<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>I have been on campus when that siren goes off and, yes, you can't ignore it. Regarding the employees I think you may have run into a demonstration by some of the college workers (carpenters?) that were holding out for a greater increase in pay than had been offered and accepted by the other categories of on campus workers. We received an email from Kenyon warning us to expect a demonstration when students returned to campus this fall as the issue had not been resolved as of mid-August. I don't know what actually happened as my daughter is doing a year abroad this year.</p>
<p>My D is happily enscounced at Hiram , which is also in the environs of Wooster and Cleveland . Hiram is swallowed up in an charming academic village in the highest hills of Ohio . Being a city girl , I feared that she would go nuts there but there were enough students with cars to pick her up at Greyhound station in Cleveland . Unfortunately , Hiram does not have the airport shuttle nor car co-op like Oberlin but they do have a bike co-op ( which is great cycling around there in the Amish country of Ohio ) . She does blow off steam with freinds ( and have coffee with professors ) at Kent , Ohio or nearby Streetsboro.</p>
<p>The kids sort of settle into a routine of doing things on campus when they are on these rural Ohio campuses.</p>
<p>Now S is looking at Wooster . We also looked at Oberlin . The difference between the student populations at Oberlin and Wooster were like night and day to us .</p>
<p>easydoesitmom: "The difference between the student populations at Oberlin and Wooster were like night and day to us. Does anyone know what I mean ???"</p>
<p>Oh yeah...Everything I'd ever heard about Oberlin students (stereotypes galore) unfortunately came true with our tour guide. My son couldn't get out of there fast enough. It did not feel like a fair assessment, but maybe it was. I don't know. But it was too late to change his mind. ( My son, who loves to cook and eats anything -- really, he ate sweetbreads in France and loved them -- was in horror when she was going on and on about the vegetarian offerings on campus. It was pretty funny.)</p>
<p>Sorry, but can I keep plugging Denison on this thread though, if nothing else because of the similarity and proximity to the schools mentioned here?</p>
<p>Denison has a truly beautiful campus, it's in a really sweet town, and has great (free!) airport shuttles to Columbus airport which is a half hour away. They also run buses on weekends to the MOST amazing shopping mall (excuse me, it's a "lifestyle center" ;) ) that I've ever seen. It's called Easton Center and it's quite close. There is another mall they go to also, that my son says is even fancier, but I don't know anything about that.</p>
<p>Kids with cars will sometimes go to Columbus for concerts, but mostly kids seem to stay on campus. All kids must live on campus for 4 years (that might put some kids off I suppose but it's nice - everybody is right there and they have an excellent town-gown relationship).</p>
<p>Denison offers the most merit aid of any of the LACs in that region, at least according to US News. </p>
<p>Just so you know, weenie, there are lots more students at Oberlin who eat meat than those who don't. Sorry to confuse your stereotypes, but it's true.</p>
<p>Erin's Mom--I know there weren't many students on campus during summer visits, but what was yr take on the student body atmosphere? I know about Oberlin, but what about Wooster and Denison? The latter I fear is too preppy for my alternative style DD but I would like her to consider it as well as Wooster (altho she says she is 'allergic' to bagpipes). I think academically they would be good fits, and I will be relocating (back) to OH before she finishes, so I am pushing the mother state of colleges, as we called OH in HS. I've only known one Wooster grad, in my grad school class at CWRU, and he was too quirky I am sure to be an average Woo student. My DD is about burned out on college visits (along with her mom) so she is interviewing locally for Denison and hasn't seen the campus though an older cousin actually lives in Granville. If she thinks the student body at any school is too conservative/preppy/religious or won't appreciate her sense of fashion (which yesterday included Wicked Witch of the West style leggings) or her nose piercing, she will scratch such schools off her list posthaste. Sigh, I never got the blazer and loafer girl I anticipated haha. Thanks, bookmom</p>
<p>Hey bookmom - We didn't actually visit Denison (although Weenie keeps pushing us to do so....:) ) but I really want my Junior DS to look at it when the time comes.</p>
