Transfer schools for Creative writing and History

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Part of it is me trying (and failing) to translate a moody teen. Kenyon purposely keeps a small numbers and class size to intro creative writing to effectively cap the majors, so all the amazing classes you'd want, you cannot get unless you can pierce through this cap. Her list currently has Uchicago, Pomona, Reed, Tufts, Davidson, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Macalester, which is pretty reasonable and most would solve her complaints.

Except a kid who is Kenyon material isn’t going to get into any of these except maybe Macalester.

Interesting. I always thought those LACs (with the obvious exception of U Chicago) were similar to Kenyon in terms of reputation and academics. When I went to high school during the dark ages, Kenyon had lots of interest from kids who also applied to Haverford, Swat, Oberlin, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams etc. They all seemed to attract similar students. Times have changed, I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Part of it is me trying (and failing) to translate a moody teen. Kenyon purposely keeps a small numbers and class size to intro creative writing to effectively cap the majors, so all the amazing classes you'd want, you cannot get unless you can pierce through this cap. Her list currently has Uchicago, Pomona, Reed, Tufts, Davidson, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Macalester, which is pretty reasonable and most would solve her complaints.

Except a kid who is Kenyon material isn’t going to get into any of these except maybe Macalester.

Interesting. I always thought those LACs (with the obvious exception of U Chicago) were similar to Kenyon in terms of reputation and academics. When I went to high school during the dark ages, Kenyon had lots of interest from kids who also applied to Haverford, Swat, Oberlin, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams etc. They all seemed to attract similar students. Times have changed, I guess.

It's the same. For some reason, parents here think that top college enrolles had college lists purely from the top 10. It is not uncommon to see a Dartmouth hopeful also apply to Kenyon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Part of it is me trying (and failing) to translate a moody teen. Kenyon purposely keeps a small numbers and class size to intro creative writing to effectively cap the majors, so all the amazing classes you'd want, you cannot get unless you can pierce through this cap. Her list currently has Uchicago, Pomona, Reed, Tufts, Davidson, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Macalester, which is pretty reasonable and most would solve her complaints.

Except a kid who is Kenyon material isn’t going to get into any of these except maybe Macalester.

Interesting. I always thought those LACs (with the obvious exception of U Chicago) were similar to Kenyon in terms of reputation and academics. When I went to high school during the dark ages, Kenyon had lots of interest from kids who also applied to Haverford, Swat, Oberlin, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams etc. They all seemed to attract similar students. Times have changed, I guess.

Kenyon is definitely a level below Haverford, Swat, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Part of it is me trying (and failing) to translate a moody teen. Kenyon purposely keeps a small numbers and class size to intro creative writing to effectively cap the majors, so all the amazing classes you'd want, you cannot get unless you can pierce through this cap. Her list currently has Uchicago, Pomona, Reed, Tufts, Davidson, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Macalester, which is pretty reasonable and most would solve her complaints.

Except a kid who is Kenyon material isn’t going to get into any of these except maybe Macalester.

Interesting. I always thought those LACs (with the obvious exception of U Chicago) were similar to Kenyon in terms of reputation and academics. When I went to high school during the dark ages, Kenyon had lots of interest from kids who also applied to Haverford, Swat, Oberlin, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams etc. They all seemed to attract similar students. Times have changed, I guess.

Kenyon is definitely a level below Haverford, Swat, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams.

Really? How so? I get that it loses points for its dreadful location and it’s not exactly a STEM powerhouse (VERY few SLACs are) but is there a substantial difference in terms of quality of education and student outcomes between Kenyon and the other SLACs on list? very curious about the (perceived?) hierarchy of SLACs and the extent to which a school’s location determines its selectivity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Part of it is me trying (and failing) to translate a moody teen. Kenyon purposely keeps a small numbers and class size to intro creative writing to effectively cap the majors, so all the amazing classes you'd want, you cannot get unless you can pierce through this cap. Her list currently has Uchicago, Pomona, Reed, Tufts, Davidson, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Macalester, which is pretty reasonable and most would solve her complaints.

Except a kid who is Kenyon material isn’t going to get into any of these except maybe Macalester.

That's only true (and maybe not even then) if you use Kenyon's admissions profile as a proxy for this specific student. That is not a reliable metric, at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m a bit confused on her geographic preferences but I’d explore Sarah Lawrence College. Very strong writing program and proximity to NYC.

Agree that it has a strong writing program but I'd advise OP and her daughter to visit. Sarah Lawrence is great on paper and my DC had a friend who was very happy there, but visiting took it off DC's list entirely.

Yes, it's close to NYC but you hear that as a constant refrain -- "We're SO close to the city!" is used as a big selling point but the friend said students don't actually get into the city as much as people think. The campus itself felt like a residential prep high school. I do note that we had a good visit there, they put on excellent student and faculty panels, gave multiple specialized tours, were very attentive to prospective students, etc. so no diss on the college for that; it just feels even more insular than Kenyon, despite its vaunted "so near the city!" location.

And though this was a few years ago now, Sarah Lawrence administration completely defaulted on its oversight of student housing and did nothing when a parasitic parent moved in with his daughter and her housemates (in a college-owned house), and the results were horrific. Subject of a lot of coverage, a huge trial, and destroyed some young lives. Look up the name Larry Ray. As far as I've read, to this day, the college takes zero responsibility, even though other parents tried to get it to focus on the issue before things blew up. I know, old news, but I'd like to hear that the college has changed its laissez-faire approach to parent concerns about, oh, random adults moving into college housing.

We had a similar visit. I should add that the buildings are in dismal shape. Dilapidated. I'd put this on my list of colleges that won't last more than another decade at most.

