<p>How strong is the academic spirit at Denison?
Are class discussions lively?
Do students discuss coursework outside of the classroom?</p>
<p>Many thanks,</p>
<p>Ottoline</p>
<p>Now that people are actually deciding whether or not to go to Denison or somewhere else, it would be great to hear from parents and students who know the school about its academic strength. What kind of intellectual exchanges occur at Denison among faculty and students? How are the teachers and classes? What are the strengths of the school in terms of academic departments?</p>
<p>My daughter is a senior at Denison, and has had a very positive experience there. She has made 'for-life' friends, has had the opportunity to work closely with professors, and has enjoyed classes and work that have opened her eyes to what she wants to do after she graduates. (She just found out she has been accepted into the Philadelphia Teaching Fellows program, in which she'll be working in high-need city schools - she is thrilled.) It has been the ultimate LAC experience - learn what you love, and love what you learn.</p>
<p>Graduation will be very emotional for her, as she does not want to leave her friends!</p>
<p>As a parent I will miss: Staying at my favorite B&B, eating frozen custard at Whit's, shopping at Green Velvet, stocking up on apples and apple butter at Lynd's farm stand, the excellent farmer's market in Granville, black-bean burgers at Brews....</p>
<p>Thanks for your post, flatlander. It makes me feel good about Denison as a choice for my son. I'm especially pleased to hear your daughter found her way to a meaningful career at Denison, as my son needs help with that too--I like the way you describe the LAC experience. And, yes, I've heard there is a great farmers' market in Granville!</p>
<p>Congratulations to your son, SS1955! I would be happy to answer any other "parent" questions you might have.</p>
<p>My D is also a senior at Denison and has loved her experience there. She was also considering Wash U and Penn but Denison gave her a very good scholarship and she liked that she would be one of the top students there. They only have undergrads so that is where all the attention is. She has had many wonderful opportunites -- foreign study(3 times), summer research, encouragement, fellowships, friendships with Profs -- that she probably wouldn't have had elsewhere. She felt that she was academically challenged. You really make it what you want by taking honors courses, higher level courses or more credits, for example. She doubled major in Math and French and is now choosing between grad school, Teach for America, or a Fulbright TA in France.
I agree with Flatlander, we also loved Granville .</p>
<p>thanks--that sounds great, especially the idea that a student can seek out greater academic challenges</p>
<p>ergcat</p>
<p>What did your daughter major in?</p>
<p>She has a double major math and french (couldn't decide between the two!) She came in with enough AP credits to be a sophomore so she used the "extra" time to double major. It was a pretty even "split". She had an advisor in French and one in Math. She is both a math and french fellow and tutor. We have liked how the staff and prof at Denison are focused on the student (as opposed to graduate students or research). She has had many small classes and personal contact with her teachers. Academically, she has been challenged. Took several honor classes and many upper level classes (especially in French). Denison also gives opportunity to design your own major and many profs will design classes to match.</p>
<p>Really? They'll design classes for a student? That's pretty amazing? Has she had experience with this? I always wonder about the individually designed major ... many places say it's possible, but reality often fails to coincide with the catalog description.</p>
<p>I didn't realize you can do multiple study abroad programs. That's great!</p>
<p>My daughter was just accepted to Denison. She did an overnight in October and the students she stayed with were not involved in any social activities and actually denounced them. My D is involved in leadership in her high school and feels social activities and school spirit is important to her. What is the social climate like at Denison? Are there many activities? Was this just a random anti-social group she stayed with?</p>
<p>One thing that everyone who wants to study abroad should do is look at a particular school's policy about using their own financial aid to travel abroad. Hopeful, I know that you got a merit scholarship to Denison. Their website says that their merit scholarships can only be used for their own two programs-- a science semester and a program in Germany, taught in German. </p>
<p>"merit based aid may not be applied to off-campus study except in the case of a Denison-sponsored program (Oak Ridge Science Semester and the Justus-Liebig-Universit</p>
<p>ernchurl--I don't have a whole lot of information to give you, but let me tell you where we are. My son visited Denison last fall and liked the school but was a little appalled at the amount of drinking he saw during his overnight (unfortunately on a Friday night). Since getting the last of his acceptances/rejections/waitlists this week, Denison has risen back to a definite possibility for him. We're going to take a second look in a few weeks and he will overnight again (maybe with a little less naivete?) and attend a lacrosse game. I think you might be able to get some sense of the school spirit by attending a sporting event. Anyway--we've narrowed it down to two schools, and I'm hoping a re-visit to both will help him decide.</p>
<p>ernchurl, sorry to hear your daughter had a less-than-exciting visit. I can only speak for my daughter, who has found a vibrant social life there, and has taken advantage of pretty much everything Denison has to offer. It's too bad colleges don't do a better job of screening their overnight hosts, because a negative experience can reverberate far beyond the actual visit, as in, "Don't look there - my daughter/son hated it when she had an overnight...."</p>
<p>ingerp, a lacross game should be a great way to see school spirit. My daughter, who is not that interested in spectator sports, goes to as many lacrosse games as possible - it's one of the top sports there.</p>
<p>I think Dension is pretty much like any other school: You'll find partiers, shy types who never leave their rooms, athletes, top scholars, leaders and doers, and everything in between.</p>
<p>flatlander--good to hear! My son would be laxing for them. (While I have you, do you or your daughter have any opinions of OWU?)</p>
<p>does anyone know if Denison has a questionnaire to try to match up roommates based on their sleeping habits, etc.? I've heard some schools do a really good job of this and it helps to be matched up with someone similar in terms of lifestyle preferences (not academic interests)</p>
<p>Will send you a PM.</p>
<p>flatlander and ingerp thanks for the input. It seems like it would be in the school's best interest to try to "match" guests and hosts for overnights. I am sure there are all types as there are everywhere. My D did come away with an uneasy feeling but has received a merit scholarship so is rethinking Denison. She just wants to be sure she has plenty of opportunity for involvement. We both did love Granville when we visited!</p>
<p>As a current student i'll try to answer some questions. </p>
<p>ernchurl- Just like at any school, there is a wide range of the amount of involvement from student to student. I know there are students who dont want to have anything to do with activities or clubs, but i would say they are pretty much a minority. There are plenty of interesting clubs and activities at Denison with great opportunities to move into leadership roles. </p>
<p>ingerp - visiting on a friday night isnt the best time to get a feel for the academic aspects of Denison, but at the same time gives you a realistic picture of what it will be like here. It is college, alot of people drink, but there are plenty of people who dont drink too if that is what you are interested in and the Student Activities Council does a great job bringing in all other kinds of weekend activities as an alternative to partying.</p>
<p>School spirit is not very big at all at Denison. People go to games to support their friends, but between academics, clubs, and not exactly the best teams in the most popular spectator sports(basketball and football struggle), school spirit doesnt get much of a push. Lax does get a pretty good amount of support, being one of our better teams, and the OWU matches in all sports usually get good attendance. </p>
<p>They do have a roommate questionaire thing, not exactly the best but its adequate i would say. Just the usual questions like smoker, late night, hot/cold room. You also can request a roommate if you go in knowing someone or make friends with someone on your june orientation, something i know alot of my friends have done and liked. Bad roommates happen though, just a part of college. </p>
<p>Thats all for now, let me know if you got more questions and ill try to get back to you.</p>