Hey all,
I’m a current high school junior who is looking at both Oberlin and Skidmore. Some things about me: I go to a New England prep school and am super involved in the performing and literary arts. I’m looking for a school where I can immerse myself in theatre (particularly directing) and still take other classes, maybe double minor in business/econ and creative writing. So a few questions:
- How do the cultures of the two colleges compare?
- How do the theatre, econ/business & creative writing programs compare?
- What's the social life like? How prominent is smoking on both campuses? How is the dating life?
- Do a lot of graduates of each college stay close to the school after graduation?
Thanks so much and I’ll appreciate any info you can provide!
As to 1,2, and 3, I would look at the Wikipedia descriptions for both schools, and google Oberlin College Student Reviews and Skidmore College Student Reviews. Oberlin.edu is a great website describing the college, and has blogs and “Story Project” accounts from both present and past students about their experiences at Oberlin. Our most famous recent graduate in the theatre/tv and creative writing areas is Lena Dunham(“Girls”), Class of 2008, who still has close ties with Oberlin. As to 4, I would say that a large majority leave for the larger cities, because 8,000 population Oberlin, Ohio is not large enough to support everyone. Before you make your decision, you should take an overnight trip to each campus. There is a smoking ban on campus.
Have you considered Kenyon?
I wrote about Kenyon v. Oberlin at the Kenyon College Confidential site. TheatreDirector can review it.
This was linked to and discussed in another thread (maybe on the parents’ forum? I don’t remember now): http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/05/30/the-new-activism-of-liberal-arts-colleges – I’d read it if I were you. Oberlin’s culture may be a good fit for you, or not, but you should know before you make any decisions.