<p>DD and I just got back from our OH college tour. Yes, I know summertime is not the optimal time to visit campuses, but its virtually the only time we have since Senior year is going to be pretty intense, and we just cant visit every school that looks interesting. </p>
<p>Id like to give a shout out to Ohioans in general for having decent water pressure in hotels AND for not running me off the road when I got hopelessly lost a few times! (Im used to driving on freeways). For the most part, our lodging was great and affordable, but I wont elaborate on that here.</p>
<p>I thought to put each school in a separate posting so it wouldn't be so godawful long.......</p>
<p>First stop Oberlin it was a beautiful, sunny and not overly hot day when we visited. DD and I were immediately struck by the beauty of the campus and didnt mind not finding the admission office right away so we could drive around and look. In the parking lot, we were given a very warm welcome back by a couple of staffers who took D for a returning student. Once explaining we were just here for a visit, they told us how great Oberlin is, etc, etc. (nice PR work). D was very impressed by the friendliness.</p>
<p>Our tour guide was well-informed and we felt we got a pretty good taste of the campus and its offerings. There were only a couple other families on our tour (one of the reasons we like summer visits and avoid the open house sessions) and one was actually a local for us. Of particular interest were the ExCo and Winter Term programs. We liked the variety of housing options, even though we didnt get to see the inside of a dorm room. We stayed for the information session after the tour, but it basically covered everything we had already had on the tour (probably should do it the other way around: info then tour). Afterward, we wandered around the town of Oberlin for a little bit (not much going on, but nice). D got a good enough feeling that her pre-ap is going in the mail today.</p>
<p>Pros and Cons: D liked the cornfields and farm-y feel; this little suburban gal did not have a negative reaction to being in a semi-rural area, and enjoyed all of our driving on backroads (especially since she wasnt the one doing the driving!) Also, shed be close to our relatives in the Cleveland area. And the womb chairs :) but they need more! My concerns are the relative lack of transportation to/from the surrounding areas (apart from an airport shuttle) for a kid without a car. Oh, and snow, which is something we just dont have in our coastal NoCal area. But her enthusiasm was high for Oberlin, and we can always invest in longjohns.</p>
<p>College of Wooster hands down her favorite. I know this school isnt as prestigious/highly ranked/well known as some of the others, but D really liked it, plus they offer her proposed major (Archaeology) and have some pretty good merit aid. Our tour guide was of the same major and we felt we got a pretty tailored-to-us tour. The campus is lovely and downtown Wooster is walkable; they also have buses/shuttles that go into town monthly, I believe, for more big box stores/suburbany stuff one might need. The dorm rooms we looked at were pretty spacious with beautiful common areas and I believe they rotate the various residential halls amongst under/upperclassmen, so freshmen arent necessarily stuck in a particular hall.</p>
<p>The campus is not completely wireless yet, but should be so by 2007. The independent study/senior thesis program is a great idea and Woo has a high percentage of students going on to graduate school. D felt very comfortable here and showed a great level of interest. And for being mid-August, it wasnt horribly hot. We didnt spend a lot of time in Wooster itself, but got to see most of it due to my inability to follow Mapquest directions. Didnt get any negative vibes, though, and our lodging was superb.</p>
<p>Pros and Cons: really no cons other than my obsession about transportation and abilities to get to a larger city (and cold weather). I think this is a hidden gem. I know I had never heard of it until I began my avocation as a college researcher, and I even know people from Ohio who havent heard of it. All the better for D, I say.</p>
<p>Kenyon a bit more cloudy and threatening rain (still humid) on our visit, and that always has an impact. Lots of celebrities kids go/have gone here. Our tour guide was quite enthusiastic and charming. Our group was a little bigger than the others, and a bit distracting as someone brought their toddler on the tour (I know sometimes these things cant be avoided, but I still found it a distraction). The campus is spectacular and impressive with a lot of open feeling to it. The new Athletic Center is massive and not on the regular campus tour since it is a little far away, but probably should have its own tour. The meal plan seemed less restrictive than some weve seen (eat when youre hungry). We visited a first-year dorm, and they seem pretty roomy. Very limited cell reception (I had none), but I guess its considered tacky there to run around glued to your cell phone all the time.</p>
<p>Gambier (town) is really just a block long (we didnt even know it was there) and D felt like the college swallowed the town. We stayed in Mt. Vernon, about a 10 minute drive from Kenyon, and I just loved it. Small town, but a decidedly un-rural feel. There is a campus bus which makes periodic trips into Mt. Vernon, and a pretty extensive ride share bulletin board for those needing airport/other transportation needs. </p>
