<p>I know it’s after May 1st, so congratulations on your decisions wherever you decided to go! I’ll answer your questions anyway. @absentions I was really hoping to go to Dartmouth actually, but I got rejected so it was out of the question anyway. Upon further consideration, I am very glad I went somewhere closer to a city (I’m a pretty big city girl, I go into Boston at least every week) even though Dartmouth has fantastic academics, specifically language programs (which is what interested me the most). @okeydokey4 I did choose Wellesley over BC in fact. I chose Wellesley due to its smaller atmosphere, the reputation of its professors as extremely approachable (which they totally are! Our professors are spectacular!!), and a bit based on their academic offerings. BC does undoubtedly have more school spirit though, so it depends what your daughter is looking for. The kind of girls who are happy at Wellesley really vary - there are a lot of totally extroverted girls who are friends with everybody who love the school, as well as the type of girls who prefer to stay in their dorms on Saturday nights. You’re totally right in that the culture shapes the experience, for sure.</p>
<p>Good luck on with the decisions to both of you!! If Wellesley is still on the table I’d be happy to answer other questions as they arise :)</p>
<p>Hey Wellesleyans! Just a junior browsing through. I was wondering how good Wellesley is at polisci / law / philosophy esque type majors? Just because that’s what I’m gravitating towards right now! Looks like a pretty interesting and unique college!</p>
<p>Also I’m sure everyone asks this, but how’s the social scene? I’m pretty active but also pretty introverted on the inside and like my “alone time”. I’m just wondering, does it ever get sort of claustrophobic in a smaller campus? Or is it nicer to have a tighter night community?</p>
<p>Ahh and sorry for the questions but final one - how supportive is Wellesley of extra curricular projects? I thrive off my extra curriculars right now, and they’re pretty important to my life. If I try to run random crazy things at Wellesley, how will I be received? - And thanks for answering everyone!</p>
<p>I’m an entering freshman (and obviously haven’t been there yet), so I can’t answer all of your questions, but I can tell @13lia1 that Wellesley’s polisci program is excellent! Especially if you are interested in getting into politics! (Two-thirds of female U.S. secretaries of state went to Wellesley!)
And from what I’ve understand (I’ve talked to many current students), the social scene on campus as far as parties are concerned is not huge, but a majority of the students escape the “trapped” feeling by going to Boston or at MIT/Harvard (where most parties can be found). The Wellesley community is also very tightly knit.
And Wellesley is super supportive of extra-curriculars! The archetypal “Wendy Wellesley” is and over-achiever who gets good grades and is involved in a ton of extra-curriculars.
I hope that answers your questions! (And I’m sorry I can’t help the other two people.)</p>
<p>@pink997 There are absolutely girls on campus who wear the hijab! And even though there are not very many who do, I don’t think you’d ever feel uncomfortable wearing it. Wellesley is an extremely accepting community, it’s not something that I would be worried about at Wellesley :)</p>
<p>Hi, I am not sure if you have answered this question already but, how do you like the school’s overall enviroment? I recently did an overnight visit and now I am concerned about being too stressed all the time. To some extent I am a type A personality but I need (emphasis on need) a decent amount of time to de-stress. I cannot be stressed about school work all the time. I just want to know if you ever feel this way and if you do, how do you cope with it? </p>
<p>@axrusso The stress so far hasn’t got to me the way it did in high school… as far as support systems goes, there are friends, counselors and various people waiting around just to offer you help! I know the best thing I do to de-stress is just visit my professors in office hours. If you’re worried about work, the best way to stop stressing is just to get help! And professors love to help! Also running around the lake is maybe the most peaceful way to de-stress too. </p>
@axrusso I graduated from Wellesley a few years ago and am currently a law school student at Yale. Wellesley is a competitive environment, and those expecting to cruise by without much effort will be shocked upon arrival. That being said, as a grad school student, I am SO GLAD that I went to Wellesley. While I was at the college, I was constantly being challenged by my peers and my professors, and it meant late nights and office hours were a norm. But my classes were engaging, the people were inspiring, and those late hours were not work per say; they were fun.
And to the OP (and anyone else wondering), the grade deflation policy at Wellesley should not dissuade you from attending W. If you’re worried about whether the policy will hinder your chances of attending a top grad school, don’t. Wellesley’s grade deflation policy is not a secret; ad com’s at top grad schools know about W’s policy, and will take it into account when seeing your GPA. It’s also important to note that the deflation policy tapers off as you reach the 200 and 300 level courses. MIT classes grade inflate, and taking courses there not only look great on transcripts, but boost W GPAs.
