Academics
A “small, intellectually challenging university in a great college town in the heartland of the U.S.,” Nebraska Wesleyan University offers “the whole package.” “The Business and Psychology Departments are major draws,” as are the biology, theater, and education programs. Students are prepared for postgrad academics with “a killer Premedical Professionals program” and “excellent preparation for law school,” “entrance exams,” and “graduate school.” They praise the “brilliant,” “compassionate” professors and the “individualized attention” in small classes and departments. One undergrad says, “Once I declared my major, I became a part of a family. I know my communication professors better than I knew [the] teachers [at] my small, hometown high school!” Another reports that she feels “compelled to go to classes because they are interesting.” Undergrads complain about “overpriced meal plans for food that most people don’t like and don’t eat” and dorms for first year students needing renovation, although newer suites and townhouses on campus are available to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
Student Body
Students say that the Nebraska residents who predominate on campus (about 90 percent of students are from within the state) are “liberal, friendly, social[ly] conscious free-thinkers.” NWU is not ethnically diverse, but the fruits of multicultural recruiting strategies are “starting to show,” and students are “pretty open to social and ethnic diversity. If they’re not, they’re definitely willing to learn.” The student body includes plenty of jocks, “a lot of biology majors, and a lot of upper-middle-class students. There are also small groups of people . . . interested in politics, fine arts, global studies, etc., who get along at Wesleyan just fine.” Although Greek life is big, students say that “you don’t have to be a member of the mainstream crowd to be happy” and “There isn’t really a difference between the Greek and non-Greek students. Everyone kind of intermingles.” However, it can be difficult to fit in “if you don’t live on campus [or] attend on-campus events.”
Campus Life
NWU students describe their school as a “small, private community much like a large family,” where it’s “easy to make friends” and “feel accepted.” The small size means that “generally, there’s at least one person you know in every class,” and “You can guarantee that mostly everyone will attend” certain “musical concerts, plays, sport activities . . . or [Greek-]sponsored events” on campus. “Each sport team becomes its own family” and “Intramurals are huge!” “Theater and music” are also “big deals at Wesleyan,” and students attend their peers’ “awesome” productions. Students do go to parties and bars on weekends, but many admit they are “not into the whole drinking scene,” and keep busy with student government or other campus organizations. When they tire of the campus scene, students take advantage of Lincoln’s “movies, bars, coffee shops, [and] great system of bike trails.” Is NWU a Christian college? “Yes. Wesleyan is affiliated with the Methodist Church,” says one undergrad, “However, the largest religious groups on campus [are] non/interdenominational, Catholic, [or] nonreligious, but rather spiritual.”
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