“Wesleyan’s student body is a vibrant, diverse, multilingual, accepting community that cultivates global citizenship and collaborative innovation. . . intellectual curiosity . . . collaborative spirit.”
“At Wesleyan, we look for the story that your application tells about your achievement and potential, in light of the academic and social resources available to you . . . “
An applicant’s story emerges from a variety of materials, including teacher recommendations. I know that Wesleyan accepts supplementary e-mails. I will contact them directly after the holiday to clarify your point about supplementary essays and how they expect applicants to convey his/her story.
I’m not entirely up to speed on the current status. When my D17 was at Scripps, a Scripps student could do an enviro science major in-house, but the other tracks like hers (“sustainability and the built environment,” which included an architectural studies sub-focus that was of interest to her) had to be done through Pomona or Pitzer. Scripps has since hired more of its own EA faculty, and I think the intent may be to offer more of the tracks as Scripps majors, but I don’t know exactly where they are on that right now. Ultimately, from the student’s point of view, it doesn’t matter much, because they’re going to take classes across the consortium regardless. Having an off-campus major just means having an advisor from one of the other colleges. Both times that my d did this, she just made an appointment with the prof in question, discussed her desired path with them, filled out a one-page form that she and they signed, and dropped it off at the Registrar. Everyone was readily available and encouraging - really no barriers at all.
There can be barriers for certain majors; for example, Harvey Mudd CS doesn’t accept everyone who applies. They did at the time my d was applying, but that changed while she was there. But most off-campus majors are a non-issue. Many students double-major across campuses as my d did - her French major was based at Scripps and her EA major at Pomona, and she did a combined undergrad thesis with three advisors - her two major advisors, plus another prof from CMC that she’d taken a relevant class with. All seamless.
I have contacted Wesleyan and asked the question about how to convey information or narrative which might otherwise go in a supplementary essay. Their response was to use the sections of the common app called “Additional Information” and/or. “Challenges & Cirumstances”, presenting this/these additions in whatever format the applicant feels would best convey what it is s/he is intending to convey.
Thanks for checking on this! It’s really interesting to hear that this is where they’d want that information. Both additional info and challenges & circumstances are “common” areas of the Common App which typically go to all colleges.
Yes, but they made it clear that they do not provide for supplementary essays, so work with the common app as best you can. They suggested these areas as the place to do that.
And the student can add for them and then remove before sending other apps.
Hopefully OP returns - there’s been a lot of interesting ideas/thoughts - it’d be great to hear from them …for example, Wes and athletic culture (whether that’s a plus or a no no, etc). Would a B school like Bentley with a sustainability focus work? And other thoughts/ideas/questions.
Yes, it makes sense. Just unexpected. I actually linked your post to the topic on “hidden” supplementary essays as this could be an unanticipated way of showing interest in a school.
The other piece which I don’t think gets a lot of attention is the fact that Wesleyan assigns two readers to every first go-round in the screening process and that there is a division of labor: one reader runs through the applicant’s academics while the second reader is the one that literally reads the essay, goes through the ECs and tries to construct a “picture” of what other assets they bring to the table. I’m told they do this, in part, so that one aspect doesn’t prejudice how they evaluate the other. They then do a quick conference with each other before deciding whether to send the app to a second-round. The whole thing probably takes less than 7 mins.
I am here! And am so appreciative of the recommendations and info. Wesleyan is now firmly on the list! Have taken lots of other pieces of useful info from the thread.
If Wesleyan were any smaller than it is, athletics would probably be right up there at center stage; it was an all-male college until 1969 and to this day, Homecoming Weekend turns the main quad into a sea of tailgate parties, football and other sports fans (mainly parents of team members) and temporary stands. But while that tradition continues - and Title IX has only broadened its scope to include women - Wesleyan has also acquired a reputation for the steady stream of writers, performers, showrunners, liberal politicians, scientific pioneers and yes - environmentalists - who have found their way to Middletown. At 3,000 students Wesleyan is a tad bigger than Williams and Amherst and they are constantly looking for ways to diversify (even if that word gets them in trouble), and at the end of the day, Wesleyan athletes are just students like everyone else.