<p>Hey guys!
If you have any questions for a current student, please let me know! I am a biology major with an environmental studies concentration (I am also fulfilling the requirements for pre-med), a varsity student athlete, and a tour guide. I am also really knowledgeable about all the majors and programs we offer. I'd love to answer any questions no matter where you are in your college search.
Good luck!</p>
<p>Tourguide,</p>
<p>How hard is it to be a biology major and an athlete? Do labs interfere with practice time? What year are you?</p>
<p>Minoafrau,</p>
<p>I have found it to be relatively easy to be a student athlete at Kenyon. It is true that labs are offered most commonly in the afternoons from 1-4, and practices start at 4:30, but the coaches are very understanding. They know that we are students first and they are going to be familiar with what it takes to be a science major. The professors are also very willing to work with athletes. It is inevitable that you will miss a class or two due to away games, and I have even had professors set up labs for me alone so I could make it up.
It does take some planning to be a student athlete, but Kenyon is a great place to play sports and I honestly wouldn’t change a thing.
I’m a sophomore.
Are you a senior or junior in high school?</p>
<p>Kenyontourguide, gud to have a volunteer like you. just got my admission letter some days ago and i’m so happy for the fin. aid package.
which dorm do you suggest for me?</p>
<p>Kingdomchild,</p>
<p>First of all, congratulations! We are excited to have you! As far as the freshman dorms go, there are a few key differences that will help you make that decision. Norton, Lewis, and Gund are the three dorm buildings on the freshman quad. Norton and Lewis are identical buildings. They have large doubles and a couple triples and a couple singles(but not many). These rooms have linoleum floors (so not carpet), non-movable furniture, A/C and heating is determined by maintenance (not controlled by you), and they are single-sex by hall. Gund is very unique. It was designed with 5-foot high dividers down the center of each room. This creates a space for each room mate. It is not for everyone, but most people love it. The rooms are big and, like Lewis and Norton, there are linoleum floors, non-movable furniture, single-sex by hall, and the A/C and heating is controlled by maintenance.
The two dorms across the street are McBride and Mather. These are also identical. McBride is all freshman, and Mather has a mix of freshmen and sophomores. They have singles, doubles, and triples. They are single-sex by room only (so boys live next to girls, etc), fully carpeted, A/C and heating is controlled in your room, and a bit smaller rooms. The thing about the rooms in McBride and Mather is that they are oddly shaped. The architect wanted to create little neighborhood communities in each hall, so the halls are twisty (for lack of a better word). This creates oblong room shapes. You could luck out and get a very large room or you could get a pretty small room.
Having said all of that, I want to tell you that there really isn’t a bad choice. They all have their pros and cons. Each building is unique and you really must think about what you prefer. I lived in McBride and I have one of those tiny rooms. I loved it though.
If you want, you can tell me a bit about what you want/like and I’ll try to tell you which would be best for you based on what I know.
Good luck!</p>
<p>tourguide,</p>
<p>my daughter is a junior. She is interested in studying biology (and possibly creative writing) and in running track.</p>
<p>Kenyon is actually one of my top choices, Ive visited many times and one my best friends who goes there is badgering me to go anyways i have a few questions that i hope you can answer
- Is there a divide between athletes and non athletes?
- Do you find pre-med difficult at kenyon? What is your workload?
- What are weekends like/the party scene?
- If i get a single will people thing im some weird recluse?
- How is the whole middle of nowhereness or do you not notice it?
- Where else did you apply and why did you choose Kenyon?</p>
<p>Minoafrau,</p>
<p>I would suggest that your daughter send an email to the track coach this year just to express her interest and get some information. I would also suggest that she think about scheduling an overnight visit next fall with one of the girls on the track team. The coach will be able to facilitate it for you and it is a really good way to see first hand what it would be like to run track for Kenyon.
As far as a major goes, both biology and English (with an emphasis in creative writing) are demanding majors. I have found, however, that even though I have a lot of work, it is manageable. Your daughter’s schedule would be fuller than that of her non-athlete counterpart, but I think the division III level of commitment is very reasonable. We are student-athletes (student first, athlete second).
Please let me know if you have any other concerns or questions about Kenyon or college life in general</p>
<ol>
<li>Is there a divide between athletes and non athletes?
There is no divide between athletes and non-athletes. I’ve heard of some of the issues that other schools might have with this so I’ll try to address them. There is not a different meal plan for athletes (in fact there is no meal plan at all), there aren’t parties for athletes only, and there is one weight room that everyone is free to use (it is very big to accommodate sharing). Some of the frats have a lot of one kind of athlete in them, but I suspect that this is just because they are all friends and they have similar interests. There are plenty of non-athlete greeks though. About 35% of the campus takes part in a varsity sport, just FYI.</li>
<li>Do you find pre-med difficult at kenyon? What is your workload?
