Denison’s rise

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lower acceptance rates does not a “rise” make.

But aggressive recruiting a lower acceptance rate makes. We’re in NJ and my daughter (a rising HS senior) gets emails from them every few days. Sort of the way Colby increased its applicant pool an decreased it’s admit rate.

It's a smart strategy--not just aggressive recruiting, but also keeping the admitted students' score rate fairly wide so a broader range of kids and their counselor's consider it a target. Other schools that are going test-optional have these score ranges that are getting higher and higher--don't submit unless you're over 1400 etc. but Denison is test optional AND still accepts a wide range of scores/GPAs. Throw in merit aid for the donut hole families and it's serving several niches. It also is perceived as politically moderate (these perceptions are usually just based on nothing--but they have consequences for the types of students that picture themselves there and thus shape the political flavor of the student body) which again is a wider student body.

[Anonymous]

I made my son apply as a safety, he was waitlisted with very generous aid.

He was admitted RD to Bowdoin, Hamilton and Grinnell among others. Denison knew he likely wasn't going to Denison, but wanted a shot at him without it messing with their yield.

[Anonymous]

It is indeed increasing in popularity locally. The campus is very pretty and kids like that it is more middle of the road than other lacs. My kid did not apply but know a few kids that were just dropped off for freshman year last week.

[Anonymous]

My DC graduated from Denison several years ago and I am a huge fan of the school. It has a lot going for it:

President Adam Weinberg is fantastic. His letter to the incoming class is here: https://denison.edu/campus/president/speeches/150667#:~:text=Most%20of%20you%20chose%20Denison,deserves%20to%20be%20at%20Denison.

Granville is a half-hour from Columbus, which offers a lot of opportunities as well as cultural events, restaurants, a nice zoo, etc., and Granville itself is a beautiful little village with some decent restaurants and shops. The town/gown relationship is excellent.

The campus is beautiful.

Denison is a LAC and at the same ttmie acknowledges that students need to prepare for professional lives post-college. Its career center is excellent (it benefited enormously from a $9M gift several years ago), and students are encouraged to make good use of it for internships, connecting with alumni, etc.

The school has a huge endowment for its size (over a billion dollars, for 2,300 students) and it makes good use of it. The facilities are excellent (e.g. the Eisner Center - it's astonishing - and the school just built some wonderful dorms and is in the process of creating additional athletic fields for soccer and lacrosse). My DC played a club sport while there and everything was funded, from uniforms to travel to well, everything.

Merit scholarships are very generous.

Faculty is very dedicated to students. Several years out, my DC maintains correspondence with a few favorite professors and has worked with current students to find internships, get advice on DC's industry, etc.

I could not have imagined a better college experience than the one my DC had at Denison.

[Anonymous]

^^^ *at the same time

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lower acceptance rates does not a “rise” make.

Tell that to Northeastern.

[Anonymous]

The acceptance rates at many schools are deflated for various reasons that are not indicative of the schools getting better or even more selective.

I have heard, though, that there president is fantastic.

[Anonymous]

Kenyon is the top Ohio LAC and remains highest ranked by USNWR. CDS data convincingly shows highest quality student body academically. Faculty compares well with any LAC in the country.

As has been chronicled here, Denison plays a game where they waitlist kids while simultaneously offering them merit scholarships. This likely explains the low acceptance rate. They accept you once you accept them.

That being said, Denison is solid. Very nice campus in nice town. Somewhat larger than most LACs. Has the vibe of U of Richmond and physically resembles it. The endowment is around $1 billion which allows the school to compete on merit. They are definitely giving Kenyon a run for their money, but Kenyon has the historical prestige, intellectual culture and a certain magic to it. And Kenyon has improved financially itself in recent years.

Both schools are strong athletically in certain areas and have strong school spirit.

Oberlin is drowning in its own self-inflicted woke wounds, sadly.

Wooster is a great place to get an education for smart students who may not have knocked the ball out of the park in high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Kenyon is the top Ohio LAC and remains highest ranked by USNWR. CDS data convincingly shows highest quality student body academically. Faculty compares well with any LAC in the country.

As has been chronicled here, Denison plays a game where they waitlist kids while simultaneously offering them merit scholarships. This likely explains the low acceptance rate. They accept you once you accept them.

That being said, Denison is solid. Very nice campus in nice town. Somewhat larger than most LACs. Has the vibe of U of Richmond and physically resembles it. The endowment is around $1 billion which allows the school to compete on merit. They are definitely giving Kenyon a run for their money, but Kenyon has the historical prestige, intellectual culture and a certain magic to it. And Kenyon has improved financially itself in recent years.

Both schools are strong athletically in certain areas and have strong school spirit.

Oberlin is drowning in its own self-inflicted woke wounds, sadly.

Wooster is a great place to get an education for smart students who may not have knocked the ball out of the park in high school.

Wooster's academic profile looks pretty similar to Denison's actually == SAT 1260-1430 with slightly more submitting to Wooster. That surprised me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lower acceptance rates does not a “rise” make.

