The academics at Wooster are top-notch. Classes are challenging, and your professors push you to perform at your best. As I mentioned before, all of my professors know my name and generally make an effort to get to know me outside of the classroom in their office hours. Class participation is not only common, but practically required. With classes capped at a maximum of 30 students, you need to be prepared for class (having done the readings, problem sets, etc.) and expect the professor to call on you to answer a question or give your opinion at least once.
Wooster students are generally intelligent and very politically aware, which makes for intellectual conversations inside and outside of the classroom. Students are not competitive with each other, rather it is more common to see students working together in study groups. Professors assign group projects to encourage students to work together - many feel that you will learn just as much from exploring the material with your peers as you will listening to their lectures.
As a liberal arts college, Wooster requires you to take a wide-range of classes in addition to the courses within your major including a 2 semester equivalent of a foreign language, a cultural perspective course, and a religion course just to name a few. We also have "learning across the disciplines" course requirements, which allow students the opportunity to take 2 courses in each of the following subject areas: arts & humanities, history & social sciences, math & natural sciences. I have really enjoyed taking these classes outside of my major, and because there are so many courses to choose from, you can select a topic that you are interested in.
As a Biochemistry & Molecular Biology (BMB) major, I have taken at least 2 classes in the biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics departments. I have been extremely impressed with the quality of instruction in the classroom and in the lab. The professors have not just taught me the material, they have taught me how to think though problems and related the material to real-world applications. I've had the opportunity to expand on my experiences in the lab through Sophomore Research, a program that allows students to work one-on-one with a professor on an aspect of their own research and get paid to do so. The science departments at Wooster set you up to be a strong medical school or graduate school applicant, as well as providing students the opportunity to be employed immediately after graduation.
Wooster students abide be the phrase "work hard, play hard" - during the week, students are 100{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} focused on their academics (with the occasional diversion for Woo Wednesdays).