<p>My parents said they cannot afford to take me to visit Oberlin. We live twelve hours away by car. They said they will take me to visit only if I am accepted (I have the stats to get in). I figured that would be okay because I could just go to one of their traveling events. I go to Oberlin's webpage and there are NO events in my state. I looked at neighboring states and the closest Preview event is at 7pm on a Tuesday night at a school over an hour from my house. I can't drive and I have several other siblings so parents said they could not swing it. I then called to schedule an alumni interview and Oberlin said there are no alumni in my area. I find this really hard to believe since I live in the mid-atlantic. </p>
<p>Now I'm doing the next best thing and missing half a school day to go to a boarding school a half hour away and attending Oberlin's visit there. I know it will probably be strange, but it's all I can do.</p>
<p>On Oberlin's supplement it asks if I have visited campus or had an on or off-campus interview. The answer is no obviously but I feel like they are saying since I haven't, I will be hurt in the admissions process. I don't really think that's fair because I have made every attempt to demonstrate interest within my financial means. Do you think there is anything I can do? Should I call Oberlin and tell them I would be interested in traveling outside of what they deem my geographic area for an alumni interview? I'm really fretting about this because Oberlin is one of my very top choices.</p>
<p>To clarify, it’s not Oberlin that’s making it impossible, its your parents, by not paying for you to visit. When D1 was applying we lived 12-13 hours away, she visited there by herself, flew there, we paid.</p>
<p>Under the circumstances you have no choice but to explain on the app.
(Or spend your own $$ to visit via bus or something. which I certainly wouldn’t do).</p>
<p>Your “next best thing” may well be deemed adequate by them for admissions, under the circumstances. But if admitted, before matriculating there, I certainly recommend that you do an overnight.</p>
<p>Are you “multicultural”? My ds keeps getting reminders that there is room to be included in these 3 day trips all-expenses paid to Oberlin. There are a few dates left in Nov and Dec. I think.</p>
<p>Also, if you can’t get there, ask for an alumni interview - I did this for a number of years (as the alumni that is!) - they match you up with alumni in your area to speak, ask questions, show your interest…I really can’t see Oberlin as being one of those places that dings you when you can’t get to campus for a visit.</p>
<p>I would call admissions and explain your situation and ask if you could have a phone interview. Perhaps you or someone you know has skype! And admissions may say, it’s ok, not everyone can visit or have an interview and it won’t be held against you.</p>
<p>Thing is, what I’m hearing is OP wants a forum to “express interest”, as if one more checkbox on a college application"to-do" list.</p>
<p>If I were them, what I would be looking for is evience that someone actually has interest. So that they can determine if the candidate really fits, and the likelihood that they will yield him/ her if admitted. To me, if the candidate has actually visited campus and is still applying, and maybe can say something about the school more confidently based on that visit, there is more reason to think that they can yield him. So yes, there may be other ways to satisfy the admissions “check-box”, but if I were them I would be more confident of those who actually visited.</p>
<p>Fortunately for everyone, I am not them though, and have no real insight on what they actually do in this regard.</p>
<p>I love some of the elitism on this board…I mean I don’t really think it’s reasonable for a college to expect that people can visit 10 schools that are all flights away. That’s not within most people’s financial means. I will definitely be visiting if I am accepted because my parents think that would be a more worthwhile way to spend our money. I have tried in every way to demonstrate interest that is within my family’s financial means. </p>
<p>Monydad, I don’t think I understand what you mean when you say that I want a forum to “express interest.” You are sounding very condescending and acting as though I am not genuinely interested in Oberlin. I adore everything I have heard about Oberlin which is why it has made it to the list of schools to which I am applying. If you ran a college it would be dominated by either mostly wealthy students, or students who live within driving distance and can thus afford a visit. </p>
<p>I appreciate the helpful idea of a skype interview. I will definitely run that by them!</p>
<p>my D was unable to visit all her schools last year. some were known to “want” a visit in order to be accepted, even though it did not state that on any admissions information or web page. she did use email to discuss things with different professors and departments though. that may help. Bottom line, I think, is that all schools want to know the student-applicant is really interested in their particular school. How you demonstrate that is an individual endeavor. Therefore, if you are unable to visit but you demostrate that you are going all the way to another boarding school’s college fair (or whatever it is), and you make sure to contact that regional director ahead of time and let them know that you are interested in an interview if he/she has the time…explaining why you are doing this…my bet is, it will be quite effective! good luck!</p>
<p>I’m just saying if I was them, regardless of how good your reasons are, if you’'ve never been there you may be less sure of what you might be getting into than someone identical to you who has also been there. So if I were them I would be more confident of yielding the “you” who visited. Whether or not you had good reasons for not visiting, there is still more risk to them that, once accepted, you will then visit and decide it is not for you. As compared to the other “you” they could accept, identical to you in every respect but also has visited.</p>
<p>That’s just my honest opinion. It may well be wrong, but I don’t think it’s condescending, at least not intentionally.</p>
<p>What is reasonable financially or within one’s means may be in some cases, obvious and clear, in other cases a matter of choice of how to spend limited but non-zero funds. When D1 was applying she visited a number of colleges, we were not poor but hardly rich. We just felt that this investment was small compared to the amount we would be spending on the actual college. YMMV. There is of course an economic level where we would not have done this, and she would have had to face the consequences if there were any.</p>
<p>The real consequence I see is:
if one waits to do all visits only when acceptances come in,
and there are a number of such acceptances,
you will be trying to cram all these visits into a narrow window,
during a time when there may be a lot going on in your high school, exams, work due, etc, that makes being away a lot inconvenient.
