It may feel like winter outside, but not in the Admission Office! The application review season is heating up. Counselors have put their suitcases aside and pulled out their sweatshirts and jeans; it’s time to sit back, pour that cup of tea and settle in front of the computer for a season of reading!

I hope the series of emails that we’ve sent over the last few months has provided useful guidance during your family's college journey. (If you missed any, check the archives on our special webpages for prospective parents.) I wanted to write one last time to reflect on the value of a Wheaton education. In the classroom and on the field, Wheaton students are among America's most distinguished college graduates. Their achievements here and in the world beyond this beautiful New England campus reinforce the strength of their preparation for meaningful engagement in the world. In fact, Wheaton’s continued strong ranking in winning Fulbright Scholarships (6th among liberal arts colleges) underscores their success. Whether pursuing careers in law, medicine, business or education, Wheaton graduates consistently describe their campus experience as transformative. We hope your student will seek those opportunities at Wheaton, too.

The world is increasingly complex, and the global economy is ever-challenging. Rest assured that Wheaton will work with you and your student to finance an education. There is no better investment that we as parents can make than in our children’s preparation to live as global citizens in today's complicated world. Wheaton invests more than $31 million annually in financial aid, and we offer a significant merit scholarship program, too.

Take a deep breath – you’re almost through the process! We promise to read every application with the greatest care as we assemble what we know will be an impressive Wheaton Class of 2017. I hope you’ll be in touch if you or your student has any questions. This message may be crossing electronically with your student's application, but I wanted to share some last thoughts with you as this part of the process draws to a close.

My best wishes for a healthy and happy New Year.

Sincerely,

Gail Berson
Dean of Admission and Student Aid

When I was searching for a college, the first thing that attracted me to Wheaton was its unique Connections program. (Of course, the beautiful campus didn’t hurt!) I'd always been intrigued by the impact of community and culture on human development, and Wheaton’s Connections program allowed me to combine courses in psychology, sociology, religion and language to create my own multi-course “connection” entitled "Cross-Cultural Perceptions of Child Development." Wheaton’s interdisciplinary approach fit my interests perfectly.

The college’s curriculum reflects the essence of Wheaton’s educational and social ethic. Faculty and staff facilitated and supported my learning in the classroom, and the Filene Center for Career Services helped me to pursue learning outside the classroom.

I was one of many Wheaton students who were fortunate to receive generous financial support from the college and its alumni. As a Community Scholar and Wheaton/Porter Fellow, I was able to spend my summers working as a clinical intern and research assistant at a pediatric clinic at the Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, N.Y. Through these experiences, I developed a strong foundation of knowledge and skills necessary for the work I have done since graduating from Wheaton in May 2009.

For the past two years, I have worked at Massachusetts General Hospital as a research coordinator for two clinical studies of autism. The skills I gained during my summer internships have proven invaluable. Through my work at Mass General, I came to realize that I am particularly drawn to addressing patients’ physical and psychological needs. As a result, I have returned to school in order to become a nurse practitioner.

My Wheaton education taught me to approach problems creatively and to have confidence in my life choices. I owe much of this confidence to the support and encouragement I received (and continue to receive) from the Wheaton faculty. I am so grateful to have attended Wheaton, and I know that my education will sustain me through each turn in my life.

Sincerely,

Molly Galdston ’09

P.S. To read any of the previous messages in this series, or to get in touch with representatives from various departments at Wheaton, visit our website for prospective students’ parents.

As a member of the Class of 2008, our daughter Erin had an incredibly enriching experience at Wheaton — extraordinary for her to be sure, but quite typical of the transformative experiences of her classmates as well.

Erin's childhood dream has always been to become a marine mammal trainer. Her Wheaton experiences helped her to realize that dream, as she is currently training harbor seals, fur seals and sea lions at the New England Aquarium — a job she absolutely loves! During her Wheaton years, she spent five summer and winter internships working with dolphins in Key Largo and a summer at the Whale Center of New England researching humpback whales. Two of those internships were supported by stipends as a Wheaton Community Scholar and a Wheaton Fellow.

