<p>Hi, </p>
<p>My sister has narrowed down her choices to Oberlin and Wesleyan. She is passionate about photography and thinks she will major in Art History. I go to Wesleyan, although I don't know too much about our Art History department. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on the respective strengths of the schools/how they compare in general (and in her specific areas of interest, if you know), and particularly what kinds of special things Oberlin has to offer. She's visited both schools. Her teachers and friends have encouraged her to go to Wesleyan (it's closer to where we live and is more prestigious, I guess), and I would love her to come to Wes, but I'm curious to know more about Oberlin. </p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>Oberlin’s art history dept. is probably pretty unusually darned good, I think. They’ve got an art museum on campus that is supposedly a big deal, for an LAC anyway. </p>
<p>On paper people describe these two colleges pretty similarly, but we perceived some differences in atmosphere. Oberlin has no frats, less sports, more music, many “down-to-earth” students. And somewhat different relative geographic balance, probably. It is a pretty creative place, seems to me.</p>
<p>If she’s already been to both she should have been able to discern the differences & decide for herself. After visit, D1 did not apply to Wesleyan; others might have felt just the opposite.</p>
<p>Wes is a bit more selective, but the other is not “village idiot” either and many people can probably accomplish their goals as well from either. So perceived fit is big issue, IMO. And also strengths in areas of probable interest.</p>
<p>One thing she should do is simply look at breadth/ depth of course offerings last two semesters in areas of interest, from registrar’s websites.</p>
<p>Oberlin offers a "winter session where people can make up their own courses for credit, and also an "outside of U’ program where things like photography can probably be explored in different settings, I imagine. I’m not identifying these programs properly, maybe some other people can straighten out what I’m talking about.</p>
<p>Being within ready driving range of home does have some benefits, in my family’s experience.</p>
<p>My son also decided not to apply to Weslyan after the visit, and chose Oberlin ED instead. For him Oberlin was a much better fit, more politics and the internship opportunities were more impressive at Oberlin. But, it is a question of fit, not quality. Both schