D is a recruited athlete and is looking at these 3 schools and a few others. Thoughts on comparison and contrast among these 3?
Has she met with the coaches or visited the campuses? What are her academic interests? My impression is that Denison will be more business oriented than Oberlin. I am not familiar with Centre. Most importantly, she should get a feel for the coaches, AD support (especially if her sport will require mid-week travel) and general campus fit.
I would review the Wikipedia description of each college and look at the student reviews for each one. There are positive, negative, neutral, and advice categories. With close to 3,000 students, Oberlin is much larger than Centre and somewhat larger than Denison. There aren’t many comments for Centre, but there are many negative ones for Denison. Both Centre and Denison have large fraternity and sorority memberships. Oberlin does not permit sororities or fraternities. The negative reviews for Oberlin comprise mainly of criticizing the left-leaning students, and questioning the value of a liberal arts education. There is no mention of large-scale substance abuse and partying because of not enough activities for students, which is set forth in several Denison reviews. Oberlin is ranked higher than the other two by US News, for what that is worth. What I liked about Oberlin was the intellectual atmosphere, where you will encounter many bright students and faculty, and they are the examples you try to emulate. Also, with the absence of fraternities and sororities, there is not much emphasis on how you look, or how you dress, or what you drive, and how much money you have. People do not flaunt their wealth at Oberlin. And the athletes are treated like other students, But, if you are a good athlete, the college will encourage you to reach your potential…
I should add that Oberlin has a world-renowned conservatory, with hundreds of performances per year, which Centre and Denison do not have. If your daughter is interested in or would like to become interested in all forms of music, Oberlin would be a great place. The art museum is also excellent and is the center of art history and studio arts programs.
^^This is a new one for me. Citing Wikipedia reviews to glean information about colleges. Good grief.
Wikipedia is not Encyclopedia Britannica (I hope I spelled it right) but it is quick and a good source of information. The reviews are found by googling, say, “Oberlin College student reviews”. These are not within Wikipedia.
@Soccerdad3 I’m not sure if you’re still looking for information, but I’m a recent Denison grad who considered a range of Ohio liberal arts colleges, primarily Oberlin, Kenyon, and Denison. Oberlin was very clearly not the place for me, so I threw it out of consideration quite early on, but I can speak to some of the negative Wikipedia reviews about Denison.
Denison used to be a school for very wealthy, preppy kids who partied hard. It was a crazy place and doubtless deserved many of the negative reviews that you will find on some websites. But the administration has worked hard to turn Denison’s reputation around. They are desperate for Denison to be known as one of the top liberal arts colleges, so use the large endowment to attract talented and diverse students that would typically go elsewhere (I was one of those students haha). The atmosphere has changed drastically for the better and, while there is still quite a bit of heavy drinking, it is no worse than you would find at any other small liberal arts college. In terms of substance abuse, the only drug that I came in contact with was marijuana. Again, this will be common at nearly all liberal arts schools.
Oberlin didn’t make it very far on my list, but I was extremely close to choosing Kenyon (also a quirky and intellectual place) primarily because it was so highly rated and the more intellectual of the two, but Denison’s overnight visit sold me. Denison seemed more alive and friendly in a way that Kenyon’s campus didn’t. Since then, I have often heard Denison described as a place for “doers” and Kenyon/Oberlin as a place for more “thinking” types, which I feel describes the different vibes I got from the campuses. Denison also struck me as incredibly diverse, not just in race/ethnicity, but in the fact that there was a good mix of preppy/artsy, liberal/conservative, urban/rural students.
Anyway, I had a great experience at Denison and believe it is one of the most underrated colleges in America. But I also have friends at Oberlin who are blissfully happy. An overnight visit would probably sort the decision out. And I have no experience at all with Centre.
I love Oberlin (my D attends) but I do have to say that sports is not as big there as at most schools. Whereas Kenyon made a point of telling us about all of their teams I don’t remember Oberlin even mentioning sports on our several visits. On parent’s weekend I was talking of her and a few of her friends and I said “too bad the football team got crushed this weekend” and they looked at each other quizzically and then all agreed they didn’t know Oberlin even had a football team.
Of course, my daughter isn’t interested in sports and it’s possible that there’s a thriving sports culture there that she’s unaware of, but I suspect not.
I played a varsity sport at Oberlin too, and most people did not know about my sport. The football team does not have a winning tradition, and that is why many people are unenthused about it. I am certain that those same female students knew about the women’s sports, because the college is small enough that some of their friends probably played sports. It was great being able to attend a Division III college and play your sport. But the most important thing is that it is just a great academic institution, with bright faculty and students who influence you. You learn how to think, write, and even talk at a high intellectual level because you want to be like them. There are many student organizations with high student participation. There is the conservatory which is a treasure offering hundreds of concerts. I went to a musical event at least once every two weeks. There are parties, but people do not get drunk all of the time. Most of them spend their time looking into intellectual things, or how the human condition can be improved. Your eyes are opened to different perspectives and ways of thinking all of the time.
I should also add that Oberlin is a place of “doers”, from demonstrating about the police shootings recently, to tutoring and mentoring local students and young people.