<p>If you know anything about these schools could you please post, or send a PM to me. I don't know anyone at either school, and there isn't too much posted. </p>
<p>One comment made several years ago on CC about Witt is that it is about 30% Greek, but mellow. That the school is pretty preppy as well, but frat parties are open and non-competitive (is that open to women only btw?)?</p>
<p>Bumping this up.</p>
<p>Bump......</p>
<p>This is not much, but I'll give you what I know based on being an Ohio resident and hearsay from others.</p>
<p>Wittenberg- smallish school that probably rivals Miami University in terms of preppy environment but again is a smaller atmosphere. Know they had some new building going up. I'm in Northern Ohio and while it seems SO many people talk about Miami and many students go there, don't hear so much about Witt. Wittenberg is more pricey I believe and don't think it offers as much fin aid....</p>
<p>Marietta - what I hear about this school is very small and very beautiful. I don't know anyone who has attended, but my to be sophomore college D received many, many mailings from them and while it definitely peaked our interest, it was farther than she wanted to go....</p>
<p>I'll be watching this thread for further comments - S will be a junior so we're starting to look around Ohio again!</p>
<p>We visited Wittenberg in the spring, expecting not to like it compared to Denison and Kenyon. After spending the afternoon there - my daughter said that she could "see herself" there. THe students were approachable, the admissions office was much less impressed with themselves then the other schools and the3 campus seemed really pretty and manageable
Over the past 2-3 months we have visited various colleges in the midwest and Northeast and Wittenberg is still at the top of her list.</p>
<p>As far as $$ goes, it also appears that there might be some merit aid given here. At least thats what we are hoping.</p>
<p>does this help at all?</p>
<p>finnsdad, yes, this does help. It is good to hear that your D liked the school. Your comment about Denison and Kenyon is interesting. Hmmmm.... </p>
<p>abasket thank you as well. I did hear that Marietta's neighborhood is very nice for a college student. I have read that Witt has a beautiful campus too, but not much happening in surrounding Springield. I have read that Witt does have a lot of things happening on campus, and that community service within Springfield is big, as well as sports.</p>
<p>Does anyone know how serious this is, and what it might mean?</p>
<p>Wittenberg University, by Moody's, from Baa1 to Baa2. Applies to $44-million in outstanding bonds. Reasons cited include many consecutive years of deficits at the Ohio college, a drop in enrollment from 2,067 in the fall of 2002 to 1,929 in the fall of 2006, and low levels of fund raising.</p>
<p>Also, if anyone is interested, I found Witt's strategic plan and from here you can click on top to view all of the goals that they currently list:
Wittenberg</a> University - Strategic Plan: A Vision for Excellence</p>
<p>The Moody rating you are referencing is related to their view of Witt as a long term credit risk. The fact that they are B rated may be of some concern from an investor viewpoint, but going from Baa1 to Baa2 is fairly insignificant in my opinion unless it is part of a consistent downward trending. </p>
<p>In general, I don't think the rating will have any tangible affect on the experience of Witt's students - certainly not in the near term. From an administration viewpoint, however, it may affect financing opportunities, terms, and repayment conditions on major capital improvement projects in the future. </p>
<p>Personally, unless you are really nitpicking, I don't think I'd give this too much weight regarding the decision to attend.</p>
<p>Don't know much about Wittenberg but D was offerred lots of merit aid for Marietta.</p>
<p>FLVADAD, it might be a part of a downward trend. I don't know. The reason I say this is that I am having a discussion with someone else online about this, and they posted an article about OH having had fewer hs grads for sometime, the bolstering of public universities within the state to make them seem more affordable, an economic downturn in the state (ie:housing market downturn, credit crunch threatening to limit student loans, wall street volatility cutting into fundraising). Many OH schools draw students from instate (Wittenberg's student body is made up of 75% instate students, and Marietta has 37% coming from out of state). So, will OH schools have to discount more to fill seats as the hs population drops nationwide? How will this impact OH schools?</p>
<p>RMGsmom, thanks for letting me know. Did your D matriculate to Marietta, or is she going elsewhere? If elsewhere, was there something about Marietta that she did not care for?</p>
<p>I posted a visit report for Wittenberg a few weeks ago (<a href="http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/wittenberg-university/4941667.html%5B/url%5D">http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/visits/wittenberg-university/4941667.html</a>) an noted that some building were in need of basic maintenance.</p>
<p>wittenberg was rated somewhere (princeton review perhaps?) with a high percentage of students being satisfied with financial aid. i applied EA there and here's what my FA package looked like:</p>
<p>Witt Alumni Music Scholarship Total: 3000
Academic Achievement Scholarship Total: 6000
Board of Directors Grant Total: 12,440
PELL Grant Total: 2281
Ohio Choice Grant Total: 660
Academic Competiveness Grant Total: 750
Subsidized Stafford Loan Total: 3500
Perkins Loan Total: 2000
Work Study Total: 1800</p>