Tell that to Northeastern.

I don’t know why ppl say stupid things like this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Kenyon is the top Ohio LAC and remains highest ranked by USNWR. CDS data convincingly shows highest quality student body academically. Faculty compares well with any LAC in the country.

As has been chronicled here, Denison plays a game where they waitlist kids while simultaneously offering them merit scholarships. This likely explains the low acceptance rate. They accept you once you accept them.

That being said, Denison is solid. Very nice campus in nice town. Somewhat larger than most LACs. Has the vibe of U of Richmond and physically resembles it. The endowment is around $1 billion which allows the school to compete on merit. They are definitely giving Kenyon a run for their money, but Kenyon has the historical prestige, intellectual culture and a certain magic to it. And Kenyon has improved financially itself in recent years.

Both schools are strong athletically in certain areas and have strong school spirit.

Oberlin is drowning in its own self-inflicted woke wounds, sadly.

Wooster is a great place to get an education for smart students who may not have knocked the ball out of the park in high school.

Wooster's academic profile looks pretty similar to Denison's actually == SAT 1260-1430 with slightly more submitting to Wooster. That surprised me.

I've visited both schools within the past year or two. Denison campus vs Wooster is like Ritz Carlton vs standard Marriott.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Kenyon is the top Ohio LAC and remains highest ranked by USNWR. CDS data convincingly shows highest quality student body academically. Faculty compares well with any LAC in the country.

As has been chronicled here, Denison plays a game where they waitlist kids while simultaneously offering them merit scholarships. This likely explains the low acceptance rate. They accept you once you accept them.

That being said, Denison is solid. Very nice campus in nice town. Somewhat larger than most LACs. Has the vibe of U of Richmond and physically resembles it. The endowment is around $1 billion which allows the school to compete on merit. They are definitely giving Kenyon a run for their money, but Kenyon has the historical prestige, intellectual culture and a certain magic to it. And Kenyon has improved financially itself in recent years.

Both schools are strong athletically in certain areas and have strong school spirit.

Oberlin is drowning in its own self-inflicted woke wounds, sadly.

Wooster is a great place to get an education for smart students who may not have knocked the ball out of the park in high school.

Wooster's academic profile looks pretty similar to Denison's actually == SAT 1260-1430 with slightly more submitting to Wooster. That surprised me.

I've visited both schools within the past year or two. Denison campus vs Wooster is like Ritz Carlton vs standard Marriott.

DC and I both found Denison to be a bit too sales-pitch heavy in its overall vibe--rubbed him the wrong way. Wooster was a bit more cozy traditional academic, but really in the middle of nowhere and the campus didn't seem updated. They clearly have less money. But they seem to attract students with similar academic profiles--just not similar tastes I guess.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Kenyon is the top Ohio LAC and remains highest ranked by USNWR. CDS data convincingly shows highest quality student body academically. Faculty compares well with any LAC in the country.

As has been chronicled here, Denison plays a game where they waitlist kids while simultaneously offering them merit scholarships. This likely explains the low acceptance rate. They accept you once you accept them.

That being said, Denison is solid. Very nice campus in nice town. Somewhat larger than most LACs. Has the vibe of U of Richmond and physically resembles it. The endowment is around $1 billion which allows the school to compete on merit. They are definitely giving Kenyon a run for their money, but Kenyon has the historical prestige, intellectual culture and a certain magic to it. And Kenyon has improved financially itself in recent years.

Both schools are strong athletically in certain areas and have strong school spirit.

Oberlin is drowning in its own self-inflicted woke wounds, sadly.

Wooster is a great place to get an education for smart students who may not have knocked the ball out of the park in high school.

Wooster's academic profile looks pretty similar to Denison's actually == SAT 1260-1430 with slightly more submitting to Wooster. That surprised me.

I've visited both schools within the past year or two. Denison campus vs Wooster is like Ritz Carlton vs standard Marriott.

DC and I both found Denison to be a bit too sales-pitch heavy in its overall vibe--rubbed him the wrong way. Wooster was a bit more cozy traditional academic, but really in the middle of nowhere and the campus didn't seem updated. They clearly have less money. But they seem to attract students with similar academic profiles--just not similar tastes I guess.

That's fair. Denison ranks a lot higher in USNWR but Wooster always knocks it out of the park in Best Undergraduate Teaching. (Comes in at #13 in the US).

Kenyon, Denison and Wooster all really worth kicking the tires. Maybe even Oberlin if you can deal with all that nonsense and you are focused on the sciences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lower acceptance rates does not a “rise” make.

Tell that to Northeastern.

Nearly fell out of my chair laughing at this comment. Spot on. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

I seem to recall Denison had an intense Greek scene decades ago, and they have scaled it back in recent years. Is that right? Also, some people probably expect Denison to be located in a flat, treeless prairie-type setting, and are pleased to find its campus is lush & not flat. It feels more like a New England college than a typical Midwestern school.