D1 only had time to revisit 2 colleges after her acceptances came in,
given the other demands on her time at that point.</p>
<p>Just in case this is of interest, like I mentioned, ds keeps getting weekly reminders to apply and there is still time. Also, I’d just call admissions - if there is a presentation nearby to you (you said 1 hr right?), there must be someone giving that presentation that might be able to meet with you for coffee or something? Find out if you can email that person and see what you can arrange. An old classmate is in admissions and although she can make a mean chile rellano, I don’t think she has an ounce of elitism.</p>
<p>if you live anywhere near Baltimore/DC then fly SW out of BWI to Cleveland…$59 one way. My S used this airport for his visit and uses BWI now as a freshman. We live in South Jersey so he takes rail out of Philly($25 w/student amtrak discount) to BWI. We have one kid at UChicago and the other at Oberlin so there are little funds for travel(or much else except basics)</p>
<p>You don’t have much of a choice here. If your parents are letting you apply to Oberlin given that you have siblings and financial constraints then they are being supportive of your educational dreams. I believe them when they say that visiting is out of their budget right now.</p>
<p>The admissions committee must see this situation every year, someone who really wants to visit but can’t afford to. Oberlin wants a diverse student body so under these circumstances I don’t think they would want your inability to visit to count against you.</p>
<p>Is there someplace on the application you can explain the situation the way you have explained it to us? If not then I think you should call the admissions office and explain it to them and maybe they’ll tell you what they advise applicants to do who find themselves in your shoes.</p>
<p>Hopefully you are applying ED, since it sounds like Oberlin is your number one choice. Oops, you should visit the school before you commit, so maybe I’m not saying this right. this is what you’d describe as a chicken-or-the-egg “what comes first” question.</p>
<p>Yep. I suggest you ask to have a phone interview. Happens in business, should happen in colleges too. Try to do the multicultural weekend too, if that’s for you. Regardless, you might want to send a separate note, that would go in your file that explains your dilemma about not getting to the school despite your effort. That’ll go a long way.</p>
<p>I’ve just discovered this thread. For heaven’s sake, raiderade, stop worrying! If you simply explain on your application what you’ve said here–that you were unable to visit due to financial constraints, and were not able to arrange an alumni interview because none was available–Oberlin is <em>not</em> going to hold it against you! If you want reassurance, just call the admissions office and ask who the counselor for your state is, and send that person an email explaining your situation. I’ve worked with the admissions office for many years, and I’m sure the counselor will tell you the same thing.</p>
<p>Oberlin’s admissions staff go out of their way to be reasonable and humane. They want to know that applicants have a good idea of the school and want to be a part of it. But there are other ways of demonstrating that besides visiting. Really, you can relax.</p>
<p>Thanks so much! You guys are making me feel like I have a bit more in my control now. </p>
<p>Unfortunately I am not multicultural at all (unless you count Jewish, Lithuanian, English, and Welsh as anything. Haha). </p>
<p>Also, I didn’t realize plane tickets were that inexpensive. Maybe I could pay my own way for a visit? </p>
<p>I am not applying Early Decision anywhere due to the whole finances issue. I need to look at merit aid/and financial aid packages before I can make any decisions. </p>
<p>I worry about telling admissions about financial issues because a) it sounds like a sob story b) my dad owns a small business so our EFC looks a lot higher than what my family can afford so when Oberlin sees my finaid info I worry they will think I’m lying or something.</p>
<p>I just want to note, however, that my parents are prepared to pay for Oberlin when it comes. They have been saving since I was born for college and have about 170k socked away but they are strict adherers to budget and a flight to a school is not in it. Oberlin is the only college on my list that is a plane ride away.</p>
<p>We chose not to visit several schools, including Oberlin, unless my daughter was accepted (about half the schools she applied to). We did manage to get alumni/rep interviews for all but one of them (including Oberlin). She was accepted at all of these schools and ultimately chose Oberlin after visiting in very late April. I never got the sense that Oberlin would penalize anyone who wasn’t able to visit or get an alumni interview. Definitely call the alumni office and inquire whether a skype or phone interview might work. In any event it will be a way to let them know that you are sincerely interested. It is not your fault that they cannot arrange an alumni interview. If you are ultimately not able to arrange any kind of interview, I would note that fact when you apply just to make sure that the reviewer is aware that you attempted to interview, but it could not be arranged.</p>