@Corinthian Thank you for the information! I will look into it.
@DeltaMom2019 I graduated from Towson in 1985 as an OT. They have always been strong in Health Sciences.
Back from Ohio! Exhausted but it was worth it. Visited Kenyon and Denison yesterday and Oberlin today.
Kenyon.
Wow. All I can say is wow. S19 loved it and so did I. The town is non-existent with one coffee shop and one restaurant but that didnāt matter to S. The campus was beautiful and tucked into the woods. I suppose a student who has been to summer camp might think itās a bit like that, but S19 hasnāt been away from home much so he felt like it was the perfect size. He thinks he would like to be in this sort of oasis for his four years of college. And I feel good about all of the attention doted on the students. Freshmen get an academic advisor from day one. The students we spoke to were all especially close to their advisors (one called hers her second mom) and they gave concrete examples of how they help guide them in every part of their time at Kenyon.
The students on the panel were humble but bright and accomplished. They really love their school. The dean talked about how Middle Path is like a moving student union and students really enjoy each other. One of the students on the panel said that she has to figure out what NOT to do each weekend because thereās so much going on. She is a track athlete and she said her friends come painted in purple to cheer her on just for her one event. She felt like that was an example of how kids really like and support each other. There were kids from Virginia, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Colorado visiting while we were there. S19 liked that he would meet kids from all over.
Seemed like so many of the majors were strong. The commitment to writing makes its way into all of the majors. They have mentoring and job shadowing programs with Kenyon alums as well as study abroad programs pretty much anywhere you would want to go.
Overall, itās on the list for sure. I donāt see that changing.
Denison.
S19 loved it too! Itās much more of a safety for him according to our Naviance (even without SAT scores quite yet). The campus is set on an arboretum and has a 400 acre bio reserve where the kids can run and hike. The campus felt tighter than Kenyon and itās perched up on a hill. It felt much different but very pretty as well. The town is bigger than Kenyonās town and we ate at two of the restaurants while there. Both were yummy. Getting to town is a two block walk so I bet kids go there pretty often. Our tour guide decided on Denison over Chicago. The classes are smaller at Denison and he felt like the teaching was just as good. He just wanted a more balanced experience and, after overnight visits to both, thought Chicago too intense. He is a comp sci/philosophy double major. Just had an internship at Amazon. Iām a little concerned about career services there. Our tour guide said theyāre great. They will give you lists of alums, etc., but it seemed like the advisor role wasnāt quite as involved as at Kenyon. It also seemed like a larger percentage of Denison kids went straight to grad school vs. Kenyon. Need to look into all of that. We also learned that kids go to Columbus quite often on the weekends so I donāt think the student body has quite the community feel that Kenyon does.
S19 definitely wants to keep it on the list.
Oberlin.
Hm. Not sure how to start on this. Letās just say we didnāt stay until the end. At the welcome, S19 was already a little concerned after seeing the students walking around at the welcome coffee. Every one was pretty hippy. Our tour guide was a self professed socialist and went on and on about the co-ops on campus. She badgered the prospective students because they didnāt speak up immediately when asked what they want to get involved in on campus. She said, āif you guys want to come here, youād better find a social justice causeā. After the tour, they split up the parents and the kids. At my session, a parent asked about job placement and the panel was stumped. Finally, the financial aid guy said that 90 percent of the kids go to grad school and maybe the rest go to the Peace Corp. Many get Fulbrights, etc. Then, a math professor said the math kids go to wall street every once in a while. At the kids session, S19 asked the kids where else they considered for school and the only schools he recognized were Berkeley and Sarah Lawrence. Not one student mentioned another Midwestern LAC as one they considered. It was pretty clear by the end why suburban Chicago kids probably donāt find their fit here. When we met up again after those sessions, S19 asked if we could skip the special science program and get home. I was relieved. Itās the first school that we are crossing off!
This trip also confirmed (at least 90 percent) that S19 wants an LAC and is cool with a rural school. Thatās good because most of them are rural. My new concern, though, is job placement since it seems like a lot of these schools are PhD incubators and S19 is not interested in going to grad school. Iām wondering if the higher up the rank, the better chance companies actually recruit at the school. I also want to start looking at certain majors at each of the schools and find out what percentage of these majors get jobs. S19 wants to work after undergrad and maybe get MBA much later down the road. Maybe he should consider double majoring in something that interests him and either math or econ just so he has some quantitative experience.
If anyone has any questions about these schools, just PM me. We got so much good info but of course I canāt write everything!
Quick update regarding Denisonās career placement. Looks like itās a priority! Since we didnāt go to an info session there and just had a tour, I think we probably missed some good information about the school.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has recognized Denison University President Adam Weinberg for his exceptional efforts to promote and develop innovative approaches to career readiness and development with the inaugural 2017 Career Services Champion Award.
@homerdog Denison was tied for my number one choice back when I was looking at schools. I had two favorites - Denison and St. Lawrence. I really thought they were so similar - practically the same schools but in different states. To make my decision easier my parents drove me to both schools to show me how far they were. St. Lawrence was 6 1/2 hours, Denison was 11 1/2 hours. Since I was going to be driving back and forth that made my decision easier! I applied early decision to SLU, got in before Halloween and never thought about it again. 
I had lots of friends who went to Denison and loved it. I am hoping to get my D up there to see those schools as well even though she thinks she has no desire to be in OH.
@momtogkc As recently as three months ago, S19 said something along the lines of āOhio? Why would I want to any school in Ohio? Iām going to Duke.ā LOL. I guess things can change quickly when youāre a 16 year old boy.
@homerdog , my s19 would have left Oberlin as well.
