<p>I would think long and hard about transferring, especially to a school as large as NYU. If your intent is to study overseas (Oberlin’s programs are as good, I suspect, as NYU’s and Tufts’) it is hard to see the point. </p>
<p>What you will find at NYU is great variability in the quality of students and in individual departments and programs. It will be big, it will tend toward the impersonal, and if you live off-campus, it will be tough to find a cohesive social community (an important part of the college experience). </p>
<p>Tufts will have roughly the same diversity as Oberlin, skewed more towards students from the Mid-Atlantic region with a somewhat more professional orientation. I don’t see the great advantage of Tufts over Oberlin except for Tufts’ suburban campus. Oberlin is, in many ways, a better school academically than either Tufts or NYU. </p>
<p>I would examine your real motivations for wanting to transfer. If your issues are emotional and developmental, you may find that you will take them with you and be unhappy wherever you go. Learning to be tolerant and accepting of others not like oneself is an important part of growing up. There’s no coming to consciousness without some discomfort. Best to examine yourself first and not Oberlin (the courses there will get easier to get into the more you advance).</p>
<p>Did you or do you attend Oberlin? If you did, you might be aware that Oberlin has a rather low rate of return. People I didn’t even know were unhappy there have told me that they also did not return after freshman year. One of my close friends left after 2 months. Many students find the campus to be incredibly stifling and small. I’m not saying there weren’t nice people at Oberlin, there were nice people, but when the school is so clique-y it’s hard to break out and actually meet anyone “different” than myself. Plus, to me it seems strange to be so separated from the rest of the world and only have contact with people ages 18-23. To me, it felt like summer camp and not a real-world experience. I’ve been away from Oberlin for a year and I am very confident with my decision to leave. Some kids may love Oberlin, but if you don’t fit the Oberlin mold and don’t enjoy living in a bubble, you might not like it there.</p>
<p>FWIW, NYU 6 year graduation rate is a whopping 1% higher than Oberlin’s. </p>
<p>Some people find they don’t like living in a bubble.</p>
<p>On the other hand, some people find they don’t like spending their college experience on the streets of Manhattan, barely aware that they are attending college as a unique period of their lives.</p>
<p>And evidently the percentages of such people are pretty much identical.</p>
<p>Retention at Tufts is about 6% higher. My guess is that the observed retention rates highly correlate with academic capabilities of the aggregate student bodies.</p>
<p>There is nothing intrinsically “better” or “worse” about either environment, as an absolute matter, it’s more about matching what you want personally. Which might change, once you get somewhere and experience its reality.</p>
<p>Oberlin has a 93% freshman retention rate. I wouldn’t call that a low rate of return.</p>
<p>littlewing- Your sampling sue is different than mine. Every person I have talked to went to Oberlin or knows someone who did (and there are many) reported that they loved it and raved about what a great place it is. I also picked up on that from the current students as well. I was surprised to see that there was even graffiti in the restroom was about how much people loved the school. Maybe your friends are the outliers.</p>