<p>I’m a senior in HS living in CA, and I think Kenyon is perfect for me!</p>
<li><p>Will applying early decision lessen my chances of getting a good financial aid package? Do they give financial aid “estimates” if one applies ED and is accepted?</p></li>
<li><p>How is the art history program?</p></li>
<li><p>Will living in Southern California increase my chances of being accepted?</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Hey! I just saw your post, will do my best to answer your questions:</p>
<ol>
<li>This is the only question I am unsure of, but, to the best of my knowledge, applying ED will not affect your chances of getting a good financial aid package. I do not know at all about the estimates after you are accepted ED, though that information may be somewhere on their website. </li>
</ol>
<p>Cost</a> & Financial Aid - Kenyon College</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The art history program, as I understand it, is pretty good, but in a stage of transition as they build two new art buildings. I know construction begins on these buildings pretty soon, and the result after they are finished might be that they attract a lot of new professors. My first advisor at school was an art history professor, and he couldn't have been more helpful, as well as passionate about his subject, and a dedicated scholar to it.</p></li>
<li><p>It seems as though living in Southern Cal might help, though I cannot say for sure. What I do know is that there has been a pretty steady stream of students from your area. This, actually, can mean two things: the admissions board knows your area, and they like recruiting there. It also means that you have increased competition in a small area, making it a little bit more difficult. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I believe there is some data on the Kenyon website that lists where the student body hails from as far as geographic areas (northeast, mid-atlantic, etc), but i am not having any luck finding it! they just changed the website this summer, and i haven't used it too much.</p>
<p>best of luck!</p>
<p>Thank you soooo much!</p>
<p>Have you seen Kenyon? It's one of the most beautiful campuses in America, in my humble opinion. I'm assuming that you have an attractive high school "resume" (Kenyon has become increasingly selective over the years), and your California residence can only help. Good luck!</p>
<p>Belle, I do not recommend ED to any school if you need financial aid. You will not be able to compare packages and there is no telling what a given college will define as need and what the composition of the package would be. I have seen aid packages filled with unconscionable amounts of loans. The only possible exception may be the very top schools that guarantee all grants for those below a certain income bracket, and you are sure you fall in that threshhold. And those schools do not tend to offer ED. You really do not want to be in the situation of having to back out of ED due to a lower than expected FA package. </p>
<p>Kenyon is a popular school here in the NE among my kids' peers and parents and kids alike seem to really like it. My kids' schools really tend to push this school as a quality college.</p>
<p>Hindoo, one of the reasons I want to go to Kenyon is its campus! I haven't seen it in person (can't afford a plane ticket to Ohio at the moment), but I've seen photographs. </p>
<p>Cpt of the house, I think I am an average applicant to Kenyon, so one of the reasons I wanted to apply ED is so I would have a better chance of getting in. </p>
<p>Here's my stats:
4.6 weighted, 4.0 unweighted GPA.
I've taken all but 2 honors/AP classes offered to me.
SAT I: 2010 (rather low), SAT IIs: 670, 660 (rather low, again).
