<p>I don't look at these forums much anymore, but your question caught my attention. I'm a senior at Oberlin and my boyfriend is Romanian, but he has been living in America for the past 10 years and so didn't apply as an international student. However, there is a girl here from Moldova and another girl from Romania, as well as a Romanian-American girl. They get together sometimes to chat in Romanian. Also, there is a Romanian professor who they went to lunch with awhile ago. (I forget what department she teaches in.)</p>
<p>Therefore, there are a couple of Romanians but I think 2 will be graduating in May. From an admissions standpoint, I assume it's advantageous that there aren't many Romanians here, but I really don't know.</p>
<p>If you want to get in touch with either my boyfriend or one of the international students, send me a message with your e-mail address and I can send it on to them.</p>
<p>^girlinbraids,
That is really a great news and I would like to get in touch with them but you have some options disabled to your account and I can not send you a message. :(</p>
<p>I have more than a year to prepare to apply for college, and I'm just looking around right now to get a feel for all the colleges out there. I found out about Oberlin a few hours ago, and already, I feel like I want to go there. It's weird!</p>
<p>Anyway, I'm a little confused. In Oberlin, you take courses in Arts/Humanities no matter what your major is? That sounds fun! :) </p>
<p>Oh, and how is the Computer Science department there? (That's what I want to major in.)</p>
<p>P.S. -> I'm from South India too. Where you from exactly?</p>
<p>Percussion, however many you're comfortable with. A class being marked "Writing Intensive" for purposes of the writing proficiency requirement doesn't necessarily mean there's tons of writing. And many classes without that description have tons of writing. In general, humanities and social sciences classes will have lots of writing and reading, and it's up to you to choose what you're down with. I've been taking four social science classes each semester, because it's what I enjoy, even though it's absurd amounts of reading and writing.</p>
<p>wedgedrive, I'm not quite sure how to answer that. Oberlin seems to be strong in pretty much every department. Our most popular majors are English, Biology, Politics, History and Environmental Studies. East Asian Studies, Chemistry and Psychology are pretty popular, as well. I'm going to be majoring in one of Oberlin's smallest departments, Computer Science, but I love all the classes and the professors, and it strikes me as very strong.</p>
<p>I hope this helps. If you need more clarification, just ask!</p>
<p>To add to what CurlyFry said, Creative Writing is also a standout, as is neuroscience - which is pretty impressive for an LAC. There aren't a lot of weak programs at Oberlin...</p>
<p>Most of the people who are inquiring on this thread seem to not grasp the concept of the American liberal arts college.</p>
<p>I would recommend that everyone read a book on how such colleges compare to research universities in order to understand why a place like Oberlin, by its very structure, will have strong departments across the board.</p>
<p>Josh - that is nice in theory but not necessarily in practice. Many liberal arts schools have a few departments that aren't really up to snuff. That being said, I think that most departments at Oberlin are likely very good.</p>
<p>shennie- I should have qualified "liberal arts college" with the predicates, "well-endowed," "elite," and "highly selective." Any choice of major at Oberlin will result in a good education because it is logistically impossible to take all of one's classes within that single major. The likelihood of carving a route through which one can slack off is greatly mitigated at the more prestigious LAC's and even some less well-known ones such as Hampshire, New College of Florida, Sarah Lawrence, Reed, Pitzer, Earlham, Beloit, and Marlboro.</p>
<p>josh - it is not a matter of slacking off. The fact is that most schools, even the well endowed, elite, highly selective ones have some tenured professors who are not very good teachers. The school has to keep them on and students have to take classes from them that are boring and uninspiring. If a couple of these professors happen to be in one department, it will mean that that particular department is not very strong, especially if it is a small department. If you are lucky, you can avoid these folks all together or only end up taking a course or two from them. However, if you happen to major in an area with a couple of weak professors you are going to be in for a rough time. Students in this situation often end up changing majors. </p>
<p>Please understand, I am not refering to Oberlin here, just colleges in general. If you want to get an idea of what areas might not be as strong at any particular school, find out how many majors they graduate on average each year. It may be that that particular major just isn't particularly popular, but it also migh indicate an overall weakness in that area.</p>
<p>Throwing this out there to anyone at Oberlin:</p>
<p>How environmentally conscious would you say the community is? And what is the political situation? Are people generally more liberal, conservative, or mixed?</p>
<p>Very environmentally conscious, with a strong environmental studies program; check out the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies. The newest building, the jazz/music history/theory building will be as "green" as it gets -- LEED gold rated.
Politically active with a long history of social engagement; politically mixed but mostly liberal.</p>
<p>hey... i am from south india too.. and really like oberlin...
i read in one of the posts that aid is available for international students...but is that mainly based on need or merit? because i will be applying for aid but i probably wont qualify for need-based.
also...i am really involved in music and i know that the oberlin is known for its amazing music program...but because it's really popular, does it mean that getting into the music program will be incredibly difficult? what are the average music student's qualifications?</p>
<p>Assuming you mean the conservatory, the chances of getting in vary a lot by department and vary somewhat from year to year depending on what voices or instruments they need most of at any given time. An audition will be the major deciding factor for both admission and for the amount of merit aid that you get from the conservatory. If you are applying as a double degree student, you may also be able to get merit aid from the college based on academic achievement. </p>
<p>Last year, the conservatory received 1261 freshman applications, of which 316 were accepted and 150 enrolled. That gives an overall acceptance rate of 25% but some departments get a lot more applications relative to the number of openings that they have and therefore those departments have much lower acceptance rates.</p>
<p>The average conservatory student has been taking private lessons for many years on their instrument or voice and is at a fairly advanced level. The top conservatory students win national and international competitions.</p>