<p>i'm sorry, but i just can't resist commenting that anyone arguing that one school is superior to another based on a slight edge in some newsmagazine rating game and a statistically insignificant difference in average GPA is a complete moron.</p>
<p>I would agree with this to some extent. USNWR having Wesleyan at #12 and Colgate at #15 (or whatever it is) is no reason to pick one or consider one "better" than the other. Also, I think avg GPA for a school is a completely meaningless stat since each high school has a different scale, weightings and standards. I find it amusing when PR reports that Middlebury or UVA has an avg GPA of 4.0, since no college in the country (even with today's grade inflation) is going to have every one of its students having received all As for their entire hs career. However, I think large imbalances in SAT avgs (say over 60 points) do point to, at least, some difference in the academic capability of the student body.</p>
<p>agree completely with above poster with regard to SAT differences, but in the case of wesleyan and colgate -- the schools at issue in this thread the mean difference is 40 points, which I don't think is statistically significant. </p>
<p>the cultural difference between these two schools, however, is enormous and that's what the OP should consider.</p>
<p>funny you have this thread, as Wesleyan was my #1 and Colgate was my #3 (Bowdoin being second) when I was looking at schools last year. I'm at Wes, but both are great... it's the culture that you want to focus on. I was comfortable at both school, maybe being not as liberal as a typical wes kid and more liberal than a typical colgate one, but both are beautiful, great size, academics, etc... I chose Wes for its my amiable student body but your call</p>
<p>what are the main differences in social life between the 2?</p>
<p>ru the parent or the kid?</p>
<p>im a frosh at Wes, but I have a friend looking at the schools, and I was wondering if someone could supply the contrast to colgate (as I can describe the Wes situation aptly)</p>
<p>people have been saying social differences are big. can somebody specify how are both schools different in terms of the social scene?</p>
<p>I think the biggest thing is just location. Colgate is aboout as isolated as they get. This doesn't mean there isn't plenty happening on campus. It just means that the campus is fairly self-contained and exists in its own kind of bubble.</p>
<p>Wesleyan is smack in the middle of a growing municipality in one of the most densely populated states in the union; there is street traffic and ambient pedestrian traffic (not all of whom are students) pretty much 24/7. A typical junior or senior may live next door to a Pulitzer Prize winning novelist, a letter carrier, or a retiree, depending on what house they draw in the annual lottery. And social life tends to be a tad more urbane: a lot of house parties, ethnic restaurant hopping; there are one or two good bars (for those with proper ID) -- all within walking disance. There's a jitney to New Haven.</p>
<p>Other than that, they're the same. Colgate has better athletes. Wesleyan probably has better stand-up comedians. :)</p>