I’m an international student who’s been accepted into both Earlham and OWU. I’ve received similar amounts of aid for both ($35.9k per year vs $33.5k per year respectively). I’m planning to study math (and perhaps do a 3-2 engineering program). Since I’ve never visited either school, I cannot comment much on my “fit” with them. But I would like to know more about either school before I make a decision. So far, Earlham is slightly more comfortable than OWU in the money matters.
Which school do you think is better academically in math (and pre-engineering)?
Which one has better dorms?
Which one has better food?
What about professors?
Just generally, if you’ve been to either Earlham or OWU, I’d really appreciate your two cents on the topic. I’m struggling to make a decision as of now.
I am a parent of a student who visited Earlham and was admitted, and we have been on campus of OWU for sports, but not as an applicant. I cannot speak to the differences on 3-2 programs etc. but can share some other impressions.
Earlham is a Quaker school and is informed by those traditions – inclusiveness, diversity, tolerance. It has a larger international population than many smaller schools. There is no Greek life (fraternities and sororities) as that is considered incompatible with Quaker traditions. My son found the students open and friendly. He loved the humanities class he sat in on during his visit, there was great discussion. The academic buildings at Earlham, especially sciences, are all being upgraded and renovated. The new science and technology buildings, as well as the arts and music, and the athletic building, are all impressive. Some of the dorms are a little more “faded” but my son did an overnight in a freshman dorm and was very comfortable. Earlham is located about an hour from Indianapolis, the largest city in Indiana. It is a school known for sending students onto Ph.D. programs.
OWU is a larger physical campus, as it has streets running through campus. There is Greek life. OWU seems more “local/regional” in feel than Earlham and I would be surprised if it has anything like the international student population at Earlham. When my kid was researching schools, he heard OWU used to be known as the school that was easy to get into, but not easy to stay – that there were “weed out” classes etc. It seems to have a more “pre-professional” feel in its majors, with business, accounting, which is not the case at many smaller schools. OWU is located in Delaware, Ohio which is a smaller town about 20-30 minutes north of Columbus, Ohio, a major city.
Take a look at the Common Data Sets for both schools, available online (just google). It will tell you percentage to students from in-state vs. other states and outside the US, size of classes, number of students in different majors etc.
I second what Midwestmomofboys said. I will also say that if you are looking for a liberal arts education (critical thinking skills, language skills, learning skills etc), Earlham is an excellent choice. If you are looking for career training/engineering, it is not as geared for that. It is a smaller school, and strong on science but tends to focus on life sciences, geology etc. You can go online and look at what is offered in the math department. Depending on your background or interest you might find it limiting. It is a small enough school that you can likely pursue your interests, but you will likely be one of a very few interested in advanced mathematics. If you went to Earlham, the plan for 3/2 engineering might end up being a 4/2 plan. I don’t want to discourage you from Earlham if what you want is a well rounded education, but if you are looking for a narrow preparation for engineering OWU might be a better fit, and there are others that might be even better than either of those. Since both schools are helping you with a nice scholarship, I expect that they see that you are looking for a rounded education and would fit well, but math/engineering is not what either specializes in. As for your other questions - Food might be better at OWU, Earlham is known for the excellent and caring faculty, Dorms at OWU might be nicer, but Earlham has a lot of college owned houses if that appeals. Earlham is pretty well known in academic circles (getting into graduate school) but OWU is better known generally (getting a job).
If you have been accepted at any schools that offer the engineering major directly, I would recommend a strong look at those before signing up for any 3/2 program.
@Aroundhere, the net cost of schools that offer engineering directly are have been too costly for me, so I thought the 3-2 programs were a fantastic opportunity because LACs generally (and have provided for me) much better financial aid than national universities, at least at a similar academic caliber, and they have a consistent record of placing students at world class engineering institutions. You think the downsides to 3-2 programs outweigh the upsides? My future field of study is in Computer Science, for your reference. Not completely engineering but often classed in the same category.
If CS is your area of interest, I would spend some time looking at department websites for each school as those usually identify course listings as well as faculty, to see how the two schools compare in that area. I’m betting that OWU may have stronger opportunities in interning etc., since it is about 30 minutes from a large city with strong business presence, but that is just a presumption, not based on knowing anything about the actual two departments.
