<p>S2 loved Kenyon in a recent visit, though I am concerned that he has not challenged himself adequately in his high school program to get in, or possibly to stay in, should he be admitted. He has one little literary "hook" and will gladly show them a LOT of love, but the GPA of 3.4 and SAT/ACT of 1980/28 just don't quite measure up. He will be NM Commended, most likely. Admission might have been a possibility about four years ago, but it is a high reach now. EC's are average, essays will be good. Recs, will probably be good, except the GC cannot say he has taken the toughest curriculum. My concern is, even if he did get in to Kenyon, would he find it too tough? Math is NOT his love, and he will likely not go beyond Algebra III.</p>
<p>momofthree - I am sorry you posted this question several days ago and no one has answered you. My D will attend Kenyon next year, but I definitely don't feel qualified to predict another students chances of admission. My D fell in love with Kenyon when she visited too! Good luck to your son :)</p>
<p>Thanks for you response, MotherOfTwo! And congratulations to your DD! Have you heard much about the intensity of the academic life at Kenyon? I know a lot of that depends upon a particular professor, but some schools give an impression of being academic pressure-cookers. Don't think this son would be too happy with that, though he might well rise to the occasion.</p>
<p>At Kenyon, it is important in all subjects that you can write well. Math skills are necessary for the sciences but it doesnt sound like your son is too interested in those subjects. While your son would have to take a quantitative reasoning course, the math in some of them is pretty light. I never did well in math myself but in QR courses like principles of macro/micro eocnomics it didnt matter much with my professor. It was more important to know how to use excel than to use the math. That being said, as long as your son doesnt want to major in the sciences he should be fine. Here's a link to the QR courses at Kenyon.</p>
<p><a href="http://registrar.kenyon.edu/qr.htm%5B/url%5D">http://registrar.kenyon.edu/qr.htm</a></p>
<p>I am a student at Kenyon and I can't explain admissions other than show extreme interest.</p>
<p>I got into Kenyon with a 3.2 uw and a 1420 SAT (800v/620m). I was worried about my low gpa with regard to the admissions process at a lot of the schools that I applied to, but I ended up doing much better than I expected. I'll be at Macalester this fall. </p>
<p>I suspect that with schools like Kenyon, a lot of emphasis is placed on ECs, character, and other intangibles.</p>
<p>I think moocow's experience is unusual at both school. D had 31 act, 4. w gpa, 1400 SATgot into Kenyon but waitlisted at Macalester. If your some is not a URM and doesn;t have any other hooks I would agrre with you that it is a reach. I think Kenyon likes students that show interest, like many LAC's, D visited summer of junior year and then did an overnight in the fall.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. Carlshake, he definitely CAN write, it is his gift academically, though he could stand a little honing, which I think the Senior English teacher at his school will surely give. It is encouraging that the quantitative reasoning may use less math skill and more reasoning skill. . .he did fine on math testing, but has NO patience for doing busy work in math. He would rather figure out how to do the problem on his own than go to class and have the teacher tell him how. I am going to encourage him to retake the ACT/SAT and hope the scores go up some. Thanks, also, Moocow and SARMom3 for sharing your experiences. It really helps get perspective on Kenyon to hear other's stories. We have no URM status, he is a white male. And I understand that Kenyon is about 50/50 male female. Some of the other choices on S's list would be more likely for him because of the 40/60 male/female split.</p>
<p>HinJew, he will definitely demonstrate love. He actually wrote the thank you note to the adcom before he and H left the campus, and left it for her. Don't think he's written any others at all.</p>
<p>Kenyon admits a significantly higher percentage of its ED applicants than its RD applicants. Of course, the decision as to whether to apply ED rests on many factors, including family finances. If Kenyon is definitely your son's first choice, you might want to think about this. I cannot speak to financial aid, as we would not qualify and therefore did not apply, but my D was awarded a merit scholarship by Kenyon even though she applied ED. To me, this implies that Kenyon will give the same aid (need-based or merit) regardless if the student applies ED or RD. However, of course, a student cannot compare aid offers from multiple schools if he or she applies ED.</p>
<p>Thanks, MotherOfTwo! Unfortunately, we will have to be able to compare financial aid offers. Among other things, his natural mother's income/assets will be looked at by Kenyon but not by the other three schools on his list. It will likely make a considerable difference, though Kenyon promises to meet 100% of need, while the others do not. The way it now appears, though ED has clear advantages, he will have to apply during the regular cycle.</p>
<p>Well, he can still make it very clear that Kenyon is his top choice in his RD application, and they give you plenty of opportunity to do so in the Supplement to the Common Application.</p>
<p>That sounds like a great way to do it, MotherOfTwo. I think he is planning to use the Common App with all four schools. Thanks again!</p>
<p>I don't know if anyone can really tell you if it's a reach or not. Kenyon was not my top pick, I did no interview, no overnight, nothing and was accepted. I had a lot (which is very relative term) of EC's, 3.997 uw GPA, but no "hooks" per se. </p>
<p>It's all based on the competition that he will have when he applies. He may not get in one year, but if he applied the previous year, he would have. It's based on a lot of factors.</p>
<p>We have no way of knowing which factors (GPA, SATs, essays, recs, showing interest) Kenyon really takes into account the most, because we only know the stats of the students attending, not the stats of those who applied and those who were accepted.</p>
<p>I don't like my chances either but I'm still applying early decision. Got my essay, supplemental questions, and Part One of the app done. Just gotta do the second part, give the teachers the recommendation letter envelopes, write the letter to fin aid office, and write a cover letter for my creative writing portfolio. </p>
<p>I'm (somewhat) ahead of the game. XP</p>