Illinois Wesleyan University

They Steal Your Money

I love this school and when I came in as a freshman I told everyone that I couldn't imagine myself anywhere else. That being said, coming here is my only real regret in my 21 years. I have made life long friends and greatly enjoy the professors but the administration is awful. They try to get every dollar out of you that they can. They mislead you into thinking you can afford this school when you can't. All the free perks that they tell you about, you usually end up paying even more for. We now have to pay for May Term, the study abroad program which was supposed to be a unique set up to save you money so you can use your grants and scholarships actually cost me $7,000 more than anyone else in my program from other schools because of this set up, and they do not increase your financial aid as the tuition goes up, even when one of your parents becomes unemployed. This school is a rip off and is not worth the money. If you try to transfer, the classes rarely transfer so you are going to end up paying the same amount if you go somewhere else because you will have to stay in school for another year. When choosing between here and St. Olaf (a comparative school in MN which is a little more money) I thought the only difference would be distance. This was wrong. My brother ended up going there and although it is more money, we spend thousands less on his education and it is actually a more creditable school. If you are questioning being able to afford IWU, DO NOT go there; you will end up being extremely bitter toward the school because they just continue to add on costs and do nothing when you try to work with them about financial situations. That being said, I did receiver grants and scholarships coming in as a Freshman, so I would give IWU a grade of a D instead of an F.

Don't Worry About It

As long as you aren't trolling down the hallway with a beer in hand, you should be fine. The only other restriction is you can not have alcoholic memorabilia (shot glasses, empty bottles) in the room. However, they only check during breaks, and do not go through your stuff, just if it is out. Even then, there is no punishment for this. People party in the dorms (upperclassmen) quite often. You should be more concerned about off campus parties when it comes to drinking tickets.

Great.

Wesleyan has a variety of housing (suite style, apartment style, traditional, etc). It is incredibly easy to live on campus all four years if that is your choice. There are even "themed" houses such as the international house, health house, theater house and etc. if you want more of home like feel. Likewise, Wesleyan's greek houses are excellent as well, truly gorgeous, and if in a sorority, you will be able to live in them for at least two years, and fraternities atleast one. The only downside is the cost on-campus is fairly pricey, especially compared to the greek houses or off campus housing