Cost you an extra year of tuition and an extra year of study versus a four year program, even if all goes well.
If you get off track (have to drop a class and retake) they can easily take six years to complete
The receiving programs generally do not guarantee admissions or comparable financial aid to transferring 3/2 students
Particularly as an international, go through all the destination schools and make sure they offer aid to international students to see if you could really afford to transfer there.
For all 3/2 programs, ask about how many students applied to transfer through the 3/2 program and where they were admitted and actually enrolled. The most prestigious schools on the 3/2 transfer list (like Caltech) are very picky about who they accept, so make sure you would be happy to transfer to the lower ranked schools in the program as well.
Thanks for the insight, @AroundHere. I’ve been curious about things like admissions and merit aid or other financial aid at the engineering schools in the second part of a “3/2” program. Does it wildly vary how schools handle these issues?
@Midwestmomofboys I did check out the courses, the professors and some other threads, and overall OWU seems to be more inclined on the CS/Math side than Earlham, but the latter was often touted in some threads as an underrated gem, so I wondered.
@AroundHere True, but I also find a number of positives as well! I mean, for the five years of studying, I would have worked on 2 degrees, which might help broaden my skillset. Going to two colleges means meeting more people which means more networking opportunities with a wider variety of people. People might see a more reputed college on my resume and it would open more doors. I’d have way more to talk about in job interviews, and surely studying somewhere like CalTech or Columbia might provide me with opportunities I wouldn’t get anywhere, to meet incredible people and be a part of amazing projects. I’m aware that there are risks and hard work associated with it and I won’t underestimate them, but the reward seems worth it, don’t you think?
I hesitate to answer because my knowledge was not with either of these schools. Call each receiving school and ask -
How many students have you taken from Earlham/OWU in the past few years?
Do you give merit or need-based aid to 3/2 program international transfer students?
Ah, well. It turns out that I have somehow missed the fact that CalTech does not give financial aid to international students under the 3/2 plan. Columbia does, however, so there’s still hope, I suppose.
OWU’s website about the 3/2 program with CalTech says the following :
“Caltech meets the full demonstrated financial need of all admitted U.S. students. Their budget for non-immigrant 3-2 students is limited and varies from year to year, depending in part on the amount required to fund freshmen. Non-immigrant 3-2 students who are admitted with aid will have their full demonstrated need met. Others may be admitted without aid, once Caltech’s budget is exhausted. The students who receive aid tend to have the highest academic merit. Caltech does not deny admission based on financial considerations.”
I guess this is why I considered it, since it does say funds are available. Now I doubt maybe “non-immigrant” maybe means permanent residents alone, if they aren’t considered immigrants, and not visa holders. CalTech’s website says a strong no for aid for 3/2 international students, so I’d have to take their word for it.
Ok, so next step is to call Columbia (and other schools in the program that fund internationals) and ask, “how many students have you taken from Earlham and Ohio Wesleyan in the past few years? Out of how many applicants?” And then ask, “how did those students do?”
See if students from one school or the other are more likely to be accepted and, once accepted, do students from one or the other do better after transfer.
I was a CS major at Earlham. It is not an engineering school. I took religion courses, philosophy courses, history courses, math courses, physics courses, CS courses and many others. If you don’t want a broad education it might not be the best place. If you do and apply yourself you can end up with a good education. I took GRE’s in CS after college and did quite well. If you apply yourself in CS there you will have many opportunities to solve real world problems. I have seen other grads from engineering schools who are freaked out in the workplace where they need to solve problems that don’t have answers yet, and might not have good answers. This is where a broad education comes in handy. I am glad that I went the path that I did for my education. You will need to decide what you are looking for. If you think a broad education is a waste of your time you should find an engineering school. Graduating from an Engineering school you may find that your salary on graduation is higher. You might also find that it is stagnant, and there are large gaps in your employment. The point is, you need to look at what kind of environment you will do well in, and what you want from your time in school. You can thrive in the right environment, but you need to choose the right environment for you.
I will also note that as far as I know, Earlham doesn’t have a defined 3/2 program for CS. It would be more likely that you would do 4/2 or 4/1. It would also be very likely that you could fund the MS 100% through research and teaching fellowships. I did. Liberal arts schools prepare you well for research and teaching.
