Wellesley College Student Spotlight Interview with Vy Le

Vy Le is a double major in Sociology and Chemistry at Wellesley College.

They will graduate in 2029.

1. What led to your decision to attend a women’s college?

I applied to Wellesley through Early Decision I because I loved the warm and enthusiastic community and I generally aligned with Wellesley’s values, particularly with social advancement for the greater good — including the empowerment of marginalized genders. At the time, my interest wasn’t particularly because it was a women’s college, although I was looking forward to it because of some negative experiences I had with men in high school ranging from harassment to speaking over & ignoring my academic contributions. I originally was okay with going to a co-ed institution, and I was more dead set on Wellesley as a college as a whole than just specifically the women's college experience, but now having gone through my first year at Wellesley, I am really happy to attend a women’s college with gender diversity and wouldn’t change it.

2. Can you describe what kind of support/communities exist as a student from your background at Wellesley? In what ways can a student find a supportive community at Wellesley and feel supported?

As a first-generation and low-income (FGLI) student, there are a lot of different support groups on campus that I know my peers and I actively participate in. Many events and resources are run by Wellesley’s Office of Student Success, which specifically supports FGLI and underrepresented students. They even have a week focused on FGLI students that includes hosting giveaways and talks about the FGLI experience and support across different disciplines. They also run WellesleyPlus, a cohort for FGLI first-year students, and there is the Pre-Med Scholars group (run by Career Education) for FGLI students considering medicine. Not only have I found many friends through these events and groups (especially the Pre-Med Scholars! I found my closest friends there), but I have also gotten so many resources that help me both with my academics/career as well as socially here. I am so grateful that I have many friends that also understand my experience, and we all motivate each other to be better.

3. What advice do you have for Juniors and Seniors in high school who want to attend Wellesley and…

a. … are skeptical about attending a college in a more suburban location?

My advice is to be open minded and to not worry about missing the city too much as someone who loves the city and wants to live there again in the future*. A great thing about Wellesley is that there is a balance between living in the suburbs and access to the city. I love the city, so Wellesley having both a bus on campus as well as a commuter rail station nearby that goes into Boston and Cambridge is lovely. I go to Boston anywhere from once to thrice a week during the school year, as I volunteered there weekly and also went out to study, buy groceries, attend events, and spend time with friends. Boston is a pretty big city, and there are also a lot of other college students there too! (The commuter rail also goes to Worcester in the other direction, but it is a smaller, different kind of city and a bit further. It’s amazing though!) Of course, we are also in the suburbs, and I find both the town of Wellesley and Wellesley’s campus charming. It’s like going to school in an arboretum when the trees are full and leafy, and there’s enough people out there that the sense of community and people is present on a day-to-day basis, but I enjoy the peacefulness that comes with it on more quiet days. It feels very safe, yet connected enough to people and the city that I don’t feel detached from society. I was a bit worried about this too at first, but I’ve found that I’ve gotten more than ample opportunities to dillydally in Boston whenever I choose.

*I used to live in the city of Worcester, MA but moved in middle school to a neighboring town in the suburbs, so I’ve tasted both, and I also have visited the city frequently.

b. …are concerned about what financial aid might look like?

For domestic students, Wellesley is need-blind, meaning that your financial circumstances are not taken into account on your application. Admission decisions are made in a holistic way based on your grades, supplemental essay, letters of recommendation, etc., and you will not be turned away or not admitted because of your financial situation. Wellesley also meets 100% of calculated financial need and is tuition-free for families with a household income of below $150,000 with typical assets. With this combo, I felt very safe applying to Wellesley Early Decision, as I felt like the aid offer would be fair (it was!), and that I would have a decent shot because I wouldn’t have to worry about being rejected for not being able to provide as much financially to the college.

My advice is that, if you are still concerned, the MyinTuition Calculator is quite good. It’s an easy tool to get an idea of what a year at Wellesley might cost you. I would also recommend talking to someone at Wellesley’s Student Financial Services office via email! There are many ways you are supported.

c. …want their application to stand out?

