I am interested in both schools and have driven through the campuses, but will not have time to tour before applications are due. What are the schools like in terms of social life or courseload? I know Denison has a much lower acceptance rate, but is it really superior? Thanks!
Superiority is in the eye of the beholder . . . .
Denison middle 50% ACT was 28-32, OWU was 22-28. Denison is over 2200 students, OWU is less than 1600. OWU is more than 50% Ohio students, Denison is less than 20%.
But, if a student wants an accounting or business administration major, Denison would be the wrong choice since it does not offer those.
OWU has a lovely campus, more urban in feel than Denison, as there are streets running through it, rather than the hilltop campus at Denison. Both are close to Columbus.
As a follow up, I’m not a big fan of treating US News or other rankings rigidly, thinking that a school ranked 25 is demonstrably weaker than a school ranked 20. But, I do think the rankings can be useful in seeing pods or broad tiers of schools. And for that purpose, Denison is in a different tier than OWU, at UW News 46 vs. 101.
A few years ago, DD and I toured a bunch of the OH LACs in that area. Denison was her favorite because she felt the students took the academics a little more seriously and being someone who was into intellectual pursuit was normal. Double majors, or multiple minors seem to be normal. There were also a lot of things to do on campus - somewhat out of necessity as the university doesn’t have a big town nearby. It seemed there would be more opportunity for involvement in the arts as a non-major (ie a capella singing groups, dance classes).
Ohio Wesleyan seemed (more) proud of some specific academic areas, rather than a broad pursuit of knowledge. Zooology/Biology and pre-vet education was one that stood out. In this way, it seemed a little different than the other small LACs we visited. It’s also a spread out campus, and just seemed “bigger” than it actually is. The university is intertwined with the town (which we both loved) as evidenced by being able to use your student ID/account to pay for food at some local restaurants. Sports were slightly more important than at Denison, but nowhere near the level of importance as they were at Wooster. We did not get the sense that the students were nearly as involved in ECs as they were at Denison.
The two schools do have different vibes, and as was pointed out above, they do not offer all the same majors, which can affect which is a good fit.