Wake Forest University
Responses from the Student Interview
From a student who identifies as Major: Psychology, focusing on organizational management and marketing, so I’m doing a lot of classes in the business school as well.
Minor: Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise
Student Self Identifies as: Caucasian Heterosexual Female
Summary
I volunteer for an organization called Project Pumpkin, which is a volunteer organization where we bring local kids to our campus for trick or treating activities around Halloween. I am in a sorority and I also coach running for an organization called Crazy Running where I get paid to coach an after-school program and train kids to run a 5K.
Background
Gender Identity: Female
Race/Ethnicity: Caucasian
Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual
High School Experience: I’m from Rhode Island. I went to a private boarding school with about 50 students in the graduating class. There was a culture of going to college.
Major: Psychology, focusing on organizational management and marketing, so I’m doing a lot of classes in the business school as well.
Minor: Entrepreneurship and Social Enterprise
Extracurricular Activities: I volunteer for an organization called Project Pumpkin, which is a volunteer organization where we bring local kids to our campus for trick or treating activities around Halloween. I am in a sorority and I also coach running for an organization called Crazy Running where I get paid to coach an after-school program and train kids to run a 5K.
Did any of your extracurricular activities have a particularly big impact on your experience?
All of them did, but especially my sorority.
Academic Experience
Can you describe your weekly coursework for your major?
Since I’m a sophomore, you have to do a lot of divisional work, so I’ve been doing a lot of that my first two years here. Specifically, for my major there are a lot of essays in the area that I’m focusing in. The weekly coursework is a lot. For the Psychology major, I’ll have to take two different research classes, so that will be a lot of labs and stuff like that. For other classes, there are weekly essays and quizzes.
Is there anything you feel your major’s department does especially well or especially poorly?
I think they do a good job of matching people with faculty advisors. Every professor I’ve had in the Psychology department I’ve really enjoyed and they’ve been really organized and I haven’t felt that way with some of the other ones that I’ve studied with at Wake.
How would you describe the learning environment? Do you think it’s particularly competitive or collaborative?
It’s definitely very collaborative. We have pretty small class sizes when compared to how many students actually go to the school. All the professors I’ve had have been really welcoming and helpful and we do a lot of group assignments. It is very collaborative, it can be competitive at times, but I have had a very good experience here. [The average class size is 21 students.]
What has been your favorite class you’ve taken for your major?
Industrial and Organizational Management, which is a business school class.
What has been your least favorite class you’ve taken for your major?
Social Psychology
Why did you choose your major? Are you happy with your choice?
So far, I am happy with my choice. I’m the type of person that’s really interested in a lot of things, so it was hard for me to settle down on one major. I am happy with my choice so far. I chose Psychology because I was really interested in it, I really enjoyed the professors that I had, and I think it can be useful for what I want to do in the future.
Reasons to Attend
1) It’s a great academic program and I think there’s a place here for everybody to find what they’re interested in.
2) The professors are extremely helpful and welcoming.
3) It’s pretty easy to transition here and make a lot of friends because it’s a relatively small school.
4) The campus is beautiful. All the buildings are basically new and they are continuing to build more.
5) There is really good food around here.
Reasons Not to Attend
1) If you’re a boy, potentially Greek life would be a reason not to. If you’re a boy I think it would be helpful to talk to somebody coming here… not in a scary way [laughs].
2) The city is not a reason to come here, it’s not a great place to chill.
Around Campus
Where have you lived on campus?
Freshman: One of the only schools I know of where you’re not allowed to choose a roommate, it’s random for everyone. I had a roommate who I happened to love. I lived in Bostwick Hall.
Sophomore: Magnolia Hall, and it wasn’t a sorority house, but I lived with all of my sorority class.
Can you describe the level of safety you’ve experienced on and around campus?
I feel pretty secure here, but I know a lot of people that have not personally had safety concerns but are still concerned. I personally don’t feel limited. I still feel like I can walk around at night, especially on campus I feel almost completely safe.
