For students wishing to combine the study of engineering with a broad background in liberal arts, Wesleyan maintains Dual Degree Programs with California Institute of Technology, Columbia University (Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science), and Dartmouth College (Thayer School of Engineering). In these programs, students earn two bachelor degrees, a B.A. from Wesleyan and a B.S. (Caltech, Columbia) or B.E. (Dartmouth) from the affiliate engineering school. Various options are available. For more information, please contact Professor Lutz Hüwel in the Physics department.
Academic Resources
Virtual Library Resources for Summer 2021
Many, if not all, of the resources students enrolled in FYS courses will need are online and accessible from Wesleyan’s campus library website.
Wes’s library has a couple of resources it recommends to summer FYS students to help them learn the lay of the land.
Research Essentials is the best starting point, as it explains what the library’s resources are and gives a tour of the library’s website.
The library also has video guides available to help students who want to familiarize themselves with the library’s collections.
And of course, assistance is always available to students in the form of librarians who live to help. Don’t hesitate to reach out if they need anything!
What Do Academic Peer Advisors (APAs) Do?
This post serves to introduce you to Wesleyan’s Academic Peer Advisors (APAs), students who work under the umbrella of the Office of Student Academic Resources to enhance students’ access to academic resources and promote their academic success.
APAs are here to serve as a resource to all Wesleyan students and available to address any concerns you may have, ranging from queries about course selection to questions about getting involved on campus! Over the summer, we are available to answer your questions via email (peeradvisors@wesleyan.edu). Please don’t hesitate to reach out!
During NSO, which will be taking place mostly virtually before arriving on campus, APAs will focus on helping students plan and schedule their fall semester courses. We are part of a large network of academic support that you will be able to access once on campus, which includes pre-major advisors and deans.
Throughout the entire academic year, we will continue meeting with students individually as well as hosting group workshops. We are as available as students want us to be, whether you’d like to meet once a week, once a semester, or once a year! Also, we are always extra available during the Pre-Registration and Drop/Add periods of each semester, and you will see us work in conjunction with other offices on campus.
In our one-on-one meetings with students, we help with various academic skills like time management, organization, study strategies, and reading or note-taking, as well as with course registration, major planning, and a variety of other academics-related skills and topics.
The APAs are here to enhance your access to academic resources and help you reach your academic goals at Wesleyan. All of our bios are posted on the website (with our emails), so if you read through them and think that you would connect well with a certain peer advisor, feel free to reach out to them directly. Otherwise, as we said before, we are available at peeradvisors@wesleyan.edu to answer any and all of your questions that you might have — please do not hesitate to reach out!
While this was just a quick overview of our roles on campus, we are happy to help with whatever we can. We look forward to working with you, and welcome to Wesleyan!
Welcome from Student Academic Resources (SAR)!
Student Academic Resources (SAR) provides academic support and resource information for all students on campus. In addition to providing direct academic support, the office coordinates the Deans’ Peer Tutoring Program and Accessibility Services. Dean Laura Patey and Crystal Rose Hill-Farrell can assist students in developing academic skills or connecting with other resources on campus.
Additionally, the Peer Technology Specialists are available to meet with students to provide technology consultations and training on the numerous digital tools and technologies available to Wesleyan students, which can increase productivity and learning. Students who believe that they would benefit from academic support, are interested in learning more about the digital tools available, or have questions about Wesleyan’s academic resources, are encouraged to contact SAR anytime!
Thinking about the 3-Year Option
Are you interested in possibly saving 20 percent or more of the total cost of your Wesleyan education?
It takes hard work and careful planning to graduate in three years, but the reward is a significant reduction in the cost of the degree and a head start on life post-Wesleyan. While the Three-Year Option is not for everyone, this more economical path to graduation may be of genuine interest to students who are willing to earn extra credit during winter or summer sessions, or during the academic year.
There are many ways to navigate the Three-Year Option, but all pathways require a carefully thought out plan for completing one’s major and earning the 8.00 additional credits that are needed to reach 32.00 credits by the end of the sixth semester.
