<p>Class difficulty: This is an issue with a relatively small core of classes, the most heinous offender being Intro to Sociology (SOC 151). They cap this class at about 20 or 25 students and have usually 2 or 3 sections, and the demand just outpaces the supply. There are rumors of students who couldn't declare the Soc major because they never got into SOC 151, but that seems rare to me since all my friends who've wanted to take it eventually got into it.</p>
<p>Some other classes (especially government and some upper division English, American Studies, etc. classes) exhibit similar behavior. There also has been talk of the registrar opening more "blocks" and trying to rearrange things so classes don't all coincidence into certain popular blocks (11 am M/W/F, 1:10 pm Tu/Th). They've been slowly introducing social sciences classes that meet at night too. I grant that this is still a problem, but with persistence and a clear idea of what you want to be in, it's not usually a huge problem. </p>
<p>French and Spanish: The main issue was SPAN 101 being cut. The Spanish department's complaint was that few people who started the SPAN 101 track once at Wesleyan completed through SPAN 112 (the end of the four semester intro track), and that the vast majority of majors came from students who started in SPAN 111 (3rd semester) at the earliest. French had a similar logic in cutting back to one section of FREN 101. There was huge student outcry, and the departments came to their senses and reinstituted multiple sections of all these classes. I'm sure they won't try it again.</p>
<p>closing or drastic cut back of the ethnomusicology program which had been one of the best in the country. My son loves world music and was counting on this as being part of his environment.</p>
<p>Ethnomusicology: I don't really know much about this department, sorry. I'm a science major.</p>
<p>Tuition Hikes: Tuition is rising at every school, and while Wesleyan is technically one of the most expensive, it's really about the same price as any other top private give or take maybe $1,000. As tuition goes up, so does financial aid. Wesleyan is need blind and meets 100% of need, and the grant aid given to students who qualify is, one average, substantial.</p>
<p>This month just past marks the conclusion of "The Wesleyan Campaign" which raised $250 million, most of which goes toward financial aid.</p>
<p>Fund Siphoning: Any university's finances are relatively complicated. In most cases the "glitzy buildings" (which are actually almost all dorms, new academic buildings, and a new dining hall/student center) are funded mostly or entirely by specific donations from big-money donors, with the rest coming from the aforementioned Wesleyan Campaign. At no point has tuition money gone to building new buildings, to my knowledge.</p>
<p>Administration and student relations: Yep, this is one is a biggie and unfortunately there isn't much we can do about it, since this is a private school and Doug Bennet basically has the run of the place. I'm sure his heart is in the right place, but he has a very specific idea of what Wesleyan ought to be (hint: it involves looking more like Amherst) and many students just don't agree with him, but he always gets his way by default (see the debates on the chalking ban, gender-neutral housing, and the campus radio station, WESU -- all extensively covered in the Argus over the past year and a half that I've been here).</p>
<p>And, you're right that most of the noise is made by a few students, but the kids at Wesleyan aren't usually the types to sit down when they feel they're getting a raw deal.</p>
<p>I don't mean to sound like a cheerleader, but since your son applied ED I figured I'd try to dispel some of your worries. Good luck to your son.</p>