Hi, I’m a rising senior. I want to study English and concentrate/major/minor (however it works at the particular school) in creative writing. I love Tufts, but I don’t think I have the test scores to have a decent shot at getting in. (30 ACT-35E, 27M, 33R, 23S) I also like CC a lot, but I live in Colorado and I think it might be too close to home. I know that Kenyon has a fantastic creative writing program that is considered one of the best in the country. I would love to be in a lot of small, discussion based classes and would like to be in a liberal environment where people are friendly and accepting of one another.
My concern with Kenyon is that there is hardly anything to do in Gambier. I love cities, but many small liberal arts colleges are in rural areas. I don’t want to drink or do drugs at all in college and want to hang out with people who feel the same way. I can’t drive and won’t be able to so taking a car to college and driving to Mt. Vernon once in a while to find more things to do is not an option.
So I am really asking if the education at Kenyon for creative writing is worth spending four years in Gambier and if there is a lot to do on campus that doesn’t involve drinking, drugs, etc.? I don’t mean to come off as negative about the school, I am just trying to decipher whether the things I have heard about the social scene at Kenyon are true.
Kenyon runs a shuttle to Mt. Vernon three days per week.
With respect to use/overuse of substances, that’s simply a personal decision you will make whichever college you attend. Others at Kenyon will have made the same decision as you.
People who like cities know what they would do in them, and this relates to your potentially largest consideration. If you can envision urban activities that you would miss on a regular basis, then perhaps Kenyon would not be for you, however desirable the school and location might be for others.
@wallflower43 , my D will be going to Kenyon this August and had the same concerns. She realized a few things: at most LACs, if not all, you will spend 95% of your time on campus, even if you initially think you will be lunching and shopping in the city. Kids just don’t end up doing as much of that as they imagine; there are many organized activities and clubs and kids are really involved; Columbus is one hour away, so an hour from now, what will you be doing? It’s no time at all; geography might have to be sacrificed to get the academic environment you are looking for.
Once my D was able to get over the “I need to be near a city” factor, her list became much easier to compile. She got accepted to a bunch of different LACs and chose Kenyon. She was and is very concerned about partying, but it happens at literally every school. After talking to current and recently graduated Kenyon students, reading lots of blogs and websites, and overnighting at Kenyon, she feels reassured that she can avoid partying if she wants to. I am not worried about the partying there. There are other LACs that are often compared to Kenyon and they all have their drugs of choice it seems. So is it better or worse if Kenyon kids seem to like their beer while kids at similar colleges seem to like their pot or pills, or whatever it might be? Teens experiment with drinking and drugs and this will happen at every college. For my daughter, it made her feel more comfortable to be assured that there is no pressure to partake, and that there will be other kids not partaking. You have to decide what you are comfortable with, but I do think overnighting at any LAC you seriously consdier is a good idea.
FWIW, my D also applied to Tufts and was denied. She is glad now.
My S is going to be a Sophomore this Fall. He is an English major with a Creative Writing minor. He thinks Kenyon is Nirvana. He needs LOTS of stimulation and was a little worried last year about the small town thing too, but decided he could live in a big city later in life but only once could you live in “Walden”.FWIW… he never had one minute of boredom at Kenyon…there is SOOO much to do on that campus… almost made his head spin…lol