To summarize, I applied to Yale with a 3.6 GPA and a 173 on my LSAT and was accepted. Grad school ad coms know that Wellesley is rigorous… and they reward you for taking the challenge. :-bd
Hi I’m currently a junior very interested in attending Wellesley to major in Bio for premed. I was wondering if anyone who is also interested in going to premed can tell me about their experience in Wellesley. I understand the course work is difficult, and I am willing to put in the effort, but do grades generally reflect the time and work you put into it?
I have read many great comments about the academics and professors in Wellesley, but would you specifically recommend Wellesley’s science programs to juniors like myself who want to be challenged in order to grow as a student, not overloaded with impossible work. I would say I am a hard worker and I get fairly decent grades in my Honors and AP courses. I’m not a genius but more above average. Would Wellesley be best fitting mainly for people who would be considered ‘genius’ level?
My sister currently attends Boston College where she is struggling tremendously because of the huge workload and uncaring professors. She studies her butt off, but doesn’t ever get the grades she believes she deserves and doesn’t feel like she is growing as a student because of the difficulty of her science courses. Now she is planning on transferring to a state school that is well known for its premed program. It is a lot less expensive and has, i would say, less competition.
I’m saying this because I really want to find a great school that can help me grow as a person and student and help me for my goal of becoming a doctor. I’m looking at some nearby state schools in Pennsylvania that are known for having good to fairly decent premed programs. I do really want to go out of state to a private school like Wellesley, but I’m just nervous about succeeding in these more competitive places. I’d be open to advice and, of course, any answers to my questions. Thanks in advance!
I’ve heard mixed opinions about this, and I can’t really gage how supportive Wellesley is. I’ve heard that it’s snobby competitive rich prep school girls who are super judgmental, but then I’ve also heard that it’s a super accepting community. I’ve also heard it can be isolating and there’s way too much work for you to really have friends. Is this true?
@ehlee7
I am not pre-med, but I can tell you that the science courses here are very challenging. However, Wellesley professors are very helpful, and if you are bright enough to get into Wellesley, you should be able to succeed in the classes – as long as you are willing to spend hours doing the work. All my professors have been very approachable and bizarrely willing to give you extensions for work deadlines. At first, I got annoyed when I saw my some of my classmates constantly getting extensions. It seems like if you simply say you are “too stressed out,” you get extra time to hand in work. I have to admit to playing the stress card myself a few times.
@ibcr98
I too had heard that there were a lot of snobby prep school girls here, but really haven’t encountered too many – or maybe they just keep to themselves? Although there are a fair number of wealthy students here, there is also a high percentage of students with major financial aid. The student body is diverse in terms of income level, personality, political views and to-some-extent ethnicity. So yes, there are some prep school girls here, but you’ll also find a lot of international students, a fair amount of LGBTQA students, a lot of introverts, many politically active students, and a surprising number of athletes – there’s a real mix here.
Hi @wendy2eli! I was just accepted to Wellesley ED, and as of now, I definitely want to attend law school in the future. Do you mind if I ask what you majored in at Wellesley? Do you have advice for those on a pre-law track? And how were the resources you got from Wellesley during your application process in terms of resume-building, LSAT prep, etc.? Thanks so much!
I forgot to say that I believe Wellesley is a “super-accepting community.” As I said earlier, the student body is diverse in terms of income level, geography, ethnicity, income, political views, sexual orientation, etc. However, I find that many students self-select friend groups according to these parameters – certainly not all students, but enough do that it limits the number of students looking to socialize with “others.” Take a look at the list of clubs and orgs on campus, and you will get a sense of what I mean.
Considering that the school is very appealing to introverts and has a significant number of Type-A students whose time is spent studying, eating and sleeping, finding potential friends is not easy. It can be done, but I believe it requires much more effort than on a typical campus. The same can be said for socializing on weekends. Because of this, I think it is easy to feel isolated on campus – especially if you are not terribly outgoing. And now that we are blanketed by snow and classes were cancelled, it feels like a ghost town. Oh well, good time to catch up on work.
Hi! I’m hoping to attend as a transfer student and I was wondering if anyone had insight on either the Sociology or Peace and Justice studies departments? Or any admissions tips?
Hello, I was wondering if anyone knew anything about double majors. I want to double major in biology and environmental studies, but I know that Wellesley has a million little requirements and restrictions, so I am curious if double majoring in a social science and a science is even possible.
Yes, you can double major or have a major and a minor. Those are the only options. Since you’re only allowed two formal subjects you cannot have a major and two minors. You cannot have two majors and a minor either. I’ve read the entire site and I’m still a little confused about the distribution requirements as well. I can’t tell, with all the comma’s, and “ands”, what subjects are combined to form a single distribution. I wish they would list them instead of forming sentences. See for yourselves… (can anyone decipher)
