Hello,
I am a junior residing in Connecticut. I had conversations with my cousin (who is a freshman at Oberlin) and my parents, and we weren’t sure whether Oberlin or Kenyon would be a better option for me. My cousin seems to think that oberlin is a lot better, but I’m sure bias from being a student was involved with that. I am currently interested in majoring in history, english, philosophy, psychology or physics.
Thanks for all of your help
Hi-
As a current hs senior who visited Oberlin & Kenyon (within the same weekend nonetheless) and ended up applying ED to Kenyon…hopefully I can give you some insight!!!
Oberlin and Kenyon both share very strong liberal arts curriculums & Kenyon is definitely known for their English department. They both seem to have liberal-leaning students but Kenyon’s students are definitely more conventional than Oberlin’s students IMO. I didn’t feel that I fit in at Oberlin at all while I was there but my sister (much more alternative than me) absolutely loved it! Our feelings were switched for Kenyon-I felt like I fit in great there and my sister didn’t prefer it at all. So both are excellent schools…it’s just a matter of which fits you better!
I am an Oberlin alumnus and I can tell you what I know about Oberlin and some differences with Kenyon.
Oberlin has close to 3,000 students and Kenyon has about 1,600-1700. Gambier has 2000-2500 residents and the town of Oberlin has 8000-8500 residents. So, at Oberlin, you are in a larger school and a larger town. Oberlin has a nice downtown with local merchants and at least a dozen restaurants. Gambier is much smaller. Oberlin is a southwest suburb of Cleveland, and located just a few miles south of the Ohio Turnpike. Kenyon is more secluded.
In Us News, Oberlin ranked just a few spots higher than Kenyon, for what that is worth.
Kenyon has fraternities and sororities. Oberlin does not. About a fifth of the students at Oberlin choose to live and/or board in coops which are generally college-owned buildings which the students operate. Students cook their own meals and work a few hours per week, in exchange for lower room and board. Many of these buildings are older houses. People are admitted to coops by lottery.
Kenyon has a beautiful campus, probably nicer than Oberlin’s, but Oberlin has a nice campus too.
Kenyon has a great athletic facility, and the greatest sports dynasty in NCAA history: the Division III men’s and women’s swimming teams which have won dozens of national championships. Oberlin has an aging athletic center, which it is in the process of renovating. It just built a football/lacrosse stadium. Oberlin can’t compete with Kenyon in swimming but it has most of the varsity and intramural sports, and has fine varsity track and field and cross country programs.
Oberlin has a world-renowned music conservatory with about 600 students(included within the 3000). Hundreds of performances are presented each year, and most are well-attended by students, although there is no pressure to do so. If you are into music, it would be a great place. Oberlin has numerous lectures, films, and plays. . It owns its own movie theatre. It has many singing groups. Many of the students participate in swing dancing, what’s called the OCircus, the student newspaper, or have student radio shows. It has one of the best college art museums, and the environmental studies building is famous for recycling everything. it has a nightclub. It has a large science center.
Oberlin has a great website where there are student blogs and stories written by students and alumni about their times at Oberlin.
I think it is more left-wing than Kenyon because it has a long history of being involved in social movements. The latest is the controversy over police shootings.
As the prior writer said, it has to fit right. You should visit both schools and, perhaps, stay overnight.
Also, Kenyon has a lot more students from the New England (prep schools and such) whereas Oberlin draws mostly from California, NYC & DC.
Source: went to camp at Kenyon for 7 years, best friend attends, dad went to Oberlin & have friends who live there (with professor parents).
@mountaingoats I don’t think your assertions stand up to the facts. It takes some poking around their websites to get the statistics but the two colleges’ geographic distributions are more similar than different.
Considering New England for example, Oberlin has 14% NY vs. Kenyon 10%, Oberlin 8% Mass. vs. Kenyon 6%. No way to break it down to NYC. Connecticut: Oberlin 2.8%, Kenyon 2.2%.
Oberlin as 12% Calif vs. Kenyon 11%.
Oberlin has only 1.2% from Wash. DC. Even if you throw in MD and VA, it’s a total of 7.8%, but not all students from MD and VA are from the DC area. Kenyon has 6.6% total from MD and VA; they only list the top source states so I don’t know how many students come from DC, but in any case Oberlin 7.8% MD-DC-VA vs. Kenyon >6.6% is not a significant difference IMHO.
So I would not consider geographic diversity of student bodies to be an important difference, with the minor consideration that Oberlin has 5% Ohio students vs. Kenyon 16%.
Can you visit? It is likely you will quickly know your own preference after spending a day on each campus. Plus, why do you have to decide now? You can apply to both.
My S visited both too… and applied ED to Kenyon. He is a Freshman there now and is in absolute bliss. He felt that Kenyon was more conventional and that the students were all super smart but no one acted like it… if you know what I mean… just more unpretentious. Although Oberlin is a great school, he just preferred Kenyon way more… I think the two schools are actually very different.
Well, I don’t know if it will help, but I’m going to visit Kenyon for an interview, tour, and info session and I could tell you what I think after. 
We visited both, and found them quite different. Students seemed smart and engaged at both, so either felt like a good lace to get an excellent education but Kenyon felt a bit like a picture-perfect movie set – too precious (and preppy) for my kid – whereas Oberlin felt a bit run down, but also more real. Different kids will feel differently.
This thread is very useful, thanks to all who posted.
Thank you everyone for your input