Good advice for OP.
Fundamentally, transferring takes a leap of faith, even bravery, because one doesn’t know if things will be better at the new school. I would encourage OP to get as much clarity as possible as to what is behind the perceived/real lack of fit at Wesleyan before making the transfer list and putting in apps. There are no perfect schools, OP will have to consider which imperfect factors they are willing to live with at any given school.
My son’s best hs friend went to the same school - albeit a large one. He rarely saw him and they were in the same major.
College isn’t hs and kids shouldn’t try to recreate hs. Or it’s harder to spread your wings and grow.
I went to Wesleyan with one of my best friends from h.s.; he was the son of a dentist and stay-at-home mom; I was the son of a delivery man and civil servant. He was the one who dropped out.
“Seem to” is the operative word here. The grass is always greener on the other side. Academics is the most important aspect of college. Cliques exist in all of these schools and (spoiler alert) will continue later in life. The same entitled people who grew up with privilege and believe that they are the most important/the smartest person in the room will continue to act that way and socialize with their own kind.
I’ll throw a couple things in- on my D26’s tour of Kenyon, we were in the cafeteria and she looked around and said, “wow, everyone here is really white”. Just an observation- Kenyon is a wonderful school, but not diverse and in the middle of rural Ohio. I have a friend whose daughter attends Denison- she’s biracial and considered transferring out her freshman year due to the lack of diversity. Wes is a great school, but it’s known for being one of the most politically progressive environments out there- which is fine for some, but doesn’t sound like it’s your cup of tea. Perhaps check out any of the following:
Berea College in KY- it’s a terrific school that only accepts students with household incomes lower than ~$100k and was the first non-segregated college in the south. Free tuition for all students. Top-notch education, but in Kentucky so it’s not going to be uber-progressive.
Brandeis (will still be progressive, but more diverse and bigger), Bucknell, Lehigh, Davidson, Colgate & University of Richmond as some others to check out. Good luck to you, fit is definitely an important part of the college experience.
Berea would have been my dream school had I known about it (and met the means requirement.)
I’m not yet sure if I understand the OP’s view on this completely, but it seems the concern is that Wesleyan is ideologically oppressive.
Hi OP,
I won’t deny your lived experience but I hasten to point out that one of the most popular majors at Wesleyan (I think THE most popular) is Economics (specifically quantitative economics). Now, it’s not that Econ and the arts are mutually exclusive, and Lord knows kids at Wes like to double major, but from our reasonably recent experience that crowd is not an artsy crowd and they are far from a political monolith. There’s also a huge science cohort at Wes. Rest assured, you’re not the only non-artsy person there.
Wesleyan is well known for the arts and its reputation on that score, as well as the political activism score, precedes it. You may feel like the arts overwhelm the campus but in reality I don’t think they really do. The same goes for political activism IMO, at least based on a pretty good sample size of visits and my non-political kid’s 4 years. I guess we feel what other crowds are doing a bit more on a small campus so that may be what you’re feeling. IDK. All that said, I’m really not trying to talk you into staying. So, back to transferring, given the things you said you didn’t like:
- I’d be careful about transferring to another LAC anywhere, particularly in New England. Wes may be among the best of at least the NESCACs on the athlete part. That one won’t get better IMO inside the conference, and probably not at several other LACs I know well outside the conference.
- Maybe consider one of the PA LACs other than Haverford, Bryn Mawr or Swat.
- Colgate was a good suggestion but OH BOY if that’s not the right environment either, Middletown will feel like Midtown Manhattan by comparison.
- I would avoid the women’s colleges altogether. I would avoid Vassar, too.
- I would not venture out west to Whitman or Reed. Maybe Claremont McKenna. In the Midwest, St. Olaf might make sense.
Keep in mind, Wesleyan is one of the larger LACs. You take a pretty good risk going to a smaller one given your experience.
I wish you the best. PM me with any questions. I know your school very well.
For context, College Navigator - Wesleyan University lists the following counts of majors in a recent class of 766 bachelor’s graduates:
Of the several favorable articles the OP may find on Clinton, here is one of the more recent ones:
@tsbna mentioned Rice. I can attest that Rice University is extremely inclusive. They emphasize a “culture of care “. It’s a cliche, but they definitely have a “type”, and that’s usually a very academic focused and “nice” student.
