<p>Hello, it's me again, from New Jersey, getting excited about my trip to PA/Ohio with my son in a few weeks. So far we have scheduled Penn State on Tuesday, U Pittsburgh on Wednesday morning, Ohio State on Thursday morning, Ohio Wesleyan on Thursday afternoon, and Miami on Friday morning. I really wanted to add another LAC and found that I have room for just one more on Wednesday afternoon: either Denison (a little under 3 hours from Pitt) or Wooster (about 2 1/2 hours from Pitt.) Which should I choose? Son has no preference whatsoever (<em>rolling eyes</em>). I am personally very compelled by the required independent study project at Wooster and and leaning that way. Also, son would probably have a better chance at being accepted there. On the other hand, the description of the Denison campus and surrounding town sounds more attractive. Can anyone offer any personal experience to help me decide? Thanks!!</p>
<p>I’m partial to Denison but Wooster is a little easier to get into. Both are great choices (not very helpful, was that!)</p>
<p>I’m afraid I never made it up to Wooster but DD attended Denison. Beautiful town and campus, very good academics. If you think your S may not be accepted to Denison I would probably hit Wooster.</p>
<p>Thanks for replies. I’m definitely leaning more toward Wooster as we already have a few reaches on the tour. I hope it’s a pretty campus, though he probably won’t care, LOL. What sort of town is Wooster?</p>
<p>Haven’t been to Wooster D was acccepted at Dennison but took another path.Nice campus felt like a lot of school spirit.</p>
<p>Go visit Wooster, I promise you will not regret it. The campus is gorgeous and the town is fairly neat in its own right. The academics at Wooster are amazing, as is Independent Study. </p>
<p>I say all of this as a future Wooster student, class of 2017.</p>
<p>Thanks Syoung2. Just booked our 6th and final college tour of the summer at Wooster. I am probably more excited than my son at this point but I think he will get there when he sees all the fabulous possibilities in store :)</p>
<p>I love Wooster’s campus and senior IS. I’d have dropped OWU for Denison but you didn’t ask that :)</p>
<p>Dennison has been getting some nasty press of late for drug use. The methodology has been questioned but, to me, it is worth noting that Dennison came in at #2 as druggiest college in the nation.</p>
<p>A family friend will be a junior at Denison. He said his biggest disappoint has been the party culture. This guy is about as far from geeky as you can get but is anti-drug and alcohol. He went mainly because he got a great price for playing football.</p>
<p>@midwestdad #2 according to whom?</p>
<p>heavylidded - Yes, that is a concern - we were told at a college information meeting in town not to do college tours in the summer because the students won’t be there and your child wont get a real feel for what the school is like…but, since I am headed to Ohio this summer anyway, I am glad for my son’s company and figured there wouldn’t be too many more opportunities for us to see this part of the country. We’ll still need to do the New England tour at some point (although for some reason I am more excited for this one…maybe because I’ve been to New England so many times already) and hopefully a southern tour. One thing I made sure to do was to book an official tour at each school instead of just wander around ourselves. It was a little trickier this way, because we had to fit our schedule to the tour schedules, but we were told (at the same meeting) to be sure to take tours because it goes on record and shows interest. I’m hoping the tour guides will be friendly and knowledgeable and be able to give us a good feel for the schools. Also, a couple of the schools (OWU and Wooster) recommended “discussions” or interviews with admissions reps (in fact OWU set one up for us without us even requesting it!) but I am not inclined to have my son do that at this point. This is an information gathering trip for us, and I don’t think my son is ready to “sell” himself yet.</p>
<p>[Druggiest</a> Colleges in U.S.: Colorado, Denison, Dartmouth, Kenyon, More - The Daily Beast](<a href=“Druggiest Colleges in U.S.: Colorado, Denison, Dartmouth, Kenyon, More”>Druggiest Colleges in U.S.: Colorado, Denison, Dartmouth, Kenyon, More)</p>
<p>Ohio does a Six Colleges Tour from August 5-7.
Oberlin, Kenyon, Wittenberg, Wooster, Denison, Ohio Wesleyan </p>
<p>It was better than just taking a summer tour. </p>
<p>[Ohio</a> Six College Tours](<a href=“http://www.ohiosixcollegetours.com/]Ohio”>http://www.ohiosixcollegetours.com/)</p>
<p>Don’t miss Wooster. It is a lovely school with so much to offer. My daughter was accepted 2 years ago, but opted for another school. However, I was lobbying for her to choose Wooster. :)</p>
<p>Wooster is not to be missed. S1 just finished his first year there and loved it. He was accepted at LAC’s ranked far above Wooster, but he went with his gut feeling and made the right call. If your son is a good student, you can expect to get some pretty nice merit scholarships from Wooster. The campus is beautiful. The town of Wooster is quiet, but my son doesn’t feel like he’s missed out on anything. He loves that he’s made friends from all over the country and the world at Wooster. Wooster is a hidden gem, and I believe more people are “discovering” it. I think application numbers are going up. Current students and alumni that we talked to said their Independent Study project was key in getting their first job or graduate school acceptance.</p>
<p>Crazy. Looks like being in Ohio hurts with the drug stats for youth used and College P*rowler and an active police force do the rest. I know many people who work at Denison and a good number of students as well and the druggie thing is not part of my experience of any of them. Alcohol, yes…the town/gown situation with students drinking has always been a little tense. I am not sure Denison kids drink more than others as much as that Granville is a small town with virtually no violent or property crime, so smaller things “stick out”.</p>
<p>I wouldn’t put much stock into a list who’s methodology is 40%: the “drug safety grade” from College Pr*ow!!r, 40%: school arrests from 2010, and 20%: the statewide illicit drug use for 18-25yos from 2008-2009.</p>
<p>carasmom, I loved Wooster best too. Sadly they didn’t come up with the $ that the school S finally chose did or he might have gone. Everyone from his HS who chose Wooster has stayed and loved. </p>
<p>I may be a little down on OWU because I perceive it as a little run down, on not-as-sure financial footing, and not a popular choice around here. But that’s anecdotal and my own personal impression. Of the Great Lakes consortium schools, Wooster, Denison, DePauw, Wittenberg, Earlham and Oberlin seem to be the top picks for our HS grads (behind OSU and Miami).</p>
<p>Miss Bee, Thank you, for posting the Ohio college tour information. Is the tour an annual event? </p>
<p>OHMomof2, I appreciate the OWU information, as D contacted them earlier this year regarding one of their programs, and now receives almost weekly emails from the Adcom assigned to our area. The scholarships they offer and the quaint town near the school is a big attraction, but if the school is run down and not financially sound, it will not make the final cut. I’ll have to research the financial stability of the school, and D will have to visit to get a feel for the “shabbiness” of the campus.</p>
<p>Bunheadmom, do research it and don’t take my word…it’s just the “buzz” around here. Denison’s endowment sits at around 500 million right now, OWU is around 185m. Endowment surely isn’t everything but I’d ask about it.</p>
<p>The “quaint town” of Delaware is on the northern edge of major Columbus metropolis-ness, complete with commuter rush hour traffic and plenty of through traffic carrying Columbus and all south of it on 23 to Toledo, Detroit, etc. i wouldn’t call Delaware a small town, not for 20+ years.</p>