Tell me about Kenyon College

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Also visited this summer. DS had high hopes but we also came away unimpressed. Granted, school wasn't in session, so perhaps that doesn't do it justice. But still, as others have said, Gambier is TINY and in the middle of nowhere. It's a 15 minute drive to get to a scruffy commercial area where one could find a Chipotle. The dorm room we were shown was, no other word for it, grim. Admissions wasn't particularly well done. We also visited oberlin and college of Wooster. No Ohio colleges for us. As DS observed, "Ohio is sad."

Enjoy Elon

[Anonymous]

If you are seriously looking at Kenyon, what other schools are you looking at?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also visited this summer. DS had high hopes but we also came away unimpressed. Granted, school wasn't in session, so perhaps that doesn't do it justice. But still, as others have said, Gambier is TINY and in the middle of nowhere. It's a 15 minute drive to get to a scruffy commercial area where one could find a Chipotle. The dorm room we were shown was, no other word for it, grim. Admissions wasn't particularly well done. We also visited oberlin and college of Wooster. No Ohio colleges for us. As DS observed, "Ohio is sad."

Enjoy Elon

+1

[Anonymous]

Is Elon really an overlap of Kenyon's?

[Anonymous]

Also consider Davidson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is Elon really an overlap of Kenyon's?

Definitely not.

[Anonymous]

I think Kenyon is more like Haverford, Middlebury, Bowdoin, than like Elon

[Anonymous]

I don't think Kenyon was really on the map until David Foster Wallace gave his "This is Water" commencement speech. (Google it. It's good.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think Kenyon is more like Haverford, Middlebury, Bowdoin, than like Elon

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I visited it when I was applying to college, and I found it somewhat oppressive. I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, and the extreme rural-ness of it just got to me--literally in the middle of cornfields and I had this feeling of dread of being stuck out there for all of college. It didn't seem like there was much to do besides drink and participate in campus culture and it felt very preppy. I was interested in small liberal arts schools, and I had just visited Oberlin, which was much more my style--the campus just felt more vibrant. Oberlin was also in the middle of cornfields, however it was a 30-45 minute bus ride into Cleveland and the town just felt a little more alive. I think Kenyon is an hour + away from Columbus, which isn't really much of a city anyway. I ended up going to Reed, and part of the appeal to me (along with the social/academic vibe) was the fact that I could get the small liberal arts school experience while being in a real city.

That said, it is a lovely campus and the academics seemed quite strong. For a student who likes the small college experience in a rural area, I think it would be a great choice.

This is false, Columbus is definitely a city and a much more pleasant one than Cleveland. That being said, being an hour a way from it is still pretty rural.

[Anonymous]

So the social life revolves around parties on campus, I'd imagine. Doesn't that get monotonous?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone from a lower SES background attend these SLACS? Seriously, EVERYONE I know who attended a SLAC was from an upper middle class background or better. Talk about isolation.

I went to Kenyon and I was dirt poor. I got every form of FA available. There were plenty of kids like me. There was a lot of wealth there. Some kids were obnoxious, most were not.

My son is attending a New England SLAC. Plenty of wealth there. He knows kids on financial aid. Lots of kids don't have a lot of money in college. I've told him he may not be obnoxious about money he has and his spending this year was very reasonable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't think Kenyon was really on the map until David Foster Wallace gave his "This is Water" commencement speech. (Google it. It's good.)

How old are you? 15? Do the names Allison Janney, Paul Newman, E.L. Doctorow, Rutherford B. Hayes (that one is sort of a reach but is intended to show the longevity of the institution) mean anything to you?

And the Kenyon Review???

[Anonymous]

Calvin and Hobbes????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A pretty good liberal arts college.

DePauw is better.