President of Photo Club, Historian of NHS, Youth Representative at my church
Played sports first 2 years of HS, but wasn't very good
I'm taking Calculus at the local community college over the summer
Volunteer a bit through library and church
Top 10% of class
Have won many photo and academic awards</p>
<p>So, I'm not exactly a stand out applicant, but I do see what you're saying about the financial aid thing. I'm just worried that if I apply RD, I won't get in!</p>
<p>Thanks for replying everyone!</p>
<p>The big question is what if you do get accepted and do not get the financial aid you need? Is your family willing and able to pay for you to go there? Take a look at all of the posts from kids who get into the college of choice and find their family cannot or will not pay for it. Very sad. Though I think Kenyon is a wonderful school, there are other school, LACs that are also wonderful and you may want to compare what they have to offer you in terms of financial aid. In Ohio alone, there is Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan, Denison, Oberlin, Wittenburg, John Carroll, and more. Some schools that I saw that were marvelous were Goucher, Beloit, Earlham, Mary Washington, Washington College (Md), McDaniel, Gettysburg, Dickenson. The list goes on. You may well get a better deal at any of those schools over Kenyon.</p>
<p>Is it possible to apply early decision, and then if I don't get the amount of aid I need, reject it? It sounds horrible.</p>
<p>I don't know if this helps, but I called the Kenyon financial aid office, and they said that the average student leaves with about $30K in debt, which my parents assured me is difficult, but manageable.</p>
<p>PS-Thanks for the help!</p>
<p>I would not apply ED to any school if you need aid...I can't imagine how bad it would hurt getting in to your dream school and being unable to attend due to cost.</p>
<p>You can figure out your estimated contribution (EFC or something like that) from the FAFSA. You also need to look at the Profile for Kenyon and most private schools. Kenyon will most likely meet all of your need in grants and loans which turns out to be a decent deal for many students. You have a better chance of getting more grant money (free $) over loans if your stats are better.</p>
<p>Other hints for getting better aid include divesting all student holdings (they get hammered) and a variety of other options you can probably find in books or on the web. Play around with the FAFSA and Profile to see how you can maximize need and hence aid offered to you.</p>
<p>belle, Kenyons policy is to meet 100% of need. That being said, THEY decide what need is. My D got accepted at Kenyon and they did NOT offer her the best financial aid package, although it was generous. It had a little more in loans than some of her other packages. </p>
<p>As for ED, most colleges do say that if you are accepted ED and you can't make the financial end work, they will release you from the commitment. Still, if you've withdrawn all your other applications like you're supposed to, you won't have other packages to compare it to.</p>
<p>My D didn't apply ED anywhere because of the financial issues.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Is it possible to apply early decision, and then if I don't get the amount of aid I need, reject it? It sounds horrible.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>As posters in this thread have mentioned, you really shouldn't apply ED to any school if finances are a consideration. I understand that you're looking for some kind of edge, admissions-wise, but schools generally take an ED commitment pretty seriously. There could possibly be negative repercussions if you tried to back out of that commitment because you were dissatisfied with the FA package. Like jude_36, my D also didn't apply anywhere ED due to financial concerns.</p>
<p>BTW, (and I don't normally participate in "Chances" threads) your stats, especially your GPA and EC's look pretty good, in my opinion and I would think that you'd have a pretty good shot at Kenyon.</p>
<p>Whatever you do, good luck to you.:)</p>
<p>I suppose you are all correct. I won't apply ED there, but I really hope I'll still get in! It seems like the perfect school!</p>
<p>The only thing I dislike about it is the location. Is the school good at planning entertainment for students?</p>
<p>Many thanks for all your input!</p>
<p>Belle,</p>
<p>I did not apply ED to Kenyon... but I do have a friend who did and needed a considerable amount of financial aid. She did get everything she needed and was able to attend. </p>
<p>Your stats are great, so ED might not be necessary... though your odds are about twice as good if you do go the ED route. Kenyon is unusual in that, if your parents are divorced, you only need to submit aid information for one parent. I got a great package and paid next to nothing. </p>
<p>The art history program is pretty terrible... though it could well improve with the construction of the new building. The only truly incompetent professors I had at Kenyon were art historians. If you are interested in modern art (1865-present) you should absolutely not come to Kenyon. There is only one professor who offers courses in this area, and she is outrageously bad. You must also remember that your education will be based entirely on slides, and that there will be no nearby museums at which to intern... which would not be the case if you stayed in state and went to UCLA or Cal. </p>
<p>That said, if you're not entirely sure about art history, the political science, history, and English (minus creative writing) departments are first rate. The philosophy program is also outstanding.</p>
<p>As to the location question. Your experience of Kenyon will be defined largely by the location. I would urge you to read this article from "The Collegian" for a more sustained discussion. Pages two and three are especially relevant:</p>
<p>Why</a> Nugent's absences do not actually matter - Opinion</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Do not attend an expensive private school in rural OH and major in art history, agreed. I would suggest a different major and perhaps an art history minor/concentration, or else being a double major. This advice does not apply if you are a trust fund/other big money kid.</p></li>
<li><p>If you don't like the location of Kenyon, and you haven't visited, don't apply....you will end up transferring to a UC or some other CA school.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Also, no the school is not very good about planning entertainment, at least in the cool variety. However, the students put on many plays, there is always a band playing somewhere, and you can find a cold beverage pretty easily (might be iced chai at Middle Ground ;) )</p>