CIM and Oberlin?

College Majors Music Major
1

<p>Hello,
I have been reading the forum for a year now and getting tons of information! Thank you!
Now, it seeems the time is flying so fast and my daughter's turn is coming near..She is a junior and is planning to have some school visit this month.
She's been approaching a few prospective teachers and possibly to sit in some of studio lessons. Here's a problem. We've never been out of New England. We know so well about NEC, BU, like where to park, where to eat ;-) however, nothing about CIM or Oberlin.
Would you give us some suggestions/adivces on CIM/Oberlin visit?</p>

<p>We are planning to visit two schools in 2 days thinking they are in driving distance (like BU and NEC).<br>
Could we stay one hotel and visit two schools?
Should we rent a car? or, taxi would be sufficient to visit between two schools?(I am not a good driver at all)
Could we visit Oberlin in the morning and afternoon to CIM?
Any recommendations for where to eat/stay?</p>

<p>We are exciting to visit schools and see teachers! Hopefully my daughter won't be too nervous to see and play for the teacher. (She's kind of person who get so nervous so easily). So, at least, I would like to hide my nervousness of visiting strange places..</p>

<p>Is there any other music school near by worh visiting??</p>

<p>Thank you!</p>

2

<p>Hi-NEC and BU are very close…a couple of miles apart. You can very easily take the T (subway) between the two or drive/cab. There are lots of hotels within walking distance of NEC. The Copley Park Plaze often has specials with rooms for under $100. Also, parking at NEC is very easy as there are two lots/garages right on the edge of campus.</p>

<p>As for restaurants, there are plenty in the Prudential center and a few “fast food” type along Huntington Ave by NEC. My D and I visited BU about a month ago and we had lunch right in their student union so she could experience that.</p>

<p>My D is in the prep program at NEC, so we are there every Friday night and all day Saturday, if you have specific questions about the area or need directions feel free to pm me.</p>

3

<p>CIM and Oberlin are not as close together as BU and NEC. More like a little under an hour by car if the traffic is not too bad.</p>

<p>I would suggest allowing a day for each if at all possible. You could visit both in a day, but you would have to get really lucky to be able to schedule visits with a teacher at each one and also get to hear the student ensembles at each. It would be a very long and busy day as well - not the best way to get a good impression. </p>

<p>If you want to stay in one hotel for two nights, I would recommend one of the hotels near the airport. You can get the shuttle to Oberlin from there - info at [Oberlin-CLE</a> Airport Shuttles - Oberlin College](<a href=“http://new.oberlin.edu/transportation/shuttles.dot]Oberlin-CLE”>http://new.oberlin.edu/transportation/shuttles.dot) - and either a cab or public transportation to CIM. If you want to spend a night each at a hotel near the school, that is also possible. The Oberlin Inn is right on campus, but it is pretty expensive for the level of amenities that they provide. You might also check out some of the local B&B’s that are a short walk from campus at [Accommodations</a> - Oberlin College](<a href=“http://new.oberlin.edu/visitor/accommodations.dot]Accommodations”>http://new.oberlin.edu/visitor/accommodations.dot) The Ivy Tree, Shurtleff Cottage and L.D. Moore are all within walking distance and are nice.</p>

<p>Visitor information, including hotels, for CIM is available at [CIM</a> | About Us](<a href=“http://www.cim.edu/about/visiting.php?timebegin=2009-09-01+12%3A00%3A00&sponsorid=all&categoryid=0&keyword=]CIM”>http://www.cim.edu/about/visiting.php?timebegin=2009-09-01+12%3A00%3A00&sponsorid=all&categoryid=0&keyword=)
The Glidden House is quite convenient and the CIM rate that they offer to visitors is not bad.</p>

<p>Driving from the airport to and around Oberlin is quite easy. To get to CIM, you will have to drive through parts of the city, so if you do not trust your driving skills in that situation it might be better to take the cab.</p>

<p>My suggestion would be to contact the teachers of interest ASAP and try to arrange on consecutive days to either take a sample lesson or sit in on a lesson that they are giving. If she happens to play flute, I know Debost does a studio lesson one night a week to which all of his students come and play in a masterclass format (in addition to their individual weekly lessons of course). He allows visitors to observe that lesson if you ask nicely. My wife, who teaches flute at a local college here in NJ, was very favorably impressed after observing a couple of those.</p>

<p>If I were doing it, I would try to arrive in Oberlin the night of Debost’s studio class and attend that after checking into one of the B&B’s. If she plays some other instrument, find out what other concerts are going on in Oberlin that evening and attend one of those if possible. The next morning after breakfast, you can take the walking tours of both the Conservatory and the College in the morning, perhaps attend a presentation by the Conservatory Admissions department, meet the teachers for a sample lesson or to observe a private lesson as previously arranged, observe the first half of an orchestra rehearsal, then take the 4 PM shuttle or return your rental car to the airport. From there you can connect via cab to the Glidden House near CIM and repeat the process as closely as possible.</p>

