Ohio SLACs
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Anonymous
| These are great schools. I like Denison the best. Then Kenyon. Then Wooster. Oberlin too woke for my liking but to each their own. As good (or perhaps even better) than the east coast SLACs. Better education. More down to earth. |
Anonymous
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My only comment on Wooster was that they emailed my kid in April (like 4 weeks ago) saying they were still taking applications and would turn it around in one week.
I don’t know if this is new for them or what…but doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence. |
Anonymous
My kid just finished their first year at Denison. Lots of school spirt and strong sports' teams for D3. Have already won 2 NCAA D3 National Championships this year, the baseball team is playing in the D3 World Series and a few others also made it very far. What I've found is that a lot of the athletes had D2 offers but wanted to attend a school that was strong academically while still being able to play their sport. I know that was the case for us too. They also have a robust intramural program if your son/daughter wants to play. The Mitchell Center is a great, modern faciilty. I'll be honest that I hadn't really heard of Denison before my child was being recruited. I attended a large, public that lots of people on this board swoon over. We couldn't be happier with Denison. We had a long chat after I picked them up to move home and I knew this was the perfect place for them. Happy academically, socially and excited to go back in August. They hang out on campus but also Uber into Columbus. I thought it would skew Ohio but their close friend group (about 8 in total) is all from out of state except for one from Columbus. |
Anonymous
…only if the main metric considered is the % of students who own a bullhorn. |
Anonymous
The current president was not there when it happened. |
Anonymous
In a nutshell, this is the main attraction to the Ohio LACs; a solid education at a discounted price. OP: You are approaching this in a wise manner by seeking comments and visiting each school. Interests & impressions can, and often do, differ. In the end, for most it comes down to price and options. Few would turn down Amherst, Williams, Bowdoin, Middlebury, or other top ranked LACs to attend Kenyon, Denison, Oberlin, or Wooster, but many would turn down other mediocre/modestly ranked LACs to attend one of these Ohio LACs. An important issue for many will be whether or not apply binding ED to one of these Ohio schools without knowing one's other options. Competition for college admissions peaked this year so there is reduced pressure to ED to any non-top choice school. Both domestic and international competition should be lessened this year and in the following years hereafter. |
Anonymous
| With respect to school spirit, none of these Ohio colleges has much school spirit with respect to athletics. Several D 3 colleges do have school spirit centered around ice hockey teams (a great in-person spectator sport). |
Anonymous
| I don’t get the big fuss, oberlin looks really interesting- a conservatory on campus, an amazing art museum, a great track record getting students into grad school, etc. Seems like a great opportunity. |
Anonymous
If one fits in with the campus culture which is extremist in the eyes of many. |
Anonymous
Ummmm…. Not so much. This is someone who is spouting stereotypes with no experience at the school. It pulls heavily from high COL/ UMC/ east/west coast good public’s (and the public school % is high for a private LAC) including a lot of kids from the DMV (and parts of New England, California, etc). My kid went to a center left FCPS high school, is a moderate (not even really progressive) Dem and fit right in. If your kid fits in at one of the stronger, more liberal FCPS, MCPS, LCPS, etc high schools, they will fit in at Oberlin politically. What’s different is that Oberlin is big on being a community and all members of the community accepting each other and engaging in rational discourse. Not agreeing. Not conforming. But having civil debate and thoughtful discussion. So yes, a communist, a trans kid, two Con students who could care less about, politics, moderate Dem and a Progressive Dem can and do all live together, eat together, discuss politics and in the end respect each other and be friends. Who sometimes agree to disagree. The world has become so polarized. I think we’ve forgotten about the time and places where your could vote for different candidates and have a beer together. Oberlin is a place that still exists. You have seen a lot of nasty protests at colleges this year. And Oberlin had an pro-Palatinian encampment last year (the also had a “camp” in support of returning Israeli hostages). The leaders met with the Administration beforehand, set up in Oberlin’s “First Amendment Zone” agreed that violence, nastiness or hate speech of any sort was absolutely unacceptable and agreed to hand out fliers with their commitment peaceful, non-violent