Liberal Arts Schools in Ohio

[Anonymous]

My friend's DD goes to Oberlin and her son go to Wooster. Wooster is known for it's requirement of a capstone written research project, like a senior thesis. My DD is looking at Ohio Wesleyan as a safety school. She liked the small and friendly vibe of OWU, although thought it might be just a bit too middle of the road for her tastes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My friend's DD goes to Oberlin and her son go to Wooster. Wooster is known for it's requirement of a capstone written research project, like a senior thesis. My DD is looking at Ohio Wesleyan as a safety school. She liked the small and friendly vibe of OWU, although thought it might be just a bit too middle of the road for her tastes.

OWU has a great Honors Program and gives very generous merit aid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kenyon and Oberlin are the most selective, but are basically in the middle of nowhere (as are the others mentioned in this thread).

Oberlin is a great school. It's definitely kind of the epitome of the "micro-aggression" movement. That could be a plus or minus, depending on your kid.

Kenyon: halfway between Columbus and nowhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend's DD goes to Oberlin and her son go to Wooster. Wooster is known for it's requirement of a capstone written research project, like a senior thesis. My DD is looking at Ohio Wesleyan as a safety school. She liked the small and friendly vibe of OWU, although thought it might be just a bit too middle of the road for her tastes.

OWU has a great Honors Program and gives very generous merit aid.

Thank you, PP. I will pass this along to my daughter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My friend's DD goes to Oberlin and her son go to Wooster. Wooster is known for it's requirement of a capstone written research project, like a senior thesis. My DD is looking at Ohio Wesleyan as a safety school. She liked the small and friendly vibe of OWU, although thought it might be just a bit too middle of the road for her tastes.

OWU has a great Honors Program and gives very generous merit aid.

Thank you, PP. I will pass this along to my daughter.

It also has interesting, fun housing options, including Honors housing for those who want it.

If she is invited to the Honors program, she can go to an invitation-only overnight/visit and attend classes.

My DD is at Wooster, came very close to choosing OWU. We were very impressed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin is very liberal, progressive, artsy/hipster. Lena Dunham went there, FYI. She gives you a good insight into the Oberlin students (for better or for worse).

Kenyon is a solid school. Preppy vibe on the outside, more diversity than you'd imagine on the inside. Still quite white, dominated by East Coast private school grads and UMC midwestern private/public school grads. Has its fair share of students genuinely interested in academia.

Denison is a step down from Kenyon. Ohio Wesleyan is a step down from Denison. Kenyon-Denison-OW have more similar than dissimilar student vibes.

Anonymous wrote:Now that my DD's college search is in full swing, I'm suprised that there are so many great offerings in Ohio. Yes, I'm an East Coast elitist snob, but certainly learning the error of my ways. For those in the know, please let me know of your impressions of Oberlin, Kenyon, Denison, Wooster, Ohio Wesleyan...did I miss any? Is there a stereotypical student at each one?

My husband and many of our friends went to Oberlin. Lena Dunham is much more of an ass than all of them.

[Anonymous]

Denison also has an honors program and honors housing. It's gotten more selective thanks to very generous financial aid. The town it's in is small and charming with restaurants and a couple bars. It feels less isolated than Kenyon. Denison has opportunities for students to do research with professors and is very strong academically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Denison also has an honors program and honors housing. It's gotten more selective thanks to very generous financial aid. The town it's in is small and charming with restaurants and a couple bars. It feels less isolated than Kenyon. Denison has opportunities for students to do research with professors and is very strong academically.

Denison has neither an Honors program nor honors housing. It used to, but it does not now.

[Anonymous]

OP,

When your DD has made her short list of schools, in addition to visiting, reach out to their alumni associations for interviews with the local alum rep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're looking for a complete list, you can add Antioch and maybe Xavier.

Definitely add Xavier. I'm a biased alumnae but I cherish my college education. There is a great focus on being well-rounded - there is a significant core curriculum(http://www.xavier.edu/cas/core.cfm) that includes history, languages, communication, sciences, theology, philosophy, etc. It's Roman Catholic but Jesuit -- so there's no judgement or forced participation if your daughter isn't Catholic. The school makes a tremendous effort to retain their students -- see this article: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/06/30/xavier. Also, in the last 15 years, they've done a done of work in facilities upgrades. It's a beautiful campus now.

The only drawback when I was there was the lack of diversity. It's far more diverse now -- but it's pretty white by DC Metro standards. I did go to school with quite a few people from the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Antioch closed then reopened. I'd be wary. It's always been a very small, struggling college, albeit with an impressive historic legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Denison also has an honors program and honors housing. It's gotten more selective thanks to very generous financial aid. The town it's in is small and charming with restaurants and a couple bars. It feels less isolated than Kenyon. Denison has opportunities for students to do research with professors and is very strong academically.

Denison has neither an Honors program nor honors housing. It used to, but it does not now.

Why did they get rid of it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Denison also has an honors program and honors housing. It's gotten more selective thanks to very generous financial aid. The town it's in is small and charming with restaurants and a couple bars. It feels less isolated than Kenyon. Denison has opportunities for students to do research with professors and is very strong academically.

Denison has neither an Honors program nor honors housing. It used to, but it does not now.

Why did they get rid of it?

Don't know. I am guessing that they don't see the need for it given the ever-higher quality of their student body.

[Anonymous]

Even though Kenyon and Oberlin are both remote, I found Kenyon to feel more remote than Oberlin. Literally in the middle of cornfields, without any town to speak of. They were both too far from an actual city to really spend time there on a regular basis (Kenyon is a little over an hour from Columbus and Oberlin is ~45 minutes from Cleveland), but the towns felt more like actual towns surrounding Oberlin. The campus also felt more vibrant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Even though Kenyon and Oberlin are both remote, I found Kenyon to feel more remote than Oberlin. Literally in the middle of cornfields, without any town to speak of. They were both too far from an actual city to really spend time there on a regular basis (Kenyon is a little over an hour from Columbus and Oberlin is ~45 minutes from Cleveland), but the towns felt more like actual towns surrounding Oberlin. The campus also felt more vibrant.

At Kenyon, you have to go in knowing there is nothing around you. If that's ok you like the feeling of being in a little tiny village, then Kenyon is great school. I am a Kenyon grad myself, but I felt very cut off from reality there. I didn't transfer (mainly because my parents wouldn't help me if I did) and I got a great education. But the isolation is severe.

When I meet kids who are considering Kenyon, I always tell them to consider the isolation factor very seriously.

Also don't go to Kenyon during the fall foliage season. It is absolutely beautiful and it is hard to resist such a beautiful place. But that isolation is still present among all that beauty.