The Portable Wellesley Facts, lists, spirited arguments, striking photos
12 brief arguments for a Wellesley education 01
We’re rectifying a bizarre sociopolitical imbalance. Have you ever noticed that women comprise half the world’s population and are demonstrably capable and talented and brilliant— and yet the vast majority of leading figures in business, science, politics, you name it, are men? Same here. We’re working on that.
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Our role models are trailblazing, innovating women. Wellesley women break the mold. We support women by offering the type of role models you don’t typically see. We’re known for being smart, compassionate, and inspiring women from around the globe.
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We’re not afraid to take risks. Or make mistakes. Or think outlandish thoughts. Or insert your favorite activity that is rarely associated with women.
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We’re very good at this thing called college. We believe we’re one of the best liberal arts colleges in the country. In an unrelated development, U.S. News & World Report feels the same way.
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We’re also very possible. We believe our education is one of the best values in the country. In an unrelated development, that same publication agrees. Intriguing, no?
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Lulu! Lulu is our student center, the heart of campus life. It’s open 24 hours a day. So: Our heart is always open. Ponder that.
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Sisterhood is powerful. One day you’ll look up and realize that when you think “scientist” or “artist” or “leader” or “entrepreneur,” you’ll think of women. Because the 2,300 women you’re living with are all of those things, and more. And this realization will permanently rewire your brain.
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Career education starts day one. It lasts a lifetime. Our individually tailored, holistic approach prepares and inspires every Wellesley student to craft a lifetime of opportunity and reach her full potential. Connections and communities form the heart of this model. Our vision is to be the leader in cultivating women leaders of the future.
The Madeleine Korbel Albright Institute for Global Affairs. A microcosm of our academic experience: students collaborating with world leaders in seminars and internships, trying to solve major problems. Oh, and founded by an alumna.
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Sisterhood is really powerful. One day (another day) you’ll need help—career advice, a place to stay in Mumbai, an internship in Madrid. And you’ll realize that there are over 34,000 Wellesley alumnae around the world who want to help you. And this realization will blow your mind.
Neuroscience. Economics. Greek. Cinema and Media Studies. Environmental Studies. Peace and Justice Studies. More than 1,000 courses, all taught by inspiring professors.
Wellesley is a lifetime deal. Details to follow.
IRRATIONAL EXUBERANCE Spontaneous expressions of joy are compulsory at Wellesley. Kidding! But they do happen a lot.
Facts 2,300 women 50 states represented 83 countries of birth 7 to 1 student to faculty ratio 98% of tenured faculty hold a Ph.D. or the highest degree in their field 100% of classes are taught by professors 1,000+ courses 54+ majors 50% of juniors study abroad 75% of students participate in an internship 10,000 objects in the Davis Museum 13 Division III athletic teams 160 student-run organizations 250,000 college students in Boston and Cambridge 100% of demonstrated financial need met 58% of students receive aid 10 active alumnae on the Wellesley network for every student on campus 500 acres 1 lake
4 declarations about our academic experience 01
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It’s intense. Also thrilling and lifechanging. Also collaborative and deeply immersed in the world. But still: Intense. We get dramatic about it sometimes. Then we go back to being thrilled.
We cannot fully explain how much our faculty will mean to you. But imagine a few hundred brilliant, approachable, influential people who want to be your mentor and your advocate, now and in the future.
It happens everywhere. Our Career Education offers hundreds of research opportunities and internships across the country and around the world. Most are funded. Most are transformative.
Wellesley is a land of plenty. We have our own art museum and cinema. We have five libraries, an observatory, an arboretum, greenhouses. We use scientific equipment that makes graduate students quiver with envy. We believe in our students; we give you what you need to do great work.
SHE IS NOT AN ANOMALY Fifty-eight percent of our faculty are women. And the axis of the world shifts ever so slightly.
