<p>I know it's getting down to the wire, but...</p>
<p>Does anyone have any insights about the differences between these two schools? My daughter must choose between them in the next couple of days. She is quite impressed with both...</p>
<p>Help from anyone who seriously considered both of these schools or had to decide between them greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>(cross-posted at Haverford)</p>
<p>What does she intend to study? What's her personality type? Personal politics? Musical inclinations? Etc.</p>
<p>My daughter visited Haverford but did not apply; is currently attending Oberlin.</p>
<p>I thought that Haverford was a lot smaller, which might negatively impact course selection. This is a significant consideration for an LAC. They have some arrangements for taking courses elsewhere, but except for Bryn Mawr this is a pain to implement.</p>
<p>It also appeared to me that the schools had somewhat different personalities, which might be a significant consideration. Haverford seemed to have a somewhat more jockish-athletic oriented student body. Although both schools are liberal, Oberlin's students tend to be somewhat more interested in being politically active. The students are serious and work hard at both schools; however Haverford students seemed more inclined to complain about their burdens; Bryn Mawr too. Oberlin students seemed happier overall; to us anyway.</p>
<p>A friend of my wife's was a Bryn Mawr grad; basically told my daughter not to go there if she wanted any social life. (sorry to be so blunt, but...). Not sure how much better it can be for Haverford girls, since they are competing socially for the same guys. Though more of them are there, and maybe have more in common with the Haverford guys.</p>
<p>Except for constant complaining of working too hard and having no social life, the Bryn Mawr people seemed to be more like Oberlin types than the Haverford people seemed.</p>
<p>My daughter is quite happy with the "work-play" balance at Oberlin. Not sure how Haverford would have turned out, but the kids didn't seem to handling their burdens with aplomb. As I said she was discouraged from Bryn Mawr due to social concerns.</p>
<p>Hope that helps.</p>
<p>Thanks, monydad, for thoughtful response...</p>
<p>tutoum, my daughter is very thoughtful and sweet (hey, I'm her Dad!), liberal, has leanings toward political activism, loves music, but is probably not up to the calibre of conservatory students. (That is one concern about Oberlin, that she would be forced to be a consumer rather than a producer of music, although it is obviously a great place to be a consumer!) She is totally undecided about what she wants to study, although I am guessing she may be more of a humanities/social science type of person.</p>
<p>My daughter, after much thought and overnight visits, decided for Carleton college over Oberlin. She is also very interested in making music, but did not feel confident enough to apply to the conservatory. We were concerned like you, that she would have little chance to participate in music, and will be only a consumer.
I found that Oberlin offers auditions to non-conservatory students to place them at lower levels. If good enough, the student can join the top music groups.(I think that would be really difficult, though). Lower levels can take private lessons from seniors in the conservatory. There are plenty of non-con bands and groups. Like you say, plenty of opportunity to hear some fine music too.</p>
<p>From another similar thread:</p>
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<blockquote> <p>there are many, many opportunities at Oberlin for non-Conservatory students to be involved in music-making as well as -partaking. For example: there are five choruses, three of which are predominantly composed of College students, a string ensemble and a wind ensemble which are predominantly College students, dozens of chamber ensembles open to College students, etc., etc.</p> </blockquote>
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<p>Lots of College (as opposed to Conservatory) students come to Oberlin specifically because of the presence of the conservatory, and many of them take ample advantage of its opportunities to make music. Parents should not fear otherwise.</p>
<p>AS I've posted previously, my daughter is one of the people taking lessons from a conservatory student. Who is a great teacher. This was a nice, unexpected bonus; if she'd gone anyplace else she probably would not still be playing.</p>
<p>It isn't important enough to her to pursue her music beyond this stage right now. But at her level,of both playing and commitment, the con has been a real boon.</p>
<p>My daughter intended to apply ED to Haverford, based on a terrific tour. A subsequent overnight visit led to complete change of heart.
At night, the kids were drinking because they felt that they hadn't been drunk before and because they thought they should experience over-drinking. She felt that while the students were very nice, they were very earnest to the point of naivete and worse still, not very interesting.</p>
<p>Also, she was annoyed by what she thought was the sanctimonious talk at Haverford about the honor code. My daughter reasoned that an honor code shouldn't have to be an enforced act; that the articulation of the honor code implies that students otherwise would be dishonest. She felt that it shouldn't be necessary to remind students of the need for honesty and integrity, no matter where they go to school.</p>
<p>Lack of diversity (not just racial) was also an issue for her. Coming from a small NE prep school, she didn't want a college version of her high school. She decided that she wanted to be around a variety of types of people, at a larger school. </p>
<p>Haverford has a lovely campus and wonderful reputation, but for my daughter, it would have been suffocating. She will be going to Oberlin in the Fall, after applying ED2.</p>
<p>My son considered both schools and chose Oberlin because, while he wanted a small school, he didn't want <em>too</em> small a school and thought that Haverford seemed more like a boarding school than a college.</p>
<p>He is a freshman at Oberlin, and couldn't be happier. By Oberlin standards, he's a super amatuer musician, but he seems to find lots of opportunity to play (guitar, piano) and has learned a great deal from students who are much, much better than him. (Not conservatory students, just recreational musicians.) </p>
<p>I also get the impression from him that people are pretty accepting of whatever you want to do socially (drink, not drink, be politically active, not be, etc.)</p>
<p>In terms of location, Haverford does offer Philadelphia, which beats Cleveland as a city. But it also seems that there's a huge amount of stuff going on on campus in Oberlin so that hasn't been an issue. (Another plus: There's nowhere for kids to spend money, so my son's savings from his job last summer have gone a long, long way.) </p>
<p>Hope this helps</p>