<p>We are taking high school junior S2 on a road trip through Ohio this coming weekend. He is a straight B student in all Honors and AP classes, SGA Officer for 3 years, honor board member, and Varsity athlete. We are looking at the following colleges...John Carroll University, Otterbein, Wittenberg, Miami University, Xavier and University of Dayton. He does not know what he wants to major in (perhaps business, public administration, history, pre-law) or what size school he wants (sigh).</p>
<p>I would love some feedback and or interesting facts about these schools to throw into conversation with him. Anything we should particularly look at? Majors we should know about to ask questions? </p>
<p>Also, FOOD! The way to my teenager's heart is through his stomach. Any suggestions of restaurants that we should visit? He loves cheesesteaks....he was talking about touring colleges and trying cheesesteaks at each of them (I was hoping for the ice cream tour...but alas...no). He also likes gourmet food of any kind. My husband would prefer to frequent non-chain restaurants to support the local culture. Any recommendations for that?</p>
<p>You will get lots of good input, but just wanted to start the ball rolling by saying that’s a great list of schools. The problem, however, is that Ohio has so many schools to offer! I’m in the mid-Atlantic and DS#1 and DS#2 are both currently in Ohio schools. If this is your oldest, you might spend a few minutes on the CTCL site. That will give you some good info on Denison, OWU, and Wooster as well as the ones you’re already considering. If your son is a little more English-y, artsy then Kenyon is worth some time.</p>
<p>I’d also suggest you not put too much pressure on these initial visits. My kids knew within about 10 minutes of being on a particular campus whether it was a “keep on the list” or a “no way”. It was very dependent on the students there–if it seemed like a group of kids they could seen themselves fitting in with or not. That is all to say gather all the info/statistics you want, but there really is something to that whole idea of “feel”.</p>
<p>Have fun. Relax. I’d view this as a winnowing process. Your goal here is not to end your trip with your son absolutely having a #1 preference (although that’d be great if he did!). More to give him an initial feel for the schools, and a “no” or “maybe” after visiting each one.</p>
<p>Well to satisfy your ice cream urge, check out Grater’s in Cincy or Otterbein. Skyline Chili is not gourmet, but is a Cincy tradition!</p>
<p>S liked Xavier quite a bit. Positives include great sport scene (basketball) not too big, not too small campus, lots of newer building going on. Negatives = surrounding area and few work study opps. S was a val and had a great resume and couldn’t get another dime from them other than the merit scholarship automatically offered. I do think he would have liked it there.</p>
<p>I have my eye on Otterbein as a place to tour when my last one grads in 2015 - love the Columbus area - great for all ages. Short North is a fun trendy area near to OSU that attracts lots of people for dining and entertainment. You can get most places around Columbus - no matter what direction - with a 15-20 minute drive.</p>
<p>Miami of course has a good reputation. Lots of kids from around here go there. Greek life seems pretty popular. Nice town.</p>
<p>U Dayton - top notch men’s teams: basketball (notch below Xavier), football (off year this year). Great women’s teams: VBall, soccer, basketball. The school is very big on service to the community (they live it as well as promote it). Graters and Skyline are here in Dayton, too. PM me for the types/expense of restaurants you want to visit. DW and I are foodies. Let me know if you are interested in Denison, too (DD1 is a a recent grad).</p>
<p>My daughter graduated from Otterbein in ‘10; I definitely echo abasket’s recommendation of stopping at Graeter’s for ice cream (moms are allowed their treats too!) This may/may not be a selling point for Otterbein, but it is “officially” a dry campus. Until 2006 or so, all of Westerville was dry, part of their heritage as the home of the Anti-Saloon League. If you saw the recent Ken Burns’ Prohibition series on PBS, this will ring a bell. Mr. Burns used the Anti-Saloon League archives at the Westerville library extensively, and he recently visited campus to preview the series.</p>
<p>Right near the campus is the Old Bag of Nails Pub if you’re looking for a quick sandwich; if you like Thai food (and a higher price), I recommend Thai Grille (also in Uptown).</p>
<p>Well if you travel straight south from John Carroll you will be in Holmes County, home of the world’s largest Amish settlement.(along with adjacent counties) We have some astounding yummy food and no chain restaurants…we don’t even have an interstate that runs through out county. </p>
<p>I would recommend Der Dutchman in Walnut Creek, Mrs. Yoders in Mt. Hope (lots of locals eat here, most of them Amish), Amish Door in Wilmot and Homestead in Charm. Very good food if you love mashed potatoes, chicken, dressing, noodles, and heavenly pies! And really cultural too. There are lots of Bed and Breakfasts and nice hotels too. </p>
<p>My D was accepted to Wittenberg. She really liked it when we visited. The campus is very pretty and not too spread out. It is probably #2 on her list right now. I know some more at Otterbein, one is a nursing major and the other a theater major. There are lots of great places to eat around Columbus. The German Village area and High Street are good spots to get away from chain restaurants.</p>
<p>If you head toward Holmes county, you may want to check out Walsh University, Mount Union and College of Wooster!</p>
<p>Denisson, OWU, Wooster and Kenyon for B students? I don’t think so. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, as I’d love to have my B student attend one of these. I think the OP did a terrific job of finding matches.</p>
