All the powers that be are working so hard at Oberlin on this. It’s very tricky. Personally, I believe that finding a way to allow more access to the AMAZING Professors and music opportunities at The Conservatory is possible without diluting the experience for the ultra serious Con BM majors. But I think it’s going to take a lot of figuring out, and probably some hiring of adjunct faculty (for non major lessons and theory classes, etc, and I’m not sure how I feel about that). There is already a wonderful sense of esprit de corps between Conservatory students and musical Arts and Science students, so I don’t think that will be a problem. BUT, it will be VERY difficult for a non-Con student to truly “compete” with a Conservatory student, I think. (But this is about access to education, not about roles and status, per say!) As spots in the Conservatory dwindle, it will be an ever more elite admit, and I just hope that access to classes and teachers will not suffer.
Yup! I was shocked that my S would not even consider broad swaths of geography based on recent political decisions in those states. The division between church, state, and academia has become increasingly blurred.
I have a kid who’s currently in tenth, wants Conservatory, and I am recommending both music performance and a BA/BS, to keep options open. We have a strong family connection to Oberlin, which is one of the few schools where it’s really possible to do both - yet I am GLAD that kid says that, because of its rural location, they don’t want to go there! My sibling alum, and her group of fellow alumni, are furious about the current anti-Semitic atmosphere in the student government and on campus there, and the school administration’s non-response to growing anti-Semitism on campus. So alumni donations are down, and more and more Jewish families, whose children tend to be high-achieving and have less need for financial aid, are choosing to go elsewhere - not a good prognostic indicator of future financial or academic health for Oberlin.