<p>Another thanks to shelbymom for a great visit report. DH is an Earlham alum and loved it there. I showed him your post and he said, with nostalgia in his voice, “Sounds like the place I remember.”</p>
<p>DS applied Early Action; we’re anxiously awaiting the February 1 response!</p>
<p>Interesting comment about the number of smokers. We were planning on visiting this summer, but smoking is a major turnoff to D. We visited one of our state colleges last year, she loved it, but hated the number of smokers and took it off her list. Curious if other people also noticed lots of smokers at Earlham. And I assume the dorms, classrooms, library etc are smoke free???</p>
<p>There is no smoking indoors anywhere on campus, including residence halls.</p>
<p>I’ve visited both Wooster and Earlham. Liked both of them a lot, a fair amount of differences though. </p>
<p>As far as academic reputations go, I’d say they are nearly even. If one of them were to be slightly more respected, it’d probably be Earlham, but in my opinion not enough difference to really make either stand out.</p>
<p>As far as personal feel went, the two had some differences. Earlham felt smaller, even if only 600-700 less students. Earlham was much less mainstream; the tour guide seemed quite intellectual and quirky. The students were very friendly; I was sat in on classes and talked with some of the students after words, and of course the admissions students were very friendly.
Wooster felt bigger and more mainstream. Wooster has Greek organizations and just an all around more regular college experience vibe. The Greek organizations are local, however, which I hear makes them less exclusive and typical than your normal Greek system. The students seemed very friendly, but I didn’t have as much time on Wooster’s campus to have any real conversations with any besides my tour guide and student interviewer.</p>
<p>If I am admitted to Earlham, it will be a tough choice between the two. I feel Earlham may be slightly too quirky and Wooster may be slightly too mainstream. Good luck to all 2014 applicants!</p>
<p>I fear my smoking comment may turn some folks away who shouldn’t let it - all of the buildings are smokefree, so if you’re going to smoke, it has to be outside, and it was cold, so the folks we saw smoking (no more than 10) would hover relatively near the doors.</p>
<p>Can’t help on Earlham v. Wooster, only know one fella from Wooster and that was long ago. My sense is you’re right on the mainstream v. more independent. </p>
<p>I also want to say that it’s a nice mix of hippy-ish and regular kids who look just like my son - average length hair, tshirt and jeans, sneakers not birkenstocks. But my son was tickled when he sat in on a theoretical physics class in which all 8 students (male) sported facial hair! </p>
<p>Earlham remains at the top of our son’s list, we think!</p>
<p>shelbymom…ha ha re: the facial hair. I better not let my D know this as she hates facial hair on guys!!!</p>
<p>I wish it was at the top of my son’s list. I would second much of what shelbymom says in her visit post, and add that at no other school we visited did we find students as engaged, excited about their learning, and interesting as at Earlham. Location is an issue for him–to a kid from somewhat urban Northeast, Richmond seems pretty far away and isolated.</p>
<p>nepop, I hear you! Earlham actually is at the top of my son’s list, although it shares that spot with two other colleges. Those two others are both in the northeast. I think if Earlham were a train ride away in the northeast or down towards DC, it would be at the very top of his list, with no real competition.</p>
<p>Isn’t it terrible that the main thing working against Earlham is its location? I wonder if there’s a way to turn that around? We live near Emory (less than a mile away) and students who graduate from Emory walk out the door and never look back. Why? Because there’s no community. I think maybe Earlham’s isolation may oddly be a mark in its favor. The students connect with one another because there is no other choice. Emory students go clubbing on the weekends with young professionals from the city - they don’t identify with Emory, as such. You do get the sense that Earlham students are focused on each other.</p>
<p>As for the surroundings, I think there may be some charming stuff out there - rivers, gorges, farms of all sorts, including Amish communities and organic farmers, blues bars. Biggest attraction for me was that Grand Central Station of the Underground Railroad is just outside of town - a quaker family’s home, now turned into a museum, full of nooks and crannies that hid escaping slaves. That’s part of the legacy of this unsung part of our world - people who defied the law and convention to do what was right, but weren’t noisy intellectuals about it (as I couldbe accused of being). My own college/graduate school experience was in small town America and I am downright nostalgic about it - maybe we need to remind our kids they don’t need to recreate their urban/consumer environment to have a meaningful college experience. </p>