3 lists: majors, recent presentations and internships Majors Africana Studies American Studies Anthropology Architecture Asian American Studies Astronomy Astrophysics Biochemistry Biological Sciences Chemical Physics Chemistry Cinema and Media Studies Classical Studies Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences Comparative Literature Computer Science East Asian Languages and Cultures East Asian Studies Economics English Environmental Studies French French Cultural Studies Geosciences German German Studies
History History of Art International Relations Italian Studies Jewish Studies Latin American Studies Mathematics Media Arts and Sciences Medieval/Renaissance Studies Middle Eastern Studies Music Neuroscience Peace and Justice Studies Philosophy Physics Political Science Psychology Religion Russian Russian Area Studies Sociology South Asia Studies Spanish Studio Art Theatre Studies Women’s and Gender Studies
Recent Student Research A Molecular Approach to Disease and Disorder Voices in Literature and Medicine: In Medias Res Avocoder: An Interface for Tangible Voice Manipulation Puzzles in International Security Ruins, Fragments, and Painting in Dialogue with Technology Small Particles with Big Impact: Innovations in Nanotechnology Do Tariffs Help or Harm? A Look into American Trade Policy Reproduction: Rethinking Families through Gamete Use, the Internet, and Legal Challenges America’s Next Top Element Transnational Feminism Earth, Wind, and Drinking Water Touching the Invisible: Novel Human Computer Interactions Finding Political and National Identities
A Sampling of Funded Internship Programs American Cities Internship Program: Office of Alameda County, Oakland, CA; Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop, NYC Global Citizen Internship Program: Roots of Health, Puerto Princesa, Philippines; the Henry Jackson Society, London Elisabeth Luce Moore ‘24 Internships in Asia: City Weekend Magazine, Beijing; Kiyosato Experimental Education Project, Kiyosato,Japan Environmental Policy and Conservation Internship Program: Coastal Conservation League, Charleston, SC; One Hundred Miles, Brunswick, GA Biomedical Health & Research Internship Program: Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston; Lurie Children’s Hospital, Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, Chicago.
4 plausible scenarios involving your life on campus 01
You start something. A club, a film series, a sustainable living co-op, an elaborate Science Center decorating party on the night before finals—that kind of thing.
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You compete in NCAA championships. Crew won the NCAA national championship recently—the first women’s college to do so. Crew, Cross Country, and Swimming & Diving have recently won Seven Sisters Championships. And Softball and Field Hockey have won NEWMAC championships. And so on. Wellesley’s Division III athletic teams are really great. You would make a difference.
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You rule. Wisely and judiciously and probably collaboratively. Students are active members of every major College decisionmaking committee; they run programs that most colleges hire professionals to run; they oversee Wellesley’s Honor Code.
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You are part of several subcultures. Our ultimate frisbee team is its own ecosystem. Our residence halls have personalities. Our clubs are like extended families. The Hoop, Acorns, Sage Lounge, Slater International Center, Harambee House, Shakespeare House—they’re home.
NOR IS THIS SCENE ANOMALOUS Our students run more than 45 multicultural organizations. We look like the world.
It’s that kind of campus. We’ve got that kind of spirit. You should see her jersey.
2 lists: athletic teams and a dramatically abridged list of clubs and organizations Division III athletic teams Basketball Crew Cross Country Fencing Field Hockey Golf Lacrosse Soccer Softball Swimming and Diving Tennis Track and Field Volleyball Clubs and Organizations Al-Muslimat A.S.T.R.O. Club Ballroom Dance Team Blue Notes Brandeis-Wellesley Orchestra Chinatown After School Classics Club Committee for Political and Legislative Action Dance Collective Darshana: Hindu Community Debate Team Economic Student Association
Equestrian Club Ethos Film Society First Generation Network Hillel Honor Code Council Ice Hockey International Relations Council Model United Nations Neuroscience Club Mezcla Mock Trial Outing Club Peace Coalition Pre-Law Society Quidditch Rugby Sailing Team Shakespeare Society Spectrum: LGBTQ organization Ultimate Frisbee Upstage Water Polo Wellesley Belly Dancing Society Wellesley College Television Wellesley Energy and Environmental Defense (WEED) The Wellesley News Wushu
4 paradoxes that govern our relationship with Boston and Cambridge 01
They are so near, yet so far. They’re 12 miles as the crow flies. But unless you’re flying on an actual crow, they’re not 12 minutes away. More like 40 minutes on our student shuttle. Modern life!
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They are so old, yet so new. They were built when people were smaller and rode horses, so they feel intimate and cobblestoned. But they contain some of the world’s most innovative initiatives in science, medicine, technology, and the arts. We’re involved with many of them.
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MIT is our unofficial sister school, yet it is populated by many brothers. We cross-register for classes at MIT, we cosponsor clubs, and we go to each other’s parties. We feel a strange kinship with painfully smart, creative, forward-thinking people.
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They are so familiar, yet so strange. Everyone knows Faneuil Hall, Fenway Park, Newbury Street, the North End. Everyone goes to the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Museum of Fine Arts, the New England Aquarium. Those are familiar (and excellent). But there are lots of less familiar neighborhoods (i.e. Chinatown, Coolidge Corner, Porter Square) and destinations (the Brattle, the Middle East, Oberon, Club Passim) too! And they’re also excellent! These are world-class cities. Anything is possible.