I’ve yet to meet or hear of anyone that is exactly like another person I know. Even with similar cultural backgrounds or similar academic interests each person has their own voice, personality, and viewpoints. Even twins enrolled in the same school, classes, sports, et cetera are different, and my high school was recently in the state news for having 17 pairs of twins in the last graduating class. Nobody has the same exact life experience, and while it is hard to have just one application encompass all of your humanity, try your best to show that. You are more than a student, you are more than your accomplishments, and you are more than your GPA or SAT superscore or Spotify Wrapped or AP Comparative Government grade. Sprinkle different bits of yourself everywhere, whatever you put time and effort into even if it’s not related to your future career or academics, and be passionate and engaged. You can connect them if you want, but you don’t have to because humans are multifaceted. I wrote down that I did lion dance because it was an activity that took up a lot of my time and I loved it. I am not majoring in lion dance.

Something I’ve heard that always stuck with me in my own process of writing college apps and reading my friends’ was that if your application never mentioned your name, it should still sound like you to those closest to you. You’ve done (almost) everything already, you just need to show it!

4. What are some of Wellesley’s most notable programs? (Programs of study, extracurriculars, etc).

This is actually really tricky for me. Wellesley students excel in a variety of fields, many of which are male dominated. For example, the Political Science (including international relations) and Economics Departments are both quite big for sure, especially given the Wellesley effect in economics (out of Wellesley admitted students, those who chose to enroll at Wellesley were 94% more likely to graduate with a degree in economics than their counterparts who enrolled elsewhere) and our notable alumnae (Hillary Clinton, Madeleine Albright, and many more; the Wikipedia page is pretty cool though! And long!). While we don’t have a journalism major, we do have many notable alumnae in journalism and writing who come from backgrounds like political science and English. Many Wellesley students write in The Wellesley News, our campus newspaper, and/or other written works on campus. Many students also participate in political groups and activism on- and off-campus.

Wellesley is also amazing for STEM, notably biological sciences/biochemistry, environmental science, neuroscience, and computer science. And more humanities, including philosophy, peace and justice studies, ethnic studies, language studies, women and gender studies, and cinema arts and media studies. And other social sciences, like education, sociology and anthropology. As a liberal arts college, Wellesley is well rounded across disciplines and so are its students. There are research opportunities across a variety of fields as well, not just in STEM, and many of these are on-campus and with professors. Among liberal arts colleges, Wellesley graduates the most women who go on to get PhDs in STEM. These aren’t even all of the departments from each discipline (we have 56!), I’m just naming a few of the popular ones from each.

For extracurricular activities, all of them do so much for their members, the wider college community and even connect beyond our campus. I’m a part of CORA, which is the Committee of Organization Recognition and Affairs, meaning that I’ve seen the list of alllllll of our clubs and there are so many! Some examples are our campus radio station WZLY, the Knitty Committee, the rugby team, Upstage (theater), ASTRO (astronomy, unsurprisingly), and the Whiptails (Ultimate Frisbee). There are many different cultural, academic, religious, athletic, pre-professional, performing and visual arts, advocacy, hobby-based, volunteering, political, and student wellness clubs. I wish I could explore all of them!

5. What advice would you offer a student who is considering attending Wellesley, but is on the fence about it?

I would say you should really examine what you find valuable and to consider how much you want to explore.

Wellesley has so much variety. From bigger to smaller classes, to city access with a suburban location, to STEM and humanities distribution requirements, from club sports to performing arts (which aren’t actually opposites, as I know many STEM & humanities double majors as well as people who do both club sports and performing arts!). However, there are some things that are a bit more rigid. If you really want to attend a school with over 30,000 students, are you willing to exchange that for everything that Wellesley offers as a college with less than 3,000? If you value going to a co-ed school, is Wellesley worth choosing instead? If there is something about Wellesley you’re iffy about but you are considering Wellesley because of all of the other pros, are you willing to explore the part you’re hesitant about? If another school has a program that calls out to you, what does that particular program look like at Wellesley? Look at colleges/universities as a whole, then determine how much each aspect means to you and follow your goals.

Also, we have Lake Waban!

6. One word to describe a Wellesley student?

Sincere. Sincere to their heart and passions, sincerely interested in their programs of study, sincerely committed to what they believe in. This is my favorite part about the Wellesley community. People have conversations with each other, professors, dining hall staff, children (we have a learning center on campus!), and the public. People nerd out about topics as their hearts sing, whether it be string theory (I don’t know what that means but I’ve heard it talked about on campus) in the Science Center or philosophical debates over chicken tinga bowls. Sincerely curious, sincerely helpful, sincerely excited for CORA meetings even if it is just technically approving and handling club affairs, sincerely ambitious, sincerely committed to bettering the world. There is nothing I value more than sincerity, and there is nothing more sincere than some of my interactions with Wellesley sibs.