Are students stressed out at Denison? There are comments on Niche about the professors assigning too much work and students being stressed out.
I’m sure there are some students who are stressed out and some professors who assign a lot of work - that’s probably true at every school - but I don’t think it is the general experience at Denison. My son is a junior, doing a double major, participating in a sport and working at a campus job, and he’s managing things with time left for fun and likes the school very much. His experience has been that the professors vary widely in their approaches. Some emphasize work during the semester rather than exams, some are the other way around. It seems universally important to attend classes faithfully and take good notes, but beyond that every class is different. The professors explain their grading approach in detail at the beginning of every semester, so students shouldn’t be caught off guard. There are a couple of other Denison parents who post regularly on CC, @Midwestmomofboys and @NJDad22 - their kids are/were in different majors than my son, so I hope they can chime in as well.
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My son, and his friends’ experience generally, was that it is not a pressure-cooker academic environment. While students are navigating paper deadlines, projects, exams etc., as they are anywhere, and that leads to stress, it is broadly a collaborative academic environment, not cut-throat at all. And faculty were incredibly understanding when my kid faced challenges – with stomach flu one semester during exam period and mono another time – they worked with him to find solutions. My son was also an athlete, and had no problem managing academics plus his sport, a campus job and significant involvement in campus organizations.
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My daughter is pre-med and therefore does spend more time on academics. That has less to do with Denison than the facts that grades matter regarding getting into medical school. Denison professors are very available and willing to help students. My daughter has developed great relationships with both peers and professors. She has found the environment very supportive.
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Thanks for the information! My daughter is thinking of applying ED1 and is checking all the websites before making the final decision.
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This is great to hear. My student just switched app from RD to ED2 and we are eagerly awaiting.
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Agree with @Midwestmomofboys here. My son just finished his first semester and his stress level seems normal for a college student to me. He was able to get everything done academically with good outcomes, be very committed to his sport (which is year-round) and maintain a good social life. That’s not to say that there weren’t some stressful periods (especially during final) and some learning about balancing that had to happen, but it all seemed pretty normal to me!
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