I’m not sure if you know all this, but pre-med is not a major. It is rather a set of academic requirements that you need for med school and the MCAT. I am currently working my way through those requirements while fulfilling the biology major and the environmental concentration. It is easiest to be a natural science major to fulfill these requirements, but there are also Engligh major pre-meds, etc. These classes are all pretty demanding, but I think if you use a scheduling strategy to fit them all in four years, it isn’t too bad. I tried to shove all of them into three years, so I have one more class than most people. That course is a bit tougher, but it is up to you. When you get to Kenyon, you will meet with your advisor to work out your schedule. If you express interest in a pre-professional program, you will be assigned an advisor that is well-versed in preparing for that program. You can figure out what is best for you.</li>
<li>What are weekends like/the party scene?
There is always a bunch of events and activities going on every weekend. There are pretty typical college parties hosted by frats that everyone is invited to (normally a theme party). There are also tons of small get-togethers in the apartments and houses of the upperclassmen. There are also movie nights, game nights, activities like tye-dying, capture the flag, etc. All of these things are all-inclusive. The only invite-only events are the formals for the greeks but those are pretty rare. Basically, you can count on the fact that there will a a group of people who want to do whatever you want to do no matter what that is.</li>
<li>If i get a single will people thing im some weird recluse?
No, I don’t think that would happen. I would be more concerned with you feeling like a recluse in a single. I would only get a single if you are confident that you wouldn’t be too lonely. </li>
<li>How is the whole middle of nowhereness or do you not notice it?
When you visit campus for the first time, it definitely seems really isolated. The thing that I have come to realize about Kenyon’s location is that it inspires a strong sense of academia. Since we are a small college away from “the vice and dissipation of modern city life”, we have formed a community here. We are all young college kids, so there is never a shortage of fun things to do. I think there is a dangerous association between a rural college and a boring college. This is definitely not true (not only for Kenyon, but other small, rural liberal arts colleges). Also, this is not a suitcase school. Bascially, people don’t want to leave for fear that they’ll miss something awesome (which is a distinct possibility).</li>
<li>Where else did you apply and why did you choose Kenyon?
I decided to apply ED to Kenyon. I had visited and was planning to apply to Wesleyan (in CT), Bates, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, NYU, and Colgate. I was actually visiting Johns Hopkins when my coach called and asked me to go early. I decided that Kenyon was right for me on my overnight visit. I really didn’t want to leave. I just got a feeling here that I didn’t get at any of the other schools that I visited. I have never regretted my choice. My advice to you is to look at what makes each school on your list unique. Once you get into the top-tier schools, you shouldn’t compare academic strength because they will all be excellent. Maybe focus on the opportunities that each can offer for you. It is also important that your friend is so happy here. Maybe she can vocalize exactly what she likes here.
Let me know if you have any other questions for me!
Good luck</li>
</ol>
<p>How is the workload generally at Kenyon? How is the history department? Does the student population tend to be cliquey? Thanks</p>
<p>Are freshmen able to be tour guides at kenyon?</p>
<p>Yos,
The workload will depend on the classes that you have and your major. It is fair, however, to generalize and say that there is a large amount of work. It is definitely more than high school. I have found that it is pretty manageable. The professors are also very understanding. As long as you are putting in effort, they will work with you to make sure that you are able to do your best. You should be prepared to get different grades when you come here though. I was an A student in high school and I get mostly B’s some A minuses but I work really hard for them.
The history department offers some pretty cool opportunities and options for the history major. You will pick a topic to concentrate on:
Regional: Americas (Latin America and U.S.), Asia, Europe, Africa and African-American
Comparative: Medieval, Women’s and Gender, Colonial/Imperial
There are also distribution requirements within the major (you must study every period of history). I would suggest you check out this link: [The</a> Major - History - Kenyon College](<a href=“http://www.kenyon.edu/x12917.xml]The”>http://www.kenyon.edu/x12917.xml). Also, most history majors choose to study abroad.
The student body here does have some groups, but I don’t think it is anything out of the ordinary. Everyone is really accepting and welcoming, and I think every student, no matter how unique, has an easy time finding a lot of friends with similar interests. No one gets left out.
Let me know if you have any other questions!</p>
<p>Cillian22,
Freshmen are not able to be guides. The earliest you can apply is the spring of your freshman year. The reason for this is that we want to make sure that freshmen don’t put too much on their plate right away. You’ll have plenty of time to be a guide!
Let me know if you have any questions about the tour guide program or Kenyon in general!</p>
<p>Hey Kenyon tour guide, I got accepted earlier today and I’m really excited. I was wondering what were the hardest things in transition from high school to college and more specifically Kenyon? Also, what made you choose Kenyon over the other schools was it a specific academic program or something else?</p>
<p>Yes, Kenyon Tour Guide. My daughter got her letter of wait list status yesterday. She is just devastated. We live in OH, and have visited Kenyon, and met with college admissions people several times. Do you have any statistics you can offer on percentage of students accepted off the wait list?</p>
<p>jttoppers,
Hey Kenyon tour guide, I got accepted earlier today and I’m really excited. I was wondering what were the hardest things in transition from high school to college and more specifically Kenyon? Also, what made you choose Kenyon over the other schools was it a specific academic program or something else?