<p>A couple of disconcerting things: the employees, Im assuming of the college or town, were on strike during our tour and loud with shrill whistles. Also, there was a severe weather drill (with impossibly loud sirens), which Im nor sure is an every Friday occurrence, although one would dearly hope not as this would severely impact studying. </p>
<p>Pros and cons: I think Kenyon is a marvelous place, with a real good feeling of close-knit community amongst the students (apparently the campus workers would disagree with me .). Im not sure if it is a good fit for D, mainly because of what she wants to major in, and sometimes things can be a bit TOO close knit if there arent a lot of opportunities off-campus. That being said, it was not her first choice, but she got a good enough feel to want to apply</p>
<p>Loved to read about your Wooster impressions because that would have been my son's second choice....they recruited him and he responded to that. It was the best deal he was given and that was with USC giving him full tuition. :) He never got a chance to visit but he loved his contact with them. Again, it was an unknown school that when researched seemed to have a great program. In the end, he chose a similar type of school.</p>
<p>Just one thing about the severe weather drill. Usually the sirens go off at noon the first Friday of the month (at least they do in my community). When you live in a part of the country which has tornados, you are gratefull for the drills, because when you have a tornado warning you know what the siren is for and know to take cover.</p>
<p>Great trip report. I think that Wooster is a gem.</p>
<p>I'm glad you liked Wooster! A former babysitter of ours, who had a really neat HS record (studied in Germany her senior year, outstanding GPA and high SATs) chose to go to Wooster and LOVED it! She graduated a couple of years ago and then moved to Europe to work for as long as her visa would let her before returning here. She now has a terrific job w/ a non-profit in DC. I believe she majored in linguistics or anthropolgy, and I know she also studied Japanese. Now her younger sister is following her there, also having spent her HS senior year abroad.</p>
<p>Both these girls really could have had their choice of a lot of better known schools (younger sis was a NMS semi-finalist), and both chose Wooster.</p>
<p>Weenie - I did want to look at Denison, but she didn't, and she was the "boss" for this trip. Lots of kids on the Kenyon tour also did Denison and Oberlin. I have a DS who is a junior, so there's hope yet!</p>
<p>cangel - I think some carriers fly to Akron, which is a little closer to Wooster than Cleveland, but Southwest doesn't and they're the only one I'll fly if I can help it.</p>
<p>I can't emphasize enough how different Oberlin is during the academic year from what it's like in the summer. The little, sleepy Ohio town turns into a very lively, even cosmopolitan place once the students arrive--much more so (in my experience) than either Wooster or Kenyon. I think that might allay your concern about access to Cleveland: so much is going on in Oberlin that most students don't feel the need to get away very often, and when they do, they seem to find a way pretty easily.</p>
<p>Thanks, Ato and Erin, we looked at Wooster for my D, because it was recommended by an acquaintance whose D graduated several years ago. It fell off the list early, more because we could never get a trip together to visit, than for any solid reason - it seemed like a great school, one of those places that can take kids with varying degrees of high school success, and bring out the true scholar in them.</p>
<p>A couple things about Oberlin and transportation. My son will start there next week. They have an inexpensive bus that makes regular runs to the airport and from there you can hook up with the Cleveland transportation system. My understanding is that it is pretty easy to get from Oberlin to downtown.</p>
<p>We also got a brochure from an organization on campus that sounds like a car co-op. You pay something like $100 a month and you have access to a car for a certain number of hours during that month to use for whatever you want. I didn't pay that much attention to it since we are not interested, but it did sound like a good option for a kid who feels like they need to get away sometimes. Oberlin is really stressing kids NOT bringing their own cars so they are trying to find other ways to meet those needs.</p>
<p>...But I hear they only have two cars, and you have to be 21.</p>
<p>I'm going to take my daughter to Cleveland for the first time on the way to school next week, though she's been at Oberlin for 2 years. She has friends who have cars but they don't tend to go to Cleveland hardly ever. Except to pick up friends at the airport. Evidently there's enough to do on campus that they don't see a burning need. Mostly they use their cars to do mall-type shopping in nearby towns.</p>
<p>That's the report I get, anyway.</p>
<p>If one wants to get there, they certainly can though. Bus connection via airport, or mostly, friends with cars.</p>
<p>Wooster was college that made big impression on my D. She liked many things about it even after overnight visit and school offered her outstanding merit aid.
Transportation was not a problem.</p>