Admissions

Wellesley was a private school for young women in the upper class, as explained thoroughly in the 'Expenditure.' This is something current Wellesley understand to be a truth of the school's founding. So it may come as a surprise that there were opportunities made available to serve others who may not have had the means to finance a Wellesley education independently. It is fascinating and uplifting to know that even in 1908 the school was making efforts in outreach (although it is significantly improved today as scholarships are available on a need blind basis). One of the two scholarships announced in the Boston Daily Globe article, "Scholarships Announced: Wellesley College New Catalog Out" mentions funding opportunities for students who applied in advance. One of these came in the amount of $2,000.00, or over $50,000 in today's money.

Another opportunity may come as a shock to the modern audience. In addition to undergraduate and graduate classes, there were also 'subjects for servants'. Although this may come across in certain ways which are uncomfortable to a reader today, at the time, it offered women of the lower class a chance to obtain an education. Music was one of the most popular subjects. It was separate from the academic, undergraduate classes taken by Wellesley students, but the New York Times article below, "Teach Wellesley Maids" from 1920, does describe at least one young woman who took advantage of the classes to gain a foothold and obtain admissions to the normal course. It also insinuates the prominence of the presence of maids and servants on campus. In the 1911 letter from Mary Rosa to her mother (on the left), she writes about her days and has one paragraph in which she mentions that three of her maids are in a performance. It gives some interesting insight into the academic and social community as well as into the classes developed for Wellesley students' servants.

One theory put out about 100 years ago was that while an educated young woman had, at a time, been undesirable, it became in fashion. In this 1920 article, it is suggested that going to college was a tactic within upper class families for making good marriages. (The fashion perhaps induced by the demands of WW1)

Wellesley, however, was not the only school devoted to women's education. In addition to its constant striving for excellence and improved standards of admissions, the community and culture went a long way to draw in applicants.  Nowadays, prospective students may receive a book in the mail or a slew of emails; but to the left, you can see a published article in the Boston Daily Globe from 1908 describing Wellesley College Societies and the network that Wellesley is known for even today.