<p>Dude, you sound so tech school it’s crazy. I do think, though, that although Oberlin is known for being liberal, a conservative person wouldn’t necessarily feel shunned there. Maybe just poked fun at once in a while. All I mean is, don’t let that stereotype put you off… </p>
<p>But I don’t even know why I’m answering you, because you know yourself better than anyone, and you can be whoever you want.</p>
<p>It’s Div.III athletics. It’s not like you are likely to turn pro one day, so it’s really about education. I wouldn’t go to a DIII school with a pro athletic career in mind and I doubt that you are thinking that way either. In your favor: there are plenty of science nerds at Oberlin, but I don’t know how right-wing they are likely to be. You’re likely to be outnumbered.</p>
<p>Why did you apply to Oberlin other than being flattered by being a recruited athlete? Didn’t you investigate anything about the college’s culture and rep (other than sports)? Did you get a scholarship from the tech school?</p>
<p>@plain, I obviously know Im not going pro. I decided to apply because I knew Oberlin was an elite academic school and I was thrilled to have it in my back pocket if I didn’t get into any other schools. I haven’t received my financial aid from the tech school, but it will likely be more money (because they don’t offer merit aid due to the high level student body)</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses thus far.</p>
<p>If I go there, ill be sure to wear my Trump/Palin 2012 shirt :-p</p>
<p>Sounds like the tech school would be preferable, but you’re going to go with who gives you the best package. No shame in that.</p>
<p>If it winds up being Oberlin, you will very likely find friends and be happy, because Oberlin is more diverse than its stereotype. If you’re not happy, you’ll transfer. </p>
<p>Should you choose Oberlin: Consider buying a Trump/Palin 2012 sweatshirt, because for most of the school year it will be too cold to flaunt a Tee.</p>
<p>Also,only go to the tech school(MIT?UPenn SEAS?CMU?)If you’re dead sure you WANT to be an engineer.(not for the great job prospects)cos if it turns out that you deplore engineering after 1 year,switching out of engineering could be very difficult and you could waste money.That said,I think the tech school could help you reach your goals faster if you are an aspiring engineer.</p>
<p>Since it seems like you’re interested in physics, I just wanted to throw out there that Oberlin’s physics department is great. It’s very small in terms of number of students, but huge in terms of resources. Several of my good friends were physics majors, and they’re all in excellent graduate programs now. </p>
<p>But, if you’re choosing between Oberlin and a tech school, it really comes down to your educational philosophy. Tech schools are great if you’re very interested in one academic area and don’t want to be distracted by other subjects. But, if you’re excited about taking classes outside the sciences (or even deeply pursuing more than one science, such as physics and computer science), Oberlin might be a better fit for you academically. </p>
<p>Social fit, of course, is a different evaluation. Being right-wing will make you stand out a bit at Oberlin, but you’ll fit right in as a “relatively introverted science nerd.” If you can, you might want to try visiting both campuses again to get a better feel of which might feel more comfortable to you.</p>
<p>My brother applied to only tech schools (for engineering) and Oberlin, and ended up deciding to come here because of the atmosphere of a place he would be living for the next four years: he wanted to be around music and people who think, and Oberlin has both those things. Now that he’s here, he’s moving more in the direction of bio/neuro and possibly politics, but if he considers doing engineering later, the option is still available. </p>
<p>While I was not an athlete, I photographed for the athletic department, which means I attended a fair amount of games. The teams here thrive on comradely both on and off the court/field/what have you, and many of the athletes I know are hardcore into the sciences.</p>
<p>My D and I did a pop in at Oberlin yesterday and had a brief chat with an admissions rep. One of the things she mentioned was a “conservative speakers” series that the current president started (recent guest Karl Rove, other speaker mentioned: Newt Gingrich). I lean left, but found that tidbit encouraging.</p>
<p>“Based on what you have just read, would I be better off at Oberlin or a tech school?”</p>
<p>Well. let’s just do a little checklist:
What I read …Which school you’re better off at</p>
<p>“I got into Oberlin with a 25k scholarship”… Oberlin
"I am a right-wing… " … tech school<br>
“relatively introverted science nerd”… tie<br>
"I love sports "…tech school, probably
“want to major in engineering”…tech school</p>
<p>monydad, depending on the tech school “I love sports” might also be a tie. Physicsdude didn’t mention the name of the tech school. Georgia Tech is big time, Division I sports; Carnegie Mellon a very different level. “I love sports” might be a tie with a school like Carnegie (if they even have sports teams). :)</p>
<p>The “I Love sports” metric can be Oberlin, too, if the measure is “I want to participate in many sports on a club basis”, as distinct from “I want to to go to a school that values organized intercollegiate sports highly.”</p>
<p>Physicsdude, it seems like what it’s coming down to now is where you’ll be happiest. You’ve described yourself, but you haven’t said what you value most in a college. Is it more important to you that you be around lots of other conservatives or that you get to engage in active conversations about your views? It seems important to you to be a scholar-athlete, but do you care if others around you are, too? Is one campus setting more to your liking? Is money a major factor? Is a 3:2 program like Oberlin’s interesting to you, or would you rather focus less on that whole liberal arts thing and really focus more on engineering?</p>
<p>Well the tech school is CMU, and unfortunately the major problem will be cost. I don’t really care about being surrounded by conservatives as I do not being shunned and verbally attacked for my views. I’ve seen the youtube videos of the karl rove protests…wow!
I’m pretty sure I want to do engineering, but I went into cmu undecided so I had another year to decide. </p>
<p>As I said, mo et is important. I think Cmu will be 5-10k more per year, but with the 3-2 program at oberlin, who knows what the other school will give me. Also, it will take an additional year. Those two factors alone could make up for the difference in price. Plus, my favorite sports team is in Pittsburgh (not the Steelers!)</p>
<p>I think I’m doing an overnighter at both places to decide.</p>
<p>Well, I said “probably”.
The reason I said it is, most people who go to tech schools do so because they want to be engineers, not because they hate sports. Whereas,part of Oberlin’s appeal for my D1 was she tended to dislike people who did sports or liked sports, and she didn’t want to be around them. Ditto frats. She intentionally didn’t apply to anyplace that had big sports or big frats. So IMO while some tech school students will be indifferent, it’s not like they are deliberately picking the school on that basis, as D1 did in part. Not that her perspective is necessarily a majority sentiment there,I could be completely wrong, but my exposure is through her.</p>
<p>@monydad it seems like you have a lot of insight in this area. I actually just got back a very good financial aid offer from Carnegie Mellon. I want to do mechanical engineering and hopefully minor in robotics (if I go to CMU). On a slightly off topic question, is it true that companies will pay for people to go to grad school if they agree to work for them after graduation?</p>
All I mean is, don’t let that stereotype put you off… </p>