I attended a high school ages ago that was about 2-3 hours from all these schools. At that time, Oberlin was known to be a good school, but the conservatory there overshadowed everything else about its reputation. Truly counter-cultural types went to Antioch. In my post-college years, I met more people from Oberlin in NYC than I did in my home town, and over the years, it has become more aggressively PC than the others. Kenyon was known to be a good, solid LAC, especially for writers and swimmers (although the best swimmers wanted to go to D1 schools where they’d have scholarships). The kids that went there were pretty interchangeable with the Denison ones but they tended, on the whole, to be somewhat better students. Denison was known to be a decent school with a very active social scene and was favored by the country club set. PEople who went there loved it, btw. When we looked at these schools decades later with our kid, Denison was the real surprise. While there are still kids there who “represent” the affluent midwestern suburbs, it is not the “party school” it once was, and there are plenty of serious students there. Really, everyone in our family was pretty wowed by this school. There is no doubt in my mind that Denison’s star is rising. They are using their endowment to really improve the students and the student experience.
As for the comments about Ohio schools, it is so true that these LACs – so well known beyond Ohio – have lots of competition in state. There are LACs, such as Muskingum and Ashland, that have religious affiliations and are solid schools and appeal to some, as well as a good public system as noted above. Plenty of kids start in the OSU branch campuses, which make living at home a viable (cost-effective) option, and then move to the main campus as upperclassmen. OSU alums are a loyal bunch and much of Ohio is a “Friday Night Lights” kind of place, so my guess is that many kids have had their sights set on going there for as long as they can remember. (I know more than a few!)
We’re all looking forward to your trip report!