[Anonymous]

If she couldn't find a way to be happy at her initial small school choice, I wouldn't be encouraging other small schools. Imho really, this is totally on her. She needs to be unhappy -enough- to do every once of work it takes to transfer, including identifying schools. Maybe this self reflection will turn to - what happens next, after the UG degree? Where does she see herself living? And why. Next school chosen with an eye on what's next.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If she couldn't find a way to be happy at her initial small school choice, I wouldn't be encouraging other small schools. Imho really, this is totally on her. She needs to be unhappy -enough- to do every once of work it takes to transfer, including identifying schools. Maybe this self reflection will turn to - what happens next, after the UG degree? Where does she see herself living? And why. Next school chosen with an eye on what's next.

This is such a weird take. If you don't like a small school, not because its small, but because of other factors, another small school could definitely be a good change. I personally transferred from Bowdoin to Williams and DH, who I met at Williams transferred from Connecticut. Size isn't always someone's issue at an LAC.

[Anonymous]

Kenyon is overrated for Creative Writing. It's a third rate school with third rate faculty, no way it can compete with Harvard!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Part of it is me trying (and failing) to translate a moody teen. Kenyon purposely keeps a small numbers and class size to intro creative writing to effectively cap the majors, so all the amazing classes you'd want, you cannot get unless you can pierce through this cap. Her list currently has Uchicago, Pomona, Reed, Tufts, Davidson, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Macalester, which is pretty reasonable and most would solve her complaints.

Except a kid who is Kenyon material isn’t going to get into any of these except maybe Macalester.

Interesting. I always thought those LACs (with the obvious exception of U Chicago) were similar to Kenyon in terms of reputation and academics. When I went to high school during the dark ages, Kenyon had lots of interest from kids who also applied to Haverford, Swat, Oberlin, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams etc. They all seemed to attract similar students. Times have changed, I guess.

Kenyon is definitely a level below Haverford, Swat, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams.

Really? How so? I get that it loses points for its dreadful location and it’s not exactly a STEM powerhouse (VERY few SLACs are) but is there a substantial difference in terms of quality of education and student outcomes between Kenyon and the other SLACs on list? very curious about the (perceived?) hierarchy of SLACs and the extent to which a school’s location determines its selectivity.

As one data point, Williams and Amherst are ranked as "Lower Semi Targets" for investment bank recruiting in this list, while Kenyon is not included at all: https://www.peakframeworks.com/post/ib-target-schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Part of it is me trying (and failing) to translate a moody teen. Kenyon purposely keeps a small numbers and class size to intro creative writing to effectively cap the majors, so all the amazing classes you'd want, you cannot get unless you can pierce through this cap. Her list currently has Uchicago, Pomona, Reed, Tufts, Davidson, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Macalester, which is pretty reasonable and most would solve her complaints.

Except a kid who is Kenyon material isn’t going to get into any of these except maybe Macalester.

Interesting. I always thought those LACs (with the obvious exception of U Chicago) were similar to Kenyon in terms of reputation and academics. When I went to high school during the dark ages, Kenyon had lots of interest from kids who also applied to Haverford, Swat, Oberlin, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams etc. They all seemed to attract similar students. Times have changed, I guess.

Kenyon is definitely a level below Haverford, Swat, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams.

Really? How so? I get that it loses points for its dreadful location and it’s not exactly a STEM powerhouse (VERY few SLACs are) but is there a substantial difference in terms of quality of education and student outcomes between Kenyon and the other SLACs on list? very curious about the (perceived?) hierarchy of SLACs and the extent to which a school’s location determines its selectivity.

As one data point, Williams and Amherst are ranked as "Lower Semi Targets" for investment bank recruiting in this list, while Kenyon is not included at all: https://www.peakframeworks.com/post/ib-target-schools

the only other LACs that get wide recruitment are Middlebury and Claremont Mckenna (who produced the "K" and "R" in KKR)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Part of it is me trying (and failing) to translate a moody teen. Kenyon purposely keeps a small numbers and class size to intro creative writing to effectively cap the majors, so all the amazing classes you'd want, you cannot get unless you can pierce through this cap. Her list currently has Uchicago, Pomona, Reed, Tufts, Davidson, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, and Macalester, which is pretty reasonable and most would solve her complaints.

Except a kid who is Kenyon material isn’t going to get into any of these except maybe Macalester.

Interesting. I always thought those LACs (with the obvious exception of U Chicago) were similar to Kenyon in terms of reputation and academics. When I went to high school during the dark ages, Kenyon had lots of interest from kids who also applied to Haverford, Swat, Oberlin, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams etc. They all seemed to attract similar students. Times have changed, I guess.

Kenyon is definitely a level below Haverford, Swat, Vassar, Tufts, Amherst, Williams.

Really? How so? I get that it loses points for its dreadful location and it’s not exactly a STEM powerhouse (VERY few SLACs are) but is there a substantial difference in terms of quality of education and student outcomes between Kenyon and the other SLACs on list? very curious about the (perceived?) hierarchy of SLACs and the extent to which a school’s location determines its selectivity.

As one data point, Williams and Amherst are ranked as "Lower Semi Targets" for investment bank recruiting in this list, while Kenyon is not included at all: https://www.peakframeworks.com/post/ib-target-schools

the only other LACs that get wide recruitment are Middlebury and Claremont Mckenna (who produced the "K" and "R" in KKR)

In fact, both are ranked superior to Williams and Amherst, which is interesting...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon is overrated for Creative Writing. It's a third rate school with third rate faculty, no way it can compete with Harvard!

Not sure there was comparison to Harvard but okay.