<p>Thank you so much for addressing this stuff. I honestly completely missed the fact that most of this conversation is from five years ago… My bad. =P</p>
<p>wait are peer-to-peer applications and bittorrent still blocked??</p>
<p>I hope Kenyon students are still willing to answer questions or parents or anyone who has knowledge.</p>
<p>What is it like to be in a college where the majority of students focus on English?
When is it good, when not so good?
What are your thoughts on what else Kenyon has to offer academically?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Guess not!</p>
<p>To answer your question a mere 31 hours after it was posed…</p>
<p>The majority of students at Kenyon DO NOT major in English. This is a common misconception. While English is by a substantial margin the most popular major at Kenyon, usually only around or less than a quarter of students end up English majors. So I’m going to take some poetic license here to rephrase your questions…</p>
<p>What is it like to go to a school that is writing intensive, where an ability to read and write are expected in all disciplines?
A: It is either for you or not for you. Math majors sometimes complain about the essays they have the write, but the fact is they are going to be way ahead of those in their profession later on who have graduation from technical schools and what not in terms of writing and interpreting information that isn’t numerical. I like it. Others are lukewarm. Just know that it’s coming. In my opinion it shouldn’t be something that holds up from attending here, but then again I’m not an Econ or Math guy, although they pretty much say the same thing. Honestly, it’s an expectation of today’s workforce to be able to interpret information and to write well. </p>
<p>It’s good when you get a really good job after graduation (Given a healthy economy). It’s bad when you have 3 substantial essays due on the same day. (Not common, but it does happen) </p>
<p>Because of the focus college guidebooks and even our tours tend to give to English, a lot of our other majors can get overlooked. You’re not going to be disappointed in any major here. People have great things to say about the PolySci department, and the sciences have come a long way. You’ll be going to a great school no matter what you major in.</p>
<p>bluegrassgrl,
I am a student here at Kenyon, and I agree completely with what 468975 has to say. Although the number one major here is English, it is by no means what a majority of students major, or plan to major in. It may come as somewhat of a surprise, but the number two major here is Economics so although people are interested in the English program, there are plenty of other majors to choose from.</p>
<p>To answer everyone who is getting upset over the internet usage, this thread was started 5 years ago when things were quite a bit different, technologically speaking. Although the internet can be slow at times, you can use all the things now that this person said you couldn’t 5 years ago. In fact, students have set up their own peer-to-peer network called Kenster. Also, online games are no problem with only the occasional bandwidth slow down. As for skype, the internet connection for it works most of the time, but the times it doesn’t is at night when everyone is online doing something and it slows the connection quite a bit</p>
<p>D has been accepted by this fine school. Continue to grow more intrigued, although it is her decision in the end (also accepted @ Carleton, Swarthmore, Reed & Kalamazoo). I can tell you one thing–this school markets themselves EXCEPTIONALLY (& this dad appreciates it)! We’re attending a school banquet in Seattle this week; looking forward to getting even a better sense of this great college @ the event.</p>
<p>I agree that Kenyon’s publications are top notch and do a fantastic job of conveying the personality and character of the school. Well worth reading!</p>
<p>Just an FYI, my daughter (junior in college now) did NOT apply to Kenyon, mostly due to the rumors about poor internet connectivity. She had other excellent choices, and got good merit aid to the academically comparable LAC she attends today. She is on track to graduate Phi Beta Kappa, so she is not a big time waster on the internet, but it seemed ridiculous to her that a college can’t provide reliable, fast internet service in the 21st century. In many other ways Kenyon would have been a good fit. I am back reading these threads to see if it might work for my second daughter. Sounds like this problem has been partially, but not completely resolved.</p>
<p>I’m sorry but to not apply to a school because of rumors about poor internet connectivity is utterly ridiculous. As a current senior at Kenyon I have enjoyed every day here. I can also tell you probably the least important part of any college experience, the internet. There is so much to do at college that unless you are a hardcore WoW gamer and want to go into game design (and then again, why would you be a Kenyon…), to not apply or go to a school because the internet is a bit slow is utterly ridiculous. College isn’t about going on Facebook or watching movies on instant Netflix, it’s about the time you spend in academia and the time you spend with your friends. In that regard, Kenyon takes the cake. </p>
<p>In addition Kenyon’s internet isn’t actually that bad (nor was it 4 years ago when I showed up here). Every building has wireless access, and most of the public outside spaces are wireless too so sitting out on the quad doing homework on a nice day is no problem. Sure the internet can be a bit choppy sometimes, but if you are going to be sitting in your room for your entire college career watching movies then you have surly wasted 200k. So if you want to do that, go to state school for a whole hell of a lot less money. In fact, I’m a bit happy that Kenyon internet can be a bit slow; it forces me to leave my room and hang out with my friends, to do homework and to live a more social, less online life.</p>