<p>Favorite restaurants in Oberlin include The Black River Cafe (allow some time here as the service can be slow), Agave Burrito Bar for something cheap, quick and filling, and The Feve (if not too crowded when you get there). Stop by Gibsons later in the evening to pick up ice cream or some baked goods. If you like Asian Fusion food, check out Weia-Teia. Many people rave about it, but I find it cramped and thought the menu was more about the chef trying to show off than to provide something I actually wanted to eat. I prefer Tooo Chinoise for Chinese food there, but I am probably in the minority on that.</p>

<p>I am much more familiar with Oberlin than CIM, as you may have noticed, because my daughter attended Oberlin for four years and only visited CIM for a day. Hopefully someone more familiar with CIM can add recommendations for your visit there.</p>

4

<p>We too flew out from New England to do the CIM/Oberlin Cleveland Experience last fall. A day for each sounds like a good plan; we ended up staying over an extra night because nobody flies back into Hartford in the evening. You could easily stay at one of the hotels near the airport and visit both schools, assuming you don’t mind a 30-45 minute drive back at the end of the day.</p>

<p>There are plenty of people with better in-depth knowledge of the schools and restaurants here than I have, so let me give you a beginner’s perspective. We rented a car, which allowed us to explore a little more freely and get out to Oberlin more comfortably than a shuttle. Driving was no problem - your main problem if you’re used to Boston traffic is that people will seem overly polite and you’ll feel as if your normal lane changes are very aggressive!</p>

<p>Parking around CIM is tricky - bring quarters for meters or there’s a lot across the street. We ended up parking in the garage of the botanical garden because we couldn’t find parking and because we kept getting lost and looping past it anyway - a little pricy but certainly convenient! Oberlin has plenty of parking readily available.</p>

<p>Have a great time! This was one of our favorite visits!</p>

5

<p>Thank you very much for advices!<br>
I am inclined to rent a car now (and bring a lot of quarters!) since it seems we might need to go back and force between the schools.
I thought 2 full days would be enough, but might not be!</p>

<p>If there’s any good “reasonable price” hotel recommendation, please let us know! </p>

<p>I will post “School Visit” thread later with our experience as well.
It has been very helpful.</p>

6

<p>We stayed at Shurtleff Cottage when we visited Oberlin (both times) and ate at The Feve (both times). Also got chocolate at Gibson’s, visited both book stores, took the tour, went to the art gallery (all of that both times). We rented a car for $30. from the Cleveland airport and it only took about 30 minutes to get there. WE also spent a day at CIM, stayed at Glidden House and ate at a restuarant on the alley behind GLidden House - it was great. There is also a little sandwich place right across from the music building that is good for lunch. YOu might want to start out at CIM, spending the night at Glidden House and leaving your car there, then moving onto Oberlin and spending the day there. Depends on when you can fly out if you have to spend another night. On our trip, we drove on down to Cincinnati, visited CCM and then flew back out of Cincinnati. That’s not a short drive but it beat having to do another trip just to see CCM.</p>

7

<p>There are some good deals at hotels near the airport, about half an hour by car from each school. Try looking for the Ramada Cleveland Airport West, the Airport Plaza Hotel, the LaQuinta Inn Cleveland Airport and the Econo Lodge Airport West. You can often find rates under $50 per night (before taxes) at these places. The rooms will not be anything special, but you will probably not be doing much more than sleeping there anyway.</p>

8

<p>Our D is a junior at Oberlin.</p>

<p>We’ve stayed in a few different places, but now we stay at this La Quinta in North Olmstead:</p>

<p>[La</a> Quinta Inn and Suites - About This Hotel](<a href=“La Quinta by Wyndham - Book Hotel Discount Rates & Deals”>La Quinta by Wyndham - Book Hotel Discount Rates & Deals)</p>

<p>It’s been renovated recently so it looks like new. Includes continental breakfast, which won’t change your life, but it’s not terrible.</p>

<p>It’s located almost right between CIM and Oberlin, about 20 minutes in each direction. It’s also close (maybe 5 minutes) to the airport.</p>

<p>The Feve or Black River are your best bets for lunch. If you get to Oberlin earlier, there’s also a new bagel place, Beethoven’s Bagels, that’s really good.</p>

9

<p>Baldwin-Wallace has a conserv., and it’s not too far away from those two . Heck, if you’re from that far enough away, I’d stop and see almost any college in my path.</p>

10

<p>Thank you so much for the info… I looked at La Quinta Inn… the rate would be $78 for the time we will be there. Not that bad. but, will look some others as well.<br>
I thought I would have long time to kill while my D was touring/meeting with the professor. However, it does not seem to be. The professor very kindly offer to have a lesson, even though my D did not ask for a lesson. (She’s nervous to play satisfactory for the prospective professor felt not ready yet), and then offered to come back to sit in for other lessons on the next day! She’s been trying to arrange college tour as well as Case Western tour, and attend information sesson. Now, it’s getting so full schedule!
She’s not organized at all, and now getting nervous to play for the teacher, need to practice more, and then, there’s project due date coming up. I wonder if I should have tried to arrange/contact her schedule… Uptil now, I left everything to her and I only reserved air plane tickets.<br>
I feel it would have been easier for me to schedule/arrange them myself. But, this is a good learning process for her. I hope professors/school will understand and forgive her delayed un-organized / unprofessional/ responses. :slight_smile: I see a lot of matured high school kids, but not mine.</p>

<p>Thank you all for all the useful information!</p>