Wesleyan vs U-Michigan Political Science Major

I’m wondering that does any transfer student has the experience of being admitted to Wesleyan’s CSS major at the beginning of his/her sophomore year?

Does anyone know why Wesleyan is ranked low on USNEWS (#21 in 2017)?

USN measures input-based factors which are primarily proxies of endowment, so Wesleyan has been losing ground there recently as a result of its (relative to its elite peers) middling endowment/student ratio. It’s recently completed a successful fundraising campaign though; its rankings problems are mostly the result of inertia and are expected to turn around soon. Forbes, a more outcome-based ranking, puts it at #3 among LACs.

Besides, you have your priorities the wrong way round if you’re gauging an LAC by the same standards as you would gauge a university. I understand doing this as an international: when I began the application process, name recognition and rankings were literally all I knew about US colleges so naturally I gravitated toward the top. But after going on a short tour around the north east including Wesfest I came out knowing I would have chosen Wesleyan over any of its competition. If you don’t have any particular fondness for the particular personality of an LAC then I would advise against attending, because personality is the strongest advantage that LACs offer over their university counterparts. If you see college as nothing more than a means to and end, whether it’s staying on to work in the US or going back to China, you will find that the high-profile status of UMich as a research university will open more doors for you.

@eridan2 Thanks! So from you perspective, what’s Wesleyan’s personality since I don’t have an opportunity to visit Wesleyan.

Hopefully someone who’s been at Wes for longer will answer for me, but the “vibe” I got from my visit was basically that it had much of the same Northeast clout that many of its peers possess, but without the same degree of pretension or high-strung atmosphere. One of the people I spent some time with described the average Wesleyan student as someone who, regardless of major, would make a great actor or film director if given the opportunity.

I’m also an international student who had to make a similar decision (receiving acceptance from several top 15-25 national universities).

The hardest aspect for me in choosing Wesleyan was the fact that literally NO ONE knew the school in my home country: Asia!!! Even I didn’t know the school before the application process lol (My goal was to get into an Ivy).

Anyway, I chose Wes for the following reasons.

  1. It has higher name recognition in the East Coast where I plan to work in the government (My other choices included USC in LA). BTW I’m not talking about John Doe recognizing Wesleyan when I’m talking about name rec here.
  2. LAC environment seemed better for grad placement which I intend to pursue.
  3. Though it is an LAC, its undergrad population was around 3,000 which I thought wasn’t THAT small.
  4. It has the awesome CSS major which I plan to pursue.

And… though I am kinda quirky, I’m in no way a hipster/anti-culture kind of kid (not even into music that much…) So… there are kids like me who are more ‘mainstream’ I guess? Hope you make the best decision for yourself!

+2 cents of my thoughts on tier/rankings

As of 2017, I think Wesleyan is around the same tier with UC Berkeley, USC, UCLA, and Emory. Lots of cross admits exists and lots of students choose between them. In case you are worried about the ranking, its a top 20 school at the end of the day. #9 in Forbes, #21 in US News (avg around #14 if considering past records), #11 in Times, and etc.

Jiayou~

@eridan2 Thanks!

@OWL2021 Thanks! Actually no one in China knows Wesleyan, but probably many have heard about Michigan. I’ve just submitted my application of CSS and I’m not sure whether I can proceed to the interview. I’m afraid that international students can’t work in the federal government unless you’re permanent resident of US?

Considering law school admission, I’m wondering which school is better to feed T14 law schools?
Looking at the students admitted to Yale Law School last year, it seems Wesleyan is better considering its small size. However, many people say that a Michigan undergraduate is easier to get into Michigan Law School. Is that really true?
I’ve also heard the argument that Wesleyan is more prestigious among East Coast Law Schools (Yale, Harvard, NYU, Columbia etc.). Is that really true?

Considering law school admission, I’m wondering which school is better to feed T14 law schools?
Looking at the students admitted to Yale Law School last year, it seems Wesleyan is better considering its small size. However, many people say that a Michigan undergraduate is easier to get into Michigan Law School. Is that really true?
I’ve also heard the argument that Wesleyan is more prestigious among East Coast Law Schools (Yale, Harvard, NYU, Columbia etc.). Is that really true?

It’s difficult to know what to make of those numbers. If they could be replicated at other T14 law schools I would be more comfortable calling them meaningful, but, Yale is one of the few that publishes first-year profiles. There could be a bit of a “streetlight effect” going on between Yale and Wesleyan (i.e., Wesleyan people may be applying there in greater numbers because Yale is virtually in the same “neighborhood”. Or, it could mean that Yale is more familiar with what goes on further up Route 66 than we might think and is comfortable making close calls in Wesleyan’s favor.) Either way, it doesn’t mean very much without knowing how many people got rejected along the way.

Btw, I’m not sure how CSS got construed as only good for “federal government jobs” (definitely not true.) Your immigration status should be a non-factor since it isn’t going to change simply because you choose one university over another.

@circuitrider I agree with you and I think both schools are top law school feeders. But I think I’m not saying that the CSS major is construed as only good for “federal government jobs”. I hear that international students can’t work in the federal government. Is that true?

@Corpfinguy96 Thanks! Actually I think not everyone is fit for and be able to endure CSS’s workload and I think CSS limits the course selection to some extent. In addition, do you have some ideas of the strength of the social science departments in Wesleyan (such as Political Science and Economics)?

I don’t really know the answer to that. How did that topic find its way into the conversation?