Oberlin v. Kenyon v. Grinnell

Colleges and Universities A-Z Oberlin College
1

Hello all!

I am transferring for the Fall 2017 semester, and would like some input.

I applied to, and have been accepted at: Brown University, Dartmouth College, Kenyon College, Oberlin College, Carleton College, Grinnell College, Rhodes College, Centre College, and Sarah Lawrence College. I’m still waiting to hear back from Davidson College.

My areas of concentration (thus far) have been Classics, History, and Political Science, with some work in Anthropology and Philosophy, and my eventual major/majors will be some amalgam of these fields. What is your estimation of the quality of the programs/departments at the above schools, particularly in comparison to one another? I imagine, as seems to be the case across liberal arts colleges, they are more similar than they are different, but I’m wondering if any of you have experience with these departments.

At the moment, Kenyon College is the front-runner for a few reasons, one being the Integrated Program in Humane Studies, and while I could create a similar course of study at any of the other colleges, I do appreciate the infrastructure already present at Kenyon.

Any other information you think may be relevant to the decision is welcome.

Thank you for your help!

2

I’m currently an Oberlin student here. By your interest in humanities, Oberlin offers fairly good courses for your interests. Personally, I’ve heard great things in the Political science department. For classics, there aren’t that many classes offered at a small liberal arts college. From what I’ve heard about Kenyon, it is an extremely small school and town. Personally, I’ve found Oberlin college to be too small with not a great college town. I’ve heard worse about Kenyon. However, Kenyon does have a wonderful campus appearance. Better than Oberlin, in my opinion. PM me if you have more questions about Oberlin.

3

Are Brown and Dartmouth unaffordable? I know it isn’t all about prestige, both schools have good departments in your areas of interest.

4

Indeed they do, Brown in particular has a rather strong program in Classics, especially with more “niche” fields like late antiquity. I am currently at a liberal arts college that is rather far away from home, and, due to an increasingly tumultuous situation, I would like to be closer to the fam. This isn’t the primary reason I’m transferring, but it would be a nice advantage to most of the schools. I applied to Brown and Dartmouth just to see what would happen, but in truth, I would be more interested in Brown for a PhD program, should that be the route I choose to go.

As for the size of the college and the surrounding town: my current school is much smaller than either Kenyon and Gambier, or Oberlin, so either would actually be a relatively significant up-size.

5

I have written about Oberlin v. Kenyon before, so you might want to refer to my prior post. Oberlin has had strong history and politics departments for many years, and a listing of their courses is online. Oberlin is very flexible, and I am certain you could put together your own program, or take advantage of what they already offer…

Oberlin is the largest liberal arts college on your list, and should have the most course offerings.

Oberlin has a pretty campus too, probably not as pretty as Kenyon. But, after being on any campus for awhile it becomes a non-factor.

Besides having a great art museum, winter term, and the experimental college, Oberlin has the treasures of the conservatory and the coop system. I do not think any other liberal arts college can match these. The conservatory has 400-500 concerts a year, and offers non-conservatory students the opportunities to take classes there and to learn an instrument. There are several student chorales as well. At Kenyon, you will be attending many swimming meets because of their nationally renowned program. At Oberlin, you will attend many concerts and be exposed to the outstanding talent there.If you like music or want to learn more about any form of it, this is the place.

The coop system is where students run a number of college-owned buildings, mostly old houses. You can either room and board there, or just board. You work a few hours a week, either cooking or cleaning up in exchange for lower room and board costs. It is a smaller environment than boarding through the regular dining service, and it is a way to develop close friendships. If you cannot get in as transfer student, maybe you can in a future year.

The chief complaint of liberal arts college attendees is that there is nothing to do outside of class. Oberlin is different in that there are actually too many things to do outside of class, with all of the groups, performances, films,and lectures that are on campus. It has a full panoply of physical activities, such as intramural sports, and dance activities. The main recreation building and pool are being renovated and should be ready soon.

I think you would find that in addition to excellent academics, you will have a great experience there. You will find the students and faculty to be very friendly and welcoming. At Oberlin.edu, you will find blogs written by current students and stories by students and alumni.