<p>These are two schools we have thought about visiting in Ohio, but as summer time is running short, would in interested in any observations you had while visiting in the past: dorms, surrounding city, food, student population, any experience with academics,etc.</p>
<p>I’ve been to the Baldwin-Wallace campus numerous times and know current students as well as alumni. B-W is a great place. It’s known for producing teachers, and the music and theater departments are also strong. The campus is well-maintained, and the city of Berea is a safe, welcoming town. It’s very close to a major airport, and from the airport you can take the rail into Cleveland.</p>
<p>I’d say B-W is more conservative than Oberlin and Kenyon, less “country club” than Denison, perhaps on par with Wittenberg in terms of academics. I’m impressed with B-W’s initiatives in education for non-traditional students. Also, the college has a summer program that places students in non-profit internships while the students live communally. Pretty interesting stuff.</p>
<p>I’m less familiar with Hiram but it does have a good reputation in Ohio. It’s very small and located in a small town, which makes for a lot of community-building on campus. I have a friend who graduated from Hiram and also know a current student – they say faculty are very involved with students. </p>
<p>You should try to visit these campuses! Good luck.</p>
<p>We just returned from a visit to Hiram. In a word, it was terrific. </p>
<p>The campus is somewhat dated. Some newer facilities, but some older. Not unattractive. Just a little tired. The science facility, however, was quite nice, and there were some older houses where classes were held in charming yet technologically updated rooms. </p>
<p>When we arrived, we were greeted by a little sign that welcomed our son (small thing, but nice). Carol, in the admissions office, couldn’t have been nicer. On her own initiative, and based on an on-line form, she arranged for a session with a physics professor (an area of potential interest). </p>
<p>The tour was good. The tour guide was a little less ebullient than some we’ve encountered, but he was knowledgeable and clearly liked the school. He was a transfer from another, much more prestigious school, and without saying it in so many words, suggested that the kids at Hiram were nicer and more welcoming than those at his previous school. He also said the faculty were far more accessible. </p>
<p>Next we met with the physics professor. He was enthusiastic, approachable and funny. He was also very generous with his time. He spent almost an hour with us, and rather than letting the conversation be cut short, he walked us from his office back to the admissions office for our son’s interview. Really a great guy who clearly loved being a scientist and a teacher at a place like Hiram. He has five undergraduates doing work with him over the summer, three of them for pay (this out of a total of about 20 physics majors). This is a guy who could “change lives.”</p>
<p>Next we had lunch. Food was pretty lousy, but we sat with another prospective student and parent from Ohio. They were friendly and down to earth, and reminded me why I like the Midwest so much. Even my son (born and raised in New England) recognized and appreciated the genuine warmth and openness. If this is the kind of student who attends Hiram, it’s easy to see our son fitting in. </p>
<p>After lunch, we met with an admissions counselor. Standard stuff, but you could tell he was very experienced with families that hadn’t gone through this process before. We didn’t need that kind of hand-holding, but it is very consistent with the school’s goal of trying to reach out to first generation college students. We also learned that Hiram has been relatively successful at reaching out to minorities. For example, I think that African Americans constitute about 10% of the student body. </p>
<p>When we were preparing to leave another woman in the admissions office (who had overheard some of our conversation) came up to us with a printout showing an alternative route home with one of her favorite tourist spots along the way. We didn’t end up going, but it was a really thoughtful gesture. </p>
<p>All in all we spent about four hours on campus, and I can sum it up by saying if it were closer to where we live (it’s an 8-9 hour drive), I’m pretty sure it would be number one on the list. </p>
<p>Hope this is helpful.</p>
<p>Edit: Dorms were standard stuff. Institutional style, decent sized rooms, but in the tired rather than updated category.</p>
<p>^^^^ That’s helpful thanks!</p>
<p>gweeta, thanks for the report. Do you think that your meals were the typical meal? I read that their food is not good, but that was a long time ago. I think food is more important at a school like Hiram than it would be at a school where there are 20 off campus dining establishments within a few a few blocks of campus.</p>
<p>If you stayed in a hotel, do you recall which one and would you recommend it?</p>
<p>I know a bit about Hiram, because my niece is a student there. (She loves it.)<br>
In terms of facilities: They are completing a new dining hall, which should be done in time for fall classes. They have also added student townhouses as a housing option:
[Students</a> Living in Style : Hiram College News](<a href=“http://news.hiram.edu/?p=2719]Students”>http://news.hiram.edu/?p=2719)
The Hampton Inn at the Streetsboro exit (187) of I-80 (Ohio turnpike) offers a discounted rate for people affiliated with Hiram–I think it’s available to visitors as well. It’s about 15 miles away, but an easy drive.
