Kenyon College Top Questions

Kenyon is TINY. I wanted a small school, and many liberal arts colleges (like Bates, Hamilton, Pamona) are about the same size. This is wonderful academically; classes are small and you are not a number on a roster but professors know you by name. Office hours are often and very helpful at such a small school. However, the social life becomes a little like High School. If something really terrible happens to you...everyone will know within 24 hours. That being said, it's great to walk into the dining hall and to know someone there!

Kenyon's awesome, great faculty. Really sleepy place, very chill and relaxed. Just a bit too unknown, which is a good thing. Unfortunately, Kenyon's changing--the new administration is suspect, admission guidelines are getting more and more lax and some un-Kenyon types are changing the school to meet their needs.

The best thing about Kenyon is that you can pick whatever it is you want to study--as long as it is offered--and you are encouraged to think things through yourself and internalize what you learn. I don't think most people think about that because it is more common in colleges here than elsewhere, but it is the main reason I am here. One experience I will always remember has been to be in a class during an exam, and to have the teacher walk out--without leaving a supervisor--and to see no one cheat. It would take me very long to explain and to make you understand why this means so much to me; but I love Kenyon for having accepted me and allowed me to learn in such a healthy and encouraging academic environment. Where my friends go to school back at home, students cheat when the professor is there--and sometimes he/she sees them and doesn't even do anything. Needless to say what would happen if there was an emergency and the teacher had to let everyone take the exam unsupervised.

To be honest, I love everything about Kenyon. my only advice is, if you don't like or want to try out a very small school where there isn't whole lot to do (things that a city might offer for example) then don't come here. Though there is not a lot to do, it is relaxed and full of great and interesting people (students and faculty). My only other comment, which shouldn't really affect your decision to come or not, but is absolutely necessary to be made public, is that the food is AWEFUL, and even more awful when I know my parents are looking at a 42 thousand dollar check each year. We are in the process of building a new dinning hall that is supposed to be a huge improvement, but with the same food carrier, how can it be?

When I tell someone that I go to Kenyon The response is either "What?" "Oh, I haven't heard of it," or "Ah, yes. As in the Kenyon Review?"

Small--at some points too small, when one wants to avoid some people, but it also works to advantages with registration and classes There are not enough restaurants around. Well, there are enough, but most students come from places with many more options. Also, there are practically no food options late in the night, which annoys me. I like the isolation because it's a new experience, though at times it gets to me. Students send dozens and dozens 'AllStu' emails that the whole campus can read each day, which often create controversies that students like to argue about. The new administration is not well-liked by the campus, in regards to social life.

Going to Kenyon is like living in a snow globe--whether it's snow, rain or cherry blossoms falling down only depends on the season. It's a great college to attend because you can find your family here, find yourself here, find yourself having midnight conversations about the merits of libertarianism or how /Paradise Lost/ is applicable in everyday life. You apply your education here, and it's a great education to apply. Even the kids I know who avoid homework at all costs end up leaving their classes knowing something, and the kids who go above and beyond will graduate here being prepared to face the world. Admittedly, Kenyon is tiny. Everyone will know your business, even if you don't tell anyone. Thing is, most people won't really judge you--mock you a little, sure, but in the end they'll support you. And there's really no way to get away from it all, since Kenyon /is/ it all. The school is bigger than Gambier, the town surrounding the college. Quaint it may be, but sometimes you need to get away. The school knows this, and provides the occasional shuttle trip into Columbus, where you can watch a movie and do some shopping. Not to mention that there are some great concerts in Columbus, and you can usually find someone either willing to lend you their car or going to the concert anyway. Kenyon people are just that friendly. When I tell people I go to Kenyon, I get one of three reactions. The blank look dominates--where is that? Why are you going to school in Ohio? Following that is the semi-confused look, the "that sounds kind of familiar but I can't place it" look. You do get some people who know what Kenyon is, and all of those people are impressed. They give you the "wow, that's a great school, my friend's daughter goes there or I read something from the Kenyon Review or isn't that one of the new Ivies" look. That's a great look to get, because it's someone recognizing that you were prepared enough, smart enough, looked good on paper enough, worked hard enough to get into a great school.

Kenyon is a tiny school in a tiny town - it's too small and isolated for me, but that's obviously something of personal taste, though that tends to be the feeling after four years. This lends itself to an excellent academic atmosphere in which students and professors interact outside of the classroom when they bump into each other getting coffee or at performance, etc. Unfortunately, this also creates a very intense social situation in which you live in closes quarters for four years just over 1000 people. The best thing about Kenyon is the small classes and the professors. I would change the Greek system, either by getting rid of it, or adding legitimate, NATIONAL sororities to give girls an option equivalent to the entrenched fraternity system, which controls much of the social life (basically, the school needs to make up its mind, since it is very Greek, but pretends not to be). When I tell people I go to Kenyon, they either have never heard of it (most often), or know someone who went there/have no strong reaction. Well, I spend just about all of my time on campus, like everyone, and on campus, I am outside when it's nice, in the coffee shop, bookstore, or study lounge working and socializing, or in my room trying to snag a bit of time alone. The town of Gambier and Kenyon really aren't separated; in fact, Kenyon's campus exists on either side of the main drag of town, so it's all basically the school. It has a couple of bars and a deli, coffee shop, etc, but nothing else. You NEED a car, even just to go to a movie or to buy toiletries. Kenyon's administration seems to be a bit out of touch with the reality of the school, maybe trying to make it into some "New Ivy" cookie-cutter school. The most recent campus controversy was over the proposed addition of swipe-card entrances to dorms, which was loudly and overwhelmingly opposed by students. The administration wanted to appease parents, and students want to keep Kenyon the small-town kind of community that it is. There is a certain kind of school pride - not in athletics, except for from athletes, but in its quirkiness. I'm not sure if Kenyon is all that different from a lot of small, rural liberal arts schools - they all have their traditions and quirks, but I will say that that experience is very singular and bonding. You could take two kids from the same class who are different and never meet, and in ten years, they would have very different memories.

I think the size is great, but my high school was tiny. Gambier is more of a "college village" than a college town, but there's something going on just about every weekend, and a reasonable variety of places to eat when the dining hall food just gets too bad. That's a common complaint--the food company, AVI. My friends call it "AVItus". One thing to remember: if you tell people you're going to Kenyon, they'll either ask "you're going to Africa?!" or give you a blank stare before asking "where?". Kenyon has a great email system. You can send an email to everyone in your english class (and the prof...), to all employees, to all students (the "allstu"), or to any organization. The allstu is everything from rideshare, to lost and found, to event advertisement, to general forum for debate. don't worry, you don't have to get allstu's, but it makes it easier to know what's going on. The winters are cold--be prepared. I brought a silk undershirt, and that really helped. You'll learn how to layer! Also, it rains. Bring rainboots.

When I tell people I go to Kenyon, I am usually replied with "oohs and ahs" and strong compliments about the school.