Washington and Lee v Kenyon v Hamilton

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these are tiny schools and incredibly desolate towns. They’re very different politically and socially, but they still need a student that can get lost in their own college world for four years to survive there.

Which SLACs are not in incredibly desolate towns?

Amherst? Trinity?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these are tiny schools and incredibly desolate towns. They’re very different politically and socially, but they still need a student that can get lost in their own college world for four years to survive there.

Which SLACs are not in incredibly desolate towns?

Amherst? Trinity?

Add Swarthmore, Davidson, Holy Cross, Occidental. Shit, Furman and Rhodes if you're willing to step down a tier.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these are tiny schools and incredibly desolate towns. They’re very different politically and socially, but they still need a student that can get lost in their own college world for four years to survive there.

Which SLACs are not in incredibly desolate towns?

Amherst? Trinity?

Add Swarthmore, Davidson, Holy Cross, Occidental. Shit, Furman and Rhodes if you're willing to step down a tier.

Reed. Colorado College. Lewis & Clark. The Claremont consortium.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone comment on Hamilton or Kenyon?

Both excellent liberal arts schools with bright kids, engaging profs, and beautiful campuses, but in areas that are a bit desolate.

Mine will be at kenyon in the fall and we’ve visited twice while going through recruiting process. The academics are excellent and the campus is beautiful. The athletic complex is top notch for a D3 school, and anyone attending can use the facilities.

The town is small but very cute. Not many stores but they have a nice inn with a formal dining room, a pub/restaurant across the street and they also have a few other places to eat like a sandwich shop, Mexican takeout and a cozy coffee shop. The school store seems to be a hangout place too. I wouldn’t call it desolate because that sounds negative, I’d say it’s remote but cozy.

I visited Hamilton years ago with my older child and liked it a lot. I will say it was hard to get there by driving and felt quite remote in winter. The town had a bit more than Kenyon’s town of Gambier but it’s at least a mile away as opposed to the Gambier town which is part of campus. I’m guessing most Hamilton students rarely trek the mile to town unless they have a car.

Congrats to your DC (and you!) on Kenyon. My DC has started the recruiting process with Kenyon for admission in 2022. We really like the coach and are devouring as many YouTube videos about the school/campus as possible, but it's still hard to get a real feel for the campus without actually visiting. Hope that can happen by next summer!

Keep your expectations low for the “town” of Gambier. I think it’s cute and its immediate proximity to campus is very nice, but there isn’t much there there. We’re talking a single block of one street with maybe a dozen buildings and six or seven businesses. Locals use the word village. Campus is gorgeous and athletic facilities are stunning.

My DD, also an athlete, is very happy at Kenyon. Academic advising has been excellent (we're comparing with the larger schools her brothers went to -- Columbia and Stanford). Profs are creative, enthusiastic and generous with their time. She has a great group of friends and is fine with being in a place with very few restaurants and even less shopping. She has that whenever she comes home and is likely to live in an urban area after graduation, so it's not such a big deal to her. And just to add, students are very excited about the new library and career center, which will be open in September, I believe.

It sounds like there are alot of Kenyon posters whose kids are athletes. At school, are most of your kids' friends from the team (i.e., is there enough interaction between athletes and nonathletes?).

Yours is a critical point that applies to any small school. Parents always say “my kid has all types of friends” but there’s no denying the amount of time a team spends together and the natural friend and study groups that spring from that, and at small schools the teams are a high share of students. Makes it even more important that the school is otherwise a cultural fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can anyone comment on Hamilton or Kenyon?

Both excellent liberal arts schools with bright kids, engaging profs, and beautiful campuses, but in areas that are a bit desolate.

Mine will be at kenyon in the fall and we’ve visited twice while going through recruiting process. The academics are excellent and the campus is beautiful. The athletic complex is top notch for a D3 school, and anyone attending can use the facilities.

The town is small but very cute. Not many stores but they have a nice inn with a formal dining room, a pub/restaurant across the street and they also have a few other places to eat like a sandwich shop, Mexican takeout and a cozy coffee shop. The school store seems to be a hangout place too. I wouldn’t call it desolate because that sounds negative, I’d say it’s remote but cozy.

