Kenyon college [$54k] vs Franklin&Marshall college [$56k] vs Trinity University [$39k] [STEM/Physics, international student]

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Hi everyone! I’m an international student who was admitted to these three colleges. My current COA is 54k for Kenyon, 56k for F&M, and 39k for Trinity U(TX). I will most likely major in STEM, such as Physics/pre-engineering. I want to find some internships in the school during the summer break. After graduation, I plan to go to grad school. Kenyon is distant from the city and Trinity University in the city. There is not much information about Trinity University from the student perspective.

Please give me some advice! Thank you very much.

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Trinity U is a little “off the beaten path” geographically and I feel as if it often gets forgotten as an option on these forums until someone brings it up, and then we’re all like, “Oh, yeah, that’s a great school!”

And it is a great school. One of my cousins and his wife both attended (met there) and love the school; his later career was as a college president. Also, my daughter’s major advisor at a T5 liberal arts college spent most of his academic career at Trinity, and continues to publish books through their press. I have heard nothing but good things about the school, and San Antonio is a great city.

If you ultimately want engineering, I would definitely choose Trinity out of these three, as it’s the only one that offers an ABET-accredited undergrad degree: https://www.trinity.edu/academics/departments/engineering-science/engineering-science-bs This is meaningfully different from getting a non-ABET physics degree and then transitioning into engineering as a grad student.

F&M and Kenyon both offer dual-degree engineering programs with other schools, but those other schools may not give you any aid and thus could cost upwards of 90K/year.

Trinity seems like the win-win to me; ABET engineering available in-house, and a better price. Add to that the location in a vibrant city, and a school that is overall reputationally-equivalent to the other two, and it seems like an easy decision unless I’m missing something.

As an international student in these complicated times, I wouldn’t want to rely on a longer or more complicated educational path in the US; I would go for the ABET engineering degree at Trinity, which can be a stand-alone credential. If conditions are favorable to pursue graduate education here, four years from now, great; but if not, you’ll still be in good shape to port that credential anywhere else you want to go.

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Kenyon has a great Physics department, but I am biased as a current parent of a physics major. It’s a pretty sizable department at Kenyon, averaging about 15 graduates per year. You will definitely have an opportunity to engage in some exciting research as early as your first year, with your professors. The location in Ohio is definitely out in the country, but it is just an hour drive to Columbus.

Here is some relevant information for you. Kenyon is ranked 8th in producing PhD’s when adjusted for size (see page 35): https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED597910.pdf

Kenyon also slightly edges out Franklin and Marshall in the overall number of PhD’s as adjusted by school size:

But I would also recommend connecting with some current students and the professors in the physics department at any of the schools that you are considering. Look at the course offerings to see if the schools offer enough to satiate your interests.

Good Luck to you!

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Agreed - if the goal is a physics PhD, then there may be stronger arguments for Kenyon or F&M. My concern was that the strength of the liberal arts based physics majors would come at the expense of a more direct path into engineering, which the OP mentioned as an interest.

So I think the OP needs to consider whether the priority is the strength of a pre-PhD pathway in physics, or the most efficient access to an ABET engineering degree. I don’t really know how Trinity compares to Kenyon and F&M on the physics side of things, although I’ll note that there’s an established path to a double major if OP wants to keep both options open for as long as possible: https://www.trinity.edu/academics/departments/physics-and-astronomy/double-major-roadmap

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I’d add that if you’re looking for summer internships, the location of your school shouldn’t matter, although the feasibility of such an internship will depend on whether it’s a well paid internship, with enough funds to cover your living expenses in a different town. Also, Kenyon has a summer Scholars Program, which is competitive, but it gives a generous summer fellowship to conduct research with a professor.

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Trinity

Getting an internship, though, as an international, will likely not be easy.

Why study pre engineering - when you can study engineering - or at least engineering science. ABET matters.

F&M is good for physics but here Trinity wins easily - and San Antonio is close to Austin and is a growth area.

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add one more option, depauw university with 35k/year.

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I agree if you think there is at least a pretty good possibility you will want to be an engineer, Trinity would be a great choice.

I also agree sometimes it is left out of relevant conversations here, probably in part because it is in Texas, where schools with that sort of format are less common than in the Northeast or Upper Midwest. I also think Trinity is one of those institutions that has been good a long time, but it is nonethless also moving up in general reputation.

And one thing I like to point out sometimes is Trinity actually has a really nice endowment, particularly per capita ($656,202 per student according to College Transitions). Schools like Kenyon ($251,340), F&M ($190,395), and Depauw ($407,460) do not have nearly as much.

And of course it would be way too crude to suggest you should always pick the college ranked highest by this measure. But my point is that such resources imply at least two things. First, it is not necessarily a mystery why they can afford to give more aid to students they really want. Second, those resources imply Trinity’s recent reputational gains and such are not a mirage, it reflects a wealthy institution making moves to improve in substantial ways. Indeed, it implies to me there may well be wealthy families and institutions who see the benefit to there being a well-resourced college with that format in Texas.

If you like, you can actually read a little about all this in their endowment report:

https://www.trinity.edu/directory/departments-offices/investments/endowment-report

You can see them discussing things like how the endowment is helping fund scholarships. There is also a discussion of a large gift from the Semmes Foundation, which is being used for sciences and has led to them naming the D.R. Semmes School of Science. I looked it up because I was curious–the Semmes Foundation is a family foundation, and it was founded by D.R. Semmes, a professor who became a successful oil company president in Texas. Apparently they make most of their grants in the San Antonio area.

Anyway, it is support like that which helps sustain many higher educational institutions in the US. And I would view it as a positive that Trinity is enjoying such financial successes. And if they want you enough as a student to use some of those financial resources on you–win-win, right?

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If you really want to do an engineering major, choose a school with the desired ABET-accredited engineering major (or non-US school where the engineering major is accredited by a similar organization).

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I would suggest you do the least expensive option.
What do you plan to do with a PhD? As an international student, it will be tough because the market is tight in the US.

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Honestly follow the money, in my opinion all these colleges are quite similar and as I see it F and M has the best reputation between these and is giving you the most money.

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The OP needed to make a choice on or before 5/1

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Also, the numbers listed are COA, not fellowships, so F&M is actually the most expensive of the three.