We just got back from visiting two schools. RPI and Drexel. S19 LOVED RPI. Drexel not so much. Drexel is like NEU as its very big in co-ops, but that is not what he did not like. The urban feel is not for him. We are looking forward to seeing WPI and RIT and possible NEU sometime this year. We will go see Bama/Huntsville right before labor day.
I am just proud that S19 was open to college tours after coming back from 3 weeks in israel! I picked him up at JFK, and we drove to Albany, he slept and we did tour 1. Stopped in Jersey to visit with my brother and his family for a day, then 3 hour train ride to Philly. Then today , also a very hot one, at Drexel. Home finally! This was the same kid that 1 1/2 years ago complained and sat out of tours when his sister was looking.
@homerdog your assessment of Oberlin is interesting to me and not at all what I saw when my daughter and I went for Accepted Students weekend. Not every school is for everyone, of course, but my impression of Oberlin students was that they were fairly mixed and not just SJWs (I know my daughter isnāt). They definitely talked a lot about life after Oberlin and the many career paths students take as well as the many cool internships they do while at Oberlin.
Good luck to your son. Just wanted to chime in and make sure people reading this know that there are many perspectives on Oberlin. I will continue to update as my daughter joins the class of 2021 in August but I know sheās already experiencing a very open-minded and diverse cohort on her Facebook group.
@LMC9902 I really wish we would have seen this other side of Oberlin. I was really rooting for the school even though I have two friends who are college counselors and they both told me that they donāt see S19 there. We are not conservative politically so I thought we would give it a shot. Is your daughter into music? I felt like that was the other piece that didnāt match up for S19. Seemed like a lot of kids inside the college played an instrument even if they werenāt conservatory students. I have told a few friends with band kids that they should check it out. Some of them would match up well with the computer science or math kids who also enjoy playing.
@homerdog and @LMC9902 I donāt think you canāt place too much reliance on the remarks of one tour guide alone. I periodically follow that thread about āschools youāve crossed off your listā and why: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1883008-colleges-your-child-crossed-off-the-list-after-visiting-schools-that-moved-up-on-the-list-why.html#latest. Iāve seen a lot of people get turned off by a tour guide including at my older Dās school, Pomona. If you are otherwise interested in a school, itās worth checking the college newspaper over the course of several issues to get a sense of whatās happening on the ground. Iāve been saying this on CC for a while and coincidentally hereās an editorial from the Oberlin Review saying something similar: http://oberlinreview.org/13812/opinions/college-newspapers-best-illustrate-campus-life/.
@Corinthian thanks. I will definitely be looking at the schoolsā newspapers. Great idea. It wasnāt just our tour guide that turned us off. S19 went to a panel of eight kids with the rest of the prospective students and just didnāt feel like he fit. Itās ok. And I hope everyone knows I donāt want to turn anyone completely off of a school. I was just trying to report our experience.
I admit that Iām also under the impression that Oberlin is overrun with SJWās, but I do recognize that sometimes a small but noisy group of students can attract a lot of attention and create an image that isnāt representative of the whole student body, which I think is case with the Claremont colleges so it can be equally true of Oberlin. But Iām all for going with gut instinct on fit. Thanks for reporting on your visits and I look forward to future reports from you and others.
I had to look up āSJWā.
From what D1 told me they are a present, vocal and annoying component of the student body;. Possibly a larger component than at many schools, and not easily ignored. But not necessarily a majority either.
But this is all second-hand gleaning, not direct observation, and possibly wrong.
I, too had to look up āSJWāā¦ Thank you Urban Dictionary
As more and more college visits occur, I think itās important to realize that not every school is right for every student . That said , itās important to provide info in a non critical way as there may be some students who that school is a perfect for. No one should have to feel like they need to justify or defend their choice .
Received the Kaplan 8 Test book and had son take a timed test (randomly choose test 4). Son declared that the math and grammar questions appear to be on par with the College Board tests, but that for this test 4 anyway, the reading section was a bit easier for him. So if youāre looking for more tests and want to save the College Board ones for later SAT dates or the PSAT, this might be an option.
Hey @homerdog we have a good family friend whose son will be a sophomore at Kenyon. He Loves it. Loves. And this is a kid who thought heād want a big rah-rah D1 school. He is all in. Having the best time, working hard, great friends, the whole thing anybody would want for their kid in college.
Thanks @ThinkOn! I think I already mentioned it but S19 is working with the Ivy Global book. He also thinks the questions are just like college board questions but scores about 30-40 points higher per section on these Ivy Global tests. Weāve been kind of going back and forth between these and the College Board ones. As the date gets closer, Iām wondering how to use our four unused CB tests. Maybe save two for later in the year if we need them and use the other two to take the two weekends before the test? He needs to truly start simulating the whole test all at once. We did that one month ago but havenāt done it since. He hasnāt been taking extra time on each section but just hasnāt been taking all four sections at the same session. Some days he will take the two math sections one after the other. Other days he will take the two English sectionsā¦
I think overrun with SJW is a pretty strong statement. They are there for sure and at times they are vocal, but they by no means rule the campus. You have to remember there are SJW for just about every cause so you find the one you identify with or not. My D is there for the education.
@JenJenJenJen thanks for sharing your friendās sonās experience at Kenyon. S19 got an email from the tour guide asking him to keep in touch and be sure to email with any questions. He loved that. He got back to her but Iām not sure what he said. 
They canāt possibly know if any prospective student is a good student so the tour guides must reach out to all of the kids they meet. Itās a nice personal touch for sure. We will definitely go back to visit when the students are in session. S19 only met female students and it would be good for him to meet some boys to know for sure that itās a fit for him socially. Not sure when thatās going to happen. Itās a six hour drive so not super close and we have other schools we havenāt seen at all yet!