<ol>
<li><p>Is this a good school for sciences and math?</p></li>
<li><p>What is the campus/surrounding town like? Social life related things?</p></li>
<li><p>Do they have an honors college. And if so how hard is it to get into the honors college and what is that like?</p></li>
<li><p>What are good stats to have to have a good chance at getting in?</p></li>
<li><p>Any cool things to know about the school?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Let me try to reply, and I am sure others will add their direct knowledge as well. </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Wesleyan is one of the very few liberal arts colleges that not only have excellent math and sciences offerings, but Ph.D. programs as well in math and sciences. Small departments where you can get a lot of individual attention. You may also want to examine their Science in Society major which is an interdisciplinary program that looks at science as an institution and prepares you for a variety of scientific careers and grad study in the sciences.</p></li>
<li><p>Wesleyan is, on one side of the campus, just up the hill from a very nice small downtown, which has a variety of excellent restaurants and places to shop and gives you the feel that you are in a small city and not isolated from the rest of the world. On the other side of the campus, there is a road that is great for biking way out into a rural area of small farms and even ponds and streams. When I was a student there, it was a great way to escape from the campus for a few hours and get into nature during pleasant days in fall and spring. Socially, the campus is so active with music, speakers, theatre and many student activities that keep most students very busy. The campus is big enough and spread out enough so that you may feel like you are living in a a self-sufficient world of your own. </p></li>
<li><p>Wesleyan does not have an “honors college” per se, but you can work for a degree with honors in any major. In addition, you may want to check out two colleges within the university, the College of Social Studies and the College of Letters, which do prepare you to write a senior honors thesis. There is a new third college called College of the Environment that you may also want to check.</p></li>
<li><p>Like most highly competitive liberal arts colleges, “stats” do not guarantee admission–they really do look at you holistically. They publish their annual student profile on their admissions page, and the average admitted student typically has about 2200 SATs and about 4.0 GPA, but many students have been denied who have higher stats than that and many have been accepted who have much lower. Again, Wesleyan gives criteria on its website that spells out how they review your application. I know from personal experience as an alum and parent of a soon-to-be-student at Wes that it is the whole picture–your grades, how difficult your curriculum was, your SAT/ACT scores, your personal interview, teacher recommendations, extra-curriculars and your personal essay–that are all weighed in admissions. I strongly recommend that you study their website and make a visit and get interviewed on campus.</p></li>
<li><p>Take a look at their Wesleying blog to check out cool things on campus–very active place. It benefits from being less than two hours from NYC and Boston–incredible people come to entertain on a regular basis. I also think Wesleyan has one of the coolest college presidents around–Michael Roth–who has a blog on the Huffington Post, is often featured in the NY Times, and teaches very weighty humanities classes every year.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck to you!</p>
<p>Morganhil did a great job with your questions! I’m just a mom of a son who was just accepted ED, but I can add a bit:</p>
<hr>
<ol>
<li>Is this a good school for sciences and math?</li>
</ol>
<p>Yes. One of the reasons my son chose Wes over a group of other fantastic LACs was the science program. The school gets a huge amount of federal research funding, has very good research oppportunities for undergraduates, and also has a program in science where you can get your Masters degree at Wes…5th year for that is free. Extensive science facilities and a science library as well.</p>
<ol>
<li>What is the campus/surrounding town like? Social life related things?</li>
</ol>
<p>We’re from a pretty small town, so that may color our view. but we liked the area–good restaurants, theaters, shopping (OK, malls, but we loved that coming from our area). And S loved that there is SO much going on at the campus all the time, especially in the arts.</p>
<ol>
<li>Do they have an honors college. And if so how hard is it to get into the honors college and what is that like?</li>
</ol>
<p>As mentioned, you can graduate with honors. My son has been running around spouting off the requirements in his area…I’ll have to grab him and see if he can give me something more concrete for you on this.</p>
<ol>
<li>What are good stats to have to have a good chance at getting in?</li>
</ol>
<p>My S got in with a 3.5/3.6 but in a very vigorous curriculum and with high test scores, and great ECs…so, obviously, we agree that they admit holistically and really look at the entire student. </p>
<ol>
<li>Any cool things to know about the school? </li>
</ol>
<p>Goodness, where to start? They have so much music and theater and so many films and so much else in that vein for students to do (free or cheap); they have a carrillon; awesome library. Student body does lean pretty far left, but that didn’t stop my moderate son who loves a good debate.</p>
<p>Hope that helps! My S was a double legacy at a pretty prestigious place, and as soon as my husband and I got over the fact that S didn’t want to apply there, we were on board for his decision to attend a LAC, and thrilled that the one that he’ll be attending is Wesleyan. Good luck to you if you apply!</p>
<p>70 Wyllis Avenue Middletown CT (almost the exact center of campus as well as the admissions building) gets an 86 out of a possible 0-100 scale on Google Maps walkability score which is basically a measure of how convenient it is to get around to restaurants, bars, and shopping without a car:
[Walk</a> Score of 70 wyllis avenue middletown ct](<a href=“70 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown CT - Walk Score”>70 Wyllys Avenue, Middletown CT - Walk Score)</p>
<p>For comparison:
Pomona - 96
[Walk</a> Score of 333 N. College Way claremont ca](<a href=“333 North College Way, Claremont CA - Walk Score”>333 North College Way, Claremont CA - Walk Score)
Middlebury - 95
[Walk</a> Score of Emma Willard House Way middlebury vt](<a href=“131 South Main Street, Middlebury VT - Walk Score”>Middlebury VT - Walk Score)
Amherst - 89
[Walk</a> Score of amherst college amherst ma](<a href=“Amherst Center MA - Walk Score”>81 Dickinson St, Amherst Center MA - Walk Score)
Williams - 83
[Walk</a> Score of williams college williamstown ma](<a href=“880 Main Street, Williamstown MA - Walk Score”>880 Main Street, Williamstown MA - Walk Score)
Swarthmore - 68
[Walk</a> Score of 500 college avenue swarthmore pa](<a href=“500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA - Walk Score”>500 College Avenue, Swarthmore PA - Walk Score)
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