Wesleyan University Top Questions

For a good part of the student body, yes--though it is less than half.

Some of them. Most students care about issues, but are too busy smoking pot all the time to do anything about anything. Lots of hipsters. Way more white students than the school will admit. And lots of people are less open-minded than they pretend to be.

Not really.

Somewhat. There really is no one Wesleyan student. There are many different groups of people on campus, each with different styles, music tastes, academic interests, etc. While there is a fair amount of pot smoking (as on any college campus), Wes students work hard. There are tons of protests in which one can participate should the desire arise, but they do not take over the campus at all.

somewhat.

The part about political correctness gone mad, no. It's a liberal place but it's pretty open minded. And there's a small but vocal minority of jocks and frat boys if you're into more right-wing politics. The part about the spoiled hipsters, pretty much true. Eclectic is a "frat" made up entirely of them. They wear a uniform of far too tight thrift store clothes and an ironic 80s accessory. They listen to crappy indie music. But although they are irritating from a distance, they are a very tight-knit minority, and besides most of them are normal people once you get to know them.

You will find these stereotypes in every single college environment you participate in. For Wesleyan, however, what I discovered was that the majority of these stereotypes were both unjustified and untrue, a case of jealousy and a failure to understand the extremely unique culture prevalent at Wesleyan, an infective academic, social and cultural climate that I have come to love and cherish!

Though some stereotypes hold, there is a great diversity of students and student interests that overrides the establishment of any one predominate stereotype. There are different niches for different types of people. There are a surprising number of athletes, and while some fit the mold of standard jocks, most are at Wesleyan as students primarily. There are certainly events or situations where stereotypes are applicable, such as frat parties or concerts, but even then not everyone fits the prescribed category.

The skinny jeans thing may be partly true, but the music at Wes has been really good and very diverse, last week I went to an amazing reggae concert, and the week before that I went to a bluegrass show. My friends are artsy, but by that I mean that one is a really good painter, my roommate is an amazing modern dancer, and my other friend is the best piano player in our class. As for the Brown thing, only one of my 20+ close friends even applied there, and I think the people who chose Wesleyan did so for a reason...because they thought that Wesleyan was the right place for them, not Brown. The schools and their vibes are really different.

probably

Yes and no. There are absolutely no hippies at Wesleyan at this point. The largest stereotypical demographic is hipsters which is extremely mainstream at this point. I would say most people here are not very alternative and are just nerds. However, compared to other schools there is definitely a lot of "different than mainstream" people.

The picture of the university painted by the students it accepts certainly portrays a degree of accuracy through all of these stereotypes, but it largely seems to be exactly what underlies all of the institutions' 'diversity'; namely, it is an elite private university wanting to boast of important alumni in the future. Of course, with this effort comes a potentially excellent education in an atmosphere sometimes frustrating, but also sometimes strikingly hopeful and enlightening. The stereotypes in many cases seem to disintegrate upon experiencing them, upon realizing the shortfalls of the images themselves.

To some extent

as hyperboles

Yes...in a good way. Active, not in a politically correct kind of sense but in a constant questioning way. Independent, which is interesting, but often times hard to find tight knit groups of friends.

Things seem to have gotten a little more conservative than they used to be, but overall, I'd say yes. It seems to be a place where people of all different shapes and colors can find a home, but I think that probably depends who you talk to, and at what moment in time. It's not unheard of to see students protesting things that aren't even on the public radar yet, or writing fantastic, irreverent blogs about things that you might hear about in the news 3 years later. The classes are definitely demanding, and the classroom environment is competitive, but not in a threatening way.

are any? ever? what a dumb question. Of course they are

Yes and no. Lots of flowy skirts and lots of tight pants superficially reinforce the stereotypes. But everyone has a little something extra; everyone surprises you. Students are far too unique and diverse to fit into any category.

they relate to many of the students

Like any set of stereotypes, they contain a grain of truth. Yes, there are people on campus who believe strongly in gender-neutral pronouns. Yes, there is a contingent of hipsters and obnoxiously fashionable NYC artsy types. Yes, quite a few students also applied to Brown and were rejected. But to envision Wes as an amalgamation of these groups would be to do it a severe injustice. Wesleyan has every type of people you can imagine, from the hard-partying jocks to the mega-activist hippies and everything in between. And the best part is that all the groups mix to an extraordinary degree. I know an Asian track star who lives in the Jewish house, frat brothers who live in Buddhist House, etc. The unifying factor is that everyone here is extremely talented at something, and often it is the thing you would least expect.

While a certain portion of the student population does hold true to the "hippie" stereotype, it is a small portion of the student body. Likewise, while it is possible to graduate from Wesleyan with a "do nothing" degree with reletive ease, most professors require a great amount of work and attention from their students. It could be said that Wesleyan is the Wisconsin of small liberal arts colleges, a school which demands alot from its students during the week, but knows how to have a good time on the weekend.

Really, there are hipsters and definite Rastafarians, but in my experience, every Wes student has a little jock, nerd, and alcoholic in them. All my conversations have been intelligent, whether it's about alcohol or African politics.

No, the student body is very diverse and there are tons of different groups of people.

No. You will find some flower children and students who challenge everything, but generally, students are just open-minded.

Everything's true except political. Since Wesleyan is 99.99{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} democratic, no one has anything to debate.

No. Wesleyan is too hip for either of those stereotypes.

Only applies to about 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the population - very diverse school.

Not at all. Wesleyan is super diverse, and the people that do fit these stereotypes are 99 percent of the time open to anything else. Never have I found a place so supportive of its students, in their work, hobbies, and future plans.

We are very liberal. Not them many of us are really hippies.

Largely. Not everyone is wacky on the outside, and not everyone walks around naked. Many Wes students deliberately create and foster these stereotypes.

