, but with 2 tough majors. If "Maxing out on the possible GPA" is 3.3, then I can assure you, the strengths of this guy or girl are in a different subject. I don't know of anyone who gets a 3.0 and gets into a strong grad school. You won't get with a GPA like this, unless it is from MIT, into an Ivy or a top 10 program. Being a current grad student in an Ivy myself, I do know something about the background of my peers. Do you know of a real person who has a 3.0 GPA and gets into a "strong program"? This is more like an exception rather than the rule. </p>
<p>You say "it is not a matter of fairness to other students". I think it is. By "fairness to students", I really mean the most efficientg allocation mechanism assuring that the most capable students are rewarded. I can't think of many other indicators, other than GPA, for college students that objectively measure how well a student is doing. I know it has its flaws, but alas...no better alternatives exist. For grad students, there are other factors, like publications, teaching, etc, but I can't think of anything that better captures academic performance for college students AND that can be measured relatively easy. </p>
<p>Why does "OWU has a stipulation of 3.3 for the lower level scholarships while 3.5 for the higher ones". Well, the two GPA levels go with substantially different levels for merit scholarships. 3.5 is usually for 24k, whereas 3.3 for anything between 12K and 18K. Why is it 3.5 and not 3.4..that I don't know...it is arbitrary, the precise point is of little significance. I suppose one day someone decided that 3.5 is the minimum for academic distinction purposes. Can you think of good schools where you can graduate with a 3.3 and get a cum laude on your diploma? I can't.</p>
<p>I think it is a good system. It may cause a lot of stress and angst for certain students in certain fields, but again...once one gets to the point of mediocrity (in terms of GPA), one may have to start wondering whether he is best in that particular field. Otherwise...believe me...similar systems exist everywhere...a lot of students in my grad program get kicked out because
of the graduate qualifying exams. More or less, we all get funding and only the ones who really really show passion for their field get to stay because they usually show their passion via long hours of studying for the graduate exam. I think it makes perfect sense although one has to realize it the hard way: "no pain, no gain". And if you truly are an honours student, you
should have that rule internalized in your system well enough to avoid wondering..."Am I still exceptional if my GPA is 3.2?"...</p>
<p>i got my acceptance by email on feb 25. but still havent got the official letter..mail does take time since i live 10000 miles away..but arent acceptance letters sent by courier?!?..i dont know much about ohio wesleyan. is the environment competitive. what about internationals?</p>
<p>The environment is really competetive in the sciences. Many people think that the courses are too challenging in some science departments (chemistry, biology, math and cs). In other fields, it is not so bad. % of international is currently at 11%, so that's pretty good for a small liberal arts college. I think they ranked OWU 5th or something for number of internationals percentwise in the US. Did you get aid from them?</p>
<p>yup..$14,000 a year. hadnt applied for aid. got merit scholarship</p>
<p>What are your other options? What do you want to study?</p>
<p>Economics probably or maybe Math. im thinking i might even do a double major. My options are pretty open. i have quite a few offers from England too...London School of Economics, Warwick, Kings etc..so im really not sure as yet. still have to wait to hear from the ivy's</p>
<p>Ha! Check out the posts by owugenius who majored in mathematics and economics at Ohio Wesleyan. My general piece of advice for you is: if you get enough money from a US school, go for a US school. Having experienced the education of three continents, I can safely say that the quality of education in the U.S. is far superior to the one that you obtain at even top schools in England. I am talking abotu class sizes, personal attention, leadership opportunities. And the other thing, unless you really know what you want to do, go for a broad education. You have plenty of time to limit yourself in a specific field, especially after graduate school. I think the liberal arts education is the way to go since it makes you a well-rounded person with appreciation for art, humanities, science, etc. and ultimiately even a more interesting person. </p>
<p>As for what school you pick, I think there are two factors that are quite important: money and distinct qualities of schools. For instance, several LACs in the US have reputation perpuated by their student bodies. For Oberlin, it is the activism on campus, for Ohio Wesleyan it is liberal students and the high % of international students and americans with international background, for Wooster it is the independent study opportunities, Reed: the high % of people getting their PhDs...so, I guess once you know that you have obtain sufficient merit aid, it is up to your personal priorities...</p>