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Liberal Arts Schools in Ohio
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Anonymous
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This is kind of funny. Another Ohioan here...kindergarten through medical school, and I remember a lot of smart people from my class going to Georgetown and UVA. I don't remember anyone going to Oberlin or Dennison.
I will say it wasn't the scary smart people going to Georgetown...more the kind of people who manipulated the system to get the highest GPA possible. The scary smart people went to ivy leagues, swarthmore, or Ohio State. I do want to put in a plug for Granville, where Dennison is located, though. It is about the cutest little college town I have ever seen, and it's only 20 minutes from Easton (Les Wexner's big outdoor mall). |
Anonymous
Great thread, and very interesting to hear the Ohioans take on their in-state schools. It just goes to show how much the college landscape has changed during the last 10-20-30 years. I've heard the similar sentiment from in-state residents of Mass, Virginia, California, where their schools have become more competitive and attractive to OOS students. |
Anonymous
I wonder if it's that the college landscape has changed or that being out of state is just so attractive to teenagers  .
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Anonymous
CA has been under budget shortfall. It reserves approximately 20% of the seats for (usually full-pay) OSS. Because of the budget issues, core courses are oversubscribed. Students often cannot graduate within 4 years. It's a mess here. I send my D to Oberlin to avoid the instate schools here. |
Anonymous
Both! |
Anonymous
It's Denison. One "n." Denison. I agree about Granville. |
Anonymous
This caught my attention because DD is going to a summer writing workshop at Denison and we've never been there before, so now I'm especially looking forward to seeing Granville! Sounds lovely. DD visited Oberlin and Kenyon over spring break. Anyone out there who can compare them for us re: English and writing departments? DD liked both schools but I think Kenyon's location is an issue for her as it's so isolated. Kenyon grads/parents, feel free to convince us otherwise! Oberlin folks, please pitch in too, especially on this question--were you/was your kid able to get into the in-demand writing courses? |
Anonymous
Kenyon might be known for writing. My D goes to Oberlin. She's not had problems with a creative writing course this semester. I believe creative writing as a major has to be accepted into. |
Anonymous
Mine looked at all three of these great Ohio schools and ended up at Oberlin. She intends to be a creative writing major and has really enjoyed her classes so far (just ended first year). PP is correct in that you need to be accepted into the major, but they are trying to open up the major slightly because it's so popular. There is a course called Creative Writing 201 that is a gateway class and you can't get into upper levels without taking that right now - but only 12 students get in each semester. You need to submit a very extensive portfolio with work from a variety of genres to be considered and then you are invited into the course if they want you. Freshman can't apply to 201 until second semester so that means you essentially have three tries - second semester freshman and two sophomore year - before it's too late to get the class and become a creative writing major. My daughter was waitlisted for 201 in the spring of freshman year but was allowed to take another 200 level class and has reapplied for the fall so she's hopeful that it's a "yes" this time. As far as comparing Kenyon and Oberlin, I think they have different vibes entirely. Kenyon is beautiful and rural, with two things in the town (hotel and restaurant). It has great athletic facilities and tends to have a more prep school vibe (IMO). They don't have a creative writing major but I think there's a minor and they have many writers who have graduated from the program. Oberlin has an actual town with two coffee shops, ice cream shop, 8 restaurants and other little shops in addition to their new hotel. So if your child wants walkable options it's a much better choice. The vibe on campus is very earthy crunchy, though it's not full of activists despite what you read in the media (and on this board). The creative writing major is very popular so your child will have a large peer group with that focus, and also lots of competition. I will add that mine would have preferred Denison over Kenyon, just for the environment. She really liked the friendly students and their engagement with faculty and the town was nice too. She has friends at Kenyon who love it so I think it's all just personal preference. |
Anonymous
The kids that are the bottom of private school rankings go there. |
Anonymous
Exactly, but they give great merit aid to bring in higher caliber kids so not everyone is paying $60K I actually preferred Denison to all the SLAC's in Ohio. Small town, beautiful safe campus, new Michael Eisner performance center, and only 25min from Colombia. They offer $5 rental cars which I thought was cool. Kenyon was a step up in academics/pressure, but again it is in the middle of nowhere. And the middle of nowhere in Ohio is like Frostburg here. Oberlin was a hot mess. The poster who mentioned Lena Dunham went there is on point. It is the most progressive granola strange-vibe campus I have ever set foot on. They talked highly of kids collecting their own poop and bringing it to compost. There is a contest for it.  And their college town is just a super old one street with a few shops. It is 30min to Cleveland, but it was very obvious from the tour, these kids do not like their "safe space" bubble of Oberlin. My child even asked one of the admissions directors and they don't have much to offer off campus. And if I heard "you have to love music to come to Oberlin" one more time.  We get it. Kids play drums in the grass. Say it again.
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Anonymous
No dog in this fight, but Oberlin has a world-class music school. So....perhaps that's the "love of music". |
Anonymous
I meant to put do not like to leave their safe space.... And to the PP, they did talk about the conservatory, but they mentioned over and over again about how there is music always being played in the outdoor areas. Drums, tambourines, harmonicas, etc... It is a niche school for certain. If you like that niche and want to only be around those type of people it is probably a great experience. The kids seem to love and they are obviously highly intelligent. My child wants a more diverse school. |
Anonymous
Thanks for posting this. I'm the PP above with the DD going to Denison for a week this summer for a writing workshop. We visited Kenyon and Oberlin. &our post confirms something that concerns me about Oberlin--what I highlighted in bold in your post. An Oberlin admissions officer told us the same thing -- "A lot of students get disappointed because the class sizes are so limited and they have to keep trying to get into the classes." PP, does your child have a backup plan in case she can't get into the limited creative writing classes or can't get into them in time/get into the right ones to do it as a major? Does she have another major she can do, and if so -- can she still take any creative writing, or is it limited to students doing it as a major? I'm betting that students who don't want to major in creative writing but might like to take some courses wouldn't have a chance at a seat--is that the case? Interestingly, Kenyon, which is known for its writing program, right now is going in the opposite direction. As I recall, they told us they're opening up creative writing classes by saying anyone can take at least the initial class (maybe more, can't recall) without a portfolio and they're also slightly increasing the class sizes for at least some creative writing (I think they said some class sizes are going from 12 to 15). It felt like the idea was that anyone could potentially be a good writer, not just those who could produce portfolios even before taking their first college creative writing class. I liked that vibe very much, and so did DD. But Kenyon's tiny size and very isolated location are probably a deal-breaker for her. Oberlin definitely seems like the ideal size for my DD and it's good to hear that your DD had an engaging first year there! The visit day sent kids to sit in on classes, and DD was sent to a poetry class that she thought was fantastic. I'm just concerned that if she got in there, it's a real possibility that she wouldn't ever get into a creative writing class. If you have other thoughts, PP, please do post. Thank you again. |
Anonymous
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Forgive me if this was mentioned in the previous 19 pages, but if you want an extended peek at the Kenyon campus, check out the Josh Radnor film 'Liberal Arts'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4sKlA1UMxI |