Warren Wilson College

Date: Nov 15 2009
Major: English (This Major's Salary over time)
I am returning sophomore at Warren Wilson. As with other colleges, there are a number of plusses and minuses. As of late, I've been finding more minuses which will probably lead to me transferring schools.

Orientation as a freshman is insane. There are so many activities happening and new faces it is hard to handle. It is very similar to a summer camp during this week. A few people dropped out during or directly after orientation before classes had even begun. I advise people to hang in there longer than that because school isn't at all like orientation.

The academics here vary from department to department. I think environmental studies, english and creative writing are some of the stronger departments. These departments are loaded with knowledgeable teachers with reputable credentials. Honestly some of these teachers could be teaching at Ivy league schools, but would enjoy the environment here so they stay. The art department is seriously lacking in my opinion. Art classes only hold up to 10 students so good luck getting into one as a freshman. I've never been overly impressed with the Religion department or the psychology department, but I have only taken a class or two in each field.

The teachers are all very nice and for the most part want to help you. Many of them encourage you coming in and talking with them about anything outside of class. It is nice to be able to build relationships with them. I once had a class last year and was doing a project and the teacher remembered the topic I was doing and sent me news articles about the topic without my asking for it. This would never happen in a freshman class at a large university.

Overall the academics are not as easy as a lot of students believed coming in. Especially after orientation week which made Warren Wilson out to be a summer camp. Balancing work, a job and free time can be difficult. It is sometimes frustrating if you want to participate in plays or exercise or hang out with friends because there is limited time if you want to do well in school. It is also a challenge figuring out how to balance it all effectively.

Coming in as freshman, don't be surprised if you get put on a crew that you are not happy with. Be prepared to be on dining (cleaning dishes/serving food) or heavy duty (cleaning dorms). A lot of people are discouraged coming in because they thought they'd get on the gardening crew or something prestigious, but they wound up cleaning for 3 hours a day. You have to work you're way up and it isn't too hard to change crews after a year or semester as long as you have a good reputation with your work boss.

Weekends at Warren Wilson range from extremely fun to extremely boring. It all depends who you are and where you are living. If you like to drink and smoke there won't be a challenge for you in finding people hang out with. If you don't like to party then it will be a little more difficult finding people to hang out, but it's not too hard. The parties at school are okay, but it gets old seeing the same people weekend after weekend. Also the parties are very high schoolesque. There is usually loud rap music, grinding and drunk people . If this is your scene you will have no trouble finding it on the weekends.

There are wonderful places to hike on campus and off. There are many fields to camp in. There is the river to swim in.

Getting off campus on the weekend is essential in my opinion. If you stay too long on campus the Warren Wilson bubble will drive you insane. There are a lot of great places to eat in Asheville. Rosetta's, laughing seed, tupelo honey, mela's all come to mind. The orange peel and grey eagle are good places to see concerts. There is an outdoor drum circle in downtown asheville that goes until the weather gets cold. The asheville pizza and brewery (brew and view) has 3 dollar movies at 7 and 10 every night which I'd highly recommend. The bus runs every hour until one in the morning on the weekend, so if you don't have a car (which freshman aren't allowed to have) you can take the bus.

The dorms are alright, but nothing special. Your personality and interests will likely influence whether you like your dorm situation. I lived in Sunderland my first year and it was a fine situation. My hall was quiet and the people were friendly. No one partied in our hall because they'd go across the bridge to the upperclassman dorms where the parties happen. There were other parts of Sunderland that would have been despicable to live in such as the all guys hall which was like the lowest quality hotel with loud rap music and weed smoke prevalent at all hours. Vining is okay but it kind of looks like a mental ward or something with their white bricks. Vining A is an all girls dorm and Vining B is split.

The upperclassman dorms are alright, but again nothing special. The villages, eco dorm and ballfields all recommended. If you like to party, I'd advise Sage (all boys dorm), Schafer's (where the majority of parties happen), Dorland (a co-ed dorm that is similar to sage kind of trashy in my opinion.

Although no one likes to admit it, I feel the school is kind of cliquey. It is all about being weird and having individual style that sets you apart, but not too apart from everyone else. You'll probably meet some of the nicest and rudest people in your life if you attend the school. The unfortunate thing for a quiet person like myself is you'll likely have to meet all this people because the school is so small. Sometimes I feel it would be nice to attend a larger university because you'd be able to walk around and not feel obligated to talk to everyone.

As I once heard somebody say here, drugs are influenced by the freshman class. The upperclassman for the most part just drink and smoke marijuana. In my freshman class opium was highly used and very prevalent for a time. This year, it seems to have disappeared completely. LSD is also readily accessible. Mushrooms not so much. Prescription drugs such as adderall are used off and on usually more heavily around midterms. The smoking huts are usually the main area for obtaining drugs. Especially the freshman one. If you never venture around them, you'll probably never be asked to buy anything. Alcohol is way to easy for underage teenagers to get in my opinion. Go to any weekend party and you'll likely be able to get it for free. The tolerance of underage alcohol use by the school and 'campus security' is hideous in my opinion. They rarely keep an eye on parties unless the party goes part quiet hours or unless the party doesn't have a contract. RA's and RD's don't stop underage drinking unless the person is completely out of control. Getting written up for an alcohol violation or marijuana violation is almost a joke because no consequences are really handed down.

Many people leave Warren Wilson which is very disappointing. I think the returning sophomore rate is around 70%. Already a handful of the people I am friends with have left which is one of the reasons I am considering leaving. Another reason is the financial aspect. If i go transfer and go instate I can go to school for a quarter of the cost and if I go in as junior which I would, my classes will already be as small as most Warren Wilson classes.

In my departing words, I'd advise you to experience as many things as you can if you come to Warren Wilson. Hike, explore the library, don't be afraid to meet people, go to parties, talk to teachers, go to on campus events, go to sports games, explore asheville and most of all have fun.