<p>My D(International student) is interested in theater and English and is looking closely at both Oberlin and Grinnell. She visited both colleges and likes the look and feel of both. Early impressions are that Grinnell is more rigorous and demanding with higher focus on international students while Oberlin is more performing arts focused and maybe a better fit for her interests despite lower focus on international diversity. I can do with some help to help her decide-views please?</p>
<p>Like you say, they’re both great schools. I’m pretty familiar with Oberlin, and I don’t know anyone that has regretted attending there. Then again, my friends there are all science majors - I can’t really help you with humanities too much. I also recommend checking out Macalester, though - Similar academics and one of the top 3 most international LACs in the country.</p>
<p>S looked at both - Grinnell was more of a fit for him and turned out to be a great choice (See “Why Grinnell” thread on that forum), but best friend ended up at Oberlin and loves it. Because of the the music conservatory, Oberlin has more of an emphasis on music in particular and performing arts generally - on our tour, someone noted that there was a music performance every night of the school year. BF says people don’t ask ‘do you perform?’ They ask ‘what do you perform?’ Oberlin is also a bit more ‘granola’ and ‘artsy’ culturally, while Grinnell is generally a bit more ‘quirky’ and ‘individualistic’ to fall back on broad stereotypes. What Grinnell has is an enormous endowment that translates into a lot of merit aid and generous scholarships for internationals, which may or may not matter to you, some palatial facilities, lots of funding for student activities and smaller class sizes.</p>
<p>Why not have D apply to both and see what happens - especially if financial and merit aid are important to her decision? Frankly, she can’t go wrong at either school since they are both great places to study.</p>
<p>@sumimom: I don’t know if you’ve stumbled across the [Oberlin</a> blogs](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu%5DOberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu) in your research, but it might be a good resource for you to hear about Oberlin experience, unfiltered and written by students, faculty, and staff. I highly recommend the blog of Professor David Walker, who teaches English here at Oberlin (and was one of two professors who was in London last semester – exploring English through theater productions).</p>
<p>Beloit college is one of the International 50 (colleges that pride themselves on international education and diversity) and the international student rate is around 11%.</p>