Oberlin vs Bard vs Wellesley

College Search & Selection
1

SOS
I’m really struggling to choose a college. Here’s the run down:

I want to double major in literature and something else (I’m not quite sure yet - maybe studio art, photography, economics, who knows!) Even though I’m only 17 I am pretty sure I want to go into a career where I will be doing a great deal of writing, whether it be journalism, screenwriting, or publishing. I love music, film, and hiking and hope to be a part of the college radio wherever I go. I already go to an all-girls school and so going to an all-women’s college doesn’t sound to appealing to me. Also, I got the vibe that the girls at Wellesley were semi cut throat because of the grade deflation. What worries me about Oberlin is it’s in Ohio… And as for Bard, I fear that the lack of an alumni network will prove to be difficult in the future.

Trivial-ish/irrational fear - I am sort of artsy-ish but if I go to Oberlin or Bard I’ll be around people like me (artsy) for the first time in my life. I’m worried that they’re gonna be cold/rude/moody/clique… Am I just being crazy/illogical? Like does the student body actually seem accepting or are they only “accepting” because it’s so homogenous?

2

I think Bard is a good fit for you. It’s a great LAC with a strong writing program. The lack of an alumni network? I’m not really sure what you are referring to, but going to Bard will not make it difficult for you to get a job. For your second concern, you’re banking off of a stereotype. They have a diverse population and you will be able to find plenty of friends there with similar interests.

3

Your fear that Bard/Oberlin folk will be unaccepting does seem irrational. It would make more sense if you were buttoned-up and preppy, and maybe drove in on a yacht. I suppose you won’t really know until you enroll whether you’ll find any friends who are genuinely accepting and tolerant, but there’s a great chance of it at any school, let alone a school where there are loads of artistic people just like you.

You’re overly focused on negatives. You knew before you applied that Wellesley was a women’s college full of go-getters, that Oberlin was in OH. Bard does have an alumni network, despite your fear. These can’t be deal-breakers for you or you wouldn’t have applied.

What are the positives that you see in each school? You have great choices. Tell us why you’re excited!

4

I think you will not find that college people are like HS people. I don’t know that it really matters much where Oberlin is located, it would bring it’s own culture and music and happenings with it. Hey Lena Dunham survived it after growing up in NYC and did quite well as a creative writing major.

5

D1’s choice came down to Wellesley vs Oberlin. A friend of hers went to Bard.
So FWIW here’s my 2 cents.

"I want to double major in literature and something else (I’m not quite sure yet - maybe studio art, photography, economics, who knows!) "
Glance though course catalogs, lists of majors types of literature courses,
Do they all even offer studio art and photography, at all??

" I love music, film, and hiking and hope to be a part of the college radio wherever I go." I know someone who did all this stuff at Oberlin, for sure. Except the hiking.

" …going to an all-women’s college doesn’t sound to appealing to me. Also, I got the vibe that the girls at Wellesley were semi cut throat because of the grade deflation."

I wouldn’t say “cut-throat”, but there was some academic tension there, reminiscent of my own alma mater. But the other side is, if you’re not trying hard you’re not going to achieve as much either. D1 didn’t care for the no-boy thing either. There’s just something not right in the world when you are getting trucked to MIT of all places hoping to get a date. (Maybe that’s why there’s such a high percentage of asian women attending Wellesley?) But there was also another element about it too- kind of a "go-getter"contingent that she didn’t see herself befriending. Other than those things the school was great.

It should be pointed out that Oberlin’s effective M-F ratio is not great, even somewhat less so after actual gender preferences are accounted for. Bard’s may be no better, haven’t looked. And Bard is small.

“What worries me about Oberlin is it’s in Ohio”
Depends what you mean, and are worried about precisely.
Mentally, neither the people at Oberlin nor Ohioans themselves think Oberlin has anything to do with Ohio. And most of the people who attend Oberlin are not from Ohio.Nor do they stay in Ohio after they graduate.
Physically, ok it is physically in Ohio. To me, what this meant was it was a boring 8 hour drive to get there from the NYC metro area. Nevertheless, as it happens, a lot of Obies are actually from the NYC metro area. I dont know where you live though.

“And as for Bard, I fear that the lack of an alumni network will prove to be difficult in the future.”

All these schools are so small that the chance that the alumni network would actually ever help you is something not to give much thought to, IMO. I went to a much bigger school and nobody from there ever helped me. Though I have gone to lots of nice alumni events, which is a plus. If you feel obligated to consider this point then give a “+1” To Wellesley and ignore the other two.

