D wants a school where these diverse groups co-exist and overlap, not a school where the jocks stay with the jocks and think the barefoot hippy kids are freaks. IOW, a school where she can play her sport and not be estranged from other students. She is an athlete but also has lots of other interests and doesn’t want to be limited. She wants a school with a strong outdoors ethos, a school that is academically rigorous but chill, and a lively campus. So, if you were looking for a school like that, which of these (schools she has been accepted to) would you choose (assuming $ is not an issue):
Oberlin
Kenyon
Smith
Mt. Holyoke
Bryn Mawr
College of Wooster
Macalester
Brandeis
For what it is worth – and this is only one family’s experience – my younger son found the Kenyon student body well-balanced (he is a junior meeting with coaches in his sport) – seemed to be a very friendly vibe, different kinds of kids calling out to each other across campus etc. The students he talked to (he has visited campus twice), seemed balanced – academic, and passionate about something else, whether theater, literary mag, or V sports. At Oberlin, much as he wanted to love it, he did not pick up a vibe that athletes were part of core college life, it seemed more “silo-ed” – types of kids doing their own thing, without as much cross-connection. Then again, my older kid thought Oberlin was much more balanced a student body after his overnight than other LACs he visited, so go figure. My younger one’ perspective came specifically from a recruit’s perspective, though he has not done an overnight with the team etc, so it is quite preliminary.
We have also visited Wooster, and certainly seemed balanced, though that was just based on 2 hours or so on campus on a rainy day.
I am BMC grad, and it is famously a community which is not competitive with each other – you never talked about grades, it was about the academic life, being your own best educated self, not being “better” than someone else.
Good luck to your daughter, she has marvelous choices. If it were me (and I have a son who sounds similar to your daughter), I would narrow it down to Kenyon, Mac and either Brandeis or BMC.
Before I saw your D’s list of acceptances, my first thought was Bates. But, given the choices (which are all incredible options - congrats to her!), Kenyon stands out to me as likely to fit the bill. Best of luck!
Don’t know anything about the athlete part, but In terms of lively campus, and academic rigor, I don’t think you can beat Oberlin. There is fabulous music all the time due to the Con, so lots to do. My D is very outdoorsy and was very happy at Oberlin. There is a beautiful arboretum, and nice bike trails. One January term she hiked the Inca Trail, and spent a couple of vacations in West Virginia. You should also look at the ExCo offerings. Good luck with your decision.
The OP’s daughter is trying to choose a college from among those that have already accepted her. Any of those could work. If she likes cold weather, Macalester could be ideal. Back in the paleolithic era, a close friend of mine went there. She was a serious jock intent on becoming a minister when only one or two women had entered the field. She later went to Yale Divinity School. She was always intellectual, spiritual, and athletic. My nephew was a soccer player at Kenyon. He now lives in San Diego, where he is an avid hiker and outdoorsman. He teaches English as a Second Language at SDSU while free-lance writing. Bryn Mawr and Brandeis are in more suburban locations, but it’s easy enough to find good hiking trails and parks nearby. I would lean toward Oberlin if her artsier inclinations exceed the others. Unless they offered her a huge merit package, I’d drop College of Wooster from the list. I would personally eliminate Macalester for weather-related reasons, but she applied. I would pick Bryn Mawr over the other two women’s colleges on the list, but that’s completely arbitrary. I don’t see how you can go wrong.
Thanks all! I think your responses highlight what @woogzmama said, she can’t go wrong! Which is wonderful but also makes the choice difficult. She will have to go on gut instincts I think.
@redfeather, not too surprisingly, Bates was one of her favorites but she was waitlisted and has decided not to pursue it since she has other great options. Part of me thinks maybe she should go on the waitlist but I don’t want to complicate things.
@Midwestmomofboys, I think your son picked up what is my D’s concern- the “siloeing” of athletes at Oberlin. As an aside, my D liked the coach at Kenyon the best of any coach she met with and the coach said she made it a point to encourage her team to spread their social lives beyond the team. Maybe she was just telling us what we wanted to hear but I think she was sincere.
@qialah, Oberlin was an early favorite and the school she almost decided to ED to. And they gave her merit $$ so you’d think it would be an easy decision. Nope. This is why she didn’t go ED; she loves them all.
This is a terrific list LeftofPisa! Congratulations!
You probably already know that I think MHC is a great fit for a student who “wants a school with a strong outdoors ethos, a school that is academically rigorous but chill, and a lively campus.”
I was just talking to my D last night about how her initial observations about the school have held up and she said absolutely. We were talking especially about the social-justice aspect and how at some other schools it is so strident and overwhelming, and she was talking about how at MHC there is just such a accepting and welcoming and “chill” vibe. She also has many friends who are involved with various sports and theatre and Hispanic clubs and such - there is a lot of “mixing” she says. This applies to ethnicities and nationalities and sexualities as well.
She also noted that while there is a bit of “stress culture” it is nothing compared to other schools she considered and has friends at. That students seem very passionate and care about their academics but in a collaborative, supportive way rather than competitive. Her main concern in evaluating colleges was that there be a strong intellectual vibe and she has that at MHC. She also revels in the outdoors there, taking daily walks on the paths around lakes and woods. She is an artsy girl and feels very much at home there. I’ve been incredibly impressed with the one-on-one relationships she’s developed with professors.