Sewanee . . . thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gorgeous campus - "The Domain." Great creative writing program. Not a lot of diversity.

What about economic diversity?

[Anonymous]

I don't know who to be more repulsed by, the liberals bashing Sewanee -sight unseen - because it is Southern school or the Conservatives whining about gluten free options in the dining hall.

You all need to get out more.

[Anonymous]

It does have a heavy Greek system. Depends if you are into that or not. Also, the girls do dress up more.

[Anonymous]

Beautiful campus. Strong academics. Feels like a NE liberal arts school with southern spice thrown in.

[Anonymous]

I am from the South and am looking at LACs for my DS where he would qualify for some merit aid. I grew up with kids who went to Sewanee and Davidson and Elon (and Davidson is head and shoulder above the other two, and I am not an alum of any of these schools). We scratched Sewanee off the list early. And not for academic reasons. I agree with PPs that it is on the rise. It has a much better reputation now than it did a decade ago, and I think the degrees will only appreciate in value.

FOR MY KID Sewanee would be a bad fit. Too homogenous. Too conservative. Too Greek traditional Southern can be charming. But I can tell you first hand it can also be oppressive and isolating if you don’t fit the mold. For reference, my kid is looking at Oberlin, Kenyon, Grinnell and Wooster. He would not fit the Sewanee mold. Davidson is still on the list, but we have many of the same concerns.

I would not worry about Sewanee academics. And I don’t GAF about whether the school impresses my neighbors. I would look at the fit for your particular kid carefully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It does have a heavy Greek system. Depends if you are into that or not. Also, the girls do dress up more.

That could be said about most schools in the south.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know who to be more repulsed by, the liberals bashing Sewanee -sight unseen - because it is Southern school or the Conservatives whining about gluten free options in the dining hall.

You all need to get out more.

In terms of getting out more, what areas do you recommend?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am from the South and am looking at LACs for my DS where he would qualify for some merit aid. I grew up with kids who went to Sewanee and Davidson and Elon (and Davidson is head and shoulder above the other two, and I am not an alum of any of these schools). We scratched Sewanee off the list early. And not for academic reasons. I agree with PPs that it is on the rise. It has a much better reputation now than it did a decade ago, and I think the degrees will only appreciate in value.

FOR MY KID Sewanee would be a bad fit. Too homogenous. Too conservative. Too Greek traditional Southern can be charming. But I can tell you first hand it can also be oppressive and isolating if you don’t fit the mold. For reference, my kid is looking at Oberlin, Kenyon, Grinnell and Wooster. He would not fit the Sewanee mold. Davidson is still on the list, but we have many of the same concerns.

I would not worry about Sewanee academics. And I don’t GAF about whether the school impresses my neighbors. I would look at the fit for your particular kid carefully.

If you are looking at Oberlin, Kenyon, and Wooster - curious as to your thoughts on Denison ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am from the South and am looking at LACs for my DS where he would qualify for some merit aid. I grew up with kids who went to Sewanee and Davidson and Elon (and Davidson is head and shoulder above the other two, and I am not an alum of any of these schools). We scratched Sewanee off the list early. And not for academic reasons. I agree with PPs that it is on the rise. It has a much better reputation now than it did a decade ago, and I think the degrees will only appreciate in value.

FOR MY KID Sewanee would be a bad fit. Too homogenous. Too conservative. Too Greek traditional Southern can be charming. But I can tell you first hand it can also be oppressive and isolating if you don’t fit the mold. For reference, my kid is looking at Oberlin, Kenyon, Grinnell and Wooster. He would not fit the Sewanee mold. Davidson is still on the list, but we have many of the same concerns.

I would not worry about Sewanee academics. And I don’t GAF about whether the school impresses my neighbors. I would look at the fit for your particular kid carefully.

If you are looking at Oberlin, Kenyon, and Wooster - curious as to your thoughts on Denison ?