First of all, congratulations!!! To answer your question, the hardest part of the transition from high school to college for me was learning how to redistribute my time. It is tough when there is no one making you go to sleep by midnight or telling you that you can’t watch TV on your computer all night. I think a lot of students get caught up in the first couple months of being away from home. You really just need to relearn time management skills. Your advisor and your professors know this, however, and they are pretty good at making sure you are on top of everything.
I guess the hardest part about the transition to Kenyon for me personally was maybe just living somewhere that wasn’t Colorado. I’ve lived there my entire life and Ohio is very different. The rural nature of the campus can be tough for first year students, but the way I like to think about it is that we picked Kenyon knowing full well that it was isolated. It would be tough to hide that fact. Therefore, you aren’t caught off guard when you get here. Honestly, I really like living in Gambier now. We have such a strong community here and I wouldn’t change Kenyon’s location for the world.
All and all, I think Kenyon does a great job helping students make the transition. Orientation is really well organized and you’ll learn more than you’ve ever wanted to know about your programs of interest, extracurriculars, and the social scene.
Now, to get to your second question. I chose Kenyon in a bizarre way. I visited twice (once the summer before my senior year for a tour and interview and again for an overnight during the fall of my senior year) and I got this feeling the second time I was here. It is tough to describe. I felt really comfortable here and I did not want to leave after my overnight. I was actually on another college overnight when I had a weird moment of clarity and decided that while I liked the college I was visiting at that moment, I knew I was going to be happiest at Kenyon. It was almost like I was thinking to myself, “Yeah this college is pretty cool, but you already know the you are going to chose Kenyon.”
I’ve said it before, but I think the most important factor to consider in choosing a college is the aspects that make that college unique. Once you get into the top-tier schools, academics are pretty much guaranteed to be excellent. There are some opportunities here that helped me make my choice as a science student. First year students are allowed and encouraged to start doing research (which is really rare). There is a summer science program that allows students to stay on campus and do an entire summer of research. The graduate school and professional school acceptance rates were high, and, more importantly, Kenyon has a great system of preparing students for every aspect of life after Kenyon.
I’m sorry I can’t give you a single reason. At this point, I would suggest you just go with your gut. I’m sure you were accepted into a lot of great colleges, and trust me when I say you will be fine at any of them. You now just have to decide where you think you will thrive.
If you have any other questions (maybe more specifics?) just let me know!
Kenyontourguide</p>
<p>Hey there! =]
I just got my acceptance letter yesterday and am thrilled to be a part of the Kenyon community! I just have two quick questions:
- I’m going to be visiting Kenyon overnight next week and am simply wondering what I should expect for my first dorm/college classroom experience.
- My best friend is actually going to Oberlin in the fall, and although I obviously want to focus on becoming immersed in the Kenyon community, I think it would be really fun to be able to visit. I know the two schools are about 2 hours away and, I was wondering how difficult visiting for a weekend once in a while would be [as far as transportation is concerned].</p>
<p>Audsmom,
I’m sorry to hear that you and your daughter are disappointed with the outcome of the Kenyon admissions decisions. I agree that a spot on a waiting list is possibly more devastating than a rejection. It is a difficult waiting game. I do have a few hints for you. First of all, Kenyon offers a spot on the waiting list to about 850 students (all of these numbers are from the class of 2013 data). About 320 of them (or 38%) accepted that place on the list. Unfortunately, only about 10 of them were enrolled from the list (2.8%). Now, I know that those numbers are not especially encouraging, but I really urge her to accept a place on the waiting list if she truly thinks Kenyon is the place for her. She needs to express interest again to admissions and she really needs to let them know that she is committed and still interested. I would recommend contacting the admissions rep for your area. You can discuss options and also express interest.
I do know someone from my class who was accepted very late to Kenyon. She had already accepted a place at another liberal arts college and she actually told me about it during our graduation rehearsal.
If it is in the cards, it will work out. Otherwise, I’m sure that she was accepted to some other great schools and I have no doubt that she will be happy. Everything happens for a reason! Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions.</p>
<p>sayde219-</p>
<p>1) Visiting colleges is always sort of a wild card. There’s no way to know if the student hosting you will have similar interests or not, and if you’re coming on an official admitted students day or whatever, the college is likely to be overrun with prospective students, long lines, and stuff. In all likelihood you’ll be staying with a freshman and sleeping on their floor. Just don’t expect a red carpet.</p>
<p>2) If one of you have a car then it’ll be no problem, otherwise you’ll want to become really good friends with someone who has a car and doesn’t mind lending it out. There’s really no public transportation in Ohio.</p>
<p>I was wondering if i should bring a bike next year and if it is difficult for a freshman to get a parking permit. It said it’s a lottery system for what freshmen get permits.</p>