<p>Kenyon is an intellectually curious campus with a small and passionate group of students. I truly pity those who pass over Kenyon because of a small and insignificant thing that I’ve never (and no one I’ve known) had ever had a large problem with.</p>
<p>altaskier, my kids go to a high school that has had a laptop program (every kid gets a laptop). The program has been in place for many years (far longer than at most schools that have them now). The laptop for them is like a pencil/paper is for most other kids. They use it in class to research information, view videos, execute lab activities for science, take all notes, etc. So Kenyon just seemed… backward to her, I guess, since they didn’t seem to consider this problem important enough to take care of. And while she does not (as I stated above) waste much time on the internet, she does want to email, Skype, use Facebook, and use my Netflix account to watch an occasional movie (1-2 a week, not “her entire college career” as you so dramatically assume in your post). Those are pretty normal activites for teens and adults, IMHO. No one likes to waste time on slow connections/timeouts.</p>
<p>Also, her initial college list was about 20 colleges and needed to be pared down. I think it is as good a reason as any to knock a college off the list. Something you KNOW is going to be a nagging irritant every day. Like it or not, Kenyon is competing against other institutions for our resources – visit time, application time, and ultimately attendance time/tuition payment. I certainly recognize that Kenyon has a lot to offer as an institution (otherwise I would not be back out here reading this forum and considering a visit for D2); but like every other college, it has pros and cons. Part of the college search process is making sure those are understood as well as possible before enrolling, and this is still a con for Kenyon (although better than it used to be, apparently).</p>
<p>For what it is worth, D2 and I visited a different college a couple of months ago that also has a reputation for slow internet. The college provided an update in admissions on their progress to get a new line of some kind run to the campus (we didn’t ask, but it was in some written materials), and had a target date for this fall for improvement of their internet speed and capabilities. So clearly that school has taken some admissions hits on this issue, and is addressing it. They have decided it is an infrastructure investment worth making.</p>
<p>FWIW my D and I just toured Kenyon today and thought it was wonderful. It may be that the environs are simply too rural for her taste, but I would concur with the earlier poster that even if internet speed was an issue at Kenyon (which is very far from proven, and probably false), my goodness, step away from the electronic device and go interact with classmates and professors in person! One of the things that impressed me was the comment of our tourguide that when walking along the Middle Path, there’s an unwritten rule or expectation that you won’t be using your cellphone or iPod or whatever while on that path. The purpose of such a rule is that you should be ready and willing to engage your fellow students and professors in greetings and personal conversation. Indeed, we found Kenyon students to be very friendly and warm. These kids appear to love going here. I find the de-emphasis on texting and similar methods of communication very refreshing and encouraging. </p>
<p>BTW, I did see a kid in the library watching a youtube video on his computer. I didn’t watch closely enough to see if it was choppy; it didn’t appear to be. </p>
<p>It seems to me that some tech savvy kids from Kenyon might be able to post their average connection speeds to this forum, offering some facts that would update and clarify the situation. Fast or not, we saw no evidence that it affected how students felt about Kenyon. If anything, a bigger factor is, can you accept living in such a rural community. Gambier is tiny; nearby Mount Vernon aspires to reach “small.” That can be fine - I like that it was intentionally founded to be away from the hustle and bustle of city life and its distractions, to better allow one’s mind to focus on academics and the life of the college community. It’s not for everyone, though, but Kenyon seems to be doing just fine with those who find it an acceptable tradeoff.</p>
<p>Okay- tell me more about the English program- specific to Creative Writing- anyone. I know it is strong but if given the comparison of Stanford for a Creative Writing experience at the undergrad level and Kenyon- how does one compare them?</p>
<p>My current speed is just shy of 2 mbps…</p>
<p>It keeps up with Youtube videos most of the time. Netflix is usually alright. Gaming can be a bit of a problem.</p>
<p>There really is nothing wrong with the internet and am actually a bit confused about why there is so much talk about it. Of course there are going to be times when the wireless is down (like every other college). I highly doubt the internet at Kenyon is any slower or more unreliable than the internet at other colleges.</p>