That it is a school that is going places. It is not where Oberlin or Kenyon are now, but in 5-10 years it might well be. I have a super nerdy TJ kid, and Denison does not look like a great fit for him. Wooster hits about the same place as Denison, but has things that my kid wants— very strong undergrad science research. Very strong music. And shockingly good PhD program placement. Wooster was nowhere near my radar until I really looked at it. For my kid’s Ohio college tours this summer, he scratched Denison and added case Western. Works with the Cleveland Institute of Music. Very good reputation for undergrad science teaching. Excellent merit aid for TJ kids. And three members of my family are legacies.

I think Denison is academically like Sewanee— a school on the rise. Just not the right call fitwise for my kid. But I am actively soliciting ideas for parents who have BTDT. Next up is the NY and PA schools, so Bucknell, Union, Skidmore, Dickinson, Franklin and Marshall, Villanova. There will also be a Boston trip at some point. I have a very smart ADHD kid who is already above 1500 on the SAT and right in the middle of his TJ class. Finding the best fit is a lot more important than finding a college that will impress the people who will pick apart the TJ admit list on DCUM. And he will need to get some amount of merit aid if he goes private. Not full ride. But something.

[Anonymous]

There have been at least 10 interns in my office who hail from Sewanee. The thought amongst the partners of my firm is that these are all "good girls."

They seem to want to get married and have children ASAP. Not that there is anything wrong with that - they just do not seem committed to a career.

I think it is a place for people who are not that bright but need a degree. Just saying.

[Anonymous]

So all the Rhodes scholars from Sewanee are not very bright? Hmmmm. You sound really bright yourself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There have been at least 10 interns in my office who hail from Sewanee. The thought amongst the partners of my firm is that these are all "good girls."

They seem to want to get married and have children ASAP. Not that there is anything wrong with that - they just do not seem committed to a career.

I think it is a place for people who are not that bright but need a degree. Just saying.

I think it’s a little more complicated than that. I think it is a place for smart girls who want an Mrs. (as opposed to choosing to be a SAHM, which I am not, but am also not knocking). These are not necessarily girls who want to give their kids the best shot. These are girls who want a “nice” boy from a “nice” family bit to take care of them, and know that “nice” boys require their wives to have a degree these days. But their primary reason for attending college is not to get an education. It is not get a husband.

I went to Wake Forest at a time when a lot of girls were their for the sole purpose of getting a future doctor or lawyer or MBA before graduation. They were not academicly focused. But they were not stupid. They knew what they wanted and they went for it. And for many of them it worked out— at least if you believe their FB feed. So everyone got what they wanted, and no one got hurt, I guess. I think it’s a waste of a brain and a good education. But I doubt they would agree with all my life choices either.

At any rate. You are right about need a degree. It is very likely the not the not bright thing is an act. “Good” Southern girls don’t get “nice” Southern boys by acting like they could be as smart as the Mr. That is not the job of an Mrs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gorgeous campus - "The Domain." Great creative writing program. Not a lot of diversity.

What about economic diversity?

Sewanee has about 18% pell grant recipients-higher than I would have guessed. That is certainly lower than public universities, but a solid number for a LAC.

[Anonymous]

Sorry about resurrecting an old thread, but I have a question. A colleague recently suggested this school for my daughter who loves the outdoors & plans on majoring in environmental science. However, my daughter is LGBT. Is it worth suggesting to her or would she not be comfortable with her identity? She's actually pretty centrist politically, as we visited Oberlin & Kenyon, and she found Oberlin too out there, but liked Kenyon.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sorry about resurrecting an old thread, but I have a question. A colleague recently suggested this school for my daughter who loves the outdoors & plans on majoring in environmental science. However, my daughter is LGBT. Is it worth suggesting to her or would she not be comfortable with her identity? She's actually pretty centrist politically, as we visited Oberlin & Kenyon, and she found Oberlin too out there, but liked Kenyon.

Can't answer about Sewanee specifically but the school is run by a group of southern US Episcopal dioceses. Many people who are LGBT find a home in the Episcopal church.