<p>From what I got, Wooster does have some Greek life, but not nationwide chapters (not sure what the differentiation is, though), but I did not get a preppy feel at all. As for the religion bend, we're going out of our way to avoid any/all of that stuff (being raised by wolves and all). Wooster had at one time an affiliation with the Presbyterian Church, but no longer. We did not get a "religion" feel about the campus. A former religious center has been converted into a performance theater or similar, I believe. Wooster does have as a graduate requirement a unit in "religious perspectives" but we were pleased at the offerings you can take to cover this.</p>
<p>I don't know too much about Oberlin's student body atmosphere other than what I read, but since we live in an Ultra-Blue area and my D considers herself "conservative, but not Bush-conservative," I doubt that she would be considered "conservative" outside of the Left Coast. </p>
<p>Love your comment about bagpipes :) but D has been exposed to them frequently and really likes them.</p>
<p>And frankly, I don't know what I'd do with a blazer and loafer kid!</p>
<p>Hey Bookmom - I have one of those non-preppy, liberal-leaning, anti-blazer daughters as well (although her fashion taste tends to run to the obscure band t-shirt and "modified" Converse sneakers.) I was just curious about the colleges your daughter HAS liked, especially the smaller LACS. My D is convinced she wants a large campus in an urban area, but I'd like her to visit some smaller schools too, before she rules them out completely. So I'm looking for some place quirky and laid-back with a lively atmosphere, preferably not in the middle of nowhere. Any ideas? We're in Michigan, so Ohio would be perfect. Thanks.</p>
<p>scout:
People will blast me for saying this, but I think you really get a broader "selection" of kids at the larger, often public, universities, where you are cutting across a broader range of economic and even ethnic backgrounds. </p>
<p>You might check out Miami U, Ohio U, or U Cincinnati in Ohio, but there are lots of other choices. On our (limited) college tours we have seen the best diversity at those types public instituitions, or more urban schools like Northeastern, Case Western, or even Fordham.</p>
<p>While many of the private LACS (including Denison of course :) ) have made huge efforts to diversify, the reality is that they are not very diverse. With those price tags, how can they be?</p>
<p>Well, time for me to chime in about Denison. I have a junior daughter, who can be quickly described by the following adjectives: ultraliberal, nose-pierced, vegetarian, and alternative-music-loving. Has not one piece of A&F clothing in her closet. </p>
<p>She loves, loves, loves Denison. (With a caveat: everything <em>except</em> the food. Bleh.) She has a great group of friends, including preppies, athletes, and nerds. She told me on our trip to move in last Saturday that she can't imagine having to leave next year. Denison has given her so much in terms of opportunities, I can't say enough about the school.</p>
<p>You won't get any blasting from me, I can assure you! I really think that DD will end up at just the kind of school you mentioned - large universities that would contain a "critical mass" of offbeat kids. So far she loved NYU and DePaul, and we're planning on a trip to Northeastern (and other Boston-area schools) next spring.</p>
<p>However, here's just something in ME that wants her to at least visit (consider?) a smaller school, but it would have to be the "right" kind of school.... if said school even exists. Since Denison is fairly close, it may be worth a look next time we're traveling through Ohio. I personally like the idea of Miami U, but DD has already heard the "J Crew U" nickname.....</p>
<p>scout59
i'll chime in because my DD sounds similar to yours, from the converse footwear to the affinity for big urban schools. my daughter loved NYU and GW, but i kind of feel that if she wants a big school, she should opt for a big state school. ($$$ a consideration here.) if i'm shelling out big bucks, i would much prefer her to go to a small LAC. (My son goes to oberlin and absolutely loves it.) Thes are a few we've looked at that I've liked for her: Connecticut College, Skidmore, Mt. Holyoke, Barnard and, my favorite, Colorado College. But alas, she currently goes to a small private school and seems to feel that she doesn't want to be "pampered" anymore -- hence her interest in a school with more anonimity. I'm not convinced and will (reluctantly) allow her to make the choice, though i'm hoping she comes around to my way of thinking within the next few months....</p>
