Wheaton College
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However, this does not mean that professors are not liberal and that students are close-minded. I found friends who were liberal, and I found professors who were extremely liberal but who greatly engaged my mind and helped widen my worldview.
People do not drink (for the most part at Wheaton). I had an awesome time socially while on campus, enjoying the wonders of Chicago and the random events on campus. If you want to drink go to a party school. I learned how alcohol is not a necessary drug for life. I honestly drink regularly, but my experience with alcohol during college helped give me a taste for finer things. I am quite happy that I didn't get wasted on Natty Ice and Keystone Light every weekend. I am thankful that my relationships with other people were not reliant on alcohol. As a heterosexual male I could engage in conversation (and relationship) with a woman without being intoxicated. And I certainly didn't need alcohol to make me comfortable enough to f*@k a woman for a one-night stand.
Yes, Wheaton is full of imperfect people trying to pretend they are perfect, but I found more people who knew they were broken and found friends who loved and supported them for who you are.
I apologize to those students who felt judged and felt miserable at Wheaton... however, just ask students around the country how they feel... all too often they feel isolated and judged as well.
One last point about the single gender room policy... I agree, it is strict and outdated. However, how often in life do you hang out with your friends in your bedroom (think about this as adults, not teenagers)? Use lounges and public spaces as much as possible and then move into apartments or houses as you become an upper division student.In summary, I found great friends who were loving and accepting of who I am, flaws and all. If you are looking for a place where there is so much more to do than drink, if you are looking for a place where some students really care about one another, if you are looking for a place to grow and learn, Wheaton is a great place for that, if you are willing to give up some of your rights as an adult for a few school years (namely drinking, smoking, and hanging out in your room with the opposite gender).
Though the coursework is often academically rigorous, and critical thinking and writing are nurtured, there are nevertheless serious shortcomings in a Wheaton College education. It's important to remember that you go to a college or university to get a good education; you want to be taught and have your thinking challenged by the best professors and peers possible. Whether these teachers and your fellow students are the same religion as you has no bearing on this whatsoever. In fact, the opposite the case: meeting, befriending and egaging people outside your own cultural and religious sphere is an essential part of your education. This is entirely absent at Wheaton. In fact, I suspect it's become worse since I've graduated.
An earlier reviewer mentioned the Religious Studies Department (called, at Wheaton, something like Bible/Theology), and since that was my major and I'm still in the field, I should say that many of the professors hired to teach in that department are there because of their conformity to the religious beliefs of the college, not because of any contribution they've made to the academic study of religion. They may be nice, and friendly and pious but they will not necessarily teach you the transferable skill of critical thinking that you'll need in the world. I suppose I should also caution those who may misunderstand the use of the adjective "Christian" when used by many "Christian" Colleges to describe themselves. These groups are using "Christian" not according to its dictionary definition, but in a very sectarian sense. They mean "Christian"s like them, excluding the vast majority of Christianity which would be considered apostate or not "really" Christian. (Notice that Holy Cross, or St Olaf, or Notre Dame don't call themselves "Christian" colleges, though using a normal definition of the term they certainly are.) This is something I didn't realize when I was 17 and now wish I had. Besides, you'll be able to practise your religion, as you see fit, at *any* university in the Western hemisphere or Europe. There's no need to go to a (radically) confessional school - go where you will get a good education. This is advice that I received when I was 17 - regrettably I didn't understand it and therefore didn't heed it.
Apart from the academic and religious, it should also be noted (as earlier reviewers have said) that there are real social problems at Wheaton College. It's not a matter of it being "boring" - I had a lot of fun with my friends. The problem is that it's extremely socially repressive and unhealthily so. If students bring childish, psychologcially unhealthy constructs of gender relations, life, privacy, etc. to the college, it should be the task of the educators to help the students grow into adult ways of thinking and functioning. For the most part, however, these constructs are *fortified* in the Wheaton College community - not just among students, but also by administrators, staff and some faculty. Four years is a *long* time to endure such an environment. If you value your psychological health - you should look elsewhere (and probably not at another "Christian" college).
With regard to your future career - there are two problems you'll face as a Wheaton College graduate: either people won't know about Wheaton, or they will. When you tell someone that you went to Brown or Northwestern University, or Oberlin or Carleton College, the first thing they'll think is "wow, you must have a great education". When you tell someone that you went to Wheaton, the first thing they'll think (whether it's true or not) is "wow, you must be a fundamentalist". That is not the kind of first impression you want to give as you're entering professional life - and even later in life, no matter what you do, it stays on your c.v. This can (and does) present genuine problems.Overall, the reasons people tend to go to Wheaton are not the right reasons for choosing a university - and the drawbacks (academic, social, psychological, professional) are difficult to overestimate.
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