This weekend brought about three days of gorgeous, sunny weather—and prefrosh, who came from all corners of the world to learn about the University. Throughout the weekend, prefrosh chatted with fellow prospective students, played Frisbee with current students and attended lectures by professors.

The students and faculty involved in designing WesFest hoped that the weekend would give each prefrosh a good sense of what the University is all about—and the consensus among visiting prefrosh seems to be that it did just that.

“I think WesFest is a really great idea because you aren’t going to be able to get a real feel for a school just from things like tours and info sessions,” said Andy Heckel, a prefrosh from Princeton, New Jersey, who is still waffling in his choice between the University and a few other New England liberal arts colleges. “Just being here and hanging out with students is showing me what it would actually be like to go here.”

Another prefrosh, Catherine Simes, who is originally from Tokyo, Japan but goes to boarding school in Massachusetts, echoed Heckel’s sentiments.

“What I like about WesFest is that it gives you a chance to really imagine what it would be like to go to Wesleyan,” Simes said. “I feel like I’m getting a really good sense of the feel and size of the community here.”

Beyond simply getting a taste for the school in general, prefrosh were impressed by the plethora of activities and performances that are offered during WesFest and also year-round.

In her two-day visit, Simes said she saw an improv show, a seminar about special relativity, and even happened upon an a cappella performance on her way back to her host’s dorm room from dinner at MoCon.

“I really like that there seems to be so much going on all the time here,” Simes said.

For the many students who applied through early decision or who had already accepted their offer to attend the University, WesFest was a chance to sample activities they will be able to get involved with next year.

One such student was Jenn Cheng ’11, from Stamford, Connecticut, who called the University her “dream school.”

“Everyone keeps raving about the theater department here at Wesleyan and during WesFest I have seen that all the hype seems to be true,” Cheng, who attended “The Family of Mann” on Thursday night, said. “Going to the play was so much fun and all of the actors were awesome.”

She joked that some of the talent found she observed while on campus was even a bit daunting.

“I’m so impressed with how talented everyone here seems to be,” Cheng said. “Is it even okay to come here if you aren’t an amazing singer or great actor?”

Beyond the many activities, panels, and performances offered during WesFest, another vital part of the weekend is the harmless and healthy dose of peer pressure—into coming to Wes, that is.

“Part of me sort of keeps wondering if students here are paid to say, ‘Come to Wes—it’s awesome here!’” Simes said. “Everyone is just so enthusiastic about how much they love it here.”

Luckily though, it seems that WesFest gave prefrosh a good enough taste of everything the school has to offer for them to believe the rave reviews for themselves.