“…if I go to Oberlin or Bard I’ll be around people like me (artsy) for the first time in my life. I’m worried that they’re gonna be cold/rude/moody/clique”
Some of them, yeah. Or just weird. And then there are the holier-than-thou,beyond-PC. beyond radical, politico types that represent in higher numbers in Oberlin that the artsy types, actually. So pick your poison. It’s them vs. the “cut throats” (or, to my D1, the Hillary Clinton wannnabees) at Wellesley. Which contingent that you think you might not like would you least mind being around for four years? Along with the people you find you actually do like of course. My guess is Bard is more skewed artsy than politico. But D1 didn’t apply there so I don’t know for sure.

Some other things:
-When D1 stayed over she felt Wellesley’s campus really emptied out on weekends. Oberlin’s campus stays vibrant.
-The other side of that is, Wellelsley’s campus CAN empty out. They run buses to Cambridge. Oberlin is 40 minutes to Cleveland but you can’t get there unless you have access to a car. I don’t know what the heck they do at Bard, it’s isolated in an exurb,

6

Some other things:

-Academically the two recent students I know personally reported a great academic balance at Oberlin; serious yet not death-inducing. And D1’s friend who went to Bard had a great experience, small writing seminars., etc…

  • The Boston area had record, herculean snowfall this winter. A fluke? Or the future?
    • On the other hand nobody is mistaking Cleveland for Miami.

-if need be, you can always transfer. Not that you’d necessarily want to be contemplating that going in. But just know, if you do happen to make a mistake, you do not necessarily have to own it for four years. You can make a change.

7

Don’t worry about that. Oberlin College is in Oberlin, a rather progressive college town. My New England daughter chose Oberlin over several selective New England colleges and she was very happy with her decision. Classes, activities, and social life all center on the Oberlin campus. There is more than enough to keep you fully occupied in Oberlin.

8

Unless Bard’s changed dramatically in the last few years I would not recommend Bard. Writing as a major (or concentration I believe they call it) is very tough to get into and you won’t know if you’ve been accepted into that major until after your presentation at the end of Sophomore year at which point it’s too late to transfer so you’ll either have to take a year off or choose another major. Same thing for photography, very competitive major, not sure about the minor. It touts itself as a laid-back kind of place but it is anything but that, IMHO.

9

The same is true for Creative Writing at Oberlin. However OP did not indicate she wanted to major in writing, just do something that involved it.

10

What I like about your choices is that they overlap in their general style and identity as colleges (and they would all appeal to me too). Yes, each has things about it that are unique, but I can tell something about your personality by your having chosen to apply to (and been accepted at) these three institutions. I don’t think you can go wrong with any of them, but whether you want a women’s college or not should affect your decision about Wellesley. Between Bard and Oberlin the choice seems even closer to me. I’ve known happy graduates from both, though I’m more familiar with Oberlin both geographically and institutionally. All are wonderful colleges with very strong faculty in your areas of interest. And I suspect you’ll love and get along with your fellow students at any of them. I have not heard complaints about cliquish behavior. Artsy students are usually very accepting of others, and especially of other artsy, creative types.

11

OP, those concerns are totally understandable and very reasonable to ask. And they’re definitely going to come to mind for anyone who has surfed the student review sites – particularly StudentsReview, which seems to collect the dregs of all college misery and filter them into the most fear-inducing reviews imaginable. (S was reading it aloud yesterday, in a humorous tone of voice, but with growing horror.) I think there’s a good balance of thoughtful responses above; maybe some students or recent students would also chime in.

On Oberlin: I’ve had many friends who were Obies, and while that naturally is going to mean I don’t think of them as clique-ish (what with being friends and all), they all did seem to love Oberlin. It may seem isolated in the middle of a flat cold nowhere, but students come from all over, and Cleveland itself – which is commuting distance – does actually have a strong artsy, progressive community. (Look up key words like Coventry Village, Hessler Street, University Circle, etc.) Artists at Oberlin have intimate links with the art scene in Cleveland. So don’t be worried about that part of Ohio, it’s not at all parochial or truly isolated :slight_smile:

12

Oh LOL, they block names of other review sites even when it’s not exactly saying something positive about the site! The one I mean has the words “Students” and “Reviews” in it … and if there are asterisks between my quote marks later, assume it’s not an algorithm and someone physically censors it. Geez louise.