So I graduated from WFU a year ago and though I don’t know much about the outcomes either, I didn’t expect there to be as many “non-PhD” students. Though some cohort members did go on to get their PhDs, a surprising amount (to me) went on to just stop at the master’s level—especially since I really did think it was designed to be a pre-PhD sort of program. I do wish there was some sort of quantifiable data sheet though. The classes are challenging, but they are mostly time-consuming, especially when trying to complete TA/RA tasks. It’s not all completely unmanageable though but do be prepared to be very busy and consumed with work. I wish there was more of a focus on research though. My mentorship experience was good, but I have heard cases where it hasn’t been the best at all. Looking back on it, I could have probably just been an RA in a lab and been just as prepared for my PhD program.
As far as living in Winston-Salem, it is a small city with not a whole lot to do. I wish there would have been more of a night life or outdoorsy things without having to drive more than one/two hours. It did get boring very quickly for me, but it was good to get exposed to a different way of living. As far as diversity, there really isn’t much in my opinion. Our cohorts are too small to have much variety in that department, but as you look around you can see how southern the campus really is. The WFU websites are kind of misleading on diversity, because I would say the campus is about 85% White, not to mention everyone seems to be really rich. Everyone looks like a model, and they dress very similarly! As I was here, I was taken back by how much support there was for Trump. There was this one case where students rolled the quad (a tradition done for celebrating wins in sports) when Trump won the election to celebrate his win. I don’t know if I’m biased because I have attended, but I have been hearing about recent cases that have been happening on campus regarding race and crime. I don’t want to speak too much on the diversity aspect, because I feel like I would be giving you biased opinions, so I would just encourage you to look up Winston-Salem/WFU news to get a better idea and come to your own conclusions. As far as cost of living, you can get a one-bedroom apartment close to campus for about $800 a month plus utilities. I had to take out loans to help with my living expenses, but I wouldn’t recommend going too far away from campus to save money, because it can get dangerous. Again, just do your own research on safety. However, there have also been some safety concerns on campus and close to campus that I have heard about from the university sending out emails. I guess safety concerns come with all places though, but it was also something I didn’t expect from Wake. Some incidents that come to mind are those dealing with violence like a knife fight and some gun incidents. Again, just do your research, because I feel like this is all at the forefront of my mind due to recent national incidents. I just want to give you honest information, but I realized I have gone on a couple tangents.
I personally did not feel integrated to the campus culture, and I felt that more could be done to include graduate students; however, you are kept pretty busy, so I doesn’t really matter. My experience wasn’t bad, but I definitely wish I would have just saved my time/money and just have done more research prior to my PhD program and perhaps made/saved money instead of taking out loans to aid my living expenses. I also feel like I would have gotten more out of a different more exciting city, but I definitely got exposed to a different place, and I can’t complain about that! I didn’t mean to sound negative throughout the whole thing, because it was not a bad experience. These are just some of the things I wish someone could have told me before going. I hope I gave you some sort of insight. You can definitely PM if you’d like to chat more!