<p>total package of 32,431 for the year w/ an unmet need of 11,919. would've cost me around 17k including the 2 loans. wooster's package, where i'll be going, was a lot better. they awarded me almost a full ride. my main grant from COW was almost the entire package from Witt, about 10k more in total aid and 2k less in loans. now with 3 outside scholarships and not including the loan, we only have to pay back $649 out of the $42,420.</p>
<p>wittenberg did seem to be a pretty preppy school when i went down in february for my music audition, but it was small enough that i knew i'd feel comfortable. the whole experience was a bit of a system shock but it had that small town feel to it that it wouldn't be terrible, just afraid of having to reset to new surroundings i guess. i liked Springfield as a whole though. there's a really cute and quaint coffee shop on Plum Ave. i highly recommend the hot chocolate, make sure to get the whipped cream, and they also top with a drizzle of hot fudge...yummy...</p>
<p>i live about 20 minutes away from Wooster. i could probably tell you where majority of the things are. it's also a smallish town, kind of similiar to Springfield. it seems that the city as a whole is welcoming and appreciates the life COW brings to it, especially the area directly around the College. i'm not sure what to specifically talk about since i'm a local. there's a thread in the Wooster forum that has more detail to it. i could suggest local places to stay, eateries, etc. if i know what you're looking for or a general idea. </p>
<p>overall, i love the College. the dorms are fairly nice, although i haven't styed in the newest one as part of the summer music camp they host. some points in the dorms seem like they are pretty old fashioned, but you get used to them and they have their own degree of charm. COW just recently completed the building of a new dorm, Gault Manor, which will be opened for the fall 08 term. the outside of it looks incredible. there's even a little u-turn driveway i believe at the bottom/to the side of it, and maybe one at the top in front of it, can't remember exactly. there's an enjoyable mix of all kinds of people from different walks of life and ecclecticness. you're definately not out of place if you choose to go to your classes in your PJs a couple of times.</p>
<p>i have more info about COW if anyone wants to PM me and/or take a look into their forum on CC.</p>
<p>Stitchintime, and lamiller thanks for those posts. </p>
<p>lamiller, I do hope that you will view CC after you are at COW to let us know more. Do you know anyone at Witt? Lamiller, did you also notice basic maintenance needs at Witt? </p>
<p>Stitch, thanks for posting that review. It was helpful. It seems like they have spent money where they thought it might be most important to students (dorms, and student rec). I guess they will need to also put some maintenance money into classrooms. I don't understand it, they have an endowment over 100 million (perhaps more than 110 million). That isn't bad, but not as good as OWU's, Wooster's, or Denison's endowment, yet it is better than Marietta's (60 million, but only 1400 students vs. Witt's 1900+). Perhaps endowment funds must be spent to bring in students (see goals B and D in their strategic plan). They might be stuggling with that. As you can see in lamiller's example, Wooster was able to present a much better package than Witt.</p>
<p>no, i don't know anyone there. the closest person to Witt for me was my boyfriend, who lives in St. Paris or a half-hour away. his mother works half-way between Springfield and their home. i think that's another reason for the system shock i had for a little while, the fact that i was going into a place where i didn't know anyone.</p>
<p>as far as basic maint, i didn't really notice all that much that needed work, at least in the part of campus i was in for the day. benham-pence, the student center, was in excellent condition. the bathrooms were clean and well-maintained, as well as the offices i observed in that upper level. krieg hall, the home of the music department, seemed in pretty good shape. there were a couple of small areas in the practice room hallway that needed a little shaping up, but nothing major. it was were there was foam-like material i believe that students may have picked at. overall, the campus seemed to be pretty well maintained considering that i didn't get the chance to tour the inside of a dorm or two. i had scheduled a visitation, and didn't recieve my paperwork and confirmation from Witt until the same night we all returned home. the post office was at fault because i went there the next morning and questioned them about it and they admitted that they had it two or three days before and just 'forgot' to put it in our box. jeez...needless to say i was very embarassed and promptly emailed the coordnator to inform her why i was a no-show.</p>
<p>lamiller, thank you for your experience and observation with Wittenberg. Good luck at COW!</p>
<p>I have a niece and a nephew (siblings) who attend Marietta and both are quite happy there. Nephew has gone to China with support from the school. The family has pretty big financial issues and are quite satisfied with the financial aid package they are getting for both kids. One of the kids had some emotional issues and needed to take a semester off. The school was quite supportive and kept all FA in tact.</p>
<p>Thanks shennie. It is nice to hear good feedback. I think that they meet on average, 90% of financial need for freshmen, and 88% on average, for the other undergrads. I heard that the surrounding area is nice for a college student. Are they from OH, or OOS? If OOS, do they fly home from there?</p>
<p>They are instate. They live about 3 hours away.</p>