Many Wesleyan students are interested in being a representation/voice for consistently marginalized populations of normative society.

No stereotype is ever true (that's the nature of a stereotype) but many Wesleyan students do fit this description.

Yes. But not all at once. The extremes at either end tend to be more vocal. Most people sit refreshingly and easily in the middle. They may be hipsters or vegan or even whiny, but its a small part of the larger and more interesting parts of their personality. The people described above do exist, but are infinitely more complex and palatable for it.

There are some kids like that, but Wesleyan is actually a pretty diverse place with lots of different types of people. That's what I liked about it. Almost everyone is very open-minded and inclusive of other people.

There are definitely very liberal students on campus, but the best part of Wesleyan is that there are people of all types here. It's very easy to find people with similar interests no matter what your interests are.

1. It is true that pot is a common and acceptable leisure activity at Wesleyan - maybe more so than most schools across the country - but not much more than any small, east coast, liberal arts college. A non-smoker can DEFINITELY go through four years at Wes without feeling out of place or excluded. Social life there is varied (and AWESOME) and one will not have a hard time finding a niche within it. 2. Sometimes, yes, like when the Red Sox won. And at the naked parties, which you don't have to go to. But there is no naked dorm and nobody forces you to get naked. 3. Middletown is not my favorite town. BUT, for a college experience, it's kind of perfect. You stay on campus most of the time, which helps to create a dynamic and self-sufficient community. And when you need a break Middletown provides the essentials (movies, restaurants, shops). 4. I found that this stereotype was fairly accurate. The academics at Wesleyan are great, but like any university, you have some large classes, some bad professors, etc. The students at Wesleyan seem less competitive than other prestigious universities, and are still interesting, smart, and talented in so many ways. I found the student body to be a unique, stimulating and exceptional group of people.

yea....the hippies can definitely be annoying and overbearing about their supposed righteous causes that nobody besides them cares about....but they're nice people...

No, not at all. There are definitely hippies around, and they're not hard to find, but there's a whole mix of students. The fact that the entire student body isn't preppy, like say at Amherst or Conn College, makes others think that we're polar opposites at Wes. But I love that we have a little bit of everything, all types of people.

Not in the sense that everyone is artsy and hipster, but I would be lying if I said it wasn't a big part of the school. That said, there are a lot of people that play sports than the "stereotypes" lead on, and a lot more of a culture around them as well.

1. Those qualities are here, but in far more limited amounts than they would have you think. There is a fairly healthy amount of activism, but it often falls victim to the jaded and ironic attitude that a lot of students have. Actually, if the cause is legitimate, students will actually rally behind it, but a lot of times it's sort of masturbatory and ineffective. As far as sticking it to the man goes, Wes students will do this, but only so long as the repercussions don't actually threaten their cocoon. This isn't the Wesleyan of the 1990s: rather than throw Molotov cocktails into the administrative buildings, we write editorials in the campus newspaper and have conversation hours with the President. And I guess some of the things that happen at Wes might be considered "weird," but most of it is really great (even when it is extraordinarily annoying) and adds texture and variety to life here. Wesleyan is an incredibly creative school, and though that often leads to too much individualism, it also creates a really stimulating environment. 2. This is kind of a dumb comparison. I guess part of Wesleyan - the part that made it a University - would like to think of itself as a Little Ivy or whatever, but the truth is that we just don't have the endowment to even think about calling ourselves that. We're not as selective as Ivies, or even Williams and Amherst, but I know for a fact that the education that I've received here is comparable to, if not better than, that received by my friends who attend Ivies or the other two of the "Little Three." 3. Though of course there is always the occasional dumbass, Wesleyan students are generally very smart and invested in their educations, even when they pretend not to be. The majority of students take their work at least pretty seriously, but there is amazingly little competitiveness.

I'd say that all these groups are probably better represented at Wesleyan than at most other schools, but there's definitely still a fratty-preppy contingent (although I think it's mostly confined to kids who do sports). It's absolutely true that Wesleyan is a very, very politically liberal environment.

Yes and no. Many of us are progressive, many of us are smelly, and many of us are gay - but none are all three. And the greatest myth about Wesleyan students is that they're politically active. Perhaps we are more than average college students, but the closest thing to a protest I've seen during my time there is when a hundred hooting students barricaded our president in his office for hours because the university decided to sell some radio bandwidth to NPR. Last year my band played a Katrina Relief gig, $2 entry fee, and only our girlfriends showed up. Come on, we're not that bad.

No. While there are parts of campus that are hippy-ish and hipster, there are tons of different types of people on campus. There are athletes, there are conservatives, there are people who dont do drugs. In fact Wesleyan is way less extreme than I expected it to be, but that may be just me since I am from San Francisco. But dont get me wrong. The hill is always wall-to-wall people on 4-20.

Absolutely! There are loads of different types of people here, thats what i love about it. Everyone is so friendly and good at something it's almost overwhelming. And yes, the weed is widespread. Can't go wrong there though right? There's plenty of drinking and frat parties as well--as much as you'd expect for a school this small at least.

Somewhat, there are many kids who are like this, but I have no problem finding people who are normal and chill.

Not even close

definitely not. the second stereotype is much more accurate but not necessarily always true.

There are many types of students at Wesleyan. I think we get the crazy hippie type from being associated with the other Wesleyan in Ohio. If you are interested in being challenged and want to be around talented students, Wesleyan is your school.

These stereotypes are true to a certain extent, but for every person who fits into any one stereotype, you'll find that there are five who don't. There are definitely students here who are representative of each of the aforementioned stereotypes, but this campus is hardly a group of cliches on legs.

There certainly are pretentious hipsters, hippies, and lots of liberalism. That doesn't mean everyone is like that and it's entirely possible to fit in perfectly without having to fit into those stereotypes.