Hiram was included in “Schools That Change Lives.” I believe that the faculty are in general very invested in their students’ success. It also has an interesting curricular structure, in which students take 3 classes (or so) before Thanksgiving, and then one 3-week class after Thanksgiving, before the winter break. Spring is similar, with a 12-week (or so) block with 3 classes, followed by a 3-week segment with 1 class. Study abroad is offered in the 3-week sessions (probably longer term as well).</p>
<p>My daughter graduated from Hiram in 2004. It was a wonderful experience. She loved the personal treatment you receive from the professors. She was able to create her own major, went to med school and is now a practicing podiatrist. I would recommend Hiram to everyone looking to for a small college that offers a big heart. She also was able to participate in sports on a competitive level. By the way, their soccer field is one of the most beautiful locations of the campus in the fall!</p>
<p>Baldwin-Wallace College is also a good choice. Great academics. It’s campus isn’t as dramatic as Hiram but you can’t go wrong there.</p>
<p>Hope this helps and good luck in the college search!</p>
<p>According to the tour guide, the food during the summer is somewhat atypical. There were lots of summer campers (young kids) and it wouldn’t surprise me if the menu were tuned accordingly. Also, to be fair, the food wasn’t awful, just your basic institutional dining service. I don’t know whether they plan to change providers or menus when the new dining facility opens (which we only saw from the outside). </p>
<p>We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Streetsboro, right near the Hampton Inn mentioned by QuantMech. It’s an easy 20-25 minute drive to the campus. It was newer, and quite nice, but a little expensive ($150 with no discounts). Cost aside, I would recommend it. </p>
<p>To echo something dawgs said, the tour guide indicated that, at least for soccer, there were no cuts, so everyone who wants to play makes the team. Nice for kids like ours who really like being on a team, but are not burning up the field. </p>
<p>The curricular structure was also interesting, in part because it facilitates study abroad (about 40 to 50 percent of the students go abroad at some point), and because it seemed appealing to focus intensely on a single subject for a short period.</p>
<p>Edit: Hartwick’s J-term appears somewhat similar to the structure at Hiram. We’re hitting the open house there on August 8, assuming my son doesn’t kill me first.</p>
<p>Sorry for the triple post, but I’m at the office, so I’m trying to do this quickly, and keep forgetting things. </p>
<p>Our one concern with Hiram (besides distance) is the low retention/graduation rate. I’m surmising it may have something to do with it being a tiny college in a tiny, isolated town, and that at least some students who find Hiram appealing based on visits and other research are surprised when they actually experience life in this kind of setting. (That was what happened to me at my first college, which is why I transferred.)</p>
<p>dawgs, thanks for posting about Hiram. Congratulations on your daughter’s success!</p>
<p>Do you recall how she felt about the food, and the rural location while she was a student there?</p>
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<p>I think a lot of schools similar to Hiram experience lower retention/graduation rates. I agree that some of this may be attributable to the setting, but what you have to remember is that schools like Hiram like to provide opportunities to some students who have less than stellar stats and credentials. Unlike elite schools, they take chances on many students who may show potential, but haven’t fully lived into their capabilities yet. Frankly, I applaud them (and other schools like them) for taking a few risks to give some kids the opportunity of a first rate education who were not necessarily allstars in high school. Unfortunately, many of them either don’t take advantage or don’t succeed. Thus, schools like Hiram do tend to have lower retention/grad rates. It’s not because they are deficient in any significant way, but because they’re actually trying to “change lives” by taking a few risks through the admissions process. </p>
<p>The fact that not everyone succeeds tells me that even though they are giving some kids a special opportunity, and are trying to support them, they are not lowering their academic standards to make it any easier for them than anyone else. I see this as a positive.</p>
<p>FLVADAD, you made a very good point. </p>
<p>I decided to just look up a few schools that have the exact same median SAT score as Hiram (1065). I found University of Hartford, Western New England College, and Sacred Heart. The 4 year grad rates for UH= 41%, WNEC=50%, SH=50%. All 3 have 15% receiving Pell grants, and Hiram has 33% receiving Pell grants and its graduation rate is 53%.</p>
<p>Additionally, I found 3 more institutions with slightly higher SAT scores, where the median is 1070. They are Emmanuel College (Pell 19%, 4 yr. grad rate=50%), Endicott (12% Pell, 4 yr. grad rate 49%), Philadelphia University (Pell 19%, 4 year grade rate 50%).</p>
<p>I did round decimals for simplicity.</p>
<p>Editing:
Found 2 more with median SAT scores at 1065:
Coe College - 4 yr. grad rate 64%
Ohio Northern-4 yr. grad rate 51%</p>
<p>I did not look whether these schools are test optional, and that changes the picture too.</p>
<p>FLVADAD, that rings true for me, especially given Hiram’s goal of encouraging first generation students.</p>
<p>northeastmom, thanks for the research. Interesting stats. Where are you getting the data?</p>
<p>The college results website</p>
<p>I grew up 30 minutes from Hiram and knew several people who went to school there. I believe the low retention rate has little to nothing to do with anything negative about Hiram but really can be attributed to first gen students.</p>
<p>My wife has several cousins who left to go to schools like Hiram, B-W, Bowling Green and even Kent State but lasted only a year before transferring to the hometown State U. Many if not most of their friends stay at home (if they go off to college at all) and the draw back to their homes and families is very strong. </p>
<p>My wife was the first in her entire extended family (her mom was one of six sisters each with two or three kids) to leave the nest and when we moved to Texas we were definitely the black sheep of the family.</p>
<p>Her very close knit Italian family had/has very strong apron strings…and in all honesty only after the death of her grandmother (very strong matriarchal family) did a few others start to explore options away from “home.” Christmas Eve (the traditional Italian celebration) is so big that they rent out a Church Hall to hold it because with all the extended family there it now numbers in the seventy people range. We are now seeing the addition of the babies of those who were babies when we were young and first married.</p>
<p>A few of the children of her “peer” cousins have gone away to school and not returned home after graduation but they are definitely a small minority. </p>
<p>I think this pattern is repeated in the small to mid sized blue collar communities throughout the rust belt (still home to many close knit ethnic Italian and Eastern European families) which may be a big contributor to the lower retention/graduation rate at schools like Hiram. The kids give going away to school a try but many end up back home working and going to State U.</p>