protest with no hate speech and a QR Code that scanned to Oberlin’s protest policy and allowed anyone to report perceived violations. I know this, because these guidelines were anlso sent to parents. And the protest was a non-event. Kids went home for the summer, and those left argued to take the rest down for the 2024 graduation ceremony, realizing that that class hadn’t gotten one in 2020. A girl with a bullhorn stood up after the main speaker during a break in the action, pulled out a bullhorn and yelled about divestment for 30 seconds. Oberlin’s President, who is a rock star, thanked her for her opinion and told her it was time to move on to awarding degrees. She sat down. And that was the big Oberlin protest moment. And we all survived the 30 seconds of free speech. My other kid is at a “top 3” VA public, and there was actual violence. That was the kid I worried about. Oberlin is almost Quaker in its commitment to tolerance. And yes, that means tolerating opinions you dislike and rolling your eyes at some kids Marxist manifesto and accepting your LGBTQIA students and really listening to their concerns. . But, in class and out, there is the expectation that you listen without interrupting, and then get your turn to respond with your opinion— without resorting to name calling or hate speech. It’s not for every kid. For example, music and art are a huge part of the whole campus, not just the Con. Your kid who doesn’t value music and art and wants good football games won’t be happy there. But this stereotype of “all the kids are extremists” is wrong. Some kids are and they are accepted as members of the community. Most are UMC kids who are moderately liberal from the left or right coast. Most of them are just like the kids in your kids HS. |
Anonymous
Ignore dipsh--s like this. It's a fantastic school, academically. It is quirky and not for the alpha male/female types who inundate state school greek scenes (and calm down, I was one of those and would not have been a good fit for Oberlin). But for the right kid, it's fantastic. |
Anonymous
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Ohio native- here are some very rough stereotypes about the SLAC’s that I observed 30 years ago and it doesn’t look like a whole lot has changed:
Oberlin- outspoken difference-makers who aren’t afraid to be different or be around others who are different Denison- preppy jocks Kenyon- politically moderate/apolitical UMC who want a nice, close-knit community Wooster- more intellectual vibe, more along the lines of Oberlin but a tad less liberal |
Anonymous
Oberlin: I want to be a non-conformist like all my other friends. And I'm always looking for something to complain about (sorry, they refer to it as "protesting"). There are plenty of others there who are more mainstream. But this is a very big part of the culture. |
Anonymous
Oberlin produces a jaw dropping number of Fulbrights (some years ranked first, based on per capita among all colleges) MacArthur winners, Peace Corp Volunteers, etc. a recent Nobel laureate in economics was an alum. They were a decent part of USAID. And obviously they produce a slate of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony winners each year. Business CEOs and corporate lawyers? Not so much. You can call that non-conformist, I guess. They don’t have “make as much money as possible by whatever means possible” goals. You could also call it impressive and laudable. Oberlin has kids who want to make the world better. Which does start with complaining about the status quo. Which is another way of saying looking for ways to make the world better. And if you think contributing to the arts or helping others makes the world better, then they are succeeding. In spades. It’s not a school for every kid. But don’t pretend they just gripe and hold signs. They graduate and are very over represented in prestigious and well respected programs that do help others, create change or make the world a more beautiful place. They walk the walk. So no, it isn’t for every kid. It isn’t for your Wall Street 1% whatever. Which is fine. Plenty of great schools for those kids. |
Anonymous
Agreed. As a moderate Democrat, I find these types very frustrating. They can't just leave well enough alone and are constantly whining. This is the stuff that Fox News feeds off and generalizes to make all Democrats look like crazy people. That is why Trump got elected - because the average American was dumb enough to think we are all like this. I would like to think they are channeling this energy into opposing Trump's craziness. But I'm not sure if that is the case. Too busy finding some obscure issue to complain about. And no, I am not knocking their intelligence. Oberlin has many super smart students. And in many ways it is refreshing that they are not all lining up to work at Goldman and McKinsey - Ivy+ schools have gone ridiculously too far in that direction and it is great that there are college kids who aren't solely searching for the almighty dollar. But there is a happy medium. |