Warren Wilson is a tight-knit community of thoughtful and dedicated students, staff, and faculty who possess a thorough work ethic, a deep love of service, and a broad range of academic interests. Though a chunk of the week is taken up by work on a specific crew, Wilson students still manage to spend time working in the local gardens, children's programs, and a plethora of other meaningful service projects. Because of the smaller size of the school, there is more time dedicated to each student (whether by fellow students, teachers, or staff) and so students feel a sense of significance and are encouraged to grow in knowledge, experience, and heart.
Do you have any tips for prospective students?
Try as many different things as you can. There are over a hundred crews to try, hundreds of different service projects, and classes you never believed could count towards a major.
Explore. There are 1,100 acres on campus. Each one holds something different, something valuable, something you will need.
Make friends with your professors and your work crew bosses. Not only is it really easy, it's also a good connection to have (names on your resume or even just someone to go to for advice).
Do you find there’s enough academic rigor at your school?
Like any other, Warren Wilson College accepts people based on their experiences, their accomplishments, and their ambitions. Unlike many others though, WWC is dedicated to personal growth, which they consider to be a balance of work, service, and academics. In this sense, academic rigor is not at its most strict, but is more focused on learning and connection.
Describe the dorm life at your college.
The only dorms that are less than satisfactory are, ironically, two of the freshman dorms, but even those are fun in their own weird way. The rest are great. There are lots of options for housing: co-ed or single-gender, singles or doubles or suites, and two houses on campus that offer alternative living through skill shares and food co-ops. All of them are set off in the middle of the woods, close to main campus and 90% of students choose to live on campus.
Describe the food and dining at your college.
Two dining options: the main cafeteria, called Gladfelter, offers lots of variety, including a main bar, salad bar, a hot bar, and an action station. The second option is the student initiated vegan and vegetarian dining area, called Cowpie Cafe, where you're served healthy and delicious by the student crew. Both options serve fresh veggies, fruits, and meat from the WWC garden and farm.
What’s there to do for fun at your college?
Where to begin? Swimming in the Swanannoa, romping about in the fields or on the river trail, playing with the shoats and chicks, hiking, biking...Every Thursday night features a contra dance held in Bryson gym and Sage Cafe offers not only student-made goodies for late nights, but also puts on countless concerts, open mics, poetry readings, the famed Awkward Town, and chorale concerts. In addition, the city of Asheville is a 20 minute free bus ride from campus, where the oddities and revelries abound.
Do you feel you’re getting value for the money you’re spending on college?
Expensive, but will do their best to give out scholarships.
Share any unusual traditions or locations on campus
Homecoming is celebrated with a soccer game. Students are invited to special events like the Garden Party and the Forester's Ball. Walking around campus, you'll notice the toy animals glued onto random walls and light posts, left there by the Toy King years ago. Visit Dam Pasture, Dogwood Meadow, Night Pasture, River Bend, Narnia, the Stoop...
Which types of students will excel at your college?
Students who aren't looking for a regimented life-style. People who want more experience in the real world before being out there totally on their own. Activists and pro-environment kids who want to make change. Creative writers. Creative Agroforestry majors. Creative, spanish-speaking, kind-hearted teachers.
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
The usual: Spanish, French, soccer, newspaper, chorale, caucus, etc. And the unusual: obviously there are lots of activities as far as service goes, but there is also stuff like the RISE crew (there to talk to about sexual consent, safety, abuse), fire legion, Everyone Cooks! (free food that you learn to cook yourself), step team, banjo classes...
Are you involved in any clubs or activities?
NADA!
How would you describe campus safety? Do you feel safe on campus?
Very safe. The only thing we really worry about here are bears on campus.
Warren Wilson is a tight-knit community of thoughtful and dedicated students, staff, and faculty who possess a thorough work ethic, a deep love of service, and a broad range of academic interests. Though a chunk of the week is taken up by work on a specific crew, Wilson students still manage to spend time working in the local gardens, children's programs, and a plethora of other meaningful service projects. Because of the smaller size of the school, there is more time dedicated to each student (whether by fellow students, teachers, or staff) and so students feel a sense of significance and are encouraged to grow in knowledge, experience, and heart.
Try as many different things as you can. There are over a hundred crews to try, hundreds of different service projects, and classes you never believed could count towards a major. Explore. There are 1,100 acres on campus. Each one holds something different, something valuable, something you will need. Make friends with your professors and your work crew bosses. Not only is it really easy, it's also a good connection to have (names on your resume or even just someone to go to for advice).
Like any other, Warren Wilson College accepts people based on their experiences, their accomplishments, and their ambitions. Unlike many others though, WWC is dedicated to personal growth, which they consider to be a balance of work, service, and academics. In this sense, academic rigor is not at its most strict, but is more focused on learning and connection.
The only dorms that are less than satisfactory are, ironically, two of the freshman dorms, but even those are fun in their own weird way. The rest are great. There are lots of options for housing: co-ed or single-gender, singles or doubles or suites, and two houses on campus that offer alternative living through skill shares and food co-ops. All of them are set off in the middle of the woods, close to main campus and 90% of students choose to live on campus.
Two dining options: the main cafeteria, called Gladfelter, offers lots of variety, including a main bar, salad bar, a hot bar, and an action station. The second option is the student initiated vegan and vegetarian dining area, called Cowpie Cafe, where you're served healthy and delicious by the student crew. Both options serve fresh veggies, fruits, and meat from the WWC garden and farm.
Where to begin? Swimming in the Swanannoa, romping about in the fields or on the river trail, playing with the shoats and chicks, hiking, biking...Every Thursday night features a contra dance held in Bryson gym and Sage Cafe offers not only student-made goodies for late nights, but also puts on countless concerts, open mics, poetry readings, the famed Awkward Town, and chorale concerts. In addition, the city of Asheville is a 20 minute free bus ride from campus, where the oddities and revelries abound.
Expensive, but will do their best to give out scholarships.
Homecoming is celebrated with a soccer game. Students are invited to special events like the Garden Party and the Forester's Ball. Walking around campus, you'll notice the toy animals glued onto random walls and light posts, left there by the Toy King years ago. Visit Dam Pasture, Dogwood Meadow, Night Pasture, River Bend, Narnia, the Stoop...
Students who aren't looking for a regimented life-style. People who want more experience in the real world before being out there totally on their own. Activists and pro-environment kids who want to make change. Creative writers. Creative Agroforestry majors. Creative, spanish-speaking, kind-hearted teachers.
The usual: Spanish, French, soccer, newspaper, chorale, caucus, etc. And the unusual: obviously there are lots of activities as far as service goes, but there is also stuff like the RISE crew (there to talk to about sexual consent, safety, abuse), fire legion, Everyone Cooks! (free food that you learn to cook yourself), step team, banjo classes...
NADA!
Very safe. The only thing we really worry about here are bears on campus.