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Wesleyan University vs Hamilton College (ED)
joseph20
3 replies1 threads New Member
I'm trying to decide where I want to send my ED application and I've narrowed it down to these two schools. I was hoping I could get some insight as to which one I should apply to. (yes, I know the deadline is very soon). I'm leaning towards Wes, but I wanted some additional opinions for me to consider. Also, if you have any additional recommendations (for colleges that I may have overlooked) please feel free to share them 
Here is what I'm looking for in a college:
- great academics
-not a super big party culture (I'm not into that)
-not much greek life
-not super athletics focused (and dominated by athletics)
-a creative student population who is academically motivated
-good film program
-good english/creative writing programs
-a place where I can find a group of friends that I can do creative projects with
-prestige
I'm thinking of majoring in English/film, but I'm still not very sure. I would also like to stay in the New England/Mid-Atlantic/Quebec regions. If you guys could share any insights you have, that would be awesome!
22 replies Here is what I'm looking for in a college:
- great academics
-not a super big party culture (I'm not into that)
-not much greek life
-not super athletics focused (and dominated by athletics)
-a creative student population who is academically motivated
-good film program
-good english/creative writing programs
-a place where I can find a group of friends that I can do creative projects with
-prestige
I'm thinking of majoring in English/film, but I'm still not very sure. I would also like to stay in the New England/Mid-Atlantic/Quebec regions. If you guys could share any insights you have, that would be awesome!
Replies to: Wesleyan University vs Hamilton College (ED)
Although at wes there seemed to be a big, humble brag “triple major” ethos talked about during our two visits. I thought why (?), personally. I had never heard of this before or at any other school. It might be perfect for you and a great thing. Just a random observation and no provenance.
Arts Culture. Wes.
Campus beauty and overall center left vibe. Hamilton.
Imho.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/top-25-american-film-schools-ranked-1231343/item/2019-top-25-film-schools-usc-1231345
https://contently.net/2014/11/06/resources/tools/training/10-best-colleges-creative-writers/
https://www.flavorwire.com/409437/the-25-most-literary-colleges-in-america
Wesleyan, in contrast, may limit your range of choice in two of your areas of interest:
And
https://www.wesleyan.edu/cfilm/prospective/major.html
https://www.wesleyan.edu/writing/creativewriting.html
Well, actually Hamilton ranked as low as 18th in the USNews poll as recently as 2018. And, as we all know, the data collected for each year's poll lags by at least two years, meaning that the last two freshman classes were big beneficiaries of the post-Broadway debut of the musical.
Based on the experience of the people I know who went there recently, both schools are great. I have written before about my nephew's dream experience at Hamilton -- he ultimately did a roll-your-own major and got incredible support from the college for it, including research grants, hiring an outside expert professor to supervise his thesis, and providing significant funding for a project that grew out of the thesis. My son-in-law's time there was more conventional, but he and his college friends are admirable, intellectual people doing interesting things in the world, and they all pretty much loved Hamilton.
The Wesleyan people may be a little flashier. It's reputation in film and literature, and it's reputation for social activism, draws (a) a fair number of celebrity kids, and (b) a fair number of the sort of kids who get to pick which college they attend. (I even know one young woman who actually turned down Harvard to go to Wesleyan . . . although she changed her mind two weeks later and got Harvard to let her rescind her rejection of them.) It's more clearly New York City / LA oriented. Also, several of the Wes kids I know are pursuing or have obtained PhDs, which isn't as true of the Hamiltonians
Political correctness is a big thing at Wes, but I think most of the students treat it as a source of amusement, not as a creed. It would probably drive you nuts if you are a rabid Trump supporter, but not if you are in the normal range of centrist, skeptical people.
Wesleyan and Hamilton both have fraternities and sororities, although the fraternity system there does not resemble what you would find at most other colleges, and many students don't bother to join one.
For practical purposes, both schools are isolated, but Hamilton is a lot more isolated. At Wesleyan, if you know someone with a car you are not much more than an hour from New York City, Providence, or Boston, and 15 minutes from New Haven or Hartford. With a little more time, you can get to any of those places and back on public transportation fairly easily. At Hamilton, there's no place more interesting than Syracuse you can go to in day-trip distance. And Clinton NY is much, much smaller than Middletown CT. Which also means Hamilton feels legitimately rural, while Wesleyan is a nice campus in a bustling , not-altogether-charming large town.
As recorded in a Boston Globe interview, Hamilton lost a student to Harvard as well:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/10/15/charlie-baker-takes-proust-questionnaire/p2B2GsYFIUnYnVLsZCiX3I/story.html
"The Positive Impact of Going Need Blind
Some evidence suggests colleges and universities can increase their applicant pools by becoming need blind. Hamilton College in upstate New York decided to adopt need-blind admissions for the class entering in the fall of 2010 and has seen gains in both students receiving Pell Grants and diversity measures. It also felt an immediate boost in fund-raising.
....
The percentage of first-year students receiving Pell Grants rose in the immediate years after Hamilton went need blind, Inzer said. It was 13 percent in 2009-10, and then jumped to 17 percent the next year. Since then it has bounced around at generally higher levels, notching 13 percent in 2011-12 before rising to as high as 18 percent in 2012-13 and spending the next four years alternating between 15 and 17 percent.
Also rising was the number of U.S. students of color as a percentage of full-time enrollment. The mark rose from 17.4 percent in 2009-10 to 23 percent in 2015-16, increasing every year. Over the same time frame, Hamilton’s number of admitted students held relatively steady, moving from 1,390 in 2009 to 1,357 in 2016 and never rising higher than 1,441 in the years between."
from Do Colleges Need to Be Need Blind by Rick Seltzer in Inside Higher Ed (2016)