Kenyon: The "I Was Born in a Small Town" Edition

[Anonymous]

Check out the Kenyon demographics. I think you'll find that most Kenyon students are not from Ohio. Many are going to be from NY, Cali, and probably the DMV areas. And students get to live and experience the Midwest hospitality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Check out the Kenyon demographics. I think you'll find that most Kenyon students are not from Ohio. Many are going to be from NY, Cali, and probably the DMV areas. And students get to live and experience the Midwest hospitality.

The top 5 states are Ohio, California, New York, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely she must visit campus if she hasn't yet. We visited and all liked it--fantastic students and professors and a great vibe. But DC would love to pick Kenyon up and put it next to a larger city while keeping the close-knit feel. I think the location may be a deal-breaker for DC but I also think Kenyon has terrific things going for it like the attention to individual students and small classes. Visiting is truly important, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why pay big bucks for Kenyon when Carleton, Grinnell and Oberlin are all better and similarly located in small midwestern towns? Kenyon is a backup school.

I don’t really agree that Kenyon is a back up school but the others are slightly better. Also, Oberlin isn’t similarly located because it’s in a town with much more going on than Gambier, which has a small hotel and one restaurant and nothing else. Oberlin has a new hotel and restaurant, about 10 other places to eat, a movie theater, two coffee shops etc. and they are all across the quad. Grinnell has a town as well but it’s slightly further away and has fewer shops and restaurants but the campus is lovely. I’ve never seen Carleton so I can’t comment there. Of the three I know, Oberlin has the most to offer overall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why pay big bucks for Kenyon when Carleton, Grinnell and Oberlin are all better and similarly located in small midwestern towns? Kenyon is a backup school.

It’s America’s Backup SLAC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't go to Kenyon, but went to a very small college in a very small town (in a fairly remote area). I am so glad I did. It is a wildly different experience from living in the DC area. It gave me experiences that I wouldn't have gotten elsewhere, gave me a deeper understanding of rural communities and the challenges they face, and generally opened my eyes to life outside of the comfortable suburbs of the manor metro areas.

Small colleges and small towns aren't for everyone, but I wouldn't trade my time there for anything. I consider those years to have been critical in shaping the adult that I am today.

They are bubbles around selective and comfortable SLACs, so let’s not get carried away, bro.

[Anonymous]

OP here, thanks to all who posted insightful and relevant observations! Please keep them coming. (As for those who post re rankings or selectivity, no need for that; thanks.)

[Anonymous]

Did you consider Earlham? It has a real town.

[Anonymous]

I have a DC at Denison which I suspect has a different vibe than Kenyon. I also realize it is not as selective as Kenyon, and that Kenyon has a very well regarded writing program.

We too liked the SLACs for our DC but we found the locale matters to our kids, even if it is slightly irrational as their community is the school not the host town. We drove to Colgate and my kids wouldn't get out of the car, it was too remote and they didn't want any part of it. While I got upset after having driven all the way to Colgate I actually understood my children's reaction.

When my DC child saw that there was a cute town next to Denison it really made all the difference. And frankly he doesn't go into town often but I think he likes the idea that's it's there. He also likes to go to the Easton mall to the movies (which would also be accessible to a Kenyon student).

So I cannot add anything specific about Kenyon but I did want to add that my kids were very attuned to the location and the surrounding area.

I will add that we and my DC are very happy at a Ohio SLAC. We like the mix of students from different regions. We like the different mix of kids - some athletes, some non, different socioeconomic backgrounds, it really feels like Denison is doing a lot of things well.

I wish you and your child the best of luck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why pay big bucks for Kenyon when Carleton, Grinnell and Oberlin are all better and similarly located in small midwestern towns? Kenyon is a backup school.

Not sure why you have to knock Kenyon. They are all great peer schools.

Checkout the movie, Liberal Arts. It's setting is Kenyon College.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqIuv_JX5wM

+1. I have a kid applying to Kenyon, Oberlin and Grinnell (Carleton has no merit aid for donut hole families, or my kid would definately apply there). I grew up in a small town, and see no problem with my kid getting outside of the DC bubble for 4 years. If you grow up in the DMV, you miss out on the fact most of American is not like the DMV. They have wonderful, diverse, motivated peer groups at the schools. But they can also understand what we mean when we say that the DMV is much more affluent and much more educated than most of the country. You need to get along with all sorts of people to succeed.

