I think @Englishman has an axe to grind about Wesleyan. But I don’t see how having a student still in the hospital and speculating about the impact on Wesleyan’s reputation and ranking as an institution are related. And sorry… this has gotten more press nationally than is typical for incidents on campus, and at the worst time of year for the school in terms of admissions decisions.
“This will lead to lower selectivity (acceptance LY @23.7%, will likely drop to 25%+) and thus lower rankings in USNWR and others”
The acceptance rate counts for a whopping 1.5% of the USNWR ranking. And I have no dog in the Wesleyan fight, but I agree, you sound like you have an axe to grind.
^ Acceptance rate most recently has a 1.25% weighting, which is, even if only marginally, better for your point.
Seems like some seriously convoluted wishful thinking on some parent’s part. If anything, this unfortunate incident has made the administration and campus safety and I would assume the student community (who saw their friends taken to the hospital in ambulances and/or arrested) more vigilant and reflective about drug use. I would assume there will be more efforts at education and drug free events. There may be some families who opt for schools like BYU over Wesleyan but it is unlikely that they would have been choosing between those two schools anyway. Yes, this incident got a lot of national press but the number of kids who were hospitalized is dwarfed by the number of kids who are taken to the ER for alcohol poisoning from virtually every college and university in the US on an annual basis. A friend whose daughter goes to Stanford said that there were 30 kids in the ER by the end of September. So most rational and/or critically thinking parents are aware that there is drug and alcohol use/abuse on every campus and talking to your kids about making safe choices is imperative wherever they go.
I don’t know about yield this year, there could be a drop I suppose. However, as a parent of a current junior who is strongly considering Wesleyan, I would not discourage her from applying. She and I have discussed the issue at length this week, and I pointed out that some parents may be hesitant to consider Wes for their children now. In my opinion this event should trigger an even stronger push by the school administration to educate students and crack down on drug use campus wide. The dangers of drug use will certainly be on the minds of many Wes students, at least in the short term. I am not naive enough to believe that drug use will stop at Wes, but I would not let this incident keep my daughter from attending. Drug use occurs on all campuses. Open communication and education of our children will hopefully help them to make wise choices when they go off to college. But…there are no guarantees, we must trust their judgment, hope for the best, and be ready to support them if they fall. Wesleyan is a fantastic school with many strengths. I have been reading CC for several months now, and I agree with all who say that @Englishman has an axe to grind. It would be nice if he would just move on.
^^I wonder if this has something to do with the fact that Wesleyan is actually fairly well known in England through its music scene. Otherwise, it’s hard to believe there would be that much interest in five American drug busts.
“I must say … this … is in pretty poor taste”
In a very general sense, and spanning a few threads, you were precognitive, @circuitrider.
Does anyone need to be clearer?
^ The thread and posts I was referring to have apparently since been removed.
Yes, and the arrows at the beginning of post #26 were not aimed at zobroward, but at a post linking a British newspaper article…