Ripon College

College Search & Selection
21

<p>Keilexandra, my husband and I took our daughter to visit Ripon last year when she was researching colleges. She wanted a small, academically challenging, liberal arts school in the Midwest. As a point of comparison, she also visited Grinnell, Lawrence, Wooster and Beloit.</p>

<p>The people at Ripon (pronounced “Rippin’”—in fact, we were given a box of “Rippin’ Good Cookies” as part of the visit) couldn’t have been nicer. They were warm and gracious, and we felt that the community was really like a close family—small, familiar, safe. We stood in line for lunch behind the president of the college, and had a nice chat—that’s an opportunity you won’t find at too many other colleges! The campus was attractive, the interview went well, and our tour guide was pleasant.</p>

<p>We all came away feeling very fond of the place, but in the end, after visiting the other colleges mentioned above, our daughter didn’t apply. Why not? I’d say the chief reasons were as follows: 1) The academics were not as strong as the other schools we looked at; 2) The facilities were in need of some modernization; 3) The college struck us as being in the middle of nowhere—even moreso than Grinnell; 4) There didn’t seem to be a great deal of diversity—mostly Wisconsin folk; and 5) There was no unique program or facility to counteract the drawbacks (for example, Wooster has the superb independent study program, Lawrence the music conservatory, Beloit the new science building, etc.) </p>

<p>Our daughter is now a freshman at Beloit and it’s a great fit for her. I think if Beloit is your safety, Ripon would be a “super-safety.” I do think our daughter would have been happy at Ripon, but I don’t think it would have challenged her as much as Beloit.</p>

<p>Good luck with your search!</p>

22

<p>I am surprised to hear that your daughter felt that Ripon was in the middle of nowhere and Grinnell was not. Neither is a thriving metropolis and if that is a concern, there aren't many midwest LAC's that are going to fit well.</p>

23

<p>belevitt, both Ripon and Grinnell are very rural, but we felt like the town of Grinnell had more to offer—a little more attractive (with Louis Sullivan’s Jewel bank thrown in as a special feature), a few more nice places to eat, and a new movie theatre. Ultimately, location did play a part in our daughter’s choice of Beloit, as it is only 90 minutes from Chicago (our home).</p>

24

<p>JustaGuy, the coincidences are definitely getting a little creepy. Although I'm not originally from Delaware even though I've now spent more time here than in my "hometown," Newfoundland, Canada. (If you have some sort of connection to there, too, I will be freaked.) I want to get out of Delaware, of course, but UD just isn't a fit for me. And unfortunately Delaware doesn't offer any near-comparable smaller universities (DSU is... not comparable).</p>

<p>Thank you, everyone, for the information! In my internal rankings, Coe is above the other 3; leaving aside UM-Morris as a true financial safety (especially if I get NMSF; I just met the cutoff last year), how do Ripon and Hiram compare? My impression is that Hiram's academics are also below the other Ohio LACs, but none of the others fit well (Wooster's IS makes double-majoring difficult, Denison is too preppy, Kenyon doesn't offer CS). Hiram does have the Hiram Plan, though.</p>