The Knightly News

The following is North alumna Catherine Wang’s response to our questions about her college decision process, the student life and culture at Wellesley College, and more.

Wang graduated from North in 2019. She is a part of Wellesley College’s class of 2023.

As I decided between colleges, I remember immediately knowing that I would choose Wellesley after talking to a family friend who had graduated from Wellesley years ago. During our conversation, she addressed a lot of my worries about going to Wellesley, such as being far from home, being in an all women’s college, and the academically rigorous environment. However, in that conversation, she made me realize that it was those very reasons why I wanted to go to Wellesley. 

She’s also from New Jersey, and she told me that being in Massachusetts allowed her to fall in love with new places (Wellesley and Boston), learn to be independent, and interact with new and inspiring people. Additionally, she emphasized the empowerment and solidarity of being in a women’s college. When she spoke about Wellesley with such confidence and eagerness, I knew that to gain confidence and be surrounded by positive support was exactly what I wanted in a college.

Lastly, her description of the academic environment was another reason why I chose Wellesley. I heard from her that while the classes were challenging, they truly prepared you well for after-college life, and that the best part is that you struggle through them with your friends. After hearing her say all these things, it was clear in my mind which school I wanted to go to. 

Photo Credit: cappex.com

I felt really excited to go explore Wellesley and Boston, build a community with women, and face challenging academics that would push me to grow and see new opportunities. There were so many other reasons and discussions with other people that made me choose Wellesley, but talking with an alum was extraordinarily helpful.

I’m so glad that I came to Wellesley; it has been really great and I really love it there. I have made so many friends as the school is relatively small, around 2,500 people. Everyone ends up getting to know each other and you feel so much love and support from friends, classmates, and the professors. Since Wellesley is a liberal arts school, it has been amazing being able to take a lot of different classes, explore my interests in extracurriculars, and meet new people.

I don’t really get homesick while at Wellesley, but I remember being the most homesick during orientation week and when I got back to Wellesley for spring semester after visiting my family during winter break. My family has weekly or bi-weekly FaceTimes, so I’m glad that I can connect back with them, share what I’m doing in college, and hear about what they’re up to.

The things I miss the most about WW-P are definitely being able to see and spend time with my family and friends who are in the area, and my mom’s cooking because Asian food is never as authentic in the college dining halls as home-cooked food. I miss being able to eat dinner with my family because we always strike a really funny or engaging conversation at dinner and home-cooked food always tastes the best.

Photo Credit: wellesley.edu

My favorite things about Wellesley are the people, the beautiful campus, and the free shuttle into Cambridge on weekdays. I love that the people that you will meet are not only warm-hearted and wise, but also are very inspiring and diverse. Hanging out with the Neuroscience Dept. has been hilarious. It’s also always really nice to hang out with my friends while talking a walk around campus or head into Cambridge and go shopping.

My least favorite thing about Wellesley is the unpredictable food quality—sometimes it’s really good and other days it’s really bad. From my Wellesley experience, I’ve learned that Asian rice never tastes like real rice and I could probably invest in a rice cooker!

I would say that the Wellesley culture is academically-driven, but we have these really wholesome school traditions, love and war between residence halls, entertaining events, and culture nights that all bring us together like a family. Although academics can be really stressful sometimes, the family that I’ve made at Wellesley have constantly reminded me that Wellesley has been such a great decision and that I am super excited for the next three years to come! 🙂