@tallgal2boys. We appealed at their suggestion. They will ask you for other schools merit aid documentation. We presented some that were much higher (the schools weren’t at the same level though) but what they matched was the $3,000 more that R.P.I. had offered. Not sure how they would consider Denison. Maybe they’ll give a little more but I don’t think they see Denison as a 100% equal school so I would be surprised if they matched it unless it gets much closer to the deadline and their yield is suffering.
S in with $30K merit and really generous overall FA package. Almost his best FA so far, so we’re scrambling to figure out how to fit in a visit.
Thanks - that info is helpful. I’m not sure we need an exact match, but if they could close the gap a bit we’d be happy.
@tallgal2boys The most recent list of which institutions Oberlin considers peers (that I’ve seen) was published in 2012. At that time Oberlin said its peers were: Amherst, Bowdoin, Carleton, Colgate, Conn College, Grinnell, Hamilton, Haverford, Kenyon, Middlebury, Pomona, Reed, Swarthmore, Vassar, Wesleyan, and Williams.
For what it’s worth, at the time Denison considered Oberlin one of its peers. https://www.chronicle.com/interactives/peers-network
Note that peer schools chosen by the colleges themselves tend to be “aspirational,” hence the asymmetry between Oberlin and Denison.
Interesting list. Only a couple of those schools give merit aid at all.
And the wacky part of this is that his safety school - Trinity University in San Antonio- now has the lowest acceptance rate of all the schools he applied to, at 29%.
Waitlisted! Congrats everybody!
My daughter got in with a decent scholarship and package, but even so Oberlin is pricey. We need to visit and make choices. I have been reading up on the school and I can see why she got in as she fits the profile as a STEM and music kid committed to social justice issues.
In with 25k merit, and good financial aid 
D was admitted with merit scholarship (on top of husb’s tuition remission benefit of $26.5k year) but it’s still pricey. She’d be a Theatre/Dance major but did not apply to conservatory as she is not steering toward opera. Any current musical theatre students have info on voice lessons for MT rather than classical training? Thanks!
@TheatreMomKatie My daughter is also interested in musical theater and has been performing since age 7. Its not her major though it might be a minor. She is also studying molecular biology. She also just got accepted last night. Sounds like the two our two daughters could become friends should they both decide to attend.
Anyone going to one of the All Roads Lead to Oberlin events? We’ll be at the April 4-5 one. My 9th grader is a potential music major, so he’s very excited to see it, too. Signed him up for a tour of the conservatory.
To those who have decided on or leaning toward Oberlin, which other considerable school(s) would you be declining and what’s the primary reason? Would also be interested to hear if you’re choosing Oberlin over your other options even it means paying more.
Not quite sure what you mean by 'considerable schools". The higher ranked schools my child applied to were Oberlin, Reed, Kenyon, and Brown University. Still waiting to here from Reed and Brown. She was wait listed at Kenyon - very disappointing for her as she really loved the school and felt it was a perfect match. She also checked out Grinnell but didn’t care for it. On paper it seemed like a good match but I think it was too rural for her. She didn’t bother to apply as she said even if she got in she would’t go. She didn’t apply/check out any schools just because they had a high ranking. She was looking for a small school (preferably liberal arts) that had an artsy/music vibe as well as a more liberal slant politically.
The only Ivy she was interested in was Brown. She felt the others were too big and didn’t have the “vibe” she was looking for. While her profile meets their stats she knows it’s a long shot. I think if she got in and a workable financial package came through it would be a really difficult choice for her to make. It’s bigger than what she prefers and this puts it a little out of her comfort zone.
My daughter wanted a smaller school so that ruled out the larger universities, also, wasn’t too interested in east coast so that narrowed the list. I wish we would have had time to get to Carleton and McCalister in Mn but ran out of time. She was getting college search burn out and felt she would be happy going to any of the top ones on her list.
