Illinois Wesleyan is a campus set in a college town (Bloomington) with Illinois State University right down the street, so students find much to do here. We found the campus to be pretty balanced politically, and many say it’s the strongest liberal arts school in the state of Illinois.
Many students carry double majors and Illinois Wesleyan really encourages students in this, especially for students who are interested in “the arts.” They say its very easy to mix and match your interests at Illinois Wesleyan and we noticed how impressive the students were—in terms of communication skills, depth and variety of interests and they were just plain interesting!
The intellectual vitality is evident at Illinois Wesleyan and every single professor we met was dignified yet approachable, sharp, humorous and also highly articulate. We are told they go out of their way for students—locating programs and internships and many of them even send applications to their students if they think students are a good match for an opportunity! The one word that kept coming up, over and over again, with all students we met and heard from….opportunity. That is what they felt they were ALL granted when they stepped onto this campus—and they readily grabbed it.
Illinois Wesleyan is known for their Accounting department, and students get to work (for pay) for Big 4 accounting firms in Chicago during junior year for three months, and typically they are offered great jobs upon graduation. Firms are very helpful in aiding “lateral moves” to cities like Los Angeles, New York or Boston if that is where the graduate wishes to reside.
Sciences are popular and very challenging here; the Physics department is highly acclaimed and women are very present across all science departments. They say “there is no shallow end at Illinois Wesleyan…everyone gets dumped straight into the deep end, so students better know how to swim.” It goes without saying that academic preparation is a MUST at this school!
The Political Science department is also quite distinguished and very “communication based” which is good prep for law school. Theatre and Music departments were just really exciting, and worth checking out! There are music scholarships available even for non-music majors and the theatre & dance programs are competitive & rich.
If you visit Illinois Wesleyan, get over to the library! It may be the most inviting library I have ever been in. Basketball is a huge deal at Illinois Wesleyan and there are wonderful opportunities for D3 athletics with a strong sports backbone—the Director of Athletics has been on campus for 50 years! The athletic facility has been endowed by Beer Nuts, so a new addition is in the works to improve an athletic center that is already quite great!
The school is in great financial shape as they fundraise before projects are built, so the costs of expansion never land on the backs of students in the form of higher tuition. There is a lot of fundraising that goes on which has increased scholarship packages and grants available for many students.
We could go on and on about the virtues of Illinois Wesleyan University, but we don’t have room here. Feel free to contact us if you want more information!
