Hi, so, my daughter considered both schools last year (along with a couple more similar Midwestern LACs) and ended up at Kenyon. It’s kind of funny, because the whole time she thought Mac was her top choice, and the schools are so opposite in terms of the location. We visited both, did a Junior Day at Kenyon in March 2019 and then a visit to Macalester (along with some other schools) in the summer 2019. We really liked both of them, but the presentation at Macalester just blew us away. She’s interested in theater and liked the idea of being in a small LAC in a city with a very active theater life. She got into both with nice merit, but Kenyon gave her a little bit more money overall, and when we started looking more closely at Kenyon again, it seemed to be a great fit, with a very strong theater department and a strong emphasis on creative writing.
She also had some concerns about Greek life but we were reassured both during our tour and later, when contacting some current students, that it’s not a dominant culture on campus, and in general, it’s not stereotypical Greek life you find in large state schools, more inclusive and non-toxic. This has been confirmed by her experience so far; she says, except for getting occasional emails, she didn’t feel its presence on campus at all (granted, she only spent one semester at Kenyon, since freshmen stayed remote in the spring).
As for the location, she saw advantages in both types of location: yes, Mac is in a great city, but Kenyon to her had that idyllic college campus feel, “almost a writers’ retreat.” The current student my daughter contacted, when she was making her decision, is from NYC, and she said one advantage of Kenyon’s isolated location is that it creates an incredibly tightly knit community; that student had no problem with the location, she said there was always so much going on on campus. My daughter, too, was so busy with school, participating in a music ensemble, and spending time with friends that she was never bored or isolated there. In fact, she kept saying how beautiful the campus was, and she was just so happy just walking on it every day (also, incredibly grateful to actually be on campus this past fall).
Kenyon is actually located in a beautiful part of Ohio, with rolling hills and a nice trail nearby (the Kokosing river gap) for biking and walking. The weather is not that bad at all; the fall was very nice; because of the pandemic, my daughter and her friends had lots of their meals outside well into November and she also had two outdoor concerts. I’m sure it’s different in the winter, but it’s true of many US locations.
Kenyon is very liberal, from what I understand (just not extreme). Overall, my daughter is just in love with Kenyon and can’t imagine being any place else. This is not to try to sway you away from Mac, it’s a fantastic school. The neighborhood is great, with nice shops, restaurants, a direct bus line to the airport and to both cities. Just to give you a perspective. I’ve noticed that some people on the forum are quick to put a label on a school, but in reality they’re much more mixed and diverse.
I’m not into partying or Greek Life, and I know Kenyon has some Greek. I love spending time outdoors and I know both campuses are beautiful and there’s a chance I could run cross country at both but would need to contact coach. There’s also a club sport at Mac that I’m interested in. I got roughly the same amount of merit money from both. Lastly, my twin is going to another MN school, so we’d be close…