<p>Don’t worry about it. The Senate Bus goes to Harvard Square, Kendall Square, Commonwealth Ave in a round on the weekends during day and night. The name is old. Back in my day, and apparently still today, some people with prurient and limited imaginations have difficulty believing that a female college student might want to take a bus into Boston/Cambridge from the burbs for any other reason than to find a sex partner. Students get off the bus at the stop they want and go to where they want to go.</p>
<p>If a student gets stuck in Boston after the buses stop running, she can take a cab to the Wellesley Campus Police Station and they will pay the driver. The student has to pay the college back, though.</p>
<p>The name is indeed old but I don’t think the indignant spin is merited. “Back in my day” (late 70s), when I was a (male) college student at the other end of the bus line, it had that same nickname but we understood that it derived the name from the westbound route, not the eastbound; and the most unlimited of imaginations knew very well how warranted the name was.</p>
<p>I am considering applying to Wellesley during my gap year, but I am definitely not the “Rah women’s empowerment!” type of person… I don’t really think that there are any problems with gender equality in the US and while I definitely support equal rights, I’m not any sort of a feminist in the new sense of the word… would I still fit in at Wellesley?</p>
<p>@LAMuniv “I don’t really think that there are any problems with gender equality in the US”
…okay. Um. No. There are many, many problems here and in the rest of the world. </p>
<p>@kitkat522 I was just sharing my opinion briefly as it is relevant to my question; I wasn’t trying to start a debate, but I respect your opinion :)</p>
<p>I don’t know how to mention other posters despite my searches on the forum for this. </p>
<p>LAMuniv, the majority of the Wellesley community takes feminism for granted. I myself believe that we do not live in a patriarchy anymore. I see today’s young men as facing deep problems that their female peers, for the time being, may actually be navigating much better. However, thousands of years of patriarchal rule leave residual elements that do not go away overnight. The values system under which we all live is heavily influenced by historical male dominance of legal and political structures. Certainly there are still many places in the world where women are not afforded equal educational, political, or economic rights to those received by men. Wellesley students and faculty are very conscious of this fact.</p>
<p>Not every Wellesley student is a militant feminist by any means, but if feminism actually irritates you, Wellesley is not a good fit.</p>
<p>Thanks for your response, @NJSue! (You can mention other posters by putting an @ before their username). Oh and for the record, I definitely agree that gender inequality is a problem in a lot of places in the world, I’m not crazy haha.</p>
<p>@LMAlcott, I asked my daughter (a first-year) her opinion about the number of “Type A” students. She made a couple of interesting observations. First, as a fairly laid-back person, she acknowledged the existence of a decent population of highly ambitious, driven students, but pointed out that just because someone is Type A doesn’t mean she won’t be a good friend! She also described some students she knows who have apparently relaxed substantially after arriving at Wellesley, so much so that they might seem unrecognizable to their former high-school peers. Finally, I will observe that among the myriad of student organizations, students can self-select for those that may have a more low-key vibe.</p>
<p>That said, it is still pretty academically intense, no two ways about it.</p>
<p>@LMAlcott, your daughter sounds like mine, and yes, there are others like them at Wellesley. My daughter is an introvert and needs a lot of down time. She doesn’t take on a thousand activities (and this is a real temptation for first-years) because she knows that will only stress her out. And people there do get this.</p>
<p>I believe that fit is as much about commitment as it is about some magical chemistry. Sure, you have to choose a school that seems like the right place for you, but once you choose, you have to commit yourself to making it work, in spite of its imperfections. Kids who go to college with this attitude will thrive.</p>
<p>What are some of your thoughts on some people’s opinion that women’s colleges “are on the decline” and “no longer needed,” (Harvard and other previously single-sex prestigious institutions are now co-ed) and that attending a women’s college is “perpetuating sexism,” as it promotes the idea that females need a special environment to gain leadership positions/flourish, etc? </p>
<p>What I find interesting is that women’s colleges are always being asked to justify their existence in a way other institutions aren’t. Why does Harvard (or any other particular school) have to be co-ed? What about HBCUs? What about religious colleges? Higher education has many niches, thank goodness. Wellesley, or any other college, being single-sex deprives no one else of meaningful educational opportunity. </p>
<p>Many women initially attend Wellesley as agnostics on the single-sex question; they are attracted to it for other reasons. However, if you asked most alumnae, they would not want the college to become co-ed. It would lose its sense of specialness.</p>
