Wesleyan Boasts of Happy Inhabitants

By Becky Trout
News Editor

For the first time, Wesleyan students are "Happy Students." In the recently released 1999 edition of "The Princeton Review Guide to the Best 311 Colleges," Wesleyan appeared for the first time on the "Best Overall Academic Experience for Undergraduates," the "Happy Students" and the "Students Dissatisfied with Financial Aid" lists. Wesleyan returned to the "Great Libraries" list.

"Those books are really expensive," said Maura Trail ’00. "But I am happy."

Senior Associate Dean of Admission Gregory Pyke was generally pleased with the lists but wanted to clarify their purpose.

"There is a lot of money to be made at over $20.00 per book," Pyke said. "No one will buy the book if the only difference at Wesleyan from year to year is 711 entering students as opposed to 719 last year."

Many college guide books are on the market, each offering their own angle on the admissions process.

According to Pyke, Fiske Guides present the perspective of a respected educational writer while the Yale Insiders guide provides a student-to-student viewpoint. He sees the Peterson Guides as a "we can teach you how to beat the test" guide.

"I think the sheer number of guides reduces the impact of any one guide," Pyke said.

He went on to note that the different guides ask different questions of the participating institutions, so that the final outcome can be misleading.

"It looks like you’re saying different things to different people," Pyke said.

He believes that most students select a college based on their own research, college visits, and each school’s prestige, not on lists in a guide book.

"When I wanted to buy a lawnmower I looked in Consumer Reports and bought a Honda because that is what they recommended," Pyke said. "But I think that college is a lot more complicated than a lawnmower."

Some students also questioned the meaning of the lists.

"I think that it’s good that we have that prestigious image," said Eric Steffen ’00. "But I feel that the more fundamental issue here is: ‘at what price to our character is Wes becoming more prestigious?’"

Wesleyan was also placed on the list of "Students Dissatisfied with Financial Aid."

"If getting onto this negative list focuses us on this problem than it may in fact be a good thing," Pyke said.

Director of Financial Aid Betsy McCormick acknowledged that the Administration is taking steps to improve financial aid.

"The University is serious about trying to determine the best combination of resources for Wesleyan and Wesleyan students," McCormick said. "We’re not trying to mimic what universities have done. We want to find the right answer for this institution."

She added that research is being done on where Wesleyan stands in respect to similar schools.

"The research has been going on for months," McCormick said. "We’re pulling together plans and looking toward the upcoming campaign goal and the upcoming budget."

Recently, Harvard University added more than $2,000 to every scholarship to reduce the loans facing its graduates. McCormick agreed that improving the proportion of grant to loan is a good thing.

"The answer for Harvard is not necessary the right answer for Wes," she added. "But we’re trying to find the right answers."