Finances will play a big part in her decision for any of her favorite schools. Oberlin is at the top of our financial reach. I know the cost will go up each year and I don’t see our income going up to match that increase. We’ll be okay freshman and sophomore year, but junior and senior year will be a stretch. Also, if she goes to Oberlin there is little to no room financially for “extras”. She knows that if there are special trips to places we probably won’t be able to afford them. We’ve also considered the loan limit we are comfortable with her taking that will be her responsibility to pay after she graduates. If any school comes above our financial contribution and her loan limit it will need to be declined/ruled out.
My daughter has been accepted to some lower ranked safety schools with some great merit scholarships. If she goes to one of these schools then there are more $ for other things/extras. I know she’s taking this into consideration too.
In the end it will come down to which school is the best academic, financial, and “vibe” fit for her.
My daughter’s top three choices as of right now are Oberlin with 18/k year merit, Macalester with 10k/year, and Simmons University in Boston with 26k/year. She was also accepted to Smith but it to is too pricey with no merit $$ and Northeastern which she decided was too large. Simmons is less well-known but she loved the vibe when we visited for scholars’ weekend in Feb. We’ll be visiting both Oberlin and Macalester in April. and then it will be decision time!
I successfully negotiated an increase in my daughters merit award last year (Oberlin Class of 2022). I actually used Denison’s much higher merit offer as part of my letter; she had other merit awards but I chose to only reference the one. But we also pay full freight for a sibling at an equally pricey school, which was also included in our letter, among other points of note. We didn’t request a match of the Denison offer.
@cawmom Just wondering how you approached Oberlin about merit. We have a similar situation, offer from Denison that is much higher, but we don’t have anyone else in college. How long after you sent the letter did it take for them to respond? Thanks for any advice or info.
@InDebtForever I first called the Financial Aid Office and spoke with one of the staff (not a student!) about the best way to approach the situation. They were great! Very clear and candid about what to include in the email, including how much you are looking for. I attached only the award offer from Dennison (if you have others you want to include, I say go for it). As for the email itself, the first paragraph was:
“We are thrilled that xx has been admitted to Oberlin’s Class of 2022. Attending the All Roads Lead to Oberlin program further reinforced how special Oberlin is and how good a fit it is for xx. We are also pleased that xx has been awarded a John Frederick Oberlin Scholarship of $xx/year as it’s always nice to be recognized for your hard work. That said, we respectfully ask the College to consider increasing the value of xx merit scholarship to $xx annually for the following reasons:”
I bullet pointed the list of reasons to make it easy to read. Some of the bullet points were:
- other private schools awarded her larger dollar amounts (I referenced the attached offer from Dennison)
- sibling at UChicago, where we pay 100% of costs
- even with her merit award, we are responsible for education expenses totaling nearly xx dollar/year
- we in no way foresaw both children attending two of the most expensive colleges in the country
- xx continued taking a rigorous course-load throughout her senior year with excellent results (gpa’s for that time period were provided)
I ended the email reinforcing how much xx loves Oberlin and how some additional merit $$ can make a big difference. The Financial Aid Office got back to us in about a week, sooner than I expected.
I am happy to talk offline about this if you’d like. My view is nothing ventured, nothing gained and you can’t get something you don’t ask for. We also did not request they match the Dennison offer because I don’t believe Oberlin necessarily views them to be a true ‘comp’. The end result was a 33% increase, less than requested but more than I expected.
Good luck and congratulations to your daughter!
@InDebtForever Our D17 is at Oberlin. It cost more than some other LACs to which she applied and also got merit. We decided the fit was worth it and for her it has been.
There are a few things you can do:
You can try negotiating for more merit aid based on competing offers at peer institutions.
Your child can consider a coop, either living, dining or both - the savings are significant, assuming that a mostly vegetarian diet and contributing some food service hours would be acceptable to her.
If she is covered on your health insurance, you can waive the college plan, which shaves a further 2-3K off the bill.
My child has rented textbooks or purchased used copies from places like Chegg and Amazon. On average, she’s spent $250-300 per semester on books, a significant discount as compared to the college bookstore.