<p>Another question about Ohio LACs </p>
<hr>
<p>We're from Central Virginia and somehow ended up with four Ohio LACs on our application list (Denison, Kenyon, OWU, and Wooster). I'm hungry for information as to how to delineate these four in terms of academics, athletics (my S will play lacrosse), atmosphere, level of drinking (my S isn't judgmental but doesn't drink), . . . ? <em>Really</em> looking for some honest opinions here!</p>
<p>All of these colleges are good LACs. Kenyon is the most selective, but a bit less so for males, is probably the most liberal of the four colleges (liberal, not radical), has the most nationally recognized academic reputation and has no frat presence. Wooster is well regarded, particularly by graduate schools, has an interesting independent study requirement, has a small frat presence and, in terms of politics, a middle of the road student body. Many people believe that Wooster is not given the academic recognition that it deserves by the general public. Denison is second most selective, has a middle of the road (but solid) academic reputation and has been working on changing its historical reputation as a rather conservative, somewhat preppy and frat centered student body. It is still relatively frat heavy and probably pretty middle of the road to conservative politically. Denison has a particularly nice campus. OWU is middle of the road in many respects with a substantial, though not overwhelming, frat presence. OWU and College of Wooster get the majority of their students from Ohio and environs. College of Wooster has a proportionately high percentage of students who are the children of academics. By far, Kenyon has the greatest percentage of students from outside of its geographic area. All of these colleges are trying to attract a more diverse student body with Kenyon probably being the most successful. Don't know much about their athletic programs. When my S was looking at colleges, we visited Wooster, OWU and Denison and thought they were quite different from each other in terms of atmosphere; I would really suggest that you and your S visit all four colleges before he commits himself. If you want a more detailed comment on our impressions of those three colleges from our visit, please send me a private message, to which I will reply. Hope this is helpful.</p>
<p>Diversity. Unlike what markr said (I already pointed out that correction in another thread), OWU does not get a substantial number of its students from Ohio. This was the case 20 years ago, but no longer is the case. I would be more than happy to repost the link that shows this clearly. I would agree that OWU does get a substantial number of its students from the Northeast, though. A sizable proportion of students hails from NY, CT, NJ and MA. I could never understand why there were so many students from Connecticut. My guess was that it had to do with the school's historical recruitment and its lacrosse athletic program. One thing that distinguishes OWU from the rest of the colleges is its diversity record in attracting minority (especially international) groups. For example, the new IIE report on international students places Ohio Wesleyan 14th among baccalaureate institutions by percentage of international students for 2007-2008. Only one other Ohio LAC appears in it: Oberlin. Denison has been struggling lately with its diversity record. A recent article in the Columbus Dispatch discusses this: The</a> Columbus Dispatch : Denison students take over 'timeout'</p>
<p>Academics. From the four, Kenyon and OWU have the strongest curriculum, Kenyon particularly strong in English and the Humanities, and OWU particularly strong in the sciences.</p>
<p>According to the current Ohio Wesleyan website, 54% of the class of 2011 comes from Ohio. By definition, 54% constitutes a majority. Peter05, you are a loyal OWU graduate, and the college is lucky to have you as an enthusiastic supporter. There are many reasons to attend Ohio Wesleyan. But do not accuse others of having incorrect information, when the information presented is right on the college's website.</p>
<p>dear markr,</p>
<p>i am looking at the website myself and the % of students from ohio are 42%. not only that this is not a majority, but it is also lower than wooster and denison in-state percent. it is likely that we are looking at different pages or interpret it differently. i am looking at the "our students" site on the presidential search section. thanks again!</p>
<p>Actually, it's not Denison's diversity record that is an issue. In fact, they are doing better than most of the colleges in Ohio. (They're all pretty pathetic though.)</p>
<p>Denison
Afr Amer 5%
Hispanic 3%</p>
<p>Kenyon
Afr Amer 3%
Hispanic 3%</p>
<p>Oberlin
Afr Amer 5%
Hispanic 5%</p>
<p>Wooster
Afr Amer 4%
Hispanic 2%</p>
<p>OW
Afr Amer 5%
Hispanci 1%</p>
<p>Additionally, only Denison and Oberlin participate in the Posse Foundation, which at the moment is the most successful URM college-bound program around.</p>
<p>Tragically, lots of colleges are dealing with issues such as noose displays, thoughtless Halloween costumes, and swastikas drawn around campus. Kenyon has had an ongoing problem this year, and I'd bet there have been incidents on the majority of college campuses. Perhaps the Denison kids are ahead of the curve taking to the street about it. I think they're having a really important dialogue, perhaps one our society needs to have collectively.</p>
<p>US News reports the following out of state percentages for these schools:</p>
<p>Oberlin 90%
Kenyon 78%
Denison 61%
COW 54%
OW 42%</p>
<p>hm, are you sure about oberlin's %? it is too low from what i remember. i thought it was a two-digit number. i would look it up later. </p>
<p>as far diversity is concerned, it makes sense to include the international students % as well. that would definitely change the picture.</p>
<p>Markr's information on Greek life is a bit outdated. Kenyon reports 27% of its student body in frats, Denison 25%. Denison shut down their frat houses several years ago, and now the frats have to live in the dorms with everybody else. Kenyon still has a lively frat scene, and intends to keep it that way. (I know all this because we come from a LONG line of Kenyon alumni, including my husband, and a couple generations beyond him. And our son goes to Dension. LOL)</p>
<p>International according to US News (as reported by the colleges):
OW 8%
Oberlin 6%
COW 5%
Denison 4%
Kenyon 3%</p>
<p>Ingerp: I don't know much about Wooster or OW, as we didn't look at them when we were college shopping. We looked at Oberlin, Kenyon, and Denison. Denison offered my son the most money, and he really clicked with the people there, so that's where he went. It was a little sad as he would have been the 4th generation to attend Kenyon, but not $100,000 sad LOL. He is currently a junior. He did not like Oberlin at all - but Oberlin has a "strong flavor" kids will either love it or hate it (well, that's an exaggeration, but you know what I mean, it's a great school). Kenyon is really in the middle of NOWHERE, at least Denison has a nice little town right there. Kenyon's campus has a lovely Gothic feel to it, Denison's has a more contemporary feel and it's lovely too.</p>
<p>Visit and have your son sit in classes.</p>
<p>What is your son interested in studying? That will be a strong factor in trying to figure out which school might be a better fit in terms the academic aspect.</p>
<p>Peter,
Don't know which website you are looking at, but here is the link to the OWU website that clearly says 54% of students are from Ohio.
