My son has finished one semester at College of Wooster. He is back home for winter break. I asked him to list 3 negative things about the college and he was not able to list a single one! So it has been an amazing experience for him. We highly recommend considering College of Wooster especially if you want to be in STEM and have research inclination there may be no better place to go!
A few small negatives that I see as a parent:
Some dorms are not at par.
College has neutral to negative relationship with the town.
Town is very small with not too much city-like fun stuff to do.
Courses in the first semester were bit easy for him. May be they will get challenging in coming semesters.
For picky eaters food might get boring. He is fine with it but for vegans/vegetarians etc. it might be an issue.
Connectivity to international flights not so great.
I completely understand your points as a parent (and don’t mean to discount ), but you must be thrilled with your son’s positive feedback! Congratulations to you all for finding his best fit school. I sincerely hope he feels that way for the next 3.5 years and that you continue to update the CC community. (And beyond undergrad if he continues his academic pursuits as anticipated.) Thank you for the update.
Yes. So far it is very good and seems to be perfect fit considering the graduate school plans and interest in serious undergraduate research. Yes I do plan to keep updating it on CC. CC community is the reason we found this college!
A major concern that I experienced at a different LAC was lack of course offerings and lack of a variety of professors.
The smallness and familiarity became unbearable to me.
On campus recruiting was non-existent.
I hope that the College of Wooster works out for your son, but I encourage you to reassess as your son progresses.
P.S. The 2021 retention rate (reported in 2022) for the College of Wooster is at 84% (returning for the sophomore year) and the 6 year graduation rate is a concerning 74%.
Glad everything is going so well! Wooster is an excellent school.
I think most kids complain a bit about the food, even at the schools with the most highly rated cuisine. Take it as a compliment about your cooking.
That area of Ohio isn’t really bustling, so I get that complaint. There are, btw, people who volunteer to be “hosts” to international students so if your son wants to make such a connection, PM me.
And yes, the courses will likely get harder. Not everything comes in with the same level of preparation, so it’s not surprising that your son, coming from where he fid, hit the ground running.
Great post, I remember when you first began posting. It’s wonderful when people come back to give progress reports, which are useful for those researching options. So glad your son is finding his feet. I agree with @gardenstategal that it’s likely he will find his courses more challenging as he progresses.
College of Wooster has a respectable 87% freshman retention rate. Happy freshmen return. I think your list of cons are pretty par for the course. It’s a badge of honor to get a lousy dorm at least once in a student’s college career. And usually, all the fun he seeks will be happening on campus.
Best of luck to him! Glad it’s working out so far!
#1 regarding small classes: not as much of a large school versus small school issue as one might think as it is often an issue of large public university versus private National University. Many elite private National Universities offer small classes of 5 to 20 students once the intro courses/survey courses are completed.
#2 In my family–extended family–we view “big fish in a small pond” as wasted time & money. Also, some students just need the more challenging academic environment of an elite private National University. Yes, challenging environments can be found at elite LACs, but they are often watered down by the high percentage of athletes–a statement upon which I expect unanimous and universal agreement.
Diversity in all of its forms in meaningful numbers is also important to my family & to most–probably all–of our friends & relatives. Easier to find at a large school.
It is not unique to any specific college, but sometimes new frosh out of high school find their first semester easier or harder than expected, because they may be underplaced or overplaced in entry-level courses, or the other changes from high school to college can affect how well the student does in academic work.
I am not promoting Woosters over MITs of the world. If you can get in and afford private research Universities they may be the best option. I am giving our experience about Wooster in case someone is looking to apply to LACs in similar category.
About this I tend to disagree especially when one is going to proceed for graduate studies. A 2.something from Berkeley will have less opportunities for graduate studies than 3.9+ from Woosters of the world. However you will not get challenged as much so there are pros and cons.
Given that the OP’s student is not finding college to be overly difficult (i.e. little risk of flunking out), and there does not seem to be an affordability issue (i.e. little risk of financial drop out), and the student seems happy (i.e. little risk of dissatisfaction drop out), that suggests that the student has low risk of non-retention and non-completion.
Students transfer, drop-out, or leave schools for various reasons. For many, it is related to financial matters, while for others it may be for a need for more academically and socially.
Please keep posts on topic for this OP. They have not asked for input on the pros and cons of LACs vs Research Unis. They are not asking for advice on transfer options. They are kindly following up with this community after receiving input from CC contributors during their application season. We want to encourage updates such as this since it helps those contributors to know if their advice was valuable.
Further off-topic posts will be deleted. Thank you for your understanding.
When your kid can’t name a negative you’re in a great spot. I am so happy to see your post. The journey that your family went through to arrive at Wooster is very well documented here on CC due to your thoughtful questions and detailed responses. I look forward to further updates.
Challenging academic environments can be found at all types of schools. First semester classes can be quite easy for kids depending on the school and how rigorous placement is coming in. @Andygp’s S is going to find all of the rigor that they desire at Wooster.
Among those who really know elite LACs you will find almost universal disagreement on this.
When we were introduced to LACs large % of varsity players was something of a concern to me but now I feel that is key to the rounded liberal arts experience. If you include intramural then almost 60% of the people are connected with sports in some way and it is easy way to make friends if you play some sport at some level. Also on an average in Wooster sports people don’t seem to be academic under achievers.
I’m so glad he’s having a great experience there! I was just thinking about your son and wondering how his experience was, and did a search to find your old posts, but found this, which was exactly what I was looking for!
I definitely agree with all the caveats you listed. The food this past semester has been the worst it’s been in my daughters’ 2.5 years there, so I hope it improves going forward. And I think they are working on improving the dorms situation as well.
I’ll look forward to future posts and wish your son continued success and good times at Wooster!
), but you must be thrilled with your son’s positive feedback! Congratulations to you all for finding his best fit school. I sincerely hope he feels that way for the next 3.5 years and that you continue to update the CC community. (And beyond undergrad if he continues his academic pursuits as anticipated.) Thank you for the update.
And usually, all the fun he seeks will be happening on campus.