The Professor’s Road Trip – Denison University

The College Planning Professor has landed at Steve Carell’s and Jennifer Garner’s alma mater, Denison University in Granville, Ohio! This small, private, Liberal Arts College was founded in 1831 and is one of the earliest colleges to be established in the old “Northwest Territory.”

Being a small college, Denison is selective during the admissions process. On average, the reported SAT composite score is 1286 and the ACT is 29. Notice I wrote “reported”? That’s because Denison has adopted a Testing Optional admissions policy. This means if you didn’t test well on your standardized tests, you aren’t required to report the score. Denison understands that standardized tests are not always indicative of a student’s success. Don’t think that means they’ll take just anyone though. 49% of their student body ranked in the top 10% of their class.The school highlights its residential campus community which means the majority of the school’s 2,185 undergrads live on a 250-acre hill right on campus. The exceptions to on-campus living are marriage, having children, or being over the age of 25. Located on the hill are the traditional residence halls, a variety of apartments and satellite housing. Another option is to join the 30% of the student body compromising the Greek System at Denison; they have 15 fraternities and sororities. If you are concerned that you’ll be lonely as an out of state student – don’t be. 73% of the student population qualifies as out of state.

Denison is an NCAA Division III school with 23 varsity athletic teams, including 11 men’s teams and 12 women’s. The culture at Denison encourages students to be active. There’s more to school than just studying (all though there is a ton of that!) Three-quarters of the student population is involved in extracurricular activities. Denison offers 150 student clubs and organizations. The school also hosts performances by famous musicians in their Vail Series and offers cooking lessons during the on-campus Chowder Hours.