<p>GPA - 3.15 Cumulative (upward trend, I had a bad freshman year, since then I always have at least a 3.5 semester gpa) 4 point scale</p>
<p>SAT - 660 Verbal, 660 Math, 650 Writing
ACT - 30</p>
<p>I go to a rigorous college prep school. It is ranked 45th in the country.</p>
<p>Extracurricular Activities - I played two seasons of Football, two seasons of Cross Country, 4 seasons of Wrestling (will be Captain Senior year), 4 seasons of Track & Field. I have been in 6 plays so far, and I will most likely be in 8 by the end of my high school career. (two plays per year). I have talent for it and I plan to continue with it in college. I am also part of Campus Republicans and the Alcohol Prevention Team (I'll explain this more in a little bit)</p>
<p>I wish to major in History and Theater. Like I said I have talent in theater, and I have had all As in history. I take tough classes and AP classes. I am going to write two very interesting essays for my application. One is about how I lost 105 lbs. and the other is about what I learned from my two week suspension.</p>
<p>I was suspended for two weeks during the second semester of my sophomore year. I got drunk with the wrestling team on a trip and had a seizure. We were all caught because of me. We were almost kicked out of school, but instead we were suspended for only two weeks. I have learned my lesson and to show my appreciation to the school I became a founding member of the Alcohol Prevention Team. Our mission is to promote a sober campus. I am now sober and I do not plan to touch alcohol for a long time.</p>
<p>I am a WASP from St. Louis, Missouri.</p>
<p>What are my chances? Thanks for the help.</p>
<p>This is a serious question. Why would a self-described WASP, athlete, Republican want to go to the left-wing, liberal, Obama-loving, artsy, no frats, hippie college? You’d fit in great at Lehigh University or Penn State. Seriously. Your GPA is a little low for an out of stater, but you might get in to Penn State, main campus. They don’t call it Happy Valley for nothing. It’s full of white male jocks who are center-right politically, love frats, and have about the same SAT scores as you do. Like I said, only your GPA might keep you out, but you should go for it.</p>
<p>Sorry, Plainsman, but I think your response is way off base. Oberlin welcomes a diverse applicant pool; if every student fit your description, it would be a far less interesting place. The OP sounds like an interesting kid who would be challenged by and grow from the experience of being an Oberlin student. His GPA since freshman year and test scores are certainly in the ballpark. I would encourage his application.</p>
<p>plainsman the only reason I am a republican is because of the economic policy. I believe in the democrat ideals and beliefs, but I do not have faith in their economic choices. Anyways I tend to fit in with all kinds of people. I have no interest in joining a frat. In fact one of the reasons why Oberlin is so appealing is because they do not have frats.</p>
<p>Well, young man, I won’t debate you about your preference for economic policies that add up to tax cuts which benefit primarily the rich and spending cuts that hurt primarily the poor, because this isn’t the appropriate forum. You’ll have to discover some truths on your own as you navigate through adulthood. You are certainly as welcome as anyone else, per Dave72’s point, to enroll at Oberlin, if that is your choice. I did not know how much you knew about Oberlin and was only trying to be helpful.</p>
<p>For months my D was hot to trot about Lehigh University. It’s a small private highly selective university and only about 30 minutes from our house. None of us realized until after my D applied that Lehigh is a majority conservative white male bastion of uber fraternity boys. It leans Republican, and there have been numerous racial incidents over the last several years that have made it very difficult to recruity minorities, especially African Americans. My D is biracial. As soon as we realized what kind of culture dominanted Lehigh University we pulled out. We just didn’t know. While we live 30 minutes away, we moved to Pennsylvania from the Midwest, so we had no background on Lehigh. I didn’t know how much you knew about Oberlin.</p>
<p>Plainsman… Obies are known for their open mindedness. Your verbal attacks on those who hold beliefs that differ from yours are unwarranted on this forum. You need to chill out.</p>
<p>Frank53, I’m not an Obie. As for “open-mindedness” it does not mean “agree with.” And “open-mindedness” also works BOTH ways. Finally, what I said wasn’t a verbal attack. I actually thought I was helping the young man by being direct. If I said something about Republican economic policies that was inaccurate, I’m all ears to hear from you exactly what you think was inaccurate in the words I used. Was it the part about “tax cuts that mostly benefit the wealthy?” I can get you a hundred citations/quotes to back that up. Was it the part about cutting social programs that mostly benefit the poor?" I can get you even more. Again, I’d rather not have that debate on this board. </p>
<p>Oh yeah, and if you want a make a bet that the overwhelming majority of Obies would agree with my pithy description of Republican economic policy, I’m ready any time to take your money.</p>
<p>It’s best to go lightly with generalizations about kids and colleges…my older kid had a Lehigh grad as a roommate in grad school - nice guy, liberal, still a little bit of a frat guy, but in an endearing way (my kid was not at all fratty), warm and a little goofy. Similarly, there are many kids at Oberlin who arrive with ideas about fiscal conservatism or any of a full range of opinions. In the end, every student’s ideas will be challenged and refined by their experience there. Oberlin prides itself on openness and intelligent inquiry.
For the inquiring OP: visit and see what you think; explore the website, especially the blogs. There is a lot of interest in theater; the history department is excellent.</p>
<p>I’m pretty confident about my liking of Oberlin. I’m just wondering if I can get in lol.</p>
<p>who knows…not a slamdunk…but keep your grades up, keep doing interesting things you like to do, visit Oberlin and other colleges; if you still like Oberlin, write a compelling essay about why you think Oberlin is a good place for you to spend 4 years, and keep your fingers crossed!</p>
<p>^
Country Day, great advice from mamenyu. My D’s essays and ECs made a gigantic difference. I think the Admissions staff at Oberlin are first rate judges of more than just numbers. I think they look at character too. Admittedly, her ECs were nothing like your’s. They were all about social justice (as were her essays) and I think they saw her as a great “fit” for Oberlin. She received emails during the decision period with specific comments about her social justice activities and references to one of her essays. They saw her as an “Obie.” Believe it or not, her test scores were not as high as your scores – she was below the middle 50% range – although her GPA was significantly higher (Top 10%) than your’s, and her essays and ECs kind of clicked with Oberlin’s history of social justice. She’s also a musician. If you have a “weak” area, you can make up for it by demonstrating strength in other areas. </p>
<p>You never know until you try. The Adcom may see you as an “Obie,” and look past your GPA, especially if it shows you were a slow starter but have really come on. </p>
<p>Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice. And who knows, maybe I am not an Obie. Only time will tell.</p>
<p>country day-</p>
<p>admissions first looks at the transcript, and an upward curve is a really good thing. A student who has the maturity you do (or seem to) would be an excellent addition to the school.</p>
<p>Things you might want to do: visit and interview.</p>
<p>Also, have you every played men’s rugby? If you’ve done running, wrestling and football, I think you’d really like it. Oberlin’s team just got started, so it’s a really exciting place to be.</p>
<p>Back in the day I would have joined it in a heart beat, but because of my concussions I can’t really do contact sports like that anymore.</p>