<p>^ Yes, you are correct. But Wooster and OWU are not quite as hard. A 3.5 with good test scores would have a decent shot. That is why I recommended Walsh and Mount Union also.</p>
<p>Muppetmom, do you currently live in Ohio? Does your son want to play sports at all in college? The schools you mention are great schools but there are many others in Ohio that may suit his needs as well - if we know more of his needs!</p>
<p>Wooster and OWU are not out of reach for a male B student who has challenged himself in his high school course selection and who has been an involved member of his school community. Decent but not spectacular test scores would be expected. If he was interested in playing his sport so much the better. A 3.5 is midway between a B+ and an A-. I don’t think either OWU or Wooster would require that in order for your son to be competitive.</p>
<p>We are not from Ohio, but Muppetson wants to “go away to college”. His sister is at Rice, so I think he wants to feel as if he is away enough. He will not be playing sports at the collegete level (oldest son did and it was hard work!). I welcome all information I can get on the Ohio trip both in terms of colleges and food. Keeping a teenage son in food is important! </p>
<p>Graeter’s Ice cream sounds delish, but Muppetson is allergic to nuts and peanuts. So, no ice cream in our future (boohoo!).</p>
<p>I, too, thought Kenyon, Denison, and OWU would be too big of a reach for S? His GPA is 3.25 weighted. I meant it when I said a B student. He has straight B’s. Our weighting gives only .25 for honors and AP classes. He wants a medium school (3000-8000) and only agreed to see Otterbein and Wittenberg because I asked him to. It may not go well… All ideas welcome!</p>
<p>We especially need dinner around Otterbein and University of Miami.</p>
<p>How about eating in the school cafeteria? That’s what we try to do, so you get an idea of what to expect should one enroll there. Believe it or not, there can be big differences in foods served on campus.</p>
<p>I don’t have any specific recommendations but you won’t have any trouble finding chain restaurants in Columbus. They’ve got just about everything that exists in that particular universe since Columbus is the primary test market for proposed new items to the chain restaurant menus. I am not a fan of the chains myself and usually try out whatever looks interesting in the Short North district when in Columbus.</p>
<p>Well, if we’re talking about food…in Oxford, we had a good, casual lunch at SoHi on High Street. “Gourmet sandwiches,” more or less. Locally owned and tasty. On our second trip, we stayed in the student union for lunch. There (at Tuffy’s), you can have a “toasted roll” - sort of a cross between a cinnamon roll and a funnel cake…they are huge, and my son says they really should not be priced at $1.59! He’d put on a freshman 20 like that!</p>
<p>FYI it’s Miami University not the other way around. I think they are a little sensitive on that! :)</p>
<p>Old Bag of Nails is right in Westerville and has great pub food as noted above. </p>
<p>Not interested in the top half of Ohio??? Ohio Northern University fits the bill in terms of size and has a very successful business program (also strong in the sciences - actually MANY good programs). ONU stores very high in the college rankings. [About</a> Ohio Northern University | Ohio Northern University](<a href=“http://www.onu.edu/about_onu]About”>http://www.onu.edu/about_onu)</p>
<p>D1 graduated from Wittenberg in 1995 and had a totally awesome experience there. Visited the campus with D2 last summer and based on what we could tell from a summer visit, it’s still a warm and welcoming place.</p>
<p>If we’re talking food here, UD is nothing to brag about. My S is there and is hard pressed to find anything besides the normal burger, pizza etc. Great business program though! Nationally recognized for Finance. The students manage a multi-million $ portfolio of investments.
Wooster is not much for food either. My D goes there. They do have one caf that is all vegetarian, organic and local produce. D is a vegetarian, so that was a plus for her, but even that selection gets old. The academics are top-notch though! Liberal arts culminating in an Independent Study senior year.<br>
I’d say go for the academics, you can eat later! If you want a good cheesesteak it has to be in Philly!</p>
<p>I am following this thread with great interest as we are taking DS2 to see Xavier and Dayton in 2 weeks.
Perhaps those familiar with these schools could give me some insight.</p>
<p>Xavier’s neighborhood- This comes up often as one of Xavier’s negatives. Just how bad are we talking? We went to see Fordham with DS1 and the walk from the subway to the campus up Rose Hill in the Bronx was unsettling. OTOH South Bend is considered a negative of Notre Dame and while it isn’t spectacular, I’m not nervous when there. Where does Cincy fall on the spectrum?</p>
<p>Dayton’s party school reputation- We were kind of shocked at the level of drinking at ND and it doesn’t have a party school reputation. DS1 is not a partier, so it hasn’t really been a distraction. DS2 may not have the same inhibitions. Yes, I know you can find a party at just about any school, but is Dayton a raging, find a party any night of the week, type of place?</p>
<p>The good thing about University of Dayton ( in addition to the strong academic programs, the strong alumni network, and the fun sports scene) is that at least there is the fantastic mall in Dayton with a lot of decent food options for the kids to go to when they want to get off campus.</p>
<p>I can also say I know a lot of happy students at Wittenberg. I also know one student who transferred out of Witt…he liked it ok, but it was not strong in what he decided he wanted to pursue, which is a career in music…he is now at Belmont in Nashville.</p>
<p>Xavier does have a lovely campus…it’s just in a very scary area.</p>
There are lots of Bed and Breakfasts and nice hotels too. </p>