My junior son is interested in Denison, he likes a small campus environment and we are planning a visit.
I’m a little concerned though because it seems like being an athlete at Denison is such a big deal and that non-athletes are sometimes left out socially, maybe especially boys? I’ve read a few posts on CC to that effect and my sister who lives nearby knows two boys that have transferred to larger schools. My son is athletic but will not be playing a NCAA sport in college, he’s outdoorsy and into climbing, camping, and music. He’s a little nerdy but has a large group of friends (and a girlfriend) in high school.
Would love any comments from boy parents about the social scene at Denison. Thanks!
My S24 will be attending Denison in the fall of 2024 as a first year and he is not an athlete. I think at all the LAC’s the presence of athletes is always a factor and a percentage of the student population.
We visited the school three times before applying for ED, and we felt very comfortable with him not being an athlete, an artist, or an international student (all three seem to be pretty prevalent on campus).
I think everyone finds their people.
Not the demographic you were looking for, as my kid was an athlete. But his experience was, while he was close to a few guys on his team, their social set was almost entirely non-athletes, male and female, with lots of artists, musicians, performers, student government kids. What we liked, and he experienced at Denison, was that it was an “integrated” rather than “siloed” experience.
I don’t have a son there but my daughter is a first year at Denison currently. She is not in a varsity sport. She is having the time of her life. Denison has far exceeded her expectations. Her new boyfriend is a varsity athlete. Her roommate is a varsity athlete. From what I can see, they all hang out together, athletes and non athletes. She also just rushed and the sorority she is in is a good mix of athletes and non athletes. Her best friend is not an athlete but her boyfriend is as well. She is loving her life both from a social perspective and an academic one. Her professors have all been really supportive and engaging. Feel free to ask me any other questions if you have them! Best of luck!
Thanks! I appreciate the perspective. I’m so glad your daughter is having such a great experience. We’re going to visit next week so I’ll update this thread with his thoughts.
It’s good that you and your son will be able to visit Denison. I didn’t respond to your message earlier because, like @Midwestmomofboys , my son, who graduated last May, was an athlete. But I think his experience may still be relevant. In his last three years at the school, when he roomed with friends by choice, his roommates included athletes, non-athletes, frat members and non-frat members (my son did not belong to a frat), males and females. I think this is pretty typical, and the school seems to affirmatively discourage groupism. My son sensed this when he first visited as a HS senior. He does not like cliques of any sort and had previously dinged a number of schools where he detected political partisanship or an athlete/nonathlete divide, but he liked Denison’s vibe right away. There are a lot of athletes at Denison, but it is not really a rah-rah school. If your son is musical, make sure he gets to see the Eisner arts center, and if he is athletic, he may want to take a look at the Mitchell athletics center as well. They are both terrific, but they are on opposite sides of the campus, so a tour might not cover both.
My son is a sophomore there, not an athlete, and is having a wonderful experience. There is always something to do on campus, different concerts, activities, and events. It’s been a fantastic experience for him!
I’m worried about this too. My son is sporty but won’t play a varsity sport in college. How many sporty kids are left when you back out the 40 percent that play varsity sports? This is an issues at all LAC, but Denison seems more sporty than most.
My kid was a varsity athlete but his friend group was non-athletes, both male and female. His closest friends – 3-4 guys – were his same year on his team, but other than that, his friends were in theater, music, acappella, people he met from his campus job and other student orgs etc. The “non-siloed” nature of the student experience appealed to him (and us).
We visited twice so far and my son really loves Denison. I never had any sense that it’s a sports school. My son swims in high school, non varsity, and hopes to swim in college, but his goal is to exercise and help keep his ADD in check. His focus at Denison is biochem/premed/music. Definitely very international and he liked that. It also felt more politically balanced, he isn’t political but leans more right and a few schools turned him off that were very in your face political / activist. Maybe we got the wrong read when we were there?
The music building is very impressive. He wanted to go ED but we could not commit without knowing the final costs.
This question comes up from time to time. My son was a varsity athlete at Denison; he graduated in 2023. At least based on my experience, I don’t think this is something to worry about. Denison has fabulous athletic facilities, which would benefit a sporty kid who plays on a club team or just does their own thing, and there is a sporty vibe for anyone who’s interested. But, although there are a lot of varsity teams at Denison, it’s not a rah-rah school and there isn’t a divide between varsity and non-varsity athletes or athletes and non-athletes. My son had many friends, and roommates who shared his interest in sports and fitness and maybe played on club teams but didn’t have a varsity sport. Regarding the comment from @RookMSU , in our experience, Denison was a pretty open-minded place regarding politics. My son was also very put off by a couple of schools he visited that gave him an in your face political vibe, but he never encountered anything like that at Denison.
I have a first year student at Denison, and he is not an athlete. He is a STEM-focused kid and his group seems to be boys he met in his physics/multivariable classes. His roommate is international. Interestingly, his roommate who is from Japan is much more active athletically than my son, I think he goes to the gym quite often. My son definitely leans right. I do wish there were more girls in the stem classes, but that is probably the case at most colleges. He went to an all boys high school and I feel his first semester was very similar in that he had 3 stem courses (bad idea there) and only a couple of girls in each class, maybe 15 boys and 3 girls.