I visited Hamilton years ago with my older child and liked it a lot. I will say it was hard to get there by driving and felt quite remote in winter. The town had a bit more than Kenyon’s town of Gambier but it’s at least a mile away as opposed to the Gambier town which is part of campus. I’m guessing most Hamilton students rarely trek the mile to town unless they have a car.

Congrats to your DC (and you!) on Kenyon. My DC has started the recruiting process with Kenyon for admission in 2022. We really like the coach and are devouring as many YouTube videos about the school/campus as possible, but it's still hard to get a real feel for the campus without actually visiting. Hope that can happen by next summer!

Keep your expectations low for the “town” of Gambier. I think it’s cute and its immediate proximity to campus is very nice, but there isn’t much there there. We’re talking a single block of one street with maybe a dozen buildings and six or seven businesses. Locals use the word village. Campus is gorgeous and athletic facilities are stunning.

My DD, also an athlete, is very happy at Kenyon. Academic advising has been excellent (we're comparing with the larger schools her brothers went to -- Columbia and Stanford). Profs are creative, enthusiastic and generous with their time. She has a great group of friends and is fine with being in a place with very few restaurants and even less shopping. She has that whenever she comes home and is likely to live in an urban area after graduation, so it's not such a big deal to her. And just to add, students are very excited about the new library and career center, which will be open in September, I believe.

It sounds like there are alot of Kenyon posters whose kids are athletes. At school, are most of your kids' friends from the team (i.e., is there enough interaction between athletes and nonathletes?).

Yours is a critical point that applies to any small school. Parents always say “my kid has all types of friends” but there’s no denying the amount of time a team spends together and the natural friend and study groups that spring from that, and at small schools the teams are a high share of students. Makes it even more important that the school is otherwise a cultural fit.

I tend to agree based on the very small view I currently have into being the parent of an incoming athlete. She is already on a group text with the other recruits and we are going away (moms and girls) for spring break to let them get to know one another. So before stepping on campus there is already a good bond. My older child attends another LAC and is not an athlete. She knows absolutely nobody on any sports team because she doesn't care for sports. She also seems very happy and in her own little world so I don't see a reason for alarm, it's just a different experience.

My younger daughter is very much committed to meeting non athletes and I know she will but the team bond is likely to be strong based on the amount of time they will spend together.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these are tiny schools and incredibly desolate towns. They’re very different politically and socially, but they still need a student that can get lost in their own college world for four years to survive there.

Which SLACs are not in incredibly desolate towns?

Amherst? Trinity?

Add Swarthmore, Davidson, Holy Cross, Occidental. Shit, Furman and Rhodes if you're willing to step down a tier.

Reed. Colorado College. Lewis & Clark. The Claremont consortium.

Wellesley, Smith, Bryn Mawr, Haverford, Macalester

[Anonymous]

For one of the Jewish faith, is any one of these a better choice?

[Anonymous]

You may want to review crime reports for the area near Trinity College in Hartford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For one of the Jewish faith, is any one of these a better choice?

You may want to check about which have Hillels. My kid is at an LAC with a Hillel. She went to a couple of events with them and really liked them, but ultimately decided that wasn't where she wanted to spend her time. But, she feels supported just to have it on campus.

[Anonymous]

Trawl for incident reports. Read Algenmeier and other guides. You'll find even the Emorys of the higher education world, with not insignificant Jewish student populations, have had some pretty disturbing incidents take place.

I don't know much about current campus climates at the schools indicated but W&L has a lovely newer Hillel center and an active, visible director of Jewish student life.

[Anonymous]

Lexington is a very vibrant community. I was really concerned about going to college in a rural area when I went there, but the town has wonderful restaurants and cute shops, and there are many opportunities to volunteer in the greater Rockbridge community. Outdoor interests abound and the people that live there are appreciative when students make an effort to become a member of the community. They are broadly progressive, industrious, and have something for all interests.