<p>From what I've heard about Denison, it sounds like a nice school. However, I need some more information before I can justify a trip there. I was wondering if anybody could tell me about the general lifestyle; where do students tend to stand politically? Is there a lot of diversity? Etcetera...</p>
<p>Casserdoodles: I'll try to answer to some of your questions. </p>
<p>Politics: The kids at Denison describe themselves as "fairly liberal." I think you'll find that's true at most LACs in general. Denison is not exactly a hotbed of political activity though (at least not from what I've seen).</p>
<p>Lifestyle: I guess I don't really know what you mean by that. So I'm a little lost there. It seems like a friendly, fairly relaxed kind of place.</p>
<p>Diversity: Well they try hard on this one (as do most colleges). But I am of the belief that you will not find true diversity at any private college in this country. They are just too darn expensive. Are there international students? Yes. Are there African American students? Yes. Are there Asian students? Yes. Are most of the states represented? Yes. But Denison, again, like most colleges, does suffer from some self segregation issues - interestingly, mostly among American kids.</p>
<p>Anything else?</p>
<p>We just visited Denison yesterday, for Junior Day (making the trek from Maryland for that sole purpose). Although I will post more details later, I just wanted to say that what we learned from alumni and online sources (school website, USNews & World Report data, other college guides like Princeton Review, Petersen's, etc, and of course College Confidential - check the archives for the Denison site) helped us decide to make this visit. </p>
<p>After spending a day and evening on campus, we felt that the picture we got from these sources was like a blurry black and white photo that bloomed into full color high def on a big screen! My son and I really loved it, but that of course is our personal reaction reflecting his preferences and "chemistry." What I would emphasize to you is that if there are several factors that match your academic and college community interests, there's no better way to understand this school than to visit while campus life is in full swing. Seeing the campus and students, listening to what the people who live there say about their lives, hearing where they come from, what they like about Denison, why they picked the school, what they do in their classes/sport/extracurricular lives -- that will be the most helpful to you. It was invaluable in turning what appeared to me to be a good fit for my son on paper into what appears to him could be a great fit for his undergraduate days. </p>
<p>So get thee to Granville!</p>