Since its establishment in 1850, this pace-setting all-women’s college has evolved into one of America’s most famous and academically challenging liberal arts education institutions

The recently released Hollywood movie Mona Lisa Smile, set in Wellesley College and featuring America’s sweetheart Julia Roberts, has somewhat annoyed the alumnae of this highly rated all-women’s college. The movie set in the 1950s stars Roberts as an avant-garde art history professor who invites the wrath of the college’s starchy management. Wellesley’s influential graduates who include senator Hillary Rodham Clinton are of the opinion thatMona Lisa Smile is too simplified and overstates its case. Because this two-hour feature film fails to mention that since its founding in 1850, Wellesley has evolved into America’s most famous, pace-setting and academically challenging liberal arts college. In 2003 the U.S. News & World Report ranked Wellesley fourth in the US among all liberal arts colleges and by far the No.1 women’s college. 

Chartered in 1870, Wellesley was founded by Henry Fowle Durant to offer women equal opportunities in higher education and to “provide an excellent liberal arts education for women who will make a difference to the world”. It was the first women’s college to boast contemporary science labs. The Wellesley campus, strategically situated 12 miles from Boston, is home to 2,300 students. More than 50 colleges and universities are located within a 50-mile radius of Boston which inter alia is home to Harvard University, MIT and other Ivy League institutions which host a 250,000 strong popu-lation of America’s best and brightest varsity students.

This exclusive private college grants bachelor’s degrees in the humanities, including Chinese, Japanese, and Russian languages; in the social sciences, including Africana studies, religion, and economics; in science and mathematics, including computer science. More than 15 inter-departmental majors are also available and students are free to design their own majors. Among college facilities are greenhouses with more than 1,000 plants; the Whitin Observatory; and a science centre that includes molecular biology, cognitive learning, laser electronics and optics laboratories. Moreover Wellesley students may register in co-operative programmes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in more than 20 disciplines.

“We have a beautiful campus, an extraordinary faculty, dedicated staff, able and committed students, wonderful trustees, and a powerful alumnae network of women who are making a difference all over the world. Wellesley College has for 128 years been redefining what constitutes effective leadership by making it truer to women,” says Diana Chapman Walsh, former student (class of 1966) and incumbent president of Wellesley. Among many of Wellesley’s signal features is its unbroken succession of woman presidents.

Campus facilities. Located a mere 12 miles west of Boston, Wellesley’s 500-acre campus of woodlands, hills, meadows, an arboretum, ponds, and miles of footpaths and fitness trails borders scenic Lake Waban. The 65 buildings on campus range in architectural style from Gothic to contemporary. The three primary classroom buildings are Founders Hall for the humanities, Pendleton Hall for the social sciences and arts, and the Science Center.

Wellesley’s academic resources rival those of most front-rank American universities. This 129-year old college offers the materials, technology, equipment and hands-on research opportunities necessary for holistic education beyond the classroom and library. They include:

• Five libraries on campus dedicated to art, music, astronomy, science and the main (Margaret Clapp) Library. Together they house over 1.3 million volumes and subscribe to 2,500 periodicals

• The Betsy Wood Knapp Media and Technology Center hosts 43 workstations, four media-equipped project rooms, a linear editing room for video, a digital video editing suite, colour laser printer, film recorder and slide scanner

• Every student is given a dedicated hi-speed computer network connection

• Satellite programming is available at 225 points in classrooms and common spaces around campus. A campus-wide video network is under construction

• The Science Center is equipped with modern science equipment including an X-ray diffractometer, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometers, electron microscopes, and argon and dye lasers. The centre’s computer facility is open round the clock

• The Within Observatory contains three permanent telescopes: 6-inch and 12-inch, Alvan Clark refractors and a 24-inch telescope

• The Margaret C. Ferguson Greenhouses, the Alexander Botanic Gardens and the Hunnewell Arboretum together house one of the largest collections of teaching plants in the US

• The Jewett Arts Center boasts a students art gallery, listening rooms, practice studios with pianos, rehearsal rooms, and an electronic music lab. Alumnae Hall, the largest auditorium on campus, seats up to 1,300 people

Academic resources apart, Wellesley offers enviable sports facilities and membership to more than 160 clubs and organisations.

Admission. Admission into Wellesley is very selective and competitive. Of the 2,904 students who applied for the class of 2006, only 600 were admitted. And of these 600, 83 percent were ranked among the top five in their high schools.

According to the admission board, academic preparation for admission into Wellesley should include training in writing, interpretation of literature, mathematics, at least one laboratory science, fluency in all aspects of the English language — reading, writing and verbal skills. The application form should include the following supporting documents: an essay highlighting significant life experiences, intellectual interests, goals, attitudes, and self-perceptions; official transcript of marks card; three letters of recommendation; and certified photocopies of GCSE (‘O’ level) and ‘A’ level or the Indian Plus Two certificates. In addition every applicant to Wellesley must write standardised tests including TOEFL, the SAT-I reasoning test and three SAT-II subject tests. The Wellesley code number for SAT is 3957.

For further information write to Wellesley College, 106 Central Street, Wellesley, MA 02481. Tel: 781-283-2270; Fax: 781-283-3678; E-mail: [email protected]; Website: www.wellesley.edu.

Accommodation. The majority of Wellesley students live in one of the 21 residence halls on campus. Most traditional halls house between 140 and 225 students while some small halls/ apartments house between six and 70 students. All residence halls offer cooking and laundry facilities. Moreover all but four have dining facilities serving three meals a day. In addition to dining and study rooms, the halls have formal living rooms and smaller common rooms used for social gatherings, meetings and parties.

Degree programmes. Wellesley is an undergraduate education institution — it does not offer any graduate degrees. On offer is its four-year undergraduate liberal arts curriculum for women. This includes 1,000 study courses and 52 majors, of which 30 are single departmental and 22 are interdepartmental majors. Students may also structure an individualised study programme which combines traditional subjects to suit their preferences.

In short, according to college spokespersons Wellesley’s four-year degree is a healthy blend of classroom instruction, independent study and internships. More than 3,600 paid and unpaid internships are reserved for Wellesley students, even for first-year students, through its Center for Work and Service online internship database. There are also numerous opportunities for study abroad and exchange programmes. The college is also known for its extensive research opportunities in the sciences, social sciences and humanities. Typically, more than 400 students each year elect to do guided research, independent study, or senior thesis research. 

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Undergrad programmes at Wellesley

Wellesley offers over 1,000 courses and 52 majors, of which 30 are single 
departmental majors and 22 are interdepartmental majors.

Departmental majors. African studies, anthropology, art, astronomy, biological sciences, chemistry, Chinese, classical studies, computer science, economics, English, French, geology, German, Greek & Latin, history, Italian studies, Japanese, mathematics, music, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, religion, Russian, sociology, Spanish, theatre studies, women’s studies

Interdepartmental majors. American studies, architecture, astrophysics, biological chemistry, Chinese studies, cinema and media studies, classical and near eastern archaeology, classical civilization, cognitive and linguistics sciences, comparative literature, environmental studies

Experimental and extra-departmental courses. Arabic, reproductive studies, French cultural studies, German studies, international relations, Japanese studies, Jewish studies, Hebrew, language studies, Latin American studies, medieval/ renaissance studies, neuroscience, peace and justice studies, Russian areas studies

Table of costs (annual)

Tuition plus room and board: $34,994
Health insurance: $880 
Book and supplies: $800
Personal items: $1,200
Miscellaneous: $1,700
Total: $38,694

NB $=Rs.45