It’s very diverse (far more than most universities) and people don’t segregate themselves by socio-economic status but by their residential college. My D’s friend group includes: an international student, a Questbridge student, 2 from the Northeast, and 2 from Texas.
It runs liberal but not overtly political. It’s academic but there are also a ton of social activities that are meant for students to interact and create a welcoming campus.
It’s hard not to find a friend group. The professors are accessible and the campus is known to attract kids who share a commonality of inclusiveness rather than by demographics.
They’re known for STEM but they value humanities. If you transfer as a humanities major, you probably have a better chance getting accepted. They want humanities students and they want students from the Northeast.
Rice also has very generous financial aid for low income students.
I don’t care. I’ve been to Clinton, NY; I had to spend half a summer there as a tutor to inner-city kids when I was exactly the same age as the OP. Most of us were without cars and we found out very quickly that you cannot access the town/hamlet of Clinton without walking down a mile long, nearly 45-degree angle hill - and climbing back. Consequently, none of us made the trip more than once. This is not to say that the Hamilton campus itself is not very nice. It is. But unless you have access to four wheels - or unless you just happen to like living a life of splendid isolation - you can literally go weeks, even months, without bumping into anyone not affiliated with the college.
Yes. Makes me wonder at the Colgate suggestions. Both lovely places, but…..
Not sure what “C” you are, but perhaps a semester or year at an HBCU or HSI might be worth considering, if appropriate. Would allow you to have a different experience and still harvest some of Wesleyan’s benefits in your college turn.
You may find Wesleyan’s list of benefits growing after another semester there. One semester isn’t wholesale reflective of what your overall experience there could be.
Such an angle defines the threshold for mountaineering, for which specialized equipment, such as ice axes, crampons and ropes, may be needed for safety and reliable progress. Those who wish to avoid such accoutrements can choose a five minute shuttle trip: The Jitney - Hamilton College.
Was it stairs?
Stairs tend not to exceed 37°, however.
More like side glances. Quickly followed by frowns.
And we’re losing the plot.
We have a poster who is considering transfer options for various reasons. I think the pertinent question to ask is whether the student ought to target similarly sized or smaller colleges with many of the same attributes as the one currently attended but in relatively isolated locations. With all the options out there, I think not.
I understand the idea of a school like Colgate, but it’s a little fratty and it’s isolated. My kid was a celebrity there over the summer because she had a car. I think Bucknell, also quite fratty, would be a mistake, too. I don’t view either of these as “come as you are” type places.
I think any NESCAC represents a real risk even if there are boosters who view their particular NESCAC as the outlier. I think it’s fair to say that the risk of an overall atmosphere of political correctness exists at all of them, with perhaps differences in degree at various times.
Hamilton, for example, is not the University of Chicago. Take this well written piece by a staff writer at The Spectator as a bit of evidence: https://spec.hamilton.edu/the-glaring-lack-of-political-diversity-at-hamilton-and-u-s-colleges-7fd97887002d
You might say that the existence of the piece is itself reason for optimism, and I would agree. But there are voices at Wesleyan that argue for political tolerance too, starting with the President, who yaps about it all the time and even wrote a book about it. Might Hamilton be more politically tolerant as compared to Wesleyan? Maybe. But as a transfer target? I say they have too much in common to risk and Hamilton has other risk factors for this student. All this applies to many other schools as well.
Maybe Rice is the right idea.
I second (or third) Rice and would add the VA/NC trifecta of Davidson, URichmond and Washington and Lee just to clear the board of most of the top LACs. As far as the latter are concerned, Pros: location in increasingly purple states; healthy numbers of African American students; nice Neo-Colonial architecture. I have a few Cons about a couple of them, but I’d like to hear what others have to say.
I know students who may have had similar issues who were happy at Chicago, Emory, Pitt, and Howard - to name a few. One of those transferred from Colgate for similar reasons. You’ll note that all are urban. A city can be a nice release valve from the school and often means that when you leave campus, more people look like you. It may also mean more activities take place off campus and involve price tags.
They are worth checking out, at least.