<p>I got into both Wesleyan and Colgate, and colgate gave me a much better finaid package. Ignoring that for a few moments, I just want to know which one you guys would prefer and why.</p>
<p>I haven't visited Colgate yet, but i'm planning to do that really soon. I'll be at wesfest too.</p>
<p>I want to major in Neurscience and Economics, or Biochemistry and Economics.As such, I feel it's important to go to school with students who care about the work they're doing and are genuinely interested in it. Yet, they also know how to have fun and separate work and fun (even though the two aren't mutually exclusive).
I'm an indian, and i lived in india for 11 years, so diversity is important to me. Also having quirky and interesting students is far better than having an homogenous bunch on campus. </p>
<p>Thanks for all your help, I really Appreciate it!</p>
<p>I looked at Colgate for a while because my grandfather went there, so my mom had a lot of affection for it. Then I went to an information session and just got way too turned off by it. It seemed like the party scene was kind of overwhelming... and people bragged more about the alumni network after you graduate than the academic experience itself. The people around me didn't seem comparitively easy to talk to, and I didn't feel like I could just go up and start a conversation with anyone, like I do here. Then again, this is coming from someone who chose Wesleyan. I'd also say that our academic reputation is a bit better, though they're both good schools. You're on the right track by visiting both, because that's really the only decent way to decide! Good luck!</p>
<p>Haha, it's ironic how different groups of people can think. My parents don't understand why I even bother to visit a school because in India everything went by reputation. You went to the best school you got into, and that was it.</p>
<p>I have been told that wes has a better academic reputation, but alumni networking is important too. Wesleyan doesn't seem to boast of one, which i think is strange as it's reputation is so good. If so, how come student's who (hopefully) go into top grad programs show their support for wesleyan?</p>
<p>I was slightly disheartened by what i'd heard of the party mentality of Colgate, i'll have to admit, but it seems that drug use is also prevalent on the wes campus (even though it's everywhere). I guess it's just emphasized at wes because of the quirky factor of it's students.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice, keep it coming please :-)</p>
<p>Well, I have a large group of friends that doesn't do drugs, and the people I know who do are pretty laidback about it. I wouldn't say it dominates the campus, though it's definitely there. Actually, one of the things that surprised me the most when I got here was that drinking was a far more common weekend activity among students than, say, pot-smoking... though, if you do neither, like me, there's still plenty of fun to be had :P</p>
<p>Yeah - I had a boyfriend who lived in England for a while, and we were together while we were each going through the searching-for-a-university process. Schools didn't have "flavours" there like we do here, and he was completely flabbergasted by a school with a "hippie" reputation or a "workaholic intellectual" reputation... at his universities (which tended to be way large with lots of students) student stereotypes and groups were conglomerated, and you just went by how strong the academic reputation of the program you were interested in was. Then again, they didn't have people applying to 12+ schools, either... crazy! The college situation here in the US is pretty unique, and I think it's the best way to go, because it admits that the college experience is based not purely on academics, but on a whole variety of different sorts of factors that all contribute to making you a better person.</p>
<p>When you consider that this is a school where you'll be spending FOUR YEARS of your life, however, it suddenly seems important to really enjoy where you are. Life's too short to waste four years getting a degree that will get you somewhere in terms of a career, but aren't some four years of your life that you're happy you've lived.</p>
<p>Some of our alumni networks are more talked about than others. The alumni network in the film department is so ridiculous that they supposedly give a contact in either Hollywood or New York City when you graduate the film major, to help further your career. In the business world, theres something of an alum network as well, though I haven't heard as much about it. Sciences are big here, and that's a discipline where the alum network isn't really as vital to your success.</p>
<p>Well research is important for science, and I bet that a lot of that takes place on campus. If a student, such as myself, is looking for research opportunities in science as well as internship/externship opportunitys for economics, then what is the availiability of the latter. </p>
<p>I guess i could talk to CRC when i get on campus for wesfest, but it'd be nice to hear what your schoolmates are up to (if you've come onto something that is). Thanks a lot!</p>
<p>Undergrad research at Wesleyan is INSANE. I have a ton of (freshmen) friends who are already working in bio and chem labs. Like, really, a LOT of people. And especially once you've had some more experience, you can do your own research, or even coauthor papers with professors. For some fantastic statistics about sciences at Wes, check out <a href="http://www.wesleyan.edu/sciences/%5B/url%5D">http://www.wesleyan.edu/sciences/</a> - this stuff isn't really an exaggeration, either. We seriously do excel in the sciences. And the CRC is mad helpful at helping you find internships and research and etc. for your summer months, and for after you graduate. In fact, the CRC is an excellent resource - and though they have something similar at basically all schools, I'd say that ours is utilized more heavily than most.</p>
<p>I'm choosing between Colgate and Wesleyan, too (Vanderbilt and UMich as well, but not really). I think I want to major in biology, where I think Wesleyan has an edge. Also I like the diverse student population at Wes (Colgate is like 80% white, princeton review calls the kids there preppy jeep drivers). Come to think of it, I can't even believe Wesleyan accepted me without visitting or being interviewed.
