THANK YOU for this!! We just made plans to go up for the admitted students’ day.
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I did not attend Wes (UW-Madison BA-Journalism, Belmont MBA-Music Biz), so this is a fairly unbiased take. But based on what I’ve gleaned from these boards, the following may be said to recommend Wes:
- Wes is extremely strong academically. They aren’t in the Little Three with Williams and Amherst for nothing.
- Wes possesses the history and vibe of a humanities powerhouse, while also being quite strong in the sciences and social sciences.
- While Wes may be known for its artistic output and an artsy vibe, there seems to be a fairly nice mix of academic and general personality types on campus.
- Wes has a nice mix of architectural styles
- Wes is in a neat little college town
- Wes has a football field in the middle of campus. How cool/unique is that?
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I would add to that fine list that Wesleyan is always amongst the tippy top leaders among LACs in research spending and budget. I myself think that is a very good proxy for UG research opportunity. A good example of how this plays out happened with my kid who participated in an RU through a consortium of great schools in the NE (which included Colgate, Middlebury, Williams, Swarthmore, Wellesley, Vassar, Haverford). She was chosen to participate and accepted the opportunity at the RU school that picked her, I suppose for the honor of having been chosen. She could have easily stayed on campus at Wes over the summer and worked on one of several research projects in her department (just outside of the formal RU program). Paid either way.
Where she went for the summer, which was a great experience, her project was THE project. At Wesleyan, there were several. I believe Wes also often takes more than their allotment of chosen students in the RU program because they so often have a plethora of projects going on. So for research, you can certainly do a lot worse than Wes.
If yours is a science kid, there is also the new science center, which is going to be great.
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He is science kid for sure - and has been at a very Humanities HS! Though he has a seminar on the Supreme Court this semester and is suddenly talking to a friend who is a LAW Professor about that career… I am starting to see the WES appeal, thank you. Though everyone I talk to here in NYC STILL says that “it’s ALL NYC KIDS” I am hearing a different tune here. (also what is RU - Research University?)
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Sorry. REU: research experience for undergraduates
Ignore the NYC comments. It’s just factually inaccurate.
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This site states that Wesleyan’s acceptance rate for this year stands at 16%, presumably subject to wait-list activity:
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My son is a junior at Wes majoring in math, physics and cs. There seems to be the right amount of grad students on Wes’ campus so that undergraduates can take regularly offered STEM graduate courses and participate in Guided Reading Programs/Grad-level Reading Groups, while still leaving the majority of research and TA positions to the undergrads. My son loves it there and I don’t think he would have had the same research and advanced studies opportunities at many other schools.
He does have one good friend from a NYC high school, but most are from other states including the west coast and a few rugby friends are from England. His friends include pre-law CSS majors, pre-med science majors, STEM majors and theater/film majors.
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When is the new science center expected to be finished?
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The last official news on it I saw said 2026. But I think they are ahead of schedule (mild winter) and we may see it sooner. It is up and the scale, shape and footprint are visible.
@circuitrider probably has better information than do I.
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That’s what I heard on a tour last week.
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I shared this on another thread and by my estimation, they are roughly six months ahead of schedule due to a relatively mild winter:
Also, I would edit that reply- if I could - to reflect the correct number of laboratories and classrooms according to the Argus: 39 research laboratories, 10 teaching labs and 9 classrooms.
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You are right about Mac. It draws people from all over the country; California is the second most represented state, but there are tons of kids from… everywhere, including the East Coast. MAC attracts a lot of “city kids” who want a liberal arts college, but who are a bit agoraphobic, so you’ll see a lot of students from Boston, NYC, San Francisco, Seattle, Austin, DC. There are increasingly more kids from the South, including Florida, I’m guessing ideological refugees.
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Sounds great!
Thank you! I followed your advice and got a room right away. As I was booking the listings were disappearing. It’s great for us as we can just park and walk and do evening events. Really appreciate it !
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We stayed there. It was nice. We were able to get a late check out till 2 PM which was really helpful. I liked the front courtyard to sit and relax and eat breakfast. Have a good trip.
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Thank you! Today I got this from my son: 135 kids in his HS CLASS. 7 accepted to Wesleyan, 3 of those ED. More than 50% of the class us from New England/mid-Atlantic. My husband is pushing for Occidental- “spread your wings!” — but I don’t know. It seems like California schools are ALSO 50% from that coast…we shalll see!
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My son will do a gap year (regardless of where he goes ) so just in time for him!
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I haven’t looked it up, but I’d be surprised if Occidental had more geographic diversity than Wesleyan, and that factoring in that Oxy would technically take credit for Pacific Islander students (fairly I suppose), even though a lot of people on the west coast (me included) think of kids from the pacific as regionally local (because that’s how they think of the west coast as far as landing spots on the mainland).
Actually, here’s Wes’ profile from last admission cycle:
From Oxy:
Oxy’s international numbers are a little confusing because they say 7% of students from outside the US and 14% international or dual citizenship. Wes just says 14.7% live in other countries, and they represent a greater diversity of countries (65 vs. 23). Also hard to tell about their US distribution. Wes says 80% outside of New England, and Oxy’s descriptions aren’t really any better. How many other states? And which ones?
Similar numbers in students of color, but Wes has a 3% edge in first gen.
IDK: i’m struggling to see Oxy as the world’s liberal arts college and Wesleyan as the regional.
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My condolences to those WL’s and denied. Congratulations to future Cards (and reviving a tradition begun by one of my predecessors):
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For future applicants:
Texas, Male 3.9/4.0 1560 AP CalcBC, AP Latin, AP Comp Gov, other classes all honors. Good ECs. Good Recs. Good Essays. Applied as a film major. Rejected.
Accepted to USC Cinematic Arts Screenwriting, UT Austin RTF & Plan2, Emerson, Rice and 5 more.
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