This is interesting to me–my D24 loved the energy at Wes during our tour. She is attracted by (her perception) of a diverse community in thought and culture.
No doubt any NESCAC school will struggle with this, but Wes seems to have (historically) recognized the need for change.
We are local to Macalester, so that has no interest for my D. It’s a good school, of course–I had several H.S. friends who went there and a few teach there. Personally I thought Wes had a lot of energy and I like the housing system.
My D was accepted at Haverford, Bates, and Wes with no $. Also at Oxy 20K/annum and UDenver 36K/annum are tempting. Waiting on several more, including CMC, Bowdoin, etc.
As a tangential consideration, public policy would make a great major for a student interested in the practical aspects of political science and economics.
Don’t worry. Wesleyan is not full of one type of kid despite what a particular rep might suggest. My kid is from suburban Seattle, not politically strident (or even interested) at the time, straight and not particularly artistic (though she was a dancer from toddler years through middle school and danced ballet ‘on point’). She was an astro/physics major. You have to remember how robust the hard sciences are at Wesleyan (by LAC standards anyway) and there is that part of the student body, which is very visible on campus.
Her very best friends in the world are from Wesleyan and they came from varied backgrounds. Sure, several boarding school kids, but there were others. In fact, none of her cohort (recruiting class year) were NYC HS kids, and I can only remember one of those who rowed in the varsity boat with her (a couple of years younger). In fact, Wesleyan has its fair share of politically centrist kids who are at the school in preparation for a financially remunerative career of one sort or another. Plenty of econ and math kids heading to financial and consulting firms.
That said, there is no Hillsdale College within Wesleyan. And you’re not going to find that in New England anyhow. If you have to generalize, Wes is comparable to any of the other NESCACs in this respect.
yes thank you - This forum alerted me to the majors he might be interested in and I agree -
“public policy would make a great major for a student interested in the practical aspects of political science and economics.” Not sure why I discounted Wesleyan and did not do my homework - maybe because I did not get in back in 1986? ha ha
I went to Hunter. Class of '86. not sure what " so I think we’re either talking about a private school or a magnet school that is very white/Asian." means? My son goes to Bard Manhattan HS/Early College. small school with maybe 4 kids who were accepted ED to Wesleyan just this year - tons of NYC kids at Wesleyan, but it might still be the best place for him. I could be just being silly wanting him to go further “Afield” - I have never even visited!! WE did not expect him to get in - they typically only take NYC kids in his “bracket” who apply ED…
Public school !!! - and it was 20 kids I think. Maybe Wesleyan was smaller or I have my numbers off? It was SUPER popular at the time with kids from my High School - Hunter.
OH WAIT I MAY HAVE MY STAT REVERSED - we were a class of 175 kids and had like 20++ going to Wesleyan - I think it was that 20% of OUR class went to Wesleyan that year… in any case - it still holds true that NYC feels like Wesleyan feeder and I just want my kid to meet NEW people NOT from here…
Let me second this point. One of my D’s teammates, who hailed from St. Andrew’s School and came from a pretty intellectually inclined family, pursued the curriculum in CSS. I really got to know this kid and she spends time at our place and we see her every time we head back east. From what I’ve learned, I can think of no better preparation for law school that Wes’ CSS program. The amount of weekly reading and writing during sophomore year is staggering and not for everybody. It is intense. That kid is a real intellectual and is great fun to talk to about pretty much anything.
I also want to second what @TonyGrace said above: what we encountered was students and alumni who love their school and are effusive about the place. That says something to me.
Daily disclaimer: I’m a major league Wes homer (as I have become a real Brown homer the last few years as well). So take my views about anything Wesleyan with that in mind. But then again, this place is full of biased points of view. Some of us just admit ours out loud.
Our son is a first-year from Hawai’i. Roommate is from Toronto. Neighbor is from North Africa. He reports on friendships with kids from all over the US and world, and hasn’t ever mentioned an over-abundance of NYU “cool” kids. That said, he has traveled to NYC several times over the past eight months and has enjoyed connecting with folks there. FYI, he was also accepted at Grinnell and numerous others, but chose Wes for its programs, size, student diversity, proximity to NYC and Boston. He loves it so far.
Question: did anyone else get an aid letter that was completely off compared to the NPC? Our NPC (using same numbers inputted into CSS and FAFSA) showed a substantial grant, and our award letter said we could afford the entire cost of attendance and gave us nothing.
Separate Question: In terms of particular airports and modes of ground transportation, how do most students generally get to Wesleyan? Assume we’re coming from the west coast and have a limited budget if that helps.
Ours was a little less than the NPC. But for Scripps, the FA letter was way more than the NPC.
We flew ours into Bradley and ubered to campus from there. It wasn’t too bad, honestly. She would often catch a ride back to campus on the shuttle or with someone who happened to arrive at Bradley at the same time (with a car or splitting a ride share). There were some flights back through Logan when she’d meet up with a classmate in Boston and ride down from there.
Never flew in to a NYC airport for purposes of getting back to Wes. It was always Bradley or Logan, and Logan only when she had means to get to Middletown other than a bus or ride share.
