Liberal Arts Schools in Ohio

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Those of us from OH were always surprised about how many east coast kids came to OH for college...especially from NY and NJ.

My DC is at Wooster and loves it. He loves the academic rigor, small classes, easy access to professors, and the Midwest vibe that is so different from this metro DC area. The career center is extremely helpful and proactive.

He got a large merit award, which sealed the decision since we cannot pay full freight.

What is this Midwest vibe? I mean DC is full of total a-holes. I haven’t meant an area that is worse in of my travels.

What makes it stand out?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC picked Miami's honor college over Kenyon. More opportunities for research and study abroad.
Oxford is a great college town.

Also far more opportunities for partying and binge drinking.
Its a HUGE party school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC picked Miami's honor college over Kenyon. More opportunities for research and study abroad.
Oxford is a great college town.

Also far more opportunities for partying and binge drinking.
Its a HUGE party school.

Who cares?

[Anonymous]

We know a family who has had the exact opposite experience with Denison as posters are describing. Their DC was a recruited athlete who ended up leaving the school and transferring elsewhere due to financial aid being jerked around and team culture that was toxic and taking a toll on their academics. My daughter has talked to friend's DC about their experience at Denison and they said the biggest two things to know is that it's a great school for those who know their major going in right away and know they are not going into STEM (something that was not the case for them) and that if you're being recruited for a more competitive sport and have other options, particularly if you're not a win-at-all-costs personality, it might be better to look elsewhere. DD's friend is now VERY happy at a slightly larger state school where their sport is not as competitive and has an engineering program. Biggest gripe the parents mentioned: be wary of financial aid at Denison, especially if your DC is a recruited athlete. Some of the "academic" scholarships given out by coaches are based on athletic performance, and if DC is not up to coach's standards their aid may be reduced.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC picked Miami's honor college over Kenyon. More opportunities for research and study abroad.
Oxford is a great college town.

Also far more opportunities for partying and binge drinking.
Its a HUGE party school.

When a school has 16K kids and is known for being a party, that may be a few thousand partying and the other 13K that don’t.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We know a family who has had the exact opposite experience with Denison as posters are describing. Their DC was a recruited athlete who ended up leaving the school and transferring elsewhere due to financial aid being jerked around and team culture that was toxic and taking a toll on their academics. My daughter has talked to friend's DC about their experience at Denison and they said the biggest two things to know is that it's a great school for those who know their major going in right away and know they are not going into STEM (something that was not the case for them) and that if you're being recruited for a more competitive sport and have other options, particularly if you're not a win-at-all-costs personality, it might be better to look elsewhere. DD's friend is now VERY happy at a slightly larger state school where their sport is not as competitive and has an engineering program. Biggest gripe the parents mentioned: be wary of financial aid at Denison, especially if your DC is a recruited athlete. Some of the "academic" scholarships given out by coaches are based on athletic performance, and if DC is not up to coach's standards their aid may be reduced.

My response may sound harsh but it sounds like you friend's child was offered a discount in exchange for playing sports and then didn't perform at the level required or perhaps elected to not play anymore. So she lost her scholarship. I don't have empathy. My child has a discount that is tied to his GPA. If he doesn't perform academically he loses his discount. We took the requisite GPA into account when making out school decision. Why should the student athlete not be held to the same standard ?

Frankly though as I look at naivence and see children with lesser academic stats win the coveted admission spots at our nations most selective schools I am turned off by the whole system. What do I tell my daughter when the one spot our HS seems to get every year to Yale goes to a Lacrosse player with mediocre stats. She will tell you the system is not fair and she's right.

And see the attached. An awful lot of student athletes have been given the privilege of elite university admission with no corresponding benefit. I think the system is problematic at best. And if these student athletes enjoy these outsized benefits - well they better perform.


Or better yet how about we stop favoring them so heavily in the admissions process.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-r-cole/a-little-secret-athletics_b_787461.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We know a family who has had the exact opposite experience with Denison as posters are describing. Their DC was a recruited athlete who ended up leaving the school and transferring elsewhere due to financial aid being jerked around and team culture that was toxic and taking a toll on their academics. My daughter has talked to friend's DC about their experience at Denison and they said the biggest two things to know is that it's a great school for those who know their major going in right away and know they are not going into STEM (something that was not the case for them) and that if you're being recruited for a more competitive sport and have other options, particularly if you're not a win-at-all-costs personality, it might be better to look elsewhere. DD's friend is now VERY happy at a slightly larger state school where their sport is not as competitive and has an engineering program. Biggest gripe the parents mentioned: be wary of financial aid at Denison, especially if your DC is a recruited athlete. Some of the "academic" scholarships given out by coaches are based on athletic performance, and if DC is not up to coach's standards their aid may be reduced.

