Ohio Wesleyan University

Date: Mar 14 2004
Major: Art & Design Department (This Major's Salary over time)
The average Ohio Wesleyan student is amazingly involved. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophesy, really. Students see how much others are involved in, and get more involved themselves. This means that your average student participates in many aspects of social life on campus—from attending programs sponsored by the college (lectures, concerts, etc.), to community service (that was huge on campus), to other clubs and activities. There is a percentage of students who get involved in Greek Life (I did not), but it's not overwhelming. More importantly, those involved in Greek Life are also involved in other aspects of campus, and so your Greek affiliation (or lack thereof) does not become the defining factor of your campus life. Ohio Wesleyan is not a bustling metropolis, but there is plenty to do on campus all the time, including late night programming by the college that offers an alternative to partying (very successfully, I think.)

Academically, Ohio Wesleyan students seem to seek out challenges in the classroom. Many choose to design their own major with the support of the administration. Others seek out extra research projects that will help them to obtain jobs in the future. Faculty are very supportive, very accessible, and really know the interests of their students. In my case, I once did an independent study on a topic that was not being taught in any courses. The faculty member I was working with picked up on my enthusiasm and found funding for me to travel to Vienna, Austria and Ravenna, Italy in order to do more primary research on my topic. Another faculty member helped guide me through the process of submitting the paper to a conference, into which I was accepted. When I applied for master's programs, many people were thrilled that I already had research abroad and conference experience.

Ohio Wesleyan also teaches students good scholarship habits. Students there are very familiar with inter-library loan (free for students). You won't find papers that have unreliable websites for their sources… you'll find in-depth research from scholarly publications. The library is very good, and the 24-hour schedule is invaluable (especially during finals).