Hamilton v. Kenyon v. Sewanee

[Anonymous]

My kid's top 3 choices. He's asked me for my advice. Rock, paper, scissors? Which would you choose?

[Anonymous]

Is he into writing? Kenyon or Sewanee if so.

[Anonymous]

One niece went to Hamilton and graduated several years ago; the other is a sophomore there this year. They both LOVE it. One is decidedly artsy -- she got involved in the radio station and is now working in Africa for an NGO. The other is somewhat preppier, but has friends of all types. Our daughter is a senior this year, and Hamilton is one of the schools she's considering.

[Anonymous]

All three schools are great. All three are islolated. She needs to visit.

[Anonymous]

I'd also note the demographic/cultural differences -- Sewanee still draws heavily from the south and, due to its historic connections to the Episcopal church, continues to skew toward Christians (generally of the moderate to liberal variety, rather than Evangelical). Kenyon, OTOH, draws a significant number of Jewish students.

[Anonymous]

None of the schools would qualify as diverse. Hamilton is upstate NY where it is cold as F. And Kenyon is in the mid-west with a beautiful campus. Sewanee is about an hour outside of Nashville surrounded by 13,000 acre campus of woods and streams. Visits are critical. It is important to do it when school is in session so you see the other students. Biggest mistake we made was thinking we could understand a school based on vacation visits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is he into writing? Kenyon or Sewanee if so.

Right, because Hamilton's writing program is second-rate. Sheesh.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:None of the schools would qualify as diverse. Hamilton is upstate NY where it is cold as F. And Kenyon is in the mid-west with a beautiful campus. Sewanee is about an hour outside of Nashville surrounded by 13,000 acre campus of woods and streams. Visits are critical. It is important to do it when school is in session so you see the other students. Biggest mistake we made was thinking we could understand a school based on vacation visits.

Don't beat yourself up; I think this is pretty common. Unfortunately, it can be really hard to visit when school is in session.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of the schools would qualify as diverse. Hamilton is upstate NY where it is cold as F. And Kenyon is in the mid-west with a beautiful campus. Sewanee is about an hour outside of Nashville surrounded by 13,000 acre campus of woods and streams. Visits are critical. It is important to do it when school is in session so you see the other students. Biggest mistake we made was thinking we could understand a school based on vacation visits.

Don't beat yourself up; I think this is pretty common. Unfortunately, it can be really hard to visit when school is in session.

Good point but also the reason why you try to have DC narrow down the list to manageable visits. It may require you to give up spring break (we did) and it worked out far better. Just not sure how a student can really decide without seeing the school in session.

[Anonymous]

Giving spring break doesn't guarantee anything since the college may have the same break as the school. There are really two options for seeing schools in session, trips during the high school year and waiting to see the schos you are in and taking off time then - when the chooses are narrowed for you

[Anonymous]

My DC wants to work in CA where most of our family are now located. Which one would you choose knowing this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC wants to work in CA where most of our family are now located. Which one would you choose knowing this?

Certainly NOT Hamilton or Kenyon for that matter....the winters are absolutely brutal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is he into writing? Kenyon or Sewanee if so.

Right, because Hamilton's writing program is second-rate. Sheesh.

Kenyon and Sewanee are nationally known for their creative writing programs. It's a distinctive feature of both.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is he into writing? Kenyon or Sewanee if so.

Right, because Hamilton's writing program is second-rate. Sheesh.

Kenyon and Sewanee are nationally known for their creative writing programs. It's a distinctive feature of both.

Yeah, but what does one do with such a degree?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DC wants to work in CA where most of our family are now located. Which one would you choose knowing this?

Then maybe a west coast SLAC? Pomona, Pitzer, Whitman, Occidental?

I think all 3 of DS's choices are fine colleges, and none of them will be very well known on the west coast. Perhaps Kenyon has a more well known rep for it's writing program among the creative class in LA. I don't think that advantage is so great that I'd let it be a deciding factor. These 3 schools are very different, so I'd visit and let DS decide which he likes best.