As to Kenyon, by the numbers it’s is harder to get into than Oberlin or Grinnell. My kid should be able to get decent merit aid out of Oberlin and Grinnell. She may get into Kenyon, but significant merit aid seems unlikely. It’s a great school. Especially the writing program.

Please explain how Kenyon, which has a higher acceptance rate and lower test scores, is “by the numbers” harder to get into than Grinnell.

[Anonymous]

All you folks arguing about selectivity are missing the point and are not adding any value to the thread.
This is about people's kids trying to find the right spot to spend some formative years. How about we support that with interesting points of views not a pissing match about which schoool is more selective. All these schools have their own personalities and that's what's important. Everyone is so concerned about which school is better - how about we learn to have an interesting discourse like we would like to see our children have after being educated at one of these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why pay big bucks for Kenyon when Carleton, Grinnell and Oberlin are all better and similarly located in small midwestern towns? Kenyon is a backup school.

I don’t really agree that Kenyon is a back up school but the others are slightly better. Also, Oberlin isn’t similarly located because it’s in a town with much more going on than Gambier, which has a small hotel and one restaurant and nothing else. Oberlin has a new hotel and restaurant, about 10 other places to eat, a movie theater, two coffee shops etc. and they are all across the quad. Grinnell has a town as well but it’s slightly further away and has fewer shops and restaurants but the campus is lovely. I’ve never seen Carleton so I can’t comment there. Of the three I know, Oberlin has the most to offer overall.

Carleton n is in a decent town but only 45 miles from the twin cities. They share Northfoeld with St Olaf.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't go to Kenyon, but went to a very small college in a very small town (in a fairly remote area). I am so glad I did. It is a wildly different experience from living in the DC area. It gave me experiences that I wouldn't have gotten elsewhere, gave me a deeper understanding of rural communities and the challenges they face, and generally opened my eyes to life outside of the comfortable suburbs of the manor metro areas.

Small colleges and small towns aren't for everyone, but I wouldn't trade my time there for anything. I consider those years to have been critical in shaping the adult that I am today.

They are bubbles around selective and comfortable SLACs, so let’s not get carried away, bro.

Bro, my SLAC (small, not selective) had an acceptance rate around 75%. Not exactly an elite school. Lots of students from families that were definitely not comfortable. A not insignificant number of Native American students from the multiple reservations within a 90 minute drive of town. Plenty of first generation college students whose parents worked in factories, the mines, shipyards, and various trades. So take your bubble accusation and kindly shove it.

[Anonymous]

OP, I can’t get this song out of my head now. Thanks.

I went to W&L a million years ago, the campus connected to a very small town (though Manhattan next to Gambier). It was nice to have, but truthfully I was way too poor to really enjoy any of those amenities for at least the first two years. Friends would go into town for dinner and I would go to the D-hall because it was already paid for! In essence the town took away from my experience early on, bleeding friends away from time to time. It did ultimately become an asset in later years when I had a few bucks scrounged up and was no longer on the meal plan. My kids have toured and they really like the town, particularly as it’s right there next to campus.

My daughter is looking at Kenyon, though we haven’t visited yet. I’m curious to see how she reacts to the remoteness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, I can’t get this song out of my head now. Thanks.

I went to W&L a million years ago, the campus connected to a very small town (though Manhattan next to Gambier). It was nice to have, but truthfully I was way too poor to really enjoy any of those amenities for at least the first two years. Friends would go into town for dinner and I would go to the D-hall because it was already paid for! In essence the town took away from my experience early on, bleeding friends away from time to time. It did ultimately become an asset in later years when I had a few bucks scrounged up and was no longer on the meal plan. My kids have toured and they really like the town, particularly as it’s right there next to campus.

My daughter is looking at Kenyon, though we haven’t visited yet. I’m curious to see how she reacts to the remoteness.

That's an interesting insight as I've read that one of the benefits of these schools overall remoteness is that as everything is provided on Campus, their remoteness helps create a more egalitarian environment.