Wheaton's flexibile curriculum as well as the school's encouragement to stretch beyond the campus boundaries played an important role in Erin's development. Scuba diving on the Great Barrier Reef during study abroad; undertaking field study on the East, West and Gulf Coasts during the Williams-Mystic Maritime Studies Program; and cross-registering into a whale biology course at Brandeis are vivid examples of the flexibility which Erin enjoyed.

The college search process can be daunting. Finding just the right school, where both students and parents feel the right "fit" can be challenging. In Erin’s case, it was incredibly easy! She attended a Nike Field Hockey Camp at Wheaton during high school and something about the campus, people, athletics, and the academics just clicked. Erin was looking for a small school where one could know a significant portion of the campus community. While we visited a number of other schools, Wheaton was ultimately the only place Erin applied. Before the first snowflake landed that fall, she was in! The process may not be that easy for everyone, but I hope it illustrates the importance of good "fit.”

Erin’s closest friends are still her Wheaton teammates — and she sees many of them on a regular basis. Even during these challenging economic times, all of her friends landed great jobs in their fields. They all seem pleased with their career choices, as well as the academic and life lessons offered by Wheaton. That has certainly been Erin's experience, and I hope that it will be for your student, wherever he or she ends up. Hopefully for many of you, that place will be Wheaton!

If you have questions about the resources available for your student at Wheaton, please visit a special section of the Admission web site designed for you.

Good luck with your search process!

Dave Weber,
Director, Corporate and International Relations
MIT Sloan School of Management

As a recent Wheaton College graduate, I want to share with you just a few of the reasons why I recommend Wheaton for your son or daughter.

It wasn’t that long ago when I was weighing the important decision facing you and your student. So I understand the complexity and heft of choosing a college. If I could, I’d like to cut through the pamphlets and pitches and share three reasons why Wheaton continues to mean so much to me.

First, Wheaton is an environment of unparalleled nurturing. During the second week of classes my freshman year, my political science professor invited me into his office to pique my interest about upcoming scholarship opportunities. Another professor arranged an interview for me in the Government Relations Department of Sylvania, Inc. He drove two hours to attend my interview so he could, in his words, “Make sure they give [me] important work.” The fall of my junior year, the Filene Center notified me about an internship opportunity at a local nonprofit organization. I won this spot and worked at that very nonprofit the year after I graduated as its Director of Public Policy.

It was because of the attention of staff and faculty that I grew as a student and as a person.

The college also specializes in offering opportunities. Wheaton students find themselves engaged in diverse pursuits all at once. Throughout my Wheaton career, I participated in student government, three singing groups, three musicals, a drama production, the campus newspaper, and a campus job – all enriching experiences. But beyond their immediate value, they instilled in me both management skills and self-confidence, and showed me that varied and balanced living is a recipe for constant growth and authentic happiness. Internalizing this lesson has enabled me to multi-task now, from taking classes at law school and serving on its student government to working on Wheaton’s Alumnae/i Board of Directors. Being able to simultaneously give yourself to demanding activities is an invaluable skill.

Finally, Wheaton offers students a quality liberal arts education. Liberal arts training encourages mental agility, comfort with ambiguity, and, most importantly, a quest to learn. The liberal arts emphasize skills that have limitless applicability, imbuing in students a commitment to life-long learning and an ability to engage in diverse pursuits.

In a tough economy, students with a liberal arts education have an invaluable advantage: they can take a job outside their comfort zone or say ‘yes’ to an unexpected opportunity and feel confident that their ability to learn, adapt, and think critically will carry the day. And so, as you and your child weigh college options, I hope you will take a long, hard look at Wheaton. I think you’ll find that a Wheaton education is a smart investment for the next four years and beyond.

In order to help you with the college search process, please visit Wheaton’s Admission website which was specifically designed to help prospective students’ parents such as yourselves.

Sincerely,

Austin Simko ’09
Boston College Law School ’13

This year marks the seventh year in which at least one of our three sons has been at Wheaton. While this doesn’t make us experts on the Wheaton experience, we do believe their lives at Wheaton have benefited them and our family as a whole.

