Hi,
I am an international student be admitted by Lawrence and Denison for Class of 2025. Although I am still waiting for a long school list under RD, these are 2 best fit choices so far.
I plan to major in History, Government and minor in Film, also take Entrepreneurship courses. Financial aid from the two university is basically same, very generous! But because of the low contribution, I have to join Denison for the Spring semester (Now this’s no matter because I plan to enroll in Fall 2022). Could anyone give me more advice for final decision? I’m leaning towards Lawrence and Appleton looks bustling.
Congratulations! My son, who is now a sophomore at Denison, was also accepted at Lawrence - it seems these two school attract a lot of international students who also have an interest in the arts. My son is a US citizen but he grew up overseas and this is the first time he has lived in the US. We never visited Lawrence, but it was my impression as well that Appleton looked like a great town. Denison is in Granville, which is a small but very beautiful village. It serves the students’ daily lives very well - there is a drugstore, a couple of good restaurants, an outdoor clothing store, a bank, etc. There is a larger town - Newark/Heath - about ten minutes away, and the state capitol, Columbus, is about a half hour away. Columbus is growing rapidly and is a neat city. So Denison is not as isolated as you may guess, but it definitely has a small-town feel. My son has taken several History classes, and all of his professors have been terrific - I think it is a very strong department. He has also taken a couple of film classes and enjoyed those as well. For Government, you might want to look at the PPE - Philosophy, Politics and Economics - program, which is very highly-regarded. I suggest that you sign up for any Facebook groups for admitted students at these schools, as well as any student panels they may be offering. Those things were helpful to my son in getting a sense for who his classmates might be and which school might be the best fit for him. He just hit it off with Denison right away and he is very happy there.
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Your son’s experience sounds wonderful. I’m so curious about the academic challenge at Denison, how was that challenge to your son?
He has found the academics at Denison to be challenging, but it has been a good challenge. He did the IB Diploma program in high school, so he had substantial experience doing research and writing papers and was relatively well-prepared. He has found some of his most challenging courses at Denison to be the most interesting, and he has signed on for additional courses from several of those professors. The professors at Denison are generally supportive and accessible, so he doesn’t worry about getting in over his head. I “sat in” on a couple of his classes last spring when he was home and studying remotely, and I was very impressed by the quality of the teaching and the engagement by the students. He’s not a History major, but Professor Davis and Professor Yousef in the History Department are two of his favorite teachers.
Congrats on great options! My son was also accepted to both Lawrence and Denison, went to Denison and graduated last year. He had an incredible academic and all around experience and loved every minute. Granville itself is a small, charming village – think New England village, with clapboard houses from the 1800s. Columbus is 30 min away and a major city (I believe 10th largest in US) and the state capital, plus home to OSU, the state public flagship university, so there is a bustling night life, restaurant, museum, music etc. scene for when students want to get off campus for that. Academically – like @tkoparent’s son – my son was an IB student in high school so familiar with research, reading original texts etc. and found Denison classes challenging but in a good way. His professors were uniformly fantastic, over 4 years, he may have had 1-2 professors he described as “fine” rather than great. He was Poli Sci major, and since his graduation, Denison has introduced a Public Policy concentration in Poli Sci, plus there is the Lugar Program which involves internships plus academic classes. Film, theater and all the fine and performing arts are excellent departments.
For a student who cannot visit either campus, our experience was that Lawrence felt more quirky, more like Oberlin. My son preferred the visible diversity of students at Denison.
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I can’t speak to either school academically but I’ve visit both campuses and prefer Denison’s location. While Granville is smaller than Appleton, you will have an easier time getting to/from campus and potential opportunities near Columbus.
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Based on your interests & need for scholarship money, St. Lawrence University in remote upstate New York near Canada might be of interest to you (lots of merit scholarships). Is it on your long list of RD schools ?
St. Lawrence & Denison are similar schools in many respects.
Lawrence University is very well known for music. Academics are strong. Kids a bit quirky. Lawrence is small at about 1,420 students, while Denison has about 2,300 students as does St. Lawrence.
First year retention rates are similar: 88% at Lawrence, 89% at Denison, & 90% at St. Lawrence.
P.S. To which schools did you apply RD ?
Yes, I do understand, but OP is waiting on many RD school decisions. I mentioned St. Lawrence because it meets OP’s interests & needs, and it has similarities with Denison.
Unfortunately, I didn’t have St.Lawrence in my list. My RD list is mostly top LAC like Grinnell, Davidson, Colby, Colgate, Macalester, Oberlin and a number of LACs in Penn as Bucknell, Lafayette, Dickinson, Gettysburg and F&M. But I willing to enroll in a college that I could live and learn in the supportive way, not extremely competitive.
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I misread your post and then deleted my response, but you were too quick! Sorry!!
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