<p>wondermom- Oberlin ranks 20-something in the US News list of LACs and is very selective in terms of admissions, though not as selective as some similar schools in the northeast, probably because of its somewhat remote midwest location. It is known for being edgy and progressive, though it's nowhere near as "out there" as some stereotypes suggest. (My kid is not a hippie, or a hipster at all -- and a meat-eater too -- and he fits in just fine.) It's a really special place, and the kids who go there absolutely love it. Not a school for wanna-be Wall Streeters or corporate types, but rather a haven for students who are interested in the creative professions of all kinds-- including research scientists. Definitely worth a look if your daughter is interested.</p>
<p>Scout 59. First, I am a U Cincinnati alum and grew up near Miami U-OH.. Miami U is a good academic school (calls itself the Cornell of the Midwest) but is very preppy and greek oriented. My niece loathed it there, being neither preppy nor Greek oriented. CIncinnati is definitely urban; its engineering, arts/design/architecture and music conservatory are top notch; I remember a lot of kids from NY and PA there, but the population is overwhelming southern OH, east IN and NO K--lots of commuters. I went there becasue my dad did-duh. Miami is about an hour or less from Cincy and 2 hrs to Indianapolis. OH ius in Athens, very rural. I would not consider it a hotbed of liberalism but never visited it either. Of the 3 I'd say Cincy is the most liberal and definitely most urban (surrounded by iffy neighborhoods, for starters, but a 20 minute bus ride to downtown. Have you considered Case Western Reserve--I went to grad school there and loved the setting. Urban, more eastern than midwestern (CLeveland is a world away from Cincy and closer to MI). Campus/student body not too large but varied. </p>
<p>My Illinois daughter is considering Grinnell (her reach but an hour from Des Moines),Drake (mostly for Des Moines) Beloit (#1 so far but a good drive to Madison, Milwaukee or Chicago), Lawrence (Appleton area is nice), Illinois Wesleyan (close to home), Ohio Wesleyan, Denison (OWU and Denison in greater Columbus area), U of Illinois (so big it has a cross section of everything, tho 80+% Illinoisans), Lake Forest (it is so close to Chicago loop but doesn't seem overly liberal or non-preppy on first visit) Wash U was 'too big' for her to consider; Illinois is way too big but close to home. She has ruled out Earlham (didn't like RIchmond but it is close to Indy and Cincy);I am still working on Wooster which she feels is too rural and far from IL. Bradleu U is in Peoria, known for its engineering and nursing programs but not for her. KNox is a great LAC but she doesn't care for the location--about an hour W of Peoria, 40 mintues to Quad Cities. She won't consider CWRU since I went there (sigh). OF course, her criteria change weekly: a year ago she was considering Ursinus and Goucher but concluded they were too far away and shw wants to stay in midwest. I would also recommend Kalamazoo--esp since you are in Michigan, and Oberlin meets the liberal criteria and is near Cleveland. I expect my DD will wind up within 3 hours of home, either UILL or Beloit--she is being courted by another state school I wouldn't have considered, but she would be in honors, top of class, and up for full tuition scholarships so she might surprise us all with that one. Lots can change between now and April!</p>
<p>I just got back from the Oberlin orientation. Son already feels at home and I think he will be quite happy there. He is not preppy or athletic. He considers himself a bit geeky, but I don't think he is that either. Just a pretty normal, very bright kid who is looking for an intellectual atmosphere where he can discuss things of interest into the wee hours of the morning. It already happened his first night.</p>
<p>I did not see that many kids who appeared to be "way out there". Rather, I saw a community who works hard at being accepting of everyone, including the kids who are "way out there". Oberlin seems to value diversity in many forms.</p>
<p>Erin's Mom wrote: 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.
My daughter also looked at Oberlin, Kenyon, and Wooster (as well as Denison), and ended up opting for Wooster. She's a freshman there right now and is as happy as she can possibly be. Like your daughter, she is interested in archeology. Got great merit aid as a "College Scholar," and is playing for the Wooster soccer team. The town of Wooster isn't much to crow about, but I've seen a lot worse!</p>
<p>Hindoo (and everyone), thanks for the positive comments about your daughter's experiences. So far I've heard nothing really negative about Wooster and I know it's moved up on my D's list.</p>