Why apply to an Oberlin/Kenyon/Grinnell

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon has the top DIII swim team -- that's why my kid applied.

Kenyon is without question a back up school for kids who really wanted but got rejected from the Northeast schools. Grinnell and Oberlin are for kids who are not interested in the northeast.

Wrong, and so provincial.

[Anonymous]

Another reason is that you don’t have to apply ED to get into Kenyon and Oberlin.

[Anonymous]

Schools that are undervalued in the East offer a similar eduction but have better admissions odds, more merit aid, maybe less stress.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon has the top DIII swim team -- that's why my kid applied.

Kenyon is without question a back up school for kids who really wanted but got rejected from the Northeast schools. Grinnell and Oberlin are for kids who are not interested in the northeast.

Wrong, and so provincial.

Agree, the number of provincial people in the DMV is surprising to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon has the top DIII swim team -- that's why my kid applied.

Kenyon is without question a back up school for kids who really wanted but got rejected from the Northeast schools. Grinnell and Oberlin are for kids who are not interested in the northeast.

Kenyon is like an hour from Oberlin and is probably isn’t number 1 cross admit school.

Besides that, dead on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:when there are similar schools on the East Coast? Not trying to be snarky; genuinely wondering what these schools have that a Bates/Bowdoin/Colby/Hamilton does not.

They are all safer than Bates. What's unsafe about Bates? Genuinely curious, don't know.

They are all easier admits than Bowdoin.

They all offer merit scholarships that are not offered at Hamilton.

Better weather. [OK... Ohio and Iowa winters are not Maine winters, but they still suck.]

[Anonymous]

IYKYK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Each school has particular programs that may appeal to some over others.

This. But DCUM is obsessed with things like "prestige" (as perceived by each person posting, so...all over the place), ranking, location, "name recognition" (by whom? in what field? one year after graduation or a decade after graduation?....). And other such things which may have nothing at all to do with what a parent's child actually wants to study and wants to do for a living after college.

What should matter is whether any college is the right one for the student's chosen field first and foremost, and after that, if it's a good fit -- because this will be hoe for four years, four formative years, of the student's life. That might be Kenyon, Oberlin, Grinnell, Bowdoin, Colby, or UVA or UMD.

The question sometimes, but pretty rarely, asked here, should not be "Why would anyone apply to this college?" but should be: "My kid wants to study subject X and possibly subject Y as well, and is shy and has trouble making friends (or is outgoing and wants to participate a lot in college life). Suggestions on those majors, at schools which might be a good fit for my kid's personality too?" But nope, we get boosterism or bashing, and that's useless to a real student trying to narrow down a list based on something other than parents coming here to snark.

[Anonymous]

Above: "Home," not "hoe." Unless a kid wants to go to agricultural college or study environmental science, perhaps. Both of which are needed, so maybe "hoe" too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another reason is that you don’t have to apply ED to get into Kenyon and Oberlin.

It definitely helps to apply ED at Kenyon, or at least that was our experience.

[Anonymous]

Never

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Grinnell is as good as any liberal arts college in the country and has a much more quirky and less preppy and rich kid vibe than any of the top northeast schools. And yes, there’s the merit aid.

My kid loved Grinnell.

Do you have kids there? Because I do, and this isn't the case any more. Colby has very actively been recruiting minorites and first gen students, they have committed that no kid that goes there will graduate with student loans. Our kid sort of fits the preppy rich kid mold in that he's from here and we're full pay, but we're an AA family so not exactly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:when there are similar schools on the East Coast? Not trying to be snarky; genuinely wondering what these schools have that a Bates/Bowdoin/Colby/Hamilton does not.

They are all safer than Bates.

They are all easier admits than Bowdoin.

They all offer merit scholarships that are not offered at Hamilton.

Better weather.

Better environments for ultra liberals and LGBTQ+.

Also a quantitatively better academic experience. Grinnell and Bowdoin probably top of list of both lists

[Anonymous]

My kid applied to and got into several NESCACs but chose a midwestern LAC. The midwestern vibe is different. That’s real.

East coast snark/ sarcasm/ hyper-competitiveness had been the water she swam in her whole life. Leaving the east coast allowed her to recognize these traits as choices/defenses, rather than some de facto part of being human, or a signifier of “smarts.” Only in the absence of these traits (or at least their diminished influence) could she begin to explore who she might be without them.

This is not to say that there aren’t amazing, friendly, non-competitive students attending the east coast schools. Of course there are. But the vibes between the midwestern LACs and the east coast ones really are different. If you’ve experienced what I’m talking about, maybe this post will resonate. If not, that’s okay too. But this would be my answer to the OP’s Q.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon has the top DIII swim team -- that's why my kid applied.

Kenyon is without question a back up school for kids who really wanted but got rejected from the Northeast schools. Grinnell and Oberlin are for kids who are not interested in the northeast.

For literature/writing, Kenyon is tops. Not a backup.