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<li>Swimmers are among the athletic cream of the crop. Top shelf athletes who beat 'em all …except Kenyon. The program is not for the casual lunker. Loads of work, annuallly mountain-top expectations. And there’s a new swim facility on the drawing board, but I’m not aware of the time table. The current natatorium is pretty decent considering it’s an older facility. Not shabby. ( Not much at DU is “shabby.” A really nice campus in an idyllic location atop a beautiful hill in southcentral Ohio. None prettier in the fall with loads of trees.) Ours was a recruited swimmer but chose to play another varsity sport, before realizing that DU is academically more demanding than her HS …and moved on to prepare for her life’s work. Great experience, super friends and roommates, sorority sisters last from that.</li>
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<p>Those points noted, my own impression is that swimmers at DU …like EVERYWHERE … are of necessity, a close knit group, resulting from way too much time spent together. You know that. DU’s no different. However, I get little impression that swimmers …or any other jocks @ DU are any more or less “highly regarded” than let’s say …the Hilltoppers, the bluegrass bands and vocalists, Phi Beta Kappa members, the crew club, Greek members, non-Greeks, etc. I trust you get my point. Reality is that on most campuses, especially in non-profile programs which ALL D III programs are, students pay little attention to athletics beyond their fitness and social tangents for participants and spectators. It just ain’t like it used to be, for better or otherwise. So have no delusions of your dd wearing her letter jacket about campus and having the stud ponies all swooning on the basis of her varsity D. While DU is probably more inclined toward valuing and recognizing athletic endeavors than many/most of the other schools in their conference …they regularly win the trophy for collective athletic prowess in the Conference …its a very demanding academic institution with loads of diverse options. Spectating …unless you’re a buckeye or nittany lion or …just is no big deal on most campuses. STill, swimming, women’s tennis, softball, lacrosse ARE the top of the pyramid at DeniDU.</p>
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<li> VERY good. DU is the lone LAC Tier I school listed in the top 10 colleges and U’s giving the “most merit money to the most students” for the past 3 or 4 years. This is by design, a strategic initiative to attract many good students who’d otherwise be paying $50K or more for the privilege of going to Wake or Lehigh or Carleton or Bucknell or Richmond or a whole bunch of others that at this point, simply have no need to fund yours. So, were I a betting guy, your dd would stand an exceptional opportunity of meriting and receiving genuine and generous scholarship assistance.<br></li>
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<p>It seems in our case, like many, our student was accepted at institutions noted (all of them in fact) with virtually no FA. There are MANY stories like ours. So it often boils down to a struggle of egoes (mostly parents, but students too) about making a trade. Let’s face it …DU is a fabulous place in Granville OH (a gorgeous college town, btw, w/in spitting distance of a major metro area) w/o the reputation or visibility of those I’ve noted and many others. That said, there is nothing 2nd rate about the education, and in fact, because DU is very aggressive in this bus of recruiting outstanding, well-rounded, attractive students, it is clearly a place on the move and to be reckoned with. It’s far from perfect, but a very serious big-time competitor.</p>
:D</p>