What is your favorite off-campus restaurant?
I really like The Porch, it’s a Mexican restaurant. I love food, and I didn’t know this before coming to Wake, but the restaurants here are really, really great.
What is your favorite place to get away from campus?
This spring I went to Pilot Mountain and I hiked up the mountain, which was so fun. I also really like Salem Lake, so those are really fun places.
How was transitioning from Rhode Island to Winston-Salem, NC?
It’s definitely different for me, but I don’t think that’s because of the location at Wake. I personally have weird times transitioning to new places. I don’t think going to boarding school made me feel less homesick when I came here. Personally, I’ve transitioned really easily to the location, but I don’t think I’d ever live here in the future.
Social Opportunities
What kind of weekend activities or nightlife do you like to participate in?
I go to a lot of fraternity parties. It’s really nice being a girl here because I can go to any party that I want. It’s very inclusive [for girls]. There is a lot of people that are involved in Greek life at Wake. The nice part about it is that if you’re not in a sorority you can still go to the parties too.
What nights of the week do you regularly go out?
For me personally, I would probably go out on a Wednesday night, Friday night and then during the day on Saturday. Wednesday night is a bar night.
Can you describe a typical night out freshman year before you joined your sorority?
It was honestly pretty similar to now. The main difference is now I know the majority of people at parties and freshman fall I did not know the majority of people at parties. I would go out with like three or four of my girlfriends and go to a party. I would say being in a sorority at Wake has helped me meet more people. Coming from boarding school, that made Wake feel a little bit smaller for me and I was able to find a great group of friends, but I’m also friends with girls in other sororities too. Once you’re in one you see more people that you know out at parties.
What have been your favorite times at Wake Forest?
I really like tailgate season in the fall on Saturdays. It’s a really big thing at Wake that a lot of people participate in. If there’s a home football game, we all go and tailgate before and it’s super, super fun.
How happy are you with the weekend options? Is there anything you would change if you could?
No, I don’t think there is anything that I would change. I really enjoy it.
Campus Culture
How did you meet your closest friends?
One of my closest friends lived on my hall freshman year, and then I met a lot of my friends through my sorority.
How would you describe the overall social scene?
I would describe it as very vibrant. I feel like a lot of people find their place here. Whether you’re in Greek life or not, I think that people have a lot of fun here and do a lot of things that are different from each other.
To what extent do you think people of different races and sexual orientations mix socially?
Greek life is primarily White, so a lot of the parties are a lot of White people. But a lot of the Black athletes also come to the parties and I think that there’s never really an issue there. There’s never an issue when there is mixing. [About 70% of students are White, 4% of students are Asian, and about 6% are Black.]
What is the impact of Greek life on social life?
I mean it’s all in one. I never thought about being in a sorority, like that was never a big part of my search. It’s a very laid-back sorority and fraternity life, and it’s really just a social aspect. For me, it’s only a social organization.
How would you describe the student body?
A lot of my friends are in Greek life. Everyone works so hard here, whether or not you’re in Greek life or an athlete or doing other things involving clubs, I think every person here has an extremely strong work ethic and also enjoys having a really fun time. [49% of students are in Greek life after recruitment in the spring.]
Do you think people are happy with their choice of Wake Forest by the time they graduate?
Yeah, I think people really fall in love with it when they’re here.
Careers
Has the alumni network helped you find internships or jobs?
Yes, it has. It’s been through connections of people that I know that have also gone to Wake Forest.
To what extent have you used the career office? How helpful were they?
They are extremely helpful. I actually took two classes that the OPCD [Office for Personal and Career Development] offers. I’ve been there multiple times for them to help me with my resume. They have a really comprehensive website and I think it’s one of the best programs that I’ve seen which was something that I was looking for when I went to college.
Have you learned any computer programs that will help you professionally?
Yeah, I am in the Summer Management Program here this summer where they offer Excel workshops, so that’s been really helpful.