SPRING IS SO LOVELY This is Newbury Street in Boston. The town of Wellesley is lovely too, by the way. Coffee, books, sushi, thriving downtown.
3 things that will almost certainly happen to you after you graduate from Wellesley 01
You will be stopped on the street by other alumnae. And they will offer you a place to stay. Or a meal. Or a job lead. And this will happen pretty much anywhere on the globe. Because they know what Wellesley means. And respect it. And respect you.
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You will go further. Eighty percent of our alumnae go on to graduate or professional school within 10 years. Many win major fellowships and scholarships—Fulbright, Truman, Watson. And this is only the beginning.
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You will have a moment when you understand what you’re part of, what you share with other Wellesley alumnae, and why it matters. It will be a big moment. There will be more, many more, like it.
YOUR CLASS WILL HAVE A COLOR And you will sing to other classes. And roll hoops. And adopt 2,300 sisters. If you come here.
18 alumnae chosen nearly at random Joan Wallace Benjamin ’75 CEO, Home for Little Wanderers
Charlotte Newman ’04 public policy, Amazon
JudyAnn Rollins Bigby, M.D. ’73 internationally recognized health policy expert
Pamela Melroy ’83 former NASA astronaut
Robin Chase ’80 founder, former CEO, Zipcar Grace Wanjiku, M.D. ’06 attending physician, emergency medicine, Yale School of Medicine Hillary Rodham Clinton ’69 former U.S. Secretary of State, Democratic Party presidential nominee Persis Drell ’77 noted physicist, former director, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center; provost, Stanford University Sue Wagner ’82 cofounder, vice-chairman, BlackRock; board member, Apple Ophelia Dahl ’94 social justice, health care advocate; founder, Partners in Health
Michelle Caruso-Cabrera ’91 chief international correspondent, CNBC television Linda Wertheimer ’65 National Public Radio correspondent Madeleine K. Albright ’59 former U.S. Secretary of State Olinda Hassan ’10 policy manager, Twitter, Trust & Safety Suzanne Ciani ’69 award-winning composer, recording artist, record label executive Charlayne Murrell-Smith ’73 VP of Corporate Development, Boston Children’s Museum Heather Long ’04 senior writer and editor, CNN Money Dana Weekes ’03 associate, Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer, international law firm
3 unqualified truths about admission, visiting, and financial aid 01
Everyone in our community helps choose our incoming class. Our Board of Admission includes the good people in our admission office—but it also includes a rotating group of current students and faculty. So, in effect, the entire community reads your application. Yes, we care that much.
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A visit to campus will make a lot of things very clear. Come for lunch; come for a tour, a class, an overnight, an information session; come for an interview (recommended, not required) or a meeting with a financial aid officer. It will sting the nostrils. It will drop the jaw. It will clear the mind.
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We care about you, not your money. We admit fantastic people. And then we make sure Wellesley is possible for them. We meet 100% of our students’ demonstrated financial need, mostly with grants and scholarships. That way, we see your talents and hopes and achievements (not your income level); and you see us (not a dollar sign). And you know that we are very possible.
ROCK ON, FAIR WELLESLEY! The inscription above the door to Founders Hall doesn’t say that. And yet we do, in fact, rock on. And we hope you will too. Perhaps with us.
Apply! (It’s free!) Complete the Common Application, the 3Coalition Application, or QuestBridge Application, and the Wellesley Supplement online
Obey! Early Decision I: November 1 Early Evaluation: December 15 Early Decision II: January 1 Regular Decision: January 15 Transfer/Spring: November 1 Transfer/Fall: March 1 Davis Degree: March 1 Be not afraid! 58% of our students receive financial aid $41,000 average Wellesley grant (scholarship) award 100% of demonstrated need met wellesley.edu/SFS 2017-2018 Costs: Tuition: $50,840 Room: $8,040 Meal plan: $7,796 Fees: $308 Total: $66,984
Explore and watch! Video playlist: wellesley.edu/admission/playlist Wellesley 100: w100.wellesley.edu Talk to us! Email: admission@wellesley.edu Phone: 781-283-2270 Fax: 781-283-3678 Wellesley College Admission Office 106 Central Street Wellesley, MA 02481-8203 wellesley.edu/admission Visit us! Find travel directions and details about visiting campus at wellesley.edu/admission/visit
Wellesley College Office of Admission 106 Central Street Wellesley, MA 02481-8203 Phone 781-283-2270 www.wellesley.edu