Ohio Wesleyan University — Attraction in Delaware

Visited this school, my mother's alma mater, in summer 2013, with my college-bound daughter. We enjoyed the visit, and were intrigued with the financial aid policy. The school was unusually friendly, and the tour guide was a peach, but it is hard to generalize, since most of the students weren't there. The facilities looked good, but we didn't meet any faculty. There is a busy street that runs right through campus, which means you are going to have to plan to cross it several times a day. (You can't just wait for a break in the traffic, you'll have to go to a crosswalk and wait for the signal.) On the other hand, just north of campus the street becomes the business district for the town, so there is a nice collection of stores and restaurants a few minutes walk from campus. Having come from Kenyon, the difference between downtown Delaware and downtown Gambier was stark. Better have a car if you're going to Kenyon, because you'll run out of things to do in Gambier pretty quick. Delaware I could imagine continuing to surprise you for at least a year or two.

Greek life seems pretty important, and even from a distance (which was as close as the tour guide ever took us) some of the frat houses appear to have partied to destruction. I'm thinking that the 2008 review suggesting that partiers need not apply is more PR than fact. Still the few students we did see demonstrated that the entire student body cannot be all drunken wastrels. The big question is what is the social scene like. I've never been to a school where there wasn't some partying, but can you make a decent group of friends without being deep in the party scene? I'd like to know.

OWU's play for top students is clever: no application fee, SATs optional, and generous financial aid seems too good to be true. Further, you can apply early action, and so you get an admission decision and financial aid package in December without having to commit yourself (or your child) to the school. So, I am sure that they get scads of applications, and they are wooing students from the schools further up the rankings. The trick is, they offer a teaser financial aid package (already pretty generous) and then ask you to come to campus to compete for more. I guess if you show up in Delaware, Ohio in the dead of winter to spend a day competing for their prizes, they know you are serious.

Don't know enough to say how well this ploy works at attracting top students, but really how important is that? Here's a harder question: Can an OWU education be an empowering, transforming experience that puts you (or your child) on a path to personal success? It worked for my mother back in the 1950s, but whether that continues now is more...

The US Department of Agriculture cited Ohio Wesleyan during an April inspection for inaccurate reporting, failure to review its procedures, and failing to document that it searched for less-invasive methods of conducting the experiments.

The university caused traumatic spinal cord injuries to 40 guinea pigs over the course of 2013 and 2014. The USDA states: There was no documentation that a mandatory review of the program is being conducted and that one such semi-annual review hadn't been filed since 2012.

Ohio Wesleyan failed to accurately report on what animals it was using to conduct experiments. The new administrator in charge of the program was not aware that this was a requirement! They didn't even mention using guinea pigs. It clearly appears that someone at Ohio Wesleyan is essentially asleep at the wheel.

They should also be cited for unqualified personnel for the administration doesn't even know what they are supposed to be doing.

These projects should be shut down...

I would love to say I fully enjoyed my experience at OWU, but unfortunately, my experience was ruined by the lack of accommodation for students needing a remote learning option throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. I loved my first 3 years. All of my professors were kind, and because the class sizes were so small, I received individualized attention, advice, and I felt that I learned a lot. That is not the case this semester. For the amount tuition and other costs were raised, I do not feel like I am receiving appropriate instruction. I was even told to ask for notes from classmates instead of attending class from a professor that did not want to put in effort to accommodate or teach me, after multiple emails implying otherwise. I am dissatisfied and disappointed in Ohio Wesleyan. I hope that as we continue adjusting to the pandemic, OWU makes some changes to better accommodate all of...