<p>I'm from the Southeast, and hardly anyone I know (including my teachers) can tell me much about Oberlin.</p>
<p>Is it considered to be a prestigious school? How does it compare to the top LACs like Swat, Williams, and Amherst, and how does it compare to other excellent LACs like Bates, Bowdoin, Macalester, Colby, etc?</p>
<p>it's def. a great school for a liberal arts education, the student body is very liberal, which is def. a plus...i have a friend who applied there and is waiting for his decision</p>
<p>it seems to have a bohemian vibe...if you catch my drift</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Anything else from anybody?</p>
<p>Oberlin is a great college and has top-notch academics! Students who are there tend to have passions that extent beyond the academics. Students there care about events/issues happening around the world, and they dare to challenge the norms instead of conforming with the norms. It's really a liberal school, but too liberal for my liking. I was told that it's common for guys to wear skirts and walking around the school.</p>
<p>CHeering for sports teams is almost non-existant. Students there instead want to spend good use of their time in making the world a better place.</p>
<p>A couple of other interesting things about Oberlin is that it has one of the finest music conservatories in the country, and that it has a number of student-run co-ops for everything from housing to meals to art and photography supplies. It was also recently cited as one of the top "Scools that rock" in the Rolling Stone College Guide.</p>
<p>it's considered not quite as "top" as swat and williams, and about on par with colby and the others you listed. it's extremely liberal.. it was the first college in the country to admit blacks and women, it has gender-neutral bathrooms (which everyone seems to think is such a big deal although i personally dont understand why), everyone is very friendly and open and basically everyone does pot. in addition to the music conservatory, its science program stands out. but because it's so tiny and doesnt have the advantages of crossregistration that other small LACs have, some departments are very tiny (and therefore slightly biased to the research interests of the profs) and course choice is not that large. it's pretty isolated and in a very safe, quiet area. lots of people ride bikes on campus. oberlin is where the kids who didnt quite fit in in high school go, although supposedly more mainstream people have been applying lately but it's still liberal and quirky.</p>
<p>
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I was told that it's common for guys to wear skirts and walking around the school.
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Not that I would care, but I've never seen this, and it's certainly not common.</p>
<p>Thanks! All of you have been extremeley helpful....if only my GCs knew all of this stuff!</p>
<p>Let's debunk a few stereotypes and exaggerations: </p>
<p>Single-sex bathrooms and substance free floors of dorms are available for those who wish them. I have not heard of any gender-neutral bathrooms outside of some dorms and co-ops who vote annually whether to share or segregate said facilities. I would believe that the rate of marijuana use is above the national average for a college, but "everyone does pot" is not even close to accurate. While cross-dressing guys would not raise many eyebrows there, I doubt it happens all that much outside of the annual Drag Ball. On that night, a guy in skirts would probably attract comments for being far too conservatively dressed.</p>
<p>BassDad is largely correct. The only thing is that I believe all dorms vote on whether to have co-ed bathrooms. Most to all agree. If they don't, the residents often agree to a 1 week trial period, after which everyone agrees.</p>
<p>Experience with co-ed bathrooms would shows that it's a non-issue. People use the sinks, people use the urinals, people use the toilets. People use the showers and use towels as they leave. People would see you in your towel even if the bathrooms are single sex, seeing as you have to walk to your room.</p>
<p>At least give it a shot, and you'll wonder why they're sex-segregated in the first place.</p>
<p>Edit: And I forgot. It's mind-numbingly slow here, but if you ever get it to load [url=<a href="http://www.oberwiki.net/%5DOberWiki%5B/url">http://www.oberwiki.net/]OberWiki[/url</a>] is a very good source for any and all information you might want. It also has a specific section for prospective students/first-years. What to bring/what not to bring, classes, specific professors, majors, residence halls, dining halls etc...</p>
<p>Thanks, syn, it would seem that my info about the bathrooms is a little out of date. When moving my daughter in, they were clearly marked by sex but of course they would not yet have had the opportunity to vote on that issue.</p>
<p>It's in the middle of nowhere. If that is imporant to you at all.</p>
<p>(No offense)</p>
<p>Taken directly from their website "The town of Oberlin, Ohio (population 8,600) is 35 miles southwest of Cleveland and is easily accessible by car, plane, bus or train."</p>
<p>That statement about "car, plane, bus or train" is a little misleading. No passenger trains stop in Oberlin and the bus stops running at 8 PM, except for a few days per semester when students are arriving or leaving in large numbers. Don't plan on taking in the night life in Cleveland (such as it is) unless you or a friend has a car. </p>
<p>That doesn't seem to matter very much, however, for a couple of reasons. First, there is a fair amount happening on campus. Second, downtown Cleveland seemed eerily empty after 7 PM the one time I stayed in a hotel there. I walked around for about half an hour looking for a place to eat before finally finding a fairly empty bar that served food. In that whole time I saw maybe a dozen other people walking around. I'm sure there must have been things going on somewhere, but the business district was empty that night.</p>
<p>"....because it's so tiny and doesnt have the advantages of crossregistration that other small LACs have, some departments are very tiny (and therefore slightly biased to the research interests of the profs) and course choice is not that large."</p>
<p>Huh?</p>
<p>1) I believe Oberlin is one of the larger LACs, actually. So whatever limitations on course selection, and prof. research interests, may exist there, some other, smaller LACs undoubtedly have it worse. Not that these aren't real concerns, I think they are. But they are generic concerns to many LACs.</p>
<p>2) Some LACs do have cross-registration possibilities with other somewhat nearby schools, if that's what you are referring to. But many LACs do not have this. And in some cases it may not be too easy to take advantage of this anyway, due to the time involved in switching campuses, and scheduling differences. Cross-registration possibilities are definitely a boon for those LACs that have this in a meaningful and feasible way. But Oberlin is hardly alone in not having this available.</p>
<p>If you are looking at Oberlin...check out Grinnell</p>
<p>I live fairly close to Oberlin, about a half-hour. And don't listen to people who tell you it's in the "middle of nowhere." There is a lot to do in Oberlin and in Cleveland, and it's very easy to go between (My sister's friend had an apartment in Cleveland and attended Oberlin). It's a very, very good liberal arts school, but the science is also excellent. The professors there definitely know what they're talking about.</p>
<p>People give it the same stereotypes they give to every school. "Everybody does pot" -- not true. "Men wear skirts" -- What?! "Co-Ed Bathrooms" -- Not exactly.</p>
<p>They have a lot of school pride and unity in their academics, and it's really beautiful out there in the fall. The music students are talented beyond belief.</p>
<p>I'm biased because I know a lot of people who have gone there, but it's a really, really good college.</p>