I knew I preferred a liberal arts school. I could not see myself in lecture halls with hundreds of students. I pictured myself learning more and being more engaged in a small class environment. Even if I had gotten into any of my reach schools, it would not have been a foregone conclusion to go to any of them. Tbh I just applied to them as more of an ego thing, to see if I could get in. But among the three LACs I had to choose from, I favored Wesleyan because I think I fit the best in there. Swarthmore’s Campus was beautiful but I felt it had a very bland or tame vibe. Ultimately though, I was put off by their intensity. They are proud of their difficult classes and grade deflation. Their gift shop even sells shirts saying ‘Harder than an Ivy” or “it would of been an A anywhere else.” I know college will be difficult but I don’t look forward to it being intentionally difficult. My brother’s baseball coach is a Swat alum and confirmed his experience with grade deflation. He actually recommended that I not go there if I wanted to have a more “normal and fun” college experience. And as a pre-med student, I have to be concerned about my GPA. I just didn’t want the extra pressure. I want to enjoy myself in college too. Vassar also had a beautiful campus and very lively vibe. But when I contacted the Vassar track coach about walking on the team, he responded that they had a small team and could not accommodate me. And they have no throwers on their team. I throw shot put and discus and look forward to expanding to javelin and the hammer throw. The Swarthmore and Wesleyan coaches both enthusiastically welcomed me to walk on the team. (Wesleyan also has a crew team and I’m thinking of inquiring of doing some training with them during the track off-season. I know they usually have an extra boat of rowers to compete against the main squad in practice. It’s a great workout and I have a rower’s body type so I may wind up being good at it.) Basically, Wesleyan has everything I am looking for. It’s small, but not too much; it has an eclectic mix of students (artsy creative types, athletes, and other high achieving students); it has an open curriculum ( a lot of its graduates double or even triple major); it appears to have a lot of research opportunities in STEM and strong STEM offerings; and the campus has a bustling, vibrant vibe to it (it’s located in a very busy suburb close to Main Street). Wesleyan also gave me the best financial aid. My parents and I will incur some debt but it is tolerable for us (about 25k at the end of four years). So hopefully Wesleyan will be everything I am imagining it to be and then some!
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