Antioch college Reviews

I am a proud Antiochian. My years at Antioch (1982 - 1986) were the best educational years of my life. Did my graduate work at NYU.....it had nothing on my Antioch experience.

I applied (sight unseen) to Antioch College, because I was attracted to their Co-Op educational structure, it's small but not tiny size (not like it is now). Back when I applied to Antioch in 1992, the college still had about 1,000 students; and the charm of a rural campus. I had my interview with an Antioch alum in upstate NY (I'm from NYC), and I was accepted. I turned Antioch down in favor of Hampshire College in Amherst, MA (which was much closer to home for me) and was a larger college than Antioch was -- at 1,400 students.

Hampshire also had the Five College consortium around it (as well as an actual Film Program which Antioch did NOT have back at that time), so there were absolutely more resources and cultural and educational opportunities for me in Massachusetts than there were in Ohio. During my first year at Hampshire, I met an Antioch transfer student who had left Antioch and transferred to Hampshire BECAUSE of Antioch's smallness and geographical isolation. She was from Yellow Springs (had grown up there), and so, she wanted a change, with more resources and more opportunities in a less isolated place.

Went on a cross-country roadtrip out to Oregon and Washington state after my first year at Hampshire, and stopped in Yellow Springs to visit my friend and to tour the Antioch campus (finally!). Well, the campus IS beautiful, but it is very, VERY TINY. I had NO idea how TINY, and Yellow Springs, while a cute and charming liberal town is DEFINITELY isolated and extremely rural. At least the Amherst/Northampton area was within close proximity to Albany, Boston, Springfield, Providence, Hartford and NYC. Dayton isn't exactly what I'd call a bustling metropolis, but it DOES have the nearest airport. Comparatively, Hampshire wasn't isolated, AT ALL.

Whereas, Antioch REALLY is. I don't regret applying and getting accepted to Antioch, BUT, I probably wouldn't have ended up going (especially if I'd visited before attending) there due to those issues. Loved the whole Co-Op aspect of Antioch's educational structure though (which Hampshire didn't have), and that no doubt gets students off that campus and into the larger work world, which I liked as an academic component.

However, with a campus as TINY and isolated as Antioch's, (and with a town like Yellow Springs with such limited opportunities), you'd HAVE to leave just to get some real-world work experience. For myself as an urban student, there were certain extremely specific things I was looking for in a college, and Antioch ended up not meeting my needs.

Initially when I applied to colleges, Antioch was in my top five, behind Hampshire. Emerson, Sarah Lawrence and Reed. Of course, after finally visiting, I think it probably would have fallen to maybe sixth place for me after Bennington, but still ahead of Marlboro and Goddard. Vermont (like Ohio), has some VERY isolated college campuses also. Antioch at least still got my application. I had to rule Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio out completely, also because of how utterly isolated it was (even more so than Antioch). Oberlin was my other Ohio college application choice, but I only got waitlisted there because it's as hard to get into as NYU, Amherst or Carnegie Mellon and is considered a "hidden Ivy."

We won't be donating any more money to Antioch when we come to Yellow Springs. Tone deaf to their own community. There is no sustainable animal farming. Period.

This is the only school I would send my son to.
Be ashamed to die until you have won a victory for humanity.
It doesn't get better than that.
My son loves is a freshman and he loves it.

The history, the buildings, the grounds, the great education that my son received here.

Small classes and engaged professors. Antioch College teaches you the meaning of community. You'll learn how to think. But I strongly urge you not to pick a college based on Google reviews.

Antioch College shaped my life in wonderful ways that opened a pathway to a successful life well-lived. In September 2020, I returned to walk in the footsteps of my youth. The campus was beautiful with Antioch s old elegant distinguished buildings standing tall and well maintained. My three days in Yellow Springs visiting the campus, downtown and Glen Helen were a joy.

Shaped my life. I would not be the same person without it. I am a better person for having gone :-)

Class of '92

"Be ashamed to die until you've won some victory for humanity"