Ohio</a> Wesleyan University | Admission | Is OWU for You? The statement about percent from out of state is in the right hand column.</p>
<p>Just in case you can't find it, I'll cut and paste exactly what it says:</p>
<p>54: Percentage of students from Ohio (the rest come from 40 other states)</p>
<p>I believe you owe Makr an apology. :)</p>
<p>We must be looking at different websites. I am looking at the website with the presidential ad that clearly states 2007 Students from Ohio: 42%. Here is the link:
Ohio</a> Wesleyan University | Presidential Search | Our Students</p>
<p>I said OWU gets the majority of its students from the Northeast. Check with a current students or the most recent Common Dataset and you will confirm that. And I certainly don't think OWU students (myself included) are "middle-of-the-road". I am not even sure in what sense you mean it? I interpreted it politically, so I posted the article talking about political leanings of OWU students from a recent Transcript article in the other thread where we had a disagreement.</p>
<p>carolyn, I very much appreciate your candid opinion despite our disagreements. Please correct me if I am wrong here, you said it has been a while since you visited OWU? Thefore, I am a little confused why you are trolling its threads with your opinions without a recent experience with the college? I am honestly confused.</p>
<p>How about using OWU's official fact sheet, news.owu.edu/pdfs/OWUOverviewFacts_web.pdf:</p>
<p>54% Ohio resident students</p>
<p>42% from Ohio is just for 2007 incoming students, so the mix is changing, or out-of-staters leave OWU in greater numbers, or ???</p>
<p>Whoops--just accidentally submitted two very similar posts. I'm still getting used to this site!</p>
<p>I thought I had posted a reply but my computer blinked a bit after I submitted and I don't see it there. Sorry for the delay in getting back to y'all. Between college visits and soccer/lax tournaments, I've been in six different hotel rooms the last two weeks. Anyway--thanks to all for the candid information. I do so much appreciate it. We have looked at all four schools and I think my S could live with any one that he developed a strong preference for. In terms of academic interests, he will certainly study more Philosophy (and might well major in it). I could see that Kenyon is a neat school with interesting kids, but he is not particularly liberal (in fact, he is rather apolitical/leaning to conservative--how did that happen?) and I don't see him becoming a writer/actor/. . . ?, which seem to be Kenyon's strengths. I think honestly we felt Denison was a little vanilla, and my S was distressed with the amount of drinking he witnessed at his overnight there. He sat in on a Philosophy class at OWU that got him totally juiced but couldn't get into one at Wooster. I must say Mom is liking Wooster because of the I.S. and its reputation among college counselors. Anybody familiar with the athletics at these schools? Does anybody know about the relative level of drinking?</p>
<p>They are all very vanilla. (See percentages previously posted.) They all have what we parents would consider heavy drinking. They will all have small, discussion based classes (important for a Philosophy major). Athletics happen but are not a main focus on campus. There is varying amount of fan support, depending on the team.</p>
<p>The same could be said for almost any LAC.</p>
<p>I do not think Kenyon's only strength is writing/acting. Not at all. It is a strong all around LAC.</p>
<p>It's really good your son is doing thorough visits! Enjoy.</p>
<p>Weenie--You're absolutely right. Most small, private, expensive LAC's are fairly vanilla, though I think most, if not all, would prefer to be otherwise. Can't speak for the others, but I do know that Wooster has been very aggressive in recent years in using its endowment for scholarships in hopes of attracting a broader range of students. ... You said that they "all have what we parents would consider heavy drinking." Uh, yep. You're right--but don't imply that other schools have less of a problem. We practically live on the University of Kentucky campus, and I assure you that the partying there is far more rabid and continuous than anything my daughter has yet to experience at Wooster!</p>
<p>Sorry--by "vanilla" I didn't mean white; I meant bland. Also did not at all mean to imply that Kenyon's only strengths are the arts. I just think it would give more weight to that school if my S happened to be interested in something along those lines. I'd love to hear opinions of the Phil departments at any of the schools.</p>
<p>Re: the drinking, of course it exists at all schools, but surely some administrations are less willing than others to turn a blind eye? And I think part of my S's unease with the whole situation was the sense that the athletes get away with more than the other kids. Perhaps his most insightful comment the next day was, "It made that whole Duke thing a lot more plausible." Maybe that speaks more to the coach?</p>