If you are seriously thinking about pursuing the Three-Year Option, please schedule an appointment with Dean David Phillips as soon as possible. Dean Phillips will review your academic record and help you design a personalized plan for navigating the next three years, tailored to your educational goals.
Contact Dean Phillips at dphillips@wesleyan.edu to schedule an appointment.
Do You Think You’ll Want to Go Abroad?
Wesleyan considers study abroad to be an essential part of a liberal arts education for students majoring in any subject. And while we are uncertain as to all of the programs that may be available at the time you may wish to go abroad for academic study, you still have an opportunity to plan based on your current interests. It might seem really far off, but many of the non-English speaking programs require 2 or more years of language, so if you want to go abroad during junior year, you should consider taking the language for the country you want to study in your first year.
Note that many languages require that you begin a language during fall semesters. We encourage you to explore existing study abroad programs, and you may contact studyabroad@wesleyan.edu with any questions that come up.
Free Coursera Course for New International Students at Wes: Academia, Culture and Campus Life – Opens 7/1
International students can enroll in Academia, Culture and Campus Life: What to Expect at Wes starting on July 1st. This five-week course will be offered for free on Coursera. It introduces you to people that work with and resources for international students, shows you around campus, talks about academic life at Wesleyan, and gives you an opportunity to meet each other. You can find more information about the course on the OISA Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/WesleyanOISA
Submit Your Academic Interest Questionnaire by 7/6
Please submit the Academic Interest Questionnaire (AIQ) by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, July 6.
WesPortal > New Student Checklist & Resources > Academic Interest Questionnaire
The information you provide will help us assign you to a faculty advisor, and will also provide valuable information about your academic interests to your class dean.
Based upon your responses, we will do our best to assign you to a faculty advisor who shares an academic interest with you, or who will be teaching one of your courses in the Fall. If you have any questions, please contact Dean Leathers.
Placement Tests at Wes
All new students who are interested in taking math or language courses should take the appropriate placement exams by July 6. To access the exams, go to
WesPortal > New Student Checklist & Resources > Placement Tests
You will then be redirected to Moodle, where you can choose the exams you wish to take.
This video on placement tests from Rubye Peyser, former Academic Peer Advisor, offers some helpful advice on the placement exam process.
Language at Wes
Studying a language other than English at Wesleyan is nothing like what you experienced in high school! Wesleyan students begin speaking in their target language from their very first class and are guaranteed to pursue or continue their linguistic and cultural interests at a rigorous level.
With 15 languages taught at Wesleyan, you can start learning a new language or continue a language you have already studied. To continue your language studies, you can use your AP or IB score or take an online Placement Test, which is available to you on WesPortal, to be placed at the right level. You can even start or continue languages not taught at Wesleyan through our alternative language study options, available through the Fries Center for Global Studies.
Want to study abroad? Make sure to plan ahead as Wesleyan has rigorous language prerequisites, with many of our non-English speaking programs requiring one to two years of language study prior to departure. Want to hear about students’ experiences? Check out these Wes students’ reflections about their motivations for learning a language on campus and studying abroad.
Many programs require students to begin language studies during Fall semesters so, even if you don’t know if you want to study abroad, our advice is to keep the door open. As you plan for July course registration, start thinking about how to include language study in your academic plan from your first semester at Wes!
Have questions about language study at Wes? Come join Professor Camilla Zamboni and Natalia Román Alicea for drop-in hours next month (see below). You are also welcome to email nromanalicea@wesleyan.edu with any questions about pursuing language study.
Language at Wes Drop-in Hours
Tuesday, July 13, at 9am EST
Wednesday, July 14, 7pm EST
Thursday July 15, 12pm EST
Join Zoom Meeting: https://wesleyan.zoom.us/j/95582238875?pwd=NFBlaFZmWE4yT1NGTG5Md0V6MktNUT09
Meeting ID: 955 8223 8875
Passcode: 616158