The College of Wooster vs. Ursinus College vs Juniata

Son likes and is so happy to be accepted into these three schools with significant academic merit scholarship as well as an acting scholarship at Wooster and Ursinus.

He loves acting and has always planned on participation in college at least as an EC. He is undecided about his major, and tosses around the ideas of a being a Theater Arts major, as part of a double major, or as a minor . He is not certain. He has interests in Poli Sci, philosophy, areas of biology and more too. A true undecided. Intellectually curious.

He acts, is active in student gov, newpaper, intramurals, choir, improv, with friends in all HS cliques. He will shortly be an Eagle Scout and loves backpacking, camping, canoeing, and all sorts of outdoor adventures too.

I am curious as to the opinions on these colleges for this type of student from the CC community.

We are also waiting to hear from Muhlenberg, AU and CT college. Not expecting news until mid to late March though.

He was also accepted to Clark, but son prefers a less urban campus.

He was accepted to U Scranton, but nixed it, prefering the academic major flexibility of LACs. Temple is close by, and he liked many aspects and is accepted, but he has nixed due to preference for small LAC and suburban to rural environment.

He has visited Ursinus several times and is always positive about it, and he is very flattered and grateful for their large acting scholarship. He just attended the accepted students overnight in Wooster, OH and loved it as well. He said he would rank Wooster over Ursinus if it was closer. ( It is a 7 hour drive) Due to the added distance, he considers them currently at the top of his list, as equals. Financial investment for us is the same for both, as Wooster stacked their acting scholarship onto the merit scholarship. He is staying overnight at Juniata in a couple of weeks, and we will see about the remaining 3 schools in March.

I was curious to see the thoughts of others on the comparitive advantages and disadvantates of these three schools. Thank you!

1 Like

@sn189144 it sounds like your son has a lot of great options. I’m also accepted to Temple, Juniata and Pitt, but am leaning toward Juniata because of the personal attention and much better merit. They seem to really care at Juniata, and their POE program will let us design our majors around the things we love to do. Plus the mountains nearby, the lake and lots of outdoor activities make it really attractive. Allegheny is also in the running with great merit. I’m still waiting to hear from 7 more schools in mid-March but right now Juniata and Allegheny are at the top of my list. I didn’t apply to Wooster or Ursinus, so can’t help there but maybe others will be able to give their advice.

I’m also thinking about a major that involves acting, and am going to the overnight at Juniata in a couple of weeks. Maybe we will see you there!

My daughter is a freshman at The College of Wooster. She is very happy with her choice to attend COW.

Pro’s for Wooster - caring and supportive faculty and staff, easy access to academic support, happy students, great athletic facilities and coaches, no issues getting the classes she wants, she likes her professors. She’s a math kid so I don’t have feedback on the theatre program. The administration has done an outstanding job handling the Covid-19 crisis in my opinion.

Con - As an athlete my daughter is focused on eating healthy and the food in the dining halls has been her only complaint - not enough vegetables for her.

Good luck!

Familiar with Juniata as my son was recruited there for basketball. He visited 3 times and just didn’t feel a click. He ended up at Oberlin and enjoyed it very much. My youngest son selected Oberlin over U of Roch, Hamilton, Lafayette, and Notre Dame. Part was what you noted re: costs. We are paying $33,000 at Wooster and would have paid over $70,000 at the others. Just couldnt justify the costs. He very much enjoyed his first year at Wooster. He’s very close to us but he found the breaks to be spaced to where he didn’t need to come home any other time. (We are about 3.5 hours away) and we got together out there with him once each semester. I would also note they get a 2 week spring break in March, so you literally are back there for 6 weeks and change, go home for two weeks, and then go back for about 6-7 weeks. He had considered transferring to Notre Dame but I don’t think he will try. He is very satisfied with Wooster.