<p>And don’t forget Indianapolis and Cincinnati are not that far away if they need to go to a concert. (Ahhhhh, am I just projecting? Maybe I am the one who wants to go to Earlham!)</p>
<p>Well my daughter was pretty pleased it had all of her necessities: </p>
<p>Dairy Queen -Check
IHOP- Check
Starbucks-Check</p>
<p>We did make a dumb mistake when we went to the 24 hour grocery store and asked when it closed!! The guy just kind of looked at us funny…(being from nj we’re used to things being closed at inconvenient times)</p>
<p>The funny thing is the compared to loads of schools in the northeast, Earlham is a lot closer to a town, relatively easy airport service, and the trip board we saw on the tour was pretty neat. It seems like there are quite a number of ppl from the NY metro area that go to Earlham. </p>
<p>It’s the cold weather that is the prime negative for my daughter. She has her heart set on going someplace warm</p>
<p>Does Earlham has an Observatory? And you people are really great so could you just tell me about Earlham’s Physics program?</p>
<p>@caymandriver: umm…just curious but by anyway do you own a Porsche Cayman?</p>
<p>PhoenixR, there is an old non-working observatory on the main part of campus, and I think I read that there’s a larger functioning one on the back end of campus. </p>
<p>Re location: D had thought that this would be Earlham’s big downside; she’s a city girl born and bred, and was horrified to find that they don’t have a “real” mall. But both Richmond and Indiana have grown on her. I think she’s appreciating the slower, friendlier feel of the place compared to California. (She does miss her Jamba Juice, though.) Indianapolis, Cincinnatti, and Dayton are all within easy striking distance for students who feel the call of the big city. </p>
<p>shelbymom, I agree that Earlham students are focused on each other and the school, but the college seems to have a really excellent relationship with Richmond. There are several Saturdays during the year when a large group of students heads out to do community service, and individual students also do CS on their own. The college offers on-campus events to which Richmonders are invited; concerts, lectures, etc. The Wellness Center is also available for community use (for a fee – our kids use it free :D). </p>
<p>Getting to and from the airport has been a continuing thorn in D’s side. Unless you have a car, or can hitch a ride, the options aren’t good. The Earlham shuttle is convenient but pricey, and only runs around vacations/holidays. They can take a taxi, but of course that’s expensive too. D tells me that students are petitioning to have Greyhound stop in Richmond, as it did once upon a time. There is a rider board in Runyan, so if your student is less shy than mine, they can look for rides there. </p>
<p>Speaking of airports, we’ve tried both Dayton and Indianapolis, and have settled on Indy. It is farther away (over an hour versus ~40 minutes), but there are more and better options for flight times in and out, and airfare is a little cheaper.</p>
<p>shelbymom: You might be interested in the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnatti. It’s about an hour south of Earlham as I recall. It looks amazing. [National</a> Underground Railroad Freedom Center*](<a href=“http://www.freedomcenter.org/]National”>http://www.freedomcenter.org/)</p>
<p>Stop by the Joseph Moore Museum, on campus, if you can. It has limited hours but is well worth the visit. [Earlham</a> College | Joseph Moore Museum](<a href=“http://www.earlham.edu/museum/]Earlham”>http://www.earlham.edu/museum/)</p>
<p>PhoenixR- as a matter of fact I do own a Cayman.</p>
<p>@LasMa Ma’am…thank you so much for the info.
@cayman…WOW.</p>
<p>Big day in our household! Our S just received his admission letter from Earlham! The key thing is that the letter was personalized to our S’s application and essay. What a cool thing. So he has now received two admissions out of his four applications. Nice to feel he has choices, though Earlham has a strong pull on us parents.</p>
<p>Congratulations, shelbymom, to your S and you!</p>
<p>I just got my acceptance letter as well. Congrats to shelbymom and her family and anyone else who has received notification and good luck to everyone else!</p>
<p>@iltli…Congrats…and what about the merit award you were asking for? Did you get it?</p>
<p>I just got my acceptance letter! Congrats to everyone else!</p>
<p>Great news, shelbymom, iltli92, and noisyequestrian!</p>
<p>noisyequestrian: Just wanted to make sure you know that you can bring your horse with you to Earlham.</p>