Can anyone please comment on your impressions of the Denison University? |
Southern. |
Ohio is... southern? |
I have a child at Denison. If you have any specific questions, I can try to be helpful. While academics and the SLAC education were the most important factors for my child, some features of Denison that set it apart from other schools they considered are: Location: Many SLACs are in rural locations, but my DC wanted to be near a city. Granville is a picturesque Americana town, yet it's close to Columbus, providing access to city life (and internships) within a 30-minute drive. I know there are a lot of people on DCUM who aren't fans of Ohio, but we love Columbus. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-9l1oGgZZI https://www.frommers.com/slideshows/848345-cool-columbus-what-to-do-in-the-midwest-s-hippest-city Easton is also 30 minutes away: https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/local/2024/04/17/heres-the-four-new-luxury-stores-coming-to-the-easton-town-center/73355044007/ Leadership: President Weinberg's speech at the Admitted Students Day was one of the deciding factors for my DC. He is just an exceptional president. Here's a podcast he was on with Jeff Selingo and some articles by him: https://www.nais.org/learn/nais-podcasts/new-view-edu/episode-29-the-future-of-higher-ed/ https://grownandflown.com/college-fit-why-important/ https://denison.edu/campus/president/speeches Endowment: Denison has an endowment over $1.2B. It's ranked #52 out of 500 schools for endowment per student. https://www.collegeraptor.com/college-rankings/details/EndowmentPerStudent Career Center: Denison is ranked #6 most innovative in U.S. News and #3 for career services in the Princeton Review among all U.S. colleges and universities. https://denison.edu/career. My DC hasn't spent much time here yet, but hopefully will next year. Campus: The campus is beautiful (designed by Olmsted, the landscape architect behind Central Park, the U.S. Capitol, Stanford, and the Biltmore Estate). Recently, a lot of construction has been completed, including a new wellness center, new dorms, and dorm renovations. More campus improvements are in the works. Students: Denison has a pretty diverse student population. I think the generous merit aid attracts more middle-class students than other SLACs. Denison is committed to enhancing all diversity and is a QuestBridge school. The students are artsy, sporty, and academic. There is just a good mix of students. https://denison.edu/forms/denison-forward-01-20-22 First-Year Experience: Denison has a pretty robust First Year Experience and just announced a new orientation program for students: https://denison.edu/campus/first-year/new-student-orientation Travel: While it's a 6-hour drive from the DC area, it's an easy/pretty drive and an even easier plane ride with lots of non-stop flights. Food: My DC has not been a huge fan of the food, but Denison just announced Harvest Table Culinary Group as their new food vendor, which seems to have really good reviews. https://harvesttableculinary.com There are many great SLAC options for students, but these are some of the reasons why my DC chose Denison. |
CTCL |
Thank you to the poster who provided all of the detail about Denison. I'm not the original poster, but my son will be a freshman this year. He is very excited and I have been very impressed by the communcation for both students and parents and the upcoming orientation for the freshmen class in August. I went to a large, highly ranked public so this will be a much different experience for my son. I wondered if it would mostly be kids from Ohio but 80% of the students are from out of state (including us). |
Is this still a thing?? |
Yes, always.. but in which direction? |
My DC graduated from Denison several years ago and had a fantastic college experience for all of these reasons (and additional ones as well). I love the school so much that we donate to the annual fund, even though we don't have a student there any longer. It's a wonderful school. |
Very generous merit. Great for a kid who can get into a higher ranked SLAC, but can't afford it |