I'm visitting Wesleyan tomorow. If I'm hesitant about committing, I'm visitting Colgate in the middle of next week. Does anyone think I should give Vandy/Umich a chance? I think Vandy's too conservative for my taste, and I think UMich is too big. If anyone wants to change my mind about this I'd be open to suggestions.</p>
<p>I was actually considering Vandy very very highly, but my parents wouldn't let me apply there due to distance. UMich, while being an amazing school, is too big for my tastes in that i want to do research and have time to spend with profs. Wes, Colgate, and Lafayette (all three LAC's that I'm in) all offer this, which is what i want in an undergrad program.</p>
<p>Wesleyan's REALLY ****ing me off about financial aid. It costs me 7k less to go to colgate, and 11k less to go to Lafayette. I'm in this University Scholars Program or whatever at wesleyan and admissions emailed me saying how much they want me and how they want me to fly out there and stuff, but they won't even look at the other finaid offers i'm getting. The offer from lafayette includes merit money that wes doesn't give, but colgate's all finaid. 7k a year is a helluva lot for me and i really don't want to be sinking in debt before i graduate from college, because Grad/professional school will be right around the corner. </p>
<p>No, they're not. After financial aid, it costs 15k a year (in contributions and loans) to go to colgate, yet it costs 22K a year to go to wesleyan. I'm slightly dissapointed :-/</p>
<p>I've talked to Wesleyan, and they refuse to give me more grant money instead of the loans, which it said they would due to the scholarship. This is depressing... I wish I could get done with this and just send them my deposit, but I can't due to this...</p>
<p>Hey ridethecliche - I am in no way questioning the seriousness of your dilemma. I'm a city kid, myself. My only suggestion is that you just give yourself a chance to live with the numbers for awhile. That's what your parents did when they bought their first house. Played around with the numbers; let them roll around in their heads. That's $28,000 over four years (assuming circumstances don't change); equal to a little more than half a year's tuition and room and board. People have been known to stay an extra year for free at Wesleyan, if they are pursuing a Wesleyan Master's degree (depending on the Masters.) That might be one way of making up the difference. Another way to look at it is to chop it up into monthly payments. When you do the math over the space of <em>30 years</em>, it's actually not that much. But, whatever your decision, it will be the right one for you. :)</p>
<p>Thanks!
Actually, at this point of time, I want to do the masters in Neuroscience. How cool would that be! The only other school I'm in that lets you do that is University of Rochester, but that's only to take additional courses that you didn't have the chance to take otherwise. It's to 'explore more' instead of getting more focused, but liberal arts does that in the first place.</p>
<p>As for the house, we're still paying for it. We've only had it 2 years(if even). An immigrants life for me :-)</p>
<p>Thanks for the help thus far, I really appreciate it. Keep it coming!</p>
<p>Oh sorry, someone had mentioned rankings for the programs in econ,neuroscience, and biochem for the LAC's on a different thread. Anyone know where to find those? I didn't see them on U.S. News (which is kinda iffy in the first place).</p>
<p>One of my friends, who is far preppier than I am, visited Colgate and told me she nearly puked because of the number of popped collar pastel polos she saw there. Completely subjective, but something to consider.</p>
<p>A Lafayette College professor, Howard Bodenhorn, did a series of studies in the late 1990s showing the high productivity of a number of small liberal arts college economics faculty. Wesleyan consistently finished in the top three and sometimes first or second, depending on how you tweaked the data. Colgate was nowhere in the top ten. Because of their age, it's hard to find the original sites for them, but, Bates still refers to one of them on their Econ website, stating, "[a]ccording to Bodenhorn's findings, the 10 most productive liberal arts economics departments in the 1990s were Wellesley, Bates, Wesleyan, Colby, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Smith, Lafayette and Swarthmore.":
:
<a href="http://www.bates.edu/x15956.xml%5B/url%5D">http://www.bates.edu/x15956.xml</a></p>
<p>Haha wow, lafayette's on that list too. Maybe they tweaked the data for themselves because i don't see any comparison between laff and swatty.
OTOH, laff's giving me the best finaid/scholarship package :-/
Good thing I want to do bio and econ, or neuro and econ. Haha, ack this decision would be soo much easier if money wasn't a concern...
Welcome to the real world :-)</p>
<p>I'm bringing this thread back to life just to see if any more comments arise... I have a good friend looking at both Wesleyan and Colgate, and he was wondering what the differences in social life, academics, etc. are like. I'm a freshman at Wes, but I cant really help him on the Colgate side of things... anyone care to comment?</p>
<p>At least from our high school, it is a bit tougher to get into Wesleyan than Colgate. Kids could get into Colgate with a weighted 4.0 and 1380+. Wesleyan kids had about .25 better on the GPA and usually had 1410+.</p>
<p>As to overall academic quality, they are similar schools. Colgate is in Hamilton, NY, which has nothing around. I would imagine that there is more things near Wesleyan that what would be in the vacinity of Colgate.</p>