What is Kenyon College like -- looking for actual and recent experiences...

[Anonymous]

My DD was recruited to play field hockey and is going ED, so fingers crossed, we are assuming we'll hear that she's an Owl very soon. We of course know about the gorgeous campus and excellent academics (DD is interested in being an English major). Though over Thanksgiving my MIL, bless her heart, wondered whether the student body of less than 2000 feels like an extension of high school, and where jocks and NARPS really just co-exist rather than being one of a whole. Obviously my DD is a jock, but has what I'd refer to as NARP proclivities -- choir, orchestra, and even DnD. Will she be single-tracked at a place like Kenyon? Would love to hear from any current or recent families/students.

[Anonymous]

She applied ED as a recruited athlete and is an almost assured admit. It’s a little late to worry about this now.

[Anonymous]

Not exactly first person experience but one of my DS best high school friends is a senior at Kenyon. He has been very happy - he has friends, a girlfriend, is artsy and is studying politics. He seems to have had a terrific college experience.

[Anonymous]

I don't know what a NARP is, but if she wants to join a D&D club, who would stop her? Orchestra and choir might be harder because of the time commitment and the likely need to audition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't know what a NARP is, but if she wants to join a D&D club, who would stop her? Orchestra and choir might be harder because of the time commitment and the likely need to audition.

NARP - non-athletic regular person

[Anonymous]

My kid is not at Kenyon, but I have spent time on campus and my kid is a D3 athlete. Kenyon is a beautiful campus with spectacular athletic facilities. Good luck to your child and you MIL should keep her mouth shut.

[Anonymous]

MIL’s comment isn’t really Kenyon specific but relates to all small schools. And that is a different debate- pros and cons to attending a small school but the students who choose a small school probably have a strong feeling that is the environment they prefer.

[Anonymous]

My DD is at Kenyon and absolutely loves it. Incredibly special place. She is not a sports kid and I will be honest that she said there’s a bit of a division between the artsy kids and the sports kids, but there is absolutely cross over with some things. Lots of great Kenyon kids in the DC area.

[Anonymous]

I suspect the NARP-athlete/Greek divide at Kenyon is a bit more exacerbated versus other schools because of the skew towards English, humanities, performing arts. Athletes tend to be more pre-professional (econ, pre-med, etc) and norm obedient. Creative writing majors not so much. According to athlete DS, the divide is real socially. The two wings of the dining hall are split along these lines. But maybe it actually represents... diversity. Sounds like D&D/field hockey playing DD will be the most popular kid on campus, the great uniter.

[Anonymous]

My daughter is a recent Kenyon graduate and played a varsity sport there for four years. She loved everything about her experience at Kenyon. While most of her friends were athletes, she wanted to be part of a broader friend group, as she was in high school, so she sought out friends who were not athletes, including friends from her dorm, her major classes, and her sorority (which she chose because it was not only made up of athletes). She had wonderful teachers and grew immensely in intellectual curiosity, the ability to ask thoughtful and probing questions, and in communication skills. Kenyon prepared her well to find a job that she loves.

When people say that small colleges are just an extension of high school, I don't understand what they mean. My husband and I are both graduates of small colleges -- not the same one and neither of us went to Kenyon-- and neither of us felt like our college experience was anything like high school. Here it's worth noting that we went to very different kinds of high schools -- my husband at a large public school in a midwestern university town and I at a small public school in a suburb of New York. We do both feel that as graduates of small colleges, we are grateful for the close and lasting friendships we made and for the dedicated and generous professors who taught us. Additionally, we feel that our small colleges prepared us well for law school (and in my husband's case, a dual-degree in public policy) and for careers as lawyers in government, NGOs and private practice.

OP, I wish your daughter the best as she completes high school and moves on to college. If she's an Owl, good luck to her and her team!

[Anonymous]

Our tour guide this fall was on the Field Hockey team. She was so lovely and helped my non-athlete see himself there.

I clearly do not have specific experience there - but the tour guide sold my skeptical kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD was recruited to play field hockey and is going ED, so fingers crossed; we are assuming we'll hear that she's an Owl very soon. We know about the gorgeous campus and excellent academics (DD is interested in being an English major). Though over Thanksgiving, my MIL, bless her heart, wondered whether the student body of less than 2000 feels like an extension of high school and where jocks and NARPS just co-exist rather than being one of a whole. My DD is a jock, but has what I'd refer to as NARP proclivities -- choir, orchestra, and even DnD. Will she be single-tracked at a place like Kenyon? Would love to hear from current or recent families/students.

I haven't had a child at Kenyon (although I hear good things about it), but DC recently graduated from Grinnell, where she was a recruited athlete (or "sporto," as they call them there) and also had "NARP" or non-athletic interests. DC participated in music, theater, writing groups, art, and D&D and absolutely was not single-tracked. She had "sport" and "NARP" friend groups and other friend groups that overlapped. One of her best friends on the same athletic team was a serious musician, and another was a talented writer. In fact, all her "sporto" friends also had non-athletic interests. DC never experienced any animosity between the two groups, although athletes occasionally came in for a little good-natured teasing. I don't know how kids fit in all these activities and maintain good grades, but many of them are multi-talented and energetic and enjoy their productive "golden youth."

As for being an "extension of high school," DC's college experience could not have been more different from her high school experience. She went to a predominantly white, conservative high school where kids weren't particularly questioning, and parents were generally strict. At Grinnell (and I would guess Kenyon is similar), everything is questioned, analyzed, and debated. Unlike high school, the student body was highly diverse, and DC had friends from many walks of life and many different countries. College kids are usually much more mature and accepting than high school kids. The professors at Grinnell treated the students as equals and cherished friends, while her high school teachers were more authoritarian. College was another world entirely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid is not at Kenyon, but I have spent time on campus and my kid is a D3 athlete. Kenyon is a beautiful campus with spectacular athletic facilities. Good luck to your child and you MIL should keep her mouth shut.

Agree. SLAC are nothing like a public high school! Really stupid thing to “wonder”.

[Anonymous]

My impression is that the SLACs are where the athletes and the NARPs can frolic freely together. I don't know anyone at Kenyon, but my kid has friends at Dickinson, F&M, Colgate, Hamilton, and they tend to be kids who played soccer and were in the band. Seems like a nice place for your DD to go to college!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My impression is that the SLACs are where the athletes and the NARPs can frolic freely together. I don't know anyone at Kenyon, but my kid has friends at Dickinson, F&M, Colgate, Hamilton, and they tend to be kids who played soccer and were in the band. Seems like a nice place for your DD to go to college!

+1
This is true at Kenyon. Look at the cast of recent plays for insight--a ton of athletes are able to participate in plays. Not likely to happen at a bigger university.