Anonymous wrote:I don't know Kenyon, but I would guess both are good choices. I am very familiar with Whitman. The faculty and staff are so friendly and welcoming. The students are very engaged in many activities at a time. They have a culture really built around community. I would describe "most" students as PNW-outdoorsy types. Not all, for sure. But it is warm and sunny much of the year, which is very conducive to biking, skating, outdoor activities, hanging out on the main quad, and walking to the adorable downtown adjacent to the school that is filled with soooo many great shops.
My child is transferring to Whitman this fall/sophomore year and also plans to major in ES/bio, but is also a fall athlete who likes to have lots of clubs to participate in, outdoor activities, guest lecturers, etc. When she was on campus last month to tour, to sit in on classes, observe the team spring practices, lift with the team, do a volunteer activity with the team, and really talk to current students, our goal was to see if community was a real thing or just lip service. We found out that there are constantly gatherings/parties/dinners/volunteer activities going on all around campus and in dorms/interest houses that are truly open to all students. They work to get as many attendees as possible, and the events do have good attendance.
My kiddo is a west coaster who was recruited to a NESCAC and the social vibe did not work out. So, she is transferring somewhere she will thrive academically and socially (yeah, the athletics aren't as competitive, but that does not seem to matter as much now). We know other Whitman grads from her top private day school who are thriving and LOVED their time at Whitman.
Anyway, I hope this helped a bit. Again, Kenyon may have a lot of these same qualities, but for my kiddo it is all about FIT this time and Whitman had it.

Anonymous wrote:My child was picking between two different colleges but basically the identical choices as you describe. We let him pick and he picked the Colorado College equivalent. He’s now a soph and I regret it every time we pay the tuition bill, and in between, too, because DS hasn’t performed as well as we’d have expected in college, nor is particularly engaged there (he enjoys it, but could have gotten this experience anywhere given his lack of engagement), and it is so painful to be paying this amount of money and DS will likely graduate with a mediocre GPA. (We would not have expected any of this, by the way- he was an excellent and involved student in HS.)

I wish we’d encouraged DS to take the Whitman equivalent choice. Being honest just bc it is an anon forum.

Anonymous wrote:She ended up choosing Whitman. She actually liked it more than Colorado College when she visited. Happy with the decision, though it will be a slog for visits/travel. Also visited Cal Poly recently and liked it more than CC too, but chose Whitman because it’s easier to switch majors.

Anonymous wrote:She ended up choosing Whitman. She actually liked it more than Colorado College when she visited. Happy with the decision, though it will be a slog for visits/travel. Also visited Cal Poly recently and liked it more than CC too, but chose Whitman because it’s easier to switch majors.

Anonymous wrote:Never heard of Whitman. So there is that. DH, DS, and I all have attended college+

Anonymous wrote:That is not much of a difference. I would let her go to Colorado College.

Or, you could give her the option of you are loaning her the difference between the two. She can start paying you back when she turns a certain age.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks everyone for the feedback. We didn’t let her apply ED anywhere because we wanted to take cost into account, so she knew that she couldn’t necessarily go to the best school she got into. I think the pros and cons of the block plan are a good point. She sees it as interesting and that she’ll get to take cool classes and do interesting things in the block breaks. But I’m not sure how she can major in a STEM subject if she’s interested. She’s undecided about major. Also got into Cal Poly, Oregon, Colorado, Lewis & Clark, Kalamazoo, and Clark.

I wouldn't choose such a small school. My parents pushed me to one and it was miserable as it was super clicky like HS and everyone went home on the weekends. I'd pick any of the others over those two.