Middletown, CT

[kemalo2002]

I was offered admission by Wesleyan University for a PhD degree in Biology (Neuroscience). The campus is located in Middletown, CT. I've never been there, so does anyone have any tips and tricks for me?

By the way, I'm an international students. I could use some information about that too.

[pcs]

I went to Wesleyan for undergrad. Middletown is quite small. There are some decent restaurants (at least there were 5 years ago) but not much else. I lived off campus for part of my time there and if you are within walking distance of campus, you'll essentially be in very close proximity to undergrads. If you need a bit more quiet, you might want to look into some of the residential neighborhoods a bit further out from campus. I believe there is a house for international grad. students that's on campus. Essentially, Middletown is a small residential town. You won't find public transportation, so a bike or car is quite useful. It's pretty easy to catch a bus to New York City if you have friends there or want to have a change of scenery. There are many apartments near campus, but you may have to compete with undergrads for them. Home Ave. was the center of housing for upper level students. Juniors and Seniors typically live in free standing houses that are on the outskirts of campus. The University owns a bunch of houses surrounding the campus, but these are interspersed with the homes of Middletown residents. If you want a bit more of an urban environment, Hartford is about 20 minutes away. It's also pretty small-- definitely not like New York or Boston in terms of things to do. New Haven is about 30-40 minutes away and is a decent place for live music.

[savvytruffle]

Can anyone else share their experiences at Wesleyan/Middletown? I'm going there for grad school. Mostly wondering about university subsidized housing vs. finding something on, say, craigslist, places to go/hang out, what the vibe on/off campus is like. Thanks!

[infinitestatemachine]

Can anyone else share their experiences at Wesleyan/Middletown? I'm going there for grad school. Mostly wondering about university subsidized housing vs. finding something on, say, craigslist, places to go/hang out, what the vibe on/off campus is like. Thanks!

Hi, I'm a current senior at Wes. I've loved my time as an undergraduate there.

I'm not entirely sure about how graduate housing works. All undergrad housing is university-owned (mostly neat woodframe houses for seniors). Grad students live off campus but really nearby. Rent is cheap. There isn't that much offered on Craigslist. I'm friends with some graduate students (finishing this year) who live at the corner of Cross and Fountain and they've been pretty happy with that location, I think.

Some graduate students hang out with undergraduates, some keep to themselves. It's a small campus and community, so there aren't going to be the resources of a big state school. There aren't a million other grad students.

In terms of things to do: there's a good south Indian restaurant (Udupi), there's decent pho, and a few other good restaurants. Campus is great when the weather's nice and there are usually bands to see on weekends if you're into that. Middletown's not a real city, so don't expect there to be much going on outside of campus.

The vibe is very relaxed and noncompetitive. If you have any more specific questions, I can try to answer them.

[savvytruffle]

Hi, I'm a current senior at Wes. I've loved my time as an undergraduate there.

I'm not entirely sure about how graduate housing works. All undergrad housing is university-owned (mostly neat woodframe houses for seniors). Grad students live off campus but really nearby. Rent is cheap. There isn't that much offered on Craigslist. I'm friends with some graduate students (finishing this year) who live at the corner of Cross and Fountain and they've been pretty happy with that location, I think.

Some graduate students hang out with undergraduates, some keep to themselves. It's a small campus and community, so there aren't going to be the resources of a big state school. There aren't a million other grad students.

In terms of things to do: there's a good south Indian restaurant (Udupi), there's decent pho, and a few other good restaurants. Campus is great when the weather's nice and there are usually bands to see on weekends if you're into that. Middletown's not a real city, so don't expect there to be much going on outside of campus.

The vibe is very relaxed and noncompetitive. If you have any more specific questions, I can try to answer them.

How cheap is cheap for rent?

Is the campus/town generally pretty safe? It seems like there aren't that much public transportation (within and to other cities), so a car may be necessary for me. What's the parking situation? Is it easy to get involved in campus activities/clubs? Haha, this is REALLY specific, but if you know anything about Wesleyan's equestrian team (I just saw that it exists, couldn't find much else information)...

On a more academic note, would undergrad humanities classes (i.e. creative writing, anthro, foreign language) for a science/maths grad student difficult to get into?

Thanks a lot for your reply!

[infinitestatemachine]

How cheap is cheap for rent?

Is the campus/town generally pretty safe? It seems like there aren't that much public transportation (within and to other cities), so a car may be necessary for me. What's the parking situation? Is it easy to get involved in campus activities/clubs? Haha, this is REALLY specific, but if you know anything about Wesleyan's equestrian team (I just saw that it exists, couldn't find much else information)...

On a more academic note, would undergrad humanities classes (i.e. creative writing, anthro, foreign language) for a science/maths grad student difficult to get into?

Thanks a lot for your reply!

From Wes itself, you can get a 1BR apt for $650 to $750, I think. My friend's less than a block from the science center and paying $450. It all depends on what you want.

Public transportation exists but it's not like living in a big city. There are buses to Meriden (where there's a train) and Hartford (I think once an hour). However, if you want to go grocery shopping, you're going to want a car in the winter. Parking is really easy, available streetside (or you can pay for university parking, it's cheap). I doubt you'll ever drive anywhere on campus, I have a car but I use it almost exclusively to get to Hartford or restaurants. Most of the time it sits in a lot.

People are shockingly friendly at Wes. If you see someone doing something neat, just go up and ask and they'll be enthused to tell you all about it or let you join in. I did sailing on a whim with no experience. If you're into the idea of spinning fire (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Feuerpois02.JPG), they're incredibly friendly and always practicing.

I actually know a fair amount about the horse people at Wesleyan. Their barn's not too far away, I went to a competition they hosted once. I doubt they're particularly good but they are active. I can give you the email address of a few members if you want.

As for undergrad classes, I'm not entirely sure on the policy, and it depends a lot on the class, but I'm sure that you could get into something within those three subjects. I didn't really like the anthro class that I took but I do know a happy anthro major. It's not a foreign language per se, but I took a few semesters of American Sign Language, and I highly recommend it at Wes.

[ComeBackZinc]

Just wanted to say that I am the son of a Wes professor who grew up on Wesleyan's campus, so I have less of Wes insider knowledge but know a lot about the town and campus, etc. If any questions pop up that I can answer, I'll be glad to.