<p>I was looking into its film program as a transfer choice, and I was reading students review (i know i shouldn't buy into this nonsense but there has to be some truth to it). in any case, many students mentioned there was pot usage so abundant that it interfered with people's learning. Is this true? Could a parent or anyone familiar with Wesleyan enlighten me please!</p>
<p>Wesleyan's a fine school, although it leans more towards Grateful Dead than Morman Tabernacle Choir. Too left-wing for my family, but that's a matter of personal taste, not a general disqualification. I agree with you that Students Review should be taken with several grains of salt.</p>
<p>A salt mine, more like it.</p>
<p>Pinkearmuffs--my D graduated from Wes in 04 (she was a transfer, too.) Yes, there is potsmoking there--possibly more than some schools, less than others. I never got any impression that it was in any way interfering or pervasive--it surely did not have an impact on the academic rigor (which is intense.) I agree with all those above, to take studentsreview with a lot of skepticism (and salt.)</p>
<p>I was surprised when I got here (to Wesleyan) how much pot use there was.</p>
<p>Then I spoke to my friends at other schools, including local state schools, and they were experiencing the same thing.</p>
<p>I don't do pot, and I'm at Wesleyan, and I'm fine and dandy and happy. Don't let the stereotype deter you, and look into the more important things - the program, the atmosphere, etc.! :)</p>
<p>Also, the pot usage will interfere with your learning... if you're one of the people who smokes up before every test. If you're worried about <em>other</em> people doing it, it shouldn't affect your academics at all.</p>
<p>Here's a summary of our trip:</p>
<p>I agree with Garland. S graduated from there same year as her D. I'm sure there's quite a bit of pot-smoking as well as drinking, but these are present at most campuses. It may be that some majors attract particular types of students, so that is something to be considered. My S, neither a drinker or smoker, was never inconvenienced. There is a substance-free dorm where he lived for a year.</p>
<p>hippy-liberal wonderland.</p>
<p>I agree with others re: the VERY liberal attitude at Wes. We visited in the summer of 04 when my son was looking. We're pretty liberal, so it sounded like a good fit and it has a really great reputation around here, esp with the kids coming out of the private HSs (Philadelphia area). The tour got interesting when the guide explained about the gender neutral dorms (which doesn't mean coed- it means you don't have to declare your sex at all....in case you aren't sure). Son had to think about that for a while - and decided it could be a really cool environment, or a really weird situation - and he wasn't sure he wanted to sign up as a resident to find out. We toured the hill we were told about the african drumming jam sessions (I pictured white kids with dreadlocks and dashikis) and we did hear that pot is a staple. </p>
<p>Aside form all of that, I know a few grads and all of them are wildly successful people - I'm talking senior executives, etc.... I know someone who went from Wes to Yale Law...so something is working there. </p>
<p>Have you read "The Gatekeepers"? It was written by the Wes Adcom - and gives a little insight into why one of their top "recruits" turned them down....and why others were dying to get in. </p>
<p>As an aside, they have THE BEST venue for Info Sessions of all of the schools we visited. It was beautiful. The rest of the campus seemed surprisingly "cold" to us.....those square buildings...made of slate or whatever. </p>
<p>The school was on and off of my son's list until the very last minute. </p>
<p>At this point, I'm glad he's not there...as his summer wardrobe turned from grungy, baggy pants and political correct Ts to something resembling a Polo ad (complete with popped collars - in YELLOW!). I suppose you've already made any of those personality adjustments that come naturally with maturity, so you might know better whether or not Wes is right for you.</p>
<p>Momsdream:</p>
<p>We've seen weird outfits at Wes, but my S has always been dressed top to toes from Gap, Old Navy or Land's End as I am too lazy to shop (and I have little imagination when it comes to clothes) and he does not like shopping at all. And he is the most conservative dresser I know. No pink or yellow or purple and lilac and no popped collars for him.</p>
<p>My Wes D dressed in jeans or cargo pants and T shirts or sweaters, and a ubiquitous Wes hoodie. Not one piercing (not even ears) and no dyed hair. Though she did patch holes in clothes with duct tape.</p>
