Ask questions about Denison here

Title says it all…

MODERATOR’S NOTE: Anyone is free to ask or answer questions in this thread. We don’t allow “Ask Me” threads, because the OP tends to disappear, as this one has. He or she hasn’t logged onto CC since the day the first post was written.

Hi, what is the breakdown of geographic location (Home states) of students? A very mid-west concentration of North East?

If student is not sure about Greek life will he feel left out or can he still have a fun active social life without going Greek?

@Papoy96 I would be interested in understanding how the campus climate is, in terms of different groups of students getting along. We were impressed with how diverse the student body is, but have also heard that there is not a lot of mixing among different groups of kids. A related issue would be the role of greek life on campus – obviously, the administration has been working to de-emphasize it for quite some time.

Hope you have enjoyed your time on campus so far!

What is the most popular major. From various other sources it say Economics?.

Well, as the OP hasn’t answered any of these questions, I’ll take them!

@firstborn I believe 25% are from Ohio, another 25% are from the Midwest. Roughly 9% are international. The remaining 40% are spread out across the rest of the country. I ran into quite a few students from the East Coast during my time there. Also, Granville is a charming town that looks like it belongs in New England.

In terms of Greek life, it’s a pretty large presence with roughly 40% of women and 30% of men involved (I hope I have those percentages right lol). But Greeks can’t live in their houses so it doesn’t feel overwhelming. You can definitely have a social life without joining! I didn’t rush, but lived with and was close friends with girls in sororities. Also, freshman can’t rush until their second semester, so you have time to find your friend group and adjust to college before deciding if it is for you. That being said, if you are friends with a group of people that all decide to rush and you choose not to, you might end up feeling a bit left out.

@bk1366 Yes, economics is the largest major. I was an econ major so I can answer any questions if needed. Comm and biology are the second largest majors, I believe.

I have applied to denison and did the alumni interview. When do you think the results are coming out.

@bk1366 in terms of an admissions decision? Not until they send them out to everyone which is in like March.

Does Denison superscore the ACT when looking at giving out scholarships to students?

@scssenior I don’t know about superscoring specifically for merit aid. However, as Denison does not require test scores for merit awards, if they do superscore for admissions I would imagine they use the same flexible approach for merit aid.

@Midwestmomofboys Test scores were required for merit aid two years ago…did the policy change?

@sschickens We were told by my kid’s 's on-campus Denison interviewer during the “invite the parent back in at the end of the interview for additional questions” portion that, merit aid, like admissions, is holistic, and test scores are not required for merit aid. However, in the absence of scores, a student needs to demonstrate a portfolio of achievements. Hope that is useful.

Dickinson, in contrast, told us that test cores are required for the higher levels of merit, but that test-optional applicants could receive $10k a year merit without scores. St Lawrence also said that test scores are required for merit aid, though we didn’t go very far with that process so cannot say if there are lower threshold awards for test optional kids at St L.

Wooster, Earlham, Knox, Kalamazoo etc were entirely test optional for my EA kid, with substantial merit awarded despite lack of scores.

I know it is hard to say, but what ACT score do you think a person would need (given they have great AP’s, extracurriculars, and so on) to receive one of the top merit scholarships?

Depends on what you call “top merit” – the levels of awards this year are $16k a year, $20k a year, and $24k a year, and then there is another tier which may or may not be full tuition, and those are, presumably, most difficult to come by. We hear about a number of solid kids, but not out of your league incredible, with the $16 and $20 k range. Don’t know what it takes to get the next tier(s).

@scssenior , fwiw, my D received a 1/2 tuition scholarship ($22k) 2 years ago with a 1410/2140 SAT (she didn’t take the ACT). Hope this helps, and good luck!

@sschickens Thank you so so much. I really want to go to Denison, but I am unsure if I will be able to afford it. Do you mind me asking if your D received any need based financial aid with the merit scholarship? (I think I will only be able to attend if my overall cost is below 30k a year)

@scssenior Our income is such that no need-based aid was involved. BTW, my D loves Denison!

@sschickens That’s awesome! I’m super excited and sincerely hoping its affordable for my family and I! Thank you so much for your help!!!

@scssenior I also received the half tuition scholarship when I went to Denison-I had pretty high scores (33 ACT). At least when I was there it seemed like a ton of people had the half tuition scholarship but only a few got the full. If I remember correctly, there weren’t any scholarships between the half and the full scholarship (I think that was the case, anyway), but there were also several that covered less than half tuition. Unfortunately, I don’t know anything about need based aid either, as my family didn’t qualify (another reason I chose Denison-I didn’t want to make my family pay $250,000 for my degree, so wanted to go somewhere with plenty of merit scholarships).

I also truly loved my time at Denison-the professors are phenomenal and the campus is beautiful.

Also, @sschickens I love your profile picture! I miss the hill.

@cats1290 That’s awesome that you had such a positive experience; I really appreciate you taking to time to respond to my post. I sincerely hope that Denison will be affordable for me!

@Midwestmomofboys I apologize for such a late response - I completely forgot about this thread!

Yes, Denison is quite a diverse institution. I live in Curtis West and 50% of the residents are international students coming from a multitude of countries.

I haven’t noticed any issues regarding the mixing of certain groups. Everyone gets along very well, and all of the students are friendly. I’ve had a great time this far and would recommend Denison to anyone!