My response may sound harsh but it sounds like you friend's child was offered a discount in exchange for playing sports and then didn't perform at the level required or perhaps elected to not play anymore. So she lost her scholarship. I don't have empathy. My child has a discount that is tied to his GPA. If he doesn't perform academically he loses his discount. We took the requisite GPA into account when making out school decision. Why should the student athlete not be held to the same standard ?

Frankly though as I look at naivence and see children with lesser academic stats win the coveted admission spots at our nations most selective schools I am turned off by the whole system. What do I tell my daughter when the one spot our HS seems to get every year to Yale goes to a Lacrosse player with mediocre stats. She will tell you the system is not fair and she's right.

And see the attached. An awful lot of student athletes have been given the privilege of elite university admission with no corresponding benefit. I think the system is problematic at best. And if these student athletes enjoy these outsized benefits - well they better perform.


Or better yet how about we stop favoring them so heavily in the admissions process.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-r-cole/a-little-secret-athletics_b_787461.html

+1

DC’s merit scholarship is fixed for four years as long as he keeps his GPA at the required level or above.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC picked Miami's honor college over Kenyon. More opportunities for research and study abroad.
Oxford is a great college town.

Also far more opportunities for partying and binge drinking.
Its a HUGE party school.

When a school has 16K kids and is known for being a party, that may be a few thousand partying and the other 13K that don’t.

It’s a huge Greek school. Flip your numbers and you are pretty close. But it’s a decent safety school for the DC private crowd

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We know a family who has had the exact opposite experience with Denison as posters are describing. Their DC was a recruited athlete who ended up leaving the school and transferring elsewhere due to financial aid being jerked around and team culture that was toxic and taking a toll on their academics. My daughter has talked to friend's DC about their experience at Denison and they said the biggest two things to know is that it's a great school for those who know their major going in right away and know they are not going into STEM (something that was not the case for them) and that if you're being recruited for a more competitive sport and have other options, particularly if you're not a win-at-all-costs personality, it might be better to look elsewhere. DD's friend is now VERY happy at a slightly larger state school where their sport is not as competitive and has an engineering program. Biggest gripe the parents mentioned: be wary of financial aid at Denison, especially if your DC is a recruited athlete. Some of the "academic" scholarships given out by coaches are based on athletic performance, and if DC is not up to coach's standards their aid may be reduced.

My response may sound harsh but it sounds like you friend's child was offered a discount in exchange for playing sports and then didn't perform at the level required or perhaps elected to not play anymore. So she lost her scholarship. I don't have empathy. My child has a discount that is tied to his GPA. If he doesn't perform academically he loses his discount. We took the requisite GPA into account when making out school decision. Why should the student athlete not be held to the same standard ?

Frankly though as I look at naivence and see children with lesser academic stats win the coveted admission spots at our nations most selective schools I am turned off by the whole system. What do I tell my daughter when the one spot our HS seems to get every year to Yale goes to a Lacrosse player with mediocre stats. She will tell you the system is not fair and she's right.

And see the attached. An awful lot of student athletes have been given the privilege of elite university admission with no corresponding benefit. I think the system is problematic at best. And if these student athletes enjoy these outsized benefits - well they better perform.


Or better yet how about we stop favoring them so heavily in the admissions process.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-r-cole/a-little-secret-athletics_b_787461.html

+1

DC’s merit scholarship is fixed for four years as long as he keeps his GPA at the required level or above.

My dd has a classmate who was recruited by an Ivy sophomore year for a sport. This kid is a middling student who now takes easy classes and doesn’t give a crap because the spot is secured. Why on earth do we continue to hold these schools up as elite when they even mediocre students can succeed there?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Kenyon comes closer to the model of "Mr. Jefferson's academical village" than present-day UVA does. Kenyon works hard to keep it that way. The college's rural setting is protected through a variety of land trust holdings, conservation easements and other arrangements (like farm to dining hall table procurement) that preserve green space and support sustainable agriculture (much of it Amish) in the area.

[Anonymous]

Speaker Ryan is a proud alum of Miami of Ohio.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great new-ish presidents at Denison and Kenyon are helping propel both forward.

Must be a year of change in Ohio because Oberlin has an amazing new president too!

Does the college president do magic tricks?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Visited Oberlin, Kenyon, Miami, Denison and Wooster this summer. Came away very impressed.

Nothing better than a week traveling the "Herion Highways"

Do Georgetown and GW feel DC's crack habit?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Visited Oberlin, Kenyon, Miami, Denison and Wooster this summer. Came away very impressed.

Nothing better than a week traveling the "Herion Highways"

Do Georgetown and GW feel DC's crack habit?

They probably did in the 80's, Grandma.

[Anonymous]

As a former Ohioan who attended school there from kindergarten-law school, this thread is really interesting. Very different from how my friends and I view these schools.