Pros
I’ll second @circuitrider ‘s fine summary. I often say, with no apologies for my bias, that one of Wes’ strengths is that it is very good at so many things. You’ll see posters in this forum cite Wesleyan as an “artsy” school, which IMO is a lazy assessment. It gets a lot of pub for that because of its vaunted film program and the big names it’s produced, and then there is the whole Lin Manual Miranda / Tommy Kail theater thing, which, sure, is pretty cool.
But this LAC in central CT. has also won two Apker prizes in physics in the research university division, competing against Harvard, MIT, Berkeley, Cal Tech., etc., which is like Middlebury beating Alabama in football. It has a fantastic and historical Astro department, and does amazing things across the rest of the natural sciences. It has done all these things even with aging science facilities that are soon to be replaced. Building(s) For the Future – Wesleyan University Magazine
And then there are the social sciences, where Wes also excels.
Cons
This may surprise a great many people, but I’m going to throw it out there. And keep in mind, I love Wesleyan. But there is still a hint of what the ex-communicated (here on CC) John Wesley referred to as a New England “bro” culture that people more often associate with Middlebury or Williams or Bucknell. It’s not pervasive, but there are pockets of an “old Wesleyan” to be found. For example, the men’s team in my D’s sport has its own endowment and the “senior” coach. My D’s team has the new, junior coach, and no endowment (we’re working on it). During her 4 years there, it was the women who completely broke Williams’ NESCAC stranglehold on the sport, winning the Little Three 3x and also winning several other major events, which I’ll decline to identify here. They were 10X as successful as the men, but if you were a stranger happening upon the scene not knowing anything, you might think it was the men who had the accolades. It was a subtle attitude, but it was there. It could also at times be reflected in the attention the men received for their achievements on a school-wide basis relative to that received by the women for what seemed like smaller accomplishments by the men. And, it could also be reflected in the attitude of some of the male athletes. This is why I chuckle when people reflexively assume that Wes is full of protesters and future artists, government regulators and professors, when in reality it has its fair share of connected kids who become JPM, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs analysts. If those people are off-putting to you, I can’t tell you that you won’t run into them at Wesleyan. They are there, and they still carry with them some degree of privilege.
[Tongue-in-cheek post and sarcasm intended]
teasing you]