<p>I do not buy the “real world” argument re co-ed schools, because college itself is a highly artificial environment whether co-ed or not. In any case, graduates of women’s colleges don’t seem to have any particular trouble working alongside men or asserting themselves in the workplace or graduate school.</p>
<p>In short, those who argue that there is “no need” for women’s colleges are massively missing the point. They might ask themselves why they care, especially if they address that question toward no other type of institution. As people are fond of saying on these boards, “It’s all about fit.”</p>
<p>My D is interested in Wellesley (loves everything about the brochures and is very excited about the variety of course offered). I wonder, since Wellesley is a prestigious and expensive school, will a student who attends using a good deal of need based aid feel left out, or unable to keep up financially (clothes, parties, trips, etc) because a lot of the students come from money? </p>
<p>One of the surprises for me this year has been how little my D has spent. She’s an introvert, but does have a group of friends who hang out together, they just don’t seem to do expensive things. She goes to concerts, plays, etc., on campus; she’s been to a few parties at other colleges; she goes into Cambridge on the Senate bus, but not to spend money (think ice cream instead of dinner out). I had to force her into a North Face coat (from Nordstrom’s Rack) because she thought it was too expensive, but I knew she would have to have a winter coat and might as well have a good one! There may be more spendy groups on campus, but she has never mentioned feeling left out because of money.</p>
<p>Similarly, my D is a second-year and doesn’t spend much money either. She is very active but there are so many events that are either free of have a 5 or 10 dollar fee to do. Eating out in Wellesley happens but they seem to avoid the pricey places. I also had to just pull the trigger and ship her a new coat and boots because she was getting free clothes/boots left behind in residence halls from the previous semester’s kids and I wanted her to have winter clothes I knew were sufficient - we are from the south so she didn’t already have any. D now also leaves behind/donates for other to have.</p>
<p>I started out putting 200/mo in her account and by winter break first-year, she hadn’t spent more then 300 bux so I dropped it to 100/month and she still has tons piling up. She has not mentioned Wellesley feeling like a rich kid’s school - more like they all love the recylcing/re-using and thrift stores are fun kind of kids (like she was in HS).</p>
<p>Ditto for my first year daughter. The only things she spent big bucks on are books, choir tour, and piano lessons. Her first high school was a lot more of a “rich kid” school than Wellesley is.</p>
<p>@LMAlcott That is exactly how I felt upon coming to Wellesley. I will admit, there are a lot of type A personality people here, but it’s certainly not everybody! I myself am an extremely laid back person, and even though some of my friends are quite “type A,” by no means do I see that as a limiting factor. People are different, there are a variety of personalities at Wellesley, like at any school.</p>
<p>@LAMuniv!! You are describing my life! Haha I was so scared that Wellesley was going to be an overly feminist environment before I came. It kind of is. But there are actually a lot of people who have differing views on the subject. As mentioned, feminism here is seen as pretty standard, people just assume all students are super involved feminists. Rest assured, not all of them are The all-girls school thing amplifies it, I think, along with the ambition of Wellesley girls themselves, but I don’t think you’ll feel overwhelmed by feminist ideology here. I came in thinking I would, but it’s been much better than expected in that regard. Don’t let that deter you from coming to Wellesley.</p>
<p>@shoboemom I think your daughter will be absolutely fine. A lot of students do come from very well-off backgrounds, but there’s a diversity there as well, seeing as many students are on financial aid. I haven’t noticed it being an issue for anybody. I second, or third, the low spending too. Maybe it’s just what my friends and I are into (a lot of walking around downtown, to Boylston St, Boston Common, etc) instead of attending a concert or other show every weekend, but there’s not a huge wealth culture among the student body that I’ve noticed.</p>
<p>Or how about BC versus Wellesley? Wellesley has great academics and professors, smaller size advantage and supposedly comraderie. BC has football and school spirit. D loves school spirit but also the smaller size of Wellesley. She is outgoing but not excessively so. Are students who are happy at Wellesley more on the introverted, shy side? My experience with two other of my kids is that a school’s culture can really make or break the experience, although nothing is perfect. </p>
The all-girls school thing amplifies it, I think, along with the ambition of Wellesley girls themselves, but I don’t think you’ll feel overwhelmed by feminist ideology here. I came in thinking I would, but it’s been much better than expected in that regard. Don’t let that deter you from coming to Wellesley.</p>