My S19 and I took a swing through Ohio this summer and saw Kenyon, Denison, and Oberlin. While Oberlin fell off the list, S19 and I both had great experiences at Kenyon and Denison. I think we both preferred Kenyon (more intellectual, S19 liked the remoteness) over Denison, but S19 still found things to really like about Denison (loved our tour guide and the arboretum).
I’ve been seeing a bunch of positive posts about Wooster lately and now I’m wondering if we should have stopped there on our trip. Can anyone do a quick comparison between Wooster and Kenyon and Dension? Of course, I could look at the Fiske Guide, etc., but I’m looking for first hand experience. S19 will definitely be applying to college undecided. The only majors he has ruled out are engineering, comp sci, and business. He likes the idea of Environmental Studies, but could very easily end up at Econ, History, Philosophy, or even a Chem major!
I guess I should mention that we are a full pay family. S19 should be in top 25th% of students admitted to Kenyon so if he gets accepted, he may get a little merit there, which would be great. I’m thinking he would get even more at Denison. We haven’t decided how much merit opportunities will affect our choice. His current list includes mostly schools that give merit, but some of those merit scholarships are super competitive (like Davidson, Wake).
Wooster has a lot to offer, the independent research project is a strong unifying feature of the school, and there are some neat traditions, like the bag pipe marching band and trying to fill up the archway with snow to get class cancelled on the first big snow of the year. I was impressed by the hire for the new President – Dean from WIlliams, a female scientist. But for my kid, who spent a lot of time at Oberlin, Kenyon, Denison, Grinnell as a prospective athlete, Wooster just never really rose to the top. Wooster is more remote, but without the potential charm of utter isolation offered by Kenyon, and Wooster has more of an expansive campus, with streets running through it, a la Oberlin, but without the close proximity of Aladdin, the Fev etc. that Oberlin has. If you/your student responded favorably to Denison, and are comfortable they will get solid merit from Denison, it’s not necessary to add Wooster to the list. Feel free to PM me.
Thanks, @Midwestmomofboys . That’s exactly the kind of information I’m looking for. The SAT ranges for Denison and Wooster look the same so I was trying to find a reason to add Wooster as another (somewhat) safety school. S19 having a hard time finding true safeties. So far, Denison and Beloit on the list but I think he preferred Denison. We would have to dig deeper if we ever had to decide between the two.
I don’t know how many safeties he should have and exactly how safe they need to be. (I know the definition everyone on CC always gives - definite admit, price you can afford - but that doesn’t really work the same when looking at LACs instead of state schools!) We’ve got some time but keeping my eyes open for other “safeties” so he can feel like he has choices no matter what.
@homerdog We toured both Denison and Wooster. For my intellectual son, it was more a difference of the people he met. Both seemed to have strong students (although a step below Kenyon and Oberlin). However he liked the undergrad research focus and felt a friendlier group at Wooster. He spent time in the cafeteria and met a number of students willing to take the time and talk with him. At Denison he saw more students alone, while walking and in the cafeteria. Note it could have been the day at Denison.
As for the road, my son felt the road through Dickinson was more predominant. At Wooster the quad and dorms and classrooms do not have roads running through them…I know the hill at Denison was a turnoff for him more so than the one road at Wooster lol! In the end I don’t know where my son will land, but wanted to give a different perspective. Good luck to your son!
Funny, we had the opposite situation: Visited Oberlin, Kenyon and Wooster but somehow missed Denison, which I regret, though everything turned out fine in the end.
Of the three of them, my kid really liked Wooster. He found the kids engaged and unpretentious. It stayed on his short list until he had all his options in hand, and then another school finally won out. If your son is top quartile for Kenyon, he might get some nice merit at Wooster. Although I didn’t visit Denison, my impression is that Wooster might occupy a space between Beloit and Denison in terms of overall vibe. I’d keep it in the mix unless you learn something that turns you off.
We visited all of the schools you mentioned in February. We spent quite a bit of time at Wooster. What we loved…the town, the pretty campus, the friendly thoughtful admissions office, the possibilities of merit aid. Based on one biology class attended and our interactions with students-which included the several students we were set up with for lunch, a visit in the admissions office with several seniors and even the senior who interviewed my daughter…well they didn’t seem to be anywhere as academically focused as my daughter. I hate saying this because it seemed like a really nice friendly place. Even the seniors we met who were wonderful had no plans for beyond college in late February of their senior year. A few had taken one or two APs in high school but either had not taken the exams or hadn’t fared well. We felt the students at Denison were similar or maybe a bit more academic but we interacted with less of them, the Kenyon students seemed very academic as did the Oberlin students (but a bit more quirky). Their are lots of different types of students at all schools so take this with a grain of salt!
Not sure about Denison or Wooster but Kenyon does give a fair amount of merit aid to strong applicants. D was awarded a $25K/year scholarship there. I don’t think Kenyon likes giving merit aid but they have to in order to be competitive with their peer group
Denison and Wooster are also generous with merit aid.
My D got “ok” merit from Kenyon, and excellent merit from Denison. I had 2 nephews who went to Wooster (which killed it for D - she has this thing about not going to a college that her cousins had gone to… and she has 11 cousins!) who also got strong aide there… they had made a final decision between Wooster and Oberlin (where they got less aide)
Denison’s tiers of merit are: $16, 20 and 24, with a big jump between those and the full tuition award – those are really impressive, phenomenal kids, the ones we met at admitted students day were choosing between Stanford and Denison with full tuition award, or Columbia and Denison with full tuition award.
Wooster also offered up to $24k, I believe, and there were audition-based music awards available. Anecdotally, it sounds like Kenyon and Oberlin awards are more typically in the $10-20k range and don’t go much beyond that.
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Wooster’ merit awards are up to $30K now with competitive awards up to $32K (top 5%, 1380+ SAT).
With additional music scholarships, for example, merit can go up to but not exceed $34K.