Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're looking for a liberal arts college in a small town, consider Denison--very strong academically with great financial aid. It's in a cute small town with bars and restaurants (Granville) that's much livelier and less isolated-feeling than Gambier where Kenyon is.

What I found interesting about Kenyon is that the college basically surrounds the center of the town, Gambier. So while Gambier is small, students are crossing through the center several times per day, which makes the college feel very much part of the town and vice versa.

+1

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're looking for a liberal arts college in a small town, consider Denison--very strong academically with great financial aid. It's in a cute small town with bars and restaurants (Granville) that's much livelier and less isolated-feeling than Gambier where Kenyon is.

What I found interesting about Kenyon is that the college basically surrounds the center of the town, Gambier. So while Gambier is small, students are crossing through the center several times per day, which makes the college feel very much part of the town and vice versa.

Gambier is a town like my local strip mall is a town. Kenyon is bigger than Gambier. We were impressed with Kenyon, but my DD just couldn't do it when she heard the most popular thing to do on weekends (besides drinking) was to take a bus to the Mt. Vernon Ohio Walmart.

Visiting Hamilton this coming weekend, and Kenyon in the coming weeks.

Putting aside the campus visit, can someone recommend where I might take my DC for dinner, walk, etc. off campus to get a flavor of what is around?

Anonymous wrote:If you're looking for a liberal arts college in a small town, consider Denison--very strong academically with great financial aid. It's in a cute small town with bars and restaurants (Granville) that's much livelier and less isolated-feeling than Gambier where Kenyon is.

Kenyon is stronger academically - the more rigorous of these two.

Anonymous wrote:If you're looking for a liberal arts college in a small town, consider Denison--very strong academically with great financial aid. It's in a cute small town with bars and restaurants (Granville) that's much livelier and less isolated-feeling than Gambier where Kenyon is.

What I found interesting about Kenyon is that the college basically surrounds the center of the town, Gambier. So while Gambier is small, students are crossing through the center several times per day, which makes the college feel very much part of the town and vice versa.

If you're looking for a liberal arts college in a small town, consider Denison--very strong academically with great financial aid. It's in a cute small town with bars and restaurants (Granville) that's much livelier and less isolated-feeling than Gambier where Kenyon is.

I think that's the key. Some kids thrive in these tight, isolated communities and others do not. Your child should be sure to visit in the late fall, winter, or early spring to get a taste of the climate. I think February is the roughest month.

Anonymous wrote:My child looked at both, got into both and chose Kenyon. Both are excellent, but equally isolated, liberal arts schools. The Kenyon review is a plus for someone interested in writing, though Hamilton is also a strong writing school. Hamilton might have more connections to Wall Street for someone interested in business. You really can't go wrong with either though.

Looked at both schools as well w/DD. Agree both are isolate but Kenyon is far more isolated. Consider the winders though, both equally harsh. These schools require a special consideration in light of remoteness and harsh climates. FWIW, DD went elsewhere.

I'd never heard of Kenyon until I listened to David Foster Wallace's commencement speech "This is Water".

My child looked at both, got into both and chose Kenyon. Both are excellent, but equally isolated, liberal arts schools. The Kenyon review is a plus for someone interested in writing, though Hamilton is also a strong writing school. Hamilton might have more connections to Wall Street for someone interested in business. You really can't go wrong with either though.

Anonymous wrote:D visited Hamilton, it was way too remote for her, very far and seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere. She crossed it off her list.

Isn't Kenyon the walking definition of remote?

Have you visited? I thought the kids there were very aloof - much more so than at Colgate and the other Patriot League schools I was considering.

Anonymous wrote:

If my kid wants to work on the west coast, which has more name recognition out there?

That would be Hamilton w/out doubt.

Really? I think most people on the west coast would consider both schools to be good liberal arts schools without dicing which one seems marginally better. If you really want to work on the west coast and have some name recognition for a small liberal arts college, go to a West Coast liberal arts school like Reed, Occidental, or a Claremont school.

I grew up on the west coast (and still spend a lot of time there for work) and knew by high school that Kenyon was a strong school, especially for English and the arts, somewhere in the midwest. I first heard of Hamilton when a friend's little brother went to Colgate and insisted on regaling us with Hamilton/Colgate stories. I didn't know it was considered a strong school until after I had kids.

I definitely agree with the point about west coast schools being better known in the west -- a very good thing for grads of Reed and the Claremont Colleges; not so much for Occidental. The closest west coast fit to Kenyon/Hamilton is probably Whitman (which is quite well regarded, if not quite on the Reed/Pomona level, out west).

Which has name brand recognition on the west coast?

D visited Hamilton, it was way too remote for her, very far and seemed like it was in the middle of nowhere. She crossed it off her list.