We first came to know Wheaton when our niece attended. She told us of the positive experience she had and we were there for her graduation in 1998 where we witnessed the happy-yet-sad goodbyes of the now Wheaton alumni. Collectively, they praised their school and wished they were going back in the fall. Our niece later went on to graduate school and obtained a Master of Fine Arts.

When it was time to start the college search with our oldest son, we were daunted by the task. However, we soon became aware of a repeated theme about finding the ‘right fit’ for the student. When we finally visited colleges, we became aware of the different feel each emitted through their layout, students and professors, and curriculum.

Even though our sons’ interests and personalities differ, a Wheaton education has been the ‘right fit’ for each of them. Philip graduated with a major in English and a concentration in creative writing in 2009. He has the utmost of respect for the professors that helped teach and guide him as he pursued his creativity in writing. After one year of graduate school pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Philip is taking a leave from the academic world to work as a newspaper reporter and editorialist, a job that he enjoys immensely. Jack is interested in science and graduated with a major in Psychobiology. He was able to spend the first semester of his junior year at the University of Wollongong in Australia and had the experience of his life. Currently, Jack is working as a research assistant involved in rheumatology studies at Tufts Medical Center in the city he loves, Boston. Luke, a junior, is an outgoing theater major taking acting and film classes. He is looking forward to continuing these as well as playwriting and directing. This semester, Luke is in Scotland to study abroad at The University of Edinburgh. Three totally different directions, yet one college – with its strong faculty and bright student body – has and is still meeting their needs by providing a quality pathway for them to grow and learn.

Wheaton staff and faculty have always been helpful and supportive through the enrollment process and beyond. They have informed and guided us through the transition, and even offer sessions for parents on how to “let go” of their growing young men and women. Any questions we have had were answered and options were discussed. This extends past graduation, as we witnessed the helpfulness with recommendation letters needed for the graduate school application process. In addition, the Wheaton campus is beautiful and scenic, a taste of New England.

For the last seven years, we have witnessed our sons’ growth and happiness which we credit in no small part to their lives at Wheaton. Their experiences with peers and professors have opened new avenues of thoughts and possibilities, along with edifying and illuminating their beliefs and visions. To all prospective students and their parents, we enthusiastically recommend Wheaton College. Also, please visit Wheaton’s Admission website which was specifically designed to help prospective students’ parents. You will find many useful resources there.

Good luck!

Jerry and Mary,
Wheaton parents

Dear Prospective Wheaton Parent,

As your family begins to narrow the proverbial "college list," I’m writing to reinforce why we hope that Wheaton remains a top choice.

The admission process can seem complex and confusing even to veteran parents, and I speak from experience. I hope this email and several more we send from other members of the Wheaton community will provide useful information as you navigate this exciting time in your student's life. Take a look at the Wheaton Admission website with information of particular interest to prospective students’ parents. We hope you find it useful.

A college education has never been as important—or as potentially daunting for families. Our goal is to make Wheaton accessible to students and families from across the country and around the world. Wheaton's commitment to its academic programs, to student resources ($31M in grant aid annually) and to the people who deliver them remains unchanged in a challenging economic environment. Nothing underscores that commitment more than the opening of our new $42 million Mars Center for Science and Technology in 2011.

And, the recent addition of enhanced minors in Business and Management, Public Health, and Jewish Studies underscore Wheaton’s commitment to linking academic preparation and experiential learning.

At Wheaton, student achievement is our focus. With an 11:1 student-faculty ratio, students receive individualized guidance, leading to exemplary academic and professional success. Wheaton is consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges and universities in the nation by The Princeton Review and US News and World Report.

Since 2000, more than 158 students have won national scholarship competitions, including three Rhodes, four Marshall and six Truman Scholarships, leading to Wheaton’s recent rank of #19 in Newsweek’s Top 25 Brainiac colleges and universities. Lastly, Wheaton is among the top 10 baccalaureate colleges nationally in producing Fulbright Scholars, with ten Wheaton students winning these awards just this year.

All good wishes to you and your student as you launch college applications. We hope very much that one of them is bound for Wheaton! If you have any questions, please contact us or visit us here on campus. Our admission and student financial services staff will be glad to help you through any part of the process.

Sincerely,
Gail Berson
Vice President and Dean of Admission and Student Aid