<p>One thing that my daughter has really liked there is the Co-op system. She lived in co-op housing for two years and has eaten in co-ops all four. As a result, she has learned quite a bit about all aspects of preparing a meal for seventy or eighty people and is head cook for at least one meal per week of that size.</p>
<p>My son brought up the co-op housing to me as well and that really appealed to him (frankly I was a bit surprised that it appealed to him).</p>
<p>I have eaten in the co-ops at Oberlin when visiting my daughter and they really do produce some very good food - better than the school cafeteria. The fresh baked bread in particular was amazing. The co-op housing works out really well for some people and not so well for others. If you insist on a high state of cleanliness and order, it may not be the right place for you. My daughter got nearly the first pick in the housing lottery for her junior year and she could have had an enormous room in the turret of Talcott, with a closet bigger than some dorm rooms I have seen, six huge windows overlooking Tappan square, and located right across the street from the conservatory where she spends 80% of her time. Instead, she opted for a small walk-up on the top floor of Keep co-op with one small window overlooking a parking lot because she liked the sense of community there. I would recommend visiting the co-op housing, ideally toward the end of a semester, before making a decision.</p>
<p>There are several types of coops at Oberlin -- some with housing (one is usually all-women), some for board only; there is a Kosher-Halal coop, a mostly vegan coop; all have vegetarian and vegan options. It is a good deal financially, as well as socially and gastronimically -- a kind of Oberlin version of an "eating club" with an egalitarian ethos.</p>
<p>Not to mention the bike co-op, the photography supplies co-op, the pottery co-op and a few more I am probably forgetting about.</p>
<p>The eating and dining coops are indeed good deals. The amount saved per year over the dorms and school cafeteria divided by the number of hours worked comes out to a higher rate of pay than all but a few on-campus jobs and you learn some practical life skills to boot. We were amazed when daughter came home and insisted on preparing meals. It took a while for her to adjust to purchasing and preparing food for four people rather than eighty and she tended to use every pot and pan in the house each time she cooked a meal, but it was novel nonetheless.</p>
<p>Living in a co-op is a wholly different experience from anything else. All decisions are made by "Consensus" voting- students have complete control over how they live and put a great deal of personal responsibility into their lives. As Oberlin has no fraternities, the co-ops substitute for that kind of close community. However, the co-op attitude is very inclusive and non-hierarchical. Every meal I've had in a co-op has been unique and though I eat in dining halls (practicality and time constraints), I've always been welcomed whenever I visit.
OSCA - Oberlin Student Co-operative Association- is the largest student organization on campus, feeding over 630 students- about a third of the population. </p>
<p>More here:
OSCA</a> | The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association</p>
<p>I was pretty impressed by the idea of Kosher-Halal coop when I first saw it in their website. Jewish and Muslim living together? Aren't there any religious antagonism or whatsoever?</p>
<p>It's board only; they celebrate Ramadan and Passover, etc.</p>
<p>I'm a Buddhist and a vegetarian, but can I live in Kosher-Halal co-op as well? I'm planning to major in Religion, so living there would be a great experience for me.</p>
<p>By the way, no Buddhist community in Oberlin?</p>
<p>Most of the coops are vegetarian -- all offer vegetarian/vegan options.</p>
<p>impsuit, as mamenyu said, no one lives in Kosher-Halal coop: it's a board only (i.e., dining-only) coop. It's located in a dorm which is not a housing coop.</p>
<p>Oh, okay. ^^;;</p>
<p>impsuit,</p>
<p>Sure! Kosher-Halal co-op is very much open to members of all faiths. It's a pretty amazing community. You might also want to "split in" your co-op, and be eating half your meals in KHC, and half in a vegan-vegetarian co-op (like Fairchild or Harkness). KHC had veggie options, but it's known for having amazing BBQ and chicken.</p>
<p>You might investigate the program houses, including Asia House; there is a dining-only coop there, too, Pyle, which offers mostly vegetarian food.</p>
<p>The vegetarian and vegan options are way better in the co-ops than in CDS. In addition to Fairchild (historically vegan) and Harkness (historically vegetarian, but probably a third of the members are vegan), every co-op has vegetarian options at every meal. In practice, what this means is that even if you're in an "omnivore" co-op, there probably won't be meat more than once or twice a week - possibly more often in KHC, but there will always be a vegetarian alternative. On top of this, co-ops set their own food policies and are very conscious of the needs of their members. If you're vegetarian or vegan, or gluten-free, or don't eat refined sugars, or have any other dietary restriction, people will make sure to label things and will go out of their way to make sure you get good food. It's also worth mentioning that co-opers own the stuff that's in our kitchens. So if you don't like what's for dinner, or if you want noodles at 2 AM, you can go cook for yourself any time, using anything that's in the kitchen.</p>
<p>I'm a first-year living in a co-op, and joining OSCA is the best choice I've made so far at Oberlin. The community here is so, so wonderful, and tighter than in any of the dorms I've seen. It's an instant group of friends spanning all class years, college and conservatory, international students, etc. You can't get lost in a co-op – there's always someone to be with, someone to look out for you. And there's always something going on. We have some of the best jam sessions on campus; midnight scavenger hunts that last for hours; spontaneous dance parties in the kitchen or the showers; raids on other co-ops, which can get very elaborate; Frisbee games, dancing in the rain, and snowball fights; or just staying up late playing Cranium and talking about whatever comes to mind. There's always someone making something in the kitchen – fresh bread or granola, vegan cupcakes and cinnamon buns. And Friday pizza nights in Harkness are hands-down the best food you'll ever eat.</p>
<p>The caveat I'd give for anyone considering living in OSCA (as opposed to just dining there) is that most co-op policies are basically "live and let live" (or, as we call it, the "don't be an a$$hole policy"). So you will quite probably see naked people, smell pot in the hallway, have some pretty messy common areas - in some co-ops more than others. There's absolutely no pressure to do anything: I'm substance-free and living in what's allegedly the most mind-altered co-op, and it's been a complete non-issue. And if you tell someone they're making you uncomfortable for some reason, they'll stop, or at least talk with you about it. But if you don't think you can tolerate a certain degree of disorder and permissiveness, living in a co-op is not the best choice.</p>
<p>If you're not sure, you can always live in a dorm and eat in a co-op your first semester, or just come hang out at one to get a feel for what they're like. Folks in OSCA are incredibly kind and welcoming, and we love to share co-op joy with new people – not to mention co-op food...</p>