Wellesley College Top Questions

I am a photographer for the Wellesley News and I enjoy this activity! I am also a member of Japan club, because I am taking Japanese courses, and I've met some really wonderful people there. Chinese student association is also very popular here and we have a strong Asian pool. Because of the honor code, students trust each other and some definitely leave their dorms open. I sometimes just put my computer anywhere on campus and leave to have lunch and come back to get it. No one will take your belongings and it's the safest place. Wellesley has a lot of amazing traditions! You have to come to know:) Students tend to go to Boston over the weekend or hang around town. The shops and restaurants in the town are really cute:) As far as I know, there isn't a drinking scene on campus.

Student government is fairly popular here, as are the various cultural groups on campus who host lectures, parties, and dinners. Sometimes it's hard to dedicate time to a student group when you have so much academic work on your plate, but somehow people manage to do it. I'm involved with theater on campus, and love how Wellesley supports the arts (like almost everything else). Not many people attend athletic events, but crew and tennis are very popular/well respected. The community system that is started from the moment you get at Wellesley is the best way to make friends, and the residential life is amazing (both really supportive and not too in-your-face). Many students have boyfriends from schools nearby, and you can see them dotted all over campus on the weekends. If i'm awake at 2am on a Tuesday, I am either studying or procrastinating studying, and I don't know too many people who would be doing otherwise. Last weekend I met up with friends from high school who go to other colleges in the area for dinner. Then I hopped on a bus and went to a final club at Harvard (a similar institution to fraternities), met up with my Wellesley friends, and returned to campus for a quiet night of peace! There are very few well-attended events on campus on the weekends, but the cultural shows tend to garner population and the few parties the societies (similar to sororities) have are also fairly well-attended.

It's not possible to pinpoint the "most popular" groups or organizations on campus because it's not really possible to say that some are overwhelmingly more popular than others. There are groups for everything from archery and Club Filipina to Spectrum, the LGBTQ organization, and Ethos, the black students' organization. There are clubs for individual academic departments, and there's even a Science Fiction and Fantasy club. There aren't any sororities at Wellesley, but there are "societies," which are basically social clubs with emphases on specific things. For example, the Shakespeare society performs Shakespeare plays, while Phi Sig is the "lecture society" and frequently funds and hosts lectures (including and fun one I went to on the future of Mars exploration). Lectures occur just about every day, and some -- such as last semester's lecture by Madeline Albright, a Wellesley grad, and a recent show by Ellie Goulding -- are incredibly popular. During my first year I went to a lecture by Paul Frommer, the inventor of Avatar's Na'vi language (he was awesome); I also attended a fantastic talk by Tamora Pierce, one of my childhood idols. Most students choose to involve themselves in one or two extracurriculars that they devote a lot of effort to. I'm an editor for the Wellesley News, the on-campus weekly newspaper, and I volunteer once a week by tutoring high school students off campus; I'm also the events coordinator for the Pre-Law Society. I also have a job working at the circulation desks at three of the five on-campus libraries. Many students on campus volunteer and/or have jobs, and people rarely have troubles finding a group to grow attached to.

As a lesbian, I can say that if you are too, or think you might be, you should come here - it is a lot of fun. Lots of on-campus women's parties with plenty of dyke drama and debauchery. Good times. For all women regardless of sexual orientation, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity to live for four years in an all-women community and really experience what it is like for women to be in charge and to relate primarily to each other rather than to men. You will get a core feminist sensibility and confidence that will serve you well throughout life. Another thing I love about Wellesley is how its very progressive politics exist alongside the many longstanding traditions, which help connect you to all the women who have passed through this place before you: Hoop Rolling, Flower Sunday, Step Singing, Lake Day, Dorm Crew, Big and Little Sisters, etc.

The greek "societies" are very popular, and so are sports teams such as rugby, volleyball, and crew. The hip-hop dance troupe Freestyle and the two most active singing groups, Widows and Blue Notes, are flooded with auditioners every year. The dating scene, considering the circumstances, isn't so bad. MIT, Harvard, and Babson boys flood the college on the weekends for society parties and campuswide events. I'll admit, our parties aren't the best. Practically every night of the week there is some kind of campuswide event, whether it's a performance, a guest speaker, or a party. On quiet nights you could go to the campus pub or drive into the city (the shuttles run until 1am on the weekends). The campus is small and the student body is all women, so Wellesley is kind of its own sorority. School spirit is high, and we look out for one another.

There are alway events being held on weekdays and weekends. We have a pub and a small cafe that are open everyday. If you want to be social you can easily find places and people. I ended up spending the majority of my weekends in Boston, socializing either at Harvard or the MIT frats. We have some societies. While everyone knows about them, the majority of students are not members.

There are literally TONS of different organizations and clubs on campus ranging from a capella singing troupes to political organizations to international clubs. There are lots of performances on almost a regular basis too-- from guest speaker lectures to concerts to theaters. People generally are quite social, and it isn't unusual to have impromptu hallway dorm parties for even just a few minutes. There are also lots of traditions, such as a nondenominational service in the fall called Flower Sunday, Senior Hoop Rolling and Step Singing. All of these traditions keep the Wellesley community a tight community of sisters. People can party at fraternities at nearby universities, or on campus but there are always options for different people. It is absolutely not necessary nor expected of each student to party with alcohol every weekend, though if that is what the student wants to do, she can. Off campus, people usually walk to the nearby "ville" to run errands, or enjoy a coffee. Also, people go into Boston and Cambridge quite often just to people watch, shop, eat out or hang out.

The most popular groups would probably be the cultural organizations, because they normally are the ones that throw parties and organize other events on campus, and then the college government. Living at Wellesley I feel pretty safe, because many students leave their dorms unlocked, and theft is really not a large problem on campus. There are a few different traditions that happen each year, some of which people don't know about unless they come to this school. During the week, most students work pretty hard, so that they have the weekends to relax and go off campus. Most people go out to party on Fridays and Saturdays, sometimes Thursdays and Sundays as well, or go to dinner, or movies, but if you want to stay on campus, you can hang out with friends, or watch a movie, or just relax. Greek life is not a large part of Wellesley's activities, because there are no sororities recognized on campus, but there are Boston chapters that you can pledge to.

I joined Waterpolo, which has been amazing. There's a million other things though if you're not into sports.

There are a ton of organizations on campus. Attending all of those events alone, you would be too busy to go to class. Sometimes people complain that Wellesley is too quite socially; it is not a big party school so in that way that is an accurate complaint. But people do have parties and the new student center has a space that is being utilized for bigger parties and a lot of people go into Boston to party there. There are two societies (basically sororities) with houses on campus and they throw big parties every so often. People date at nearby schools (or at Wellesley!) or visit with significant others from home. Sports are not very popular but if you know someone on a team, you'll probably see them play. Guest speakers are huge- we have great funding for student orgs to apply to to bring people from all over. Cultural shows are big as well. The campus is really safe- a ton of people don't lock their doors. You'll meet a lot of people in your dorm. I met most of my friend during my first year, in what is called my First Year Mentor Group which is like your orientation group.