<p>I have been hearing both scenarios below for many private schools, and interest in hearing from current students, recent grads or alums of WFU as to what their impression is.</p>
<p>Is WFU:</p>
<p>(1) A conservative, preppy school where rich Southern kids go to party in fraternities before coming back home to work in the family business</p>
<p>(2) A highly rated liberal arts school, that is very selective, hard to get into, and provides an overall great education.</p>
<p>Without a doubt Wake is a combination of both in my opinion. Yes, Wake is very affluent and preppy, as a liberal, I’ve never really felt Wake as THAT conservative compared to other top non-Ivy private schools. From the students I’ve talked to, a lot of WFU students have the traditional college beliefs, socially libertarian, and economically conservative. But at Wake you get the special feel of a liberal arts education in a University setting. Much more research opportunities than your smaller LACs like Davidson and Williams, but much more of a focus on the liberal arts compared to the larger schools like UNC and UVA.</p>
<p>I would agree with it being a combination of both. Wake definitely is conservative but not everyone here is conservative; I’m fairly liberal and I have never felt out of place here. There are some kids who fit into your “1”, but most people here work really hard and care about school.</p>
<p>It’s a combination of (1) and (2) - but to be honest any upper-tier school will have a sizable portion of super wealthy students who got in through family connections. WFU is has gotten significantly less preppy and southern even while I have been here. It is still preppier than your average college, but it is not as southern as Alabama, Clemson, or other traditionally southern schools. </p>
<p>It is preppier and more southern than other upper-tier southern private schools like Vanderbilt or Duke, however.</p>
<p>The students seem to come from all over nowadays. Most are still North Carolina, right? But there are a lot from the NY, NJ, Chicago and California. It seems to have a mix like SMU.</p>
<p>The number 1 most represented state is North Carolina, followed by NJ. After that it’s a mix of Northern and Southern states. Florida, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania all have large presences here. In my opinion, it’s a pretty good mix of Northern and Southern students.</p>
<p>I would agree that it is a combination of both, but more your #2 description than #1. My S is a freshman (he is pretty liberal) and has never commented on it feeling conservative. I will agree that it is fairly preppy, but that is the case at most private schools he looked at and considered.</p>
<p>The first thing he says when asked about his experience at Wake thus far, is how much he loves his professors and the classroom experience itself. In addition, he always comments on how great the student body is, (in his opinion) he describes his friends as really smart, they care about school but are also fun and “chill”. He does have a few friends from NC, but the majority are from all over (PA, CT, IL, GA, TX, are some that come to mind).</p>