<p>My cousin went to Wes and transfered out a semester later into Stanford. She said she hated the environment. Since there were no guys there, the girls had nothing to compete over except themselves and everyday she had to put up with the girls whining over stupid things like, "My skirt is shorter than yours" or "Your legs have more stubble than mine." She couldn't take it and left. </p>
<p>Plus a lot of people get the misconception that girls at an all-girl school are lesbians.</p>
<p>Wait a minute. You mean Wellesley, not Wesleyan. Wes in fact used to be single sex. More precisely, all-males. Plenty of guys then. My S is a guy, too!</p>
<p>Btw, they don't have gender neutral housing anymore. My daughter is at Wes, doesn't smoke pot, might drink on rare occassion. Love's it there, Has made many friends and has been involved in many extra activities.. she's at habitat for humanity as I'm typing this.. It is definitely a mixed school with many different kinds of kids. While we have seen streakers, guy in a pink cat suit, kids openly smoking pot, the majority of kids look like every other kid on any college campus. I know some of my daughters friends at other schools are drinking and partying much more. One friend is at a small LA's school in PA (not usually mentioned on this board) and is unhappy because, there was a fist fight due to someone bring openly gay. I have to say my daughter has never been happier, she likes her classes, works hard and has thrived in short time she has been at Wesleyan. </p>
<p>Lisa</p>
<p>I don't know about the gender neutral housing, but my neighbor's daughter is a sophomore there, and she showed me on the housing /medical/other forms she was filling out after acceptance that there were three boxes to choose from when it asked for gender : male, female, and neutral. She was kind of freaked out by it, but it wasn't an issue for her daughter who is very happy there.</p>
<p>We toured Wesleyan, and our tour guide was a film major. For film, it's great. Did you know Joss Wheedon of Buffy the Vampire Slayer fame went there? However, she did say that the school was very cause-oriented, and that the "dominant culture" was at least in some part organized around the gender issues. So she loved it there, but in terms of fit, socially she was a little the odd one out. She was a very peppy LA girl, if that makes sense in a stereotyping way. The other tour guide was a gender-neutral kid named "Beck", where we guessed her mom and dad had named her Becky originally.</p>
<p>It's a great school, but these gender politics issues do seem to have at least some presence there, if that concerns you at all.</p>
<p>amethyst:</p>
<p>Well, it's not just at Wes that some students are transgendered. I knew a young person who changed her gender upon graduating from high shool, forcing her college to adapt to the idea of a he instead of the she it had expected. Applied to grad school still as a he, but changed again after matriculating, back to a she. Last I heard, the she was back to being a he. Confusing? You bet! And it was not at Wes.</p>
<p>But in general, it's true that gender politics were big at one time at Wes. Since chalkings were banned, I think things have calmed down. Or it could be that 9/11 changed the tenor of student political activism.</p>
<p>Wesleyan has always seemed to be on the list of kids who like Brown, Vassar, and Oberlin. It was very high on my daughter's list--5 years ago, we weren't hearing that the drug culture was different from many other schools, and the transgender issue was not a concern. A couple of my son's friends who are very smart, down to earth, liberal minded "tree-hugger" types considered Wes and seemed to us to be absolutely great fits for the school, but in the end, they chose not to attend. It seems they were concerned about rumors that the drug culture has become much more pervasive there, and that the school as a whole attracts a very eccentric, fringe kind of group. In these cases, the students ended up deciding between schools that were slightly more preppy, (Tufts, Bowdoin, Wash U.), having not gotten into Brown and feeling that these other schools were educationally and/or location-wise more desireable than Oberlin and Vassar. One of these kids--a very close friend, has been having an up and down experience so far. I just keep thinking that it's too bad that this Wes reputation had the effect of turning off kids that seemed so perfect for the school.</p>
<p>Marite,
Sorry if my comment was not clear. I did not say Wes was the only school where there were transgender students, only that my friend showed me the forms where you could actually check a box for "neutral" gender and neither of us had ever seen that on an application before.</p>