<p>This is a dated (in regards to internet - and what a bizarre criterion) posting. My son turned down schools that may be somewhat better known in the NE (Vassar, Wesleyan) to attend Kenyon and he could not be happier. The creative writing program is second to none and very well-known nationwide among people who know about writing. (It’s no accident that Jonathan Franzen and David Foster Wallace both chose to give highly regarded commencement presentations at Kenyon in the last few years). My son has also found the sciences and other liberal arts classes to be almost uniformly extremely strong. And unlike many of the NE LACs, there’s not the pretentious NYC or the cold aloof New England vibe at Kenyon. The feeling is happier, more supportive and fun than many other LACs in my experience. As David Brooks of the New York Times observed recently, Kenyon students are “crackingly intelligent” and in my view they lack the pretension and hipper-than-thou attitude that is common and suffocating at many NE schools. See Brooks’ comments at: [College</a> Kids and Government Service - NYTimes.com](<a href=“http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/college-kids-these-days/]College”>College Kids and Government Service - The New York Times)</p>
<p>I am currently a senior at Kenyon. To reiterate what has already been said… the initial post is very dated in terms of internet speed/connectivity…</p>
<p>I think of myself as a heavy internet user… never once in my 3 years here have I thought Kenyon’s internet was slow, choppy or unreliable. I am shocked that there is this ‘rumor’ about my beloved Kenyon. </p>
<p>The internet/network has gone down — those were times when our whole power grid shut down due to hurricane winds (Ike, '08) or bad storms. Also during the heavy internet usage hours of 11pm-1am… there is some slow-ness but, come on, it is NOT a big deal!</p>
<p>I stumbled across this old post of mine in some late-night googling tonight. Quite the blast from the past. I stand by everything I originally said - Kenyon is not the right fit for some people, for all the reasons I stated 5 years ago. </p>
<p>While I have no first-hand knowledge of what Kenyon’s internet is like these days, I do note that from checking Kenyon’s website, LBIS still has their bandwidth management policy in place. See <a href=“Library and Information Services | Kenyon College”>Library and Information Services | Kenyon College; </p>
<p>The campus-wide bandwidth is now stated to be 250 mbps. That’s equivalent to 5 residential Verizon FIOS connections, but split amongst 1200 students rather than 5 families. The numbers don’t lie, you’re going to get a connectivity experience that doesn’t meet the standards of 2011. My guess would be that Netflix streaming and internet games still don’t work (although Netflix streaming didn’t exist yet when I was there!).</p>
<p>That’s all fine if you want a small-town, last-century rural charm. Plenty of people like it. It wasn’t the choice for me.</p>
<p>After Kenyon I went to law school in a big city and now have a great job at one of the nation’s largest firms. I enjoyed my law school experience MUCH more than my Kenyon experience. The students were smarter and I could enjoy everything a real city had to offer. I wish I had chosen my law alma mater for undergrad instead, but that’s hindsight for you.</p>
<p>I am a senior in high school and have narrowed my list of colleges. I have browsed on College Confidential until now, but am starting the application crunch time so I want to know more about these schools. These question threads seem like they should a good place to get information. I am interested in Davidson, Washington & Lee, Williams, Kenyon, Middlebury and a few others. I like the inside information you see on CC but I am skeptical about these threads with current students offering to answer questions. The answers seem like they are scripted by Admissions people to put the best light on the school. I want to know the good and the bad before I make my final decision on these colleges. </p>
<p>My grades are very good, top 5% of my class. 6 APs (BC Calculus, Biology, Statistics, Spanish Language, U.S. History, World History, Physics B). 4s and 5s only so far. SAT1s are 2240. SAT2s are 780, Math 1 and 750 Biology. I am a cross country runner and I sing in our chorus, volunteer and other stuff. I think these schools are all at least possible for an acceptance and some for scholarships. </p>
<p>I want to work in college, but also want to have fun. I cant tell from these posts that look scripted whether I am getting real insight. Do I have to look at other threads to find out what is really going on? The only honest one seems to be on Kenyons forum with its back and forth about the school. I like the honesty.</p>
<p>I’m not a student at Kenyon, but I know a lot of students there and have visited three times (one was for the Young Writers Program). From what I’ve seen when I’ve visited, the types of people at Kenyon are really creative and inspiring (the last time I visited, I saw random anonymous poetry posted around the school, and I saw a big question board in the bookstore that asked “What is the worst thing that could happen to an artist?” with a lot of interesting results."</p>
<p>So I guess it depends on your definition of fun. If you have something you’re really passionate about, you can have a lot of fun with it and make your own club or major, if you want. If you think of fun as partying, there are fraternities and sororities on campus that host parties on the weekends and things like that.</p>
<p>I mean, if you want an honest look at Kenyon and want to make sure you’re getting real, non-scripted point of view, the best thing to do is to visit or contact any Kenyon students/alumni you know. If you don’t know anything, I really thing visiting is the best thing you can do if you can. The students there are really friendly (or most of them are, lol), so if you ask them what they think of their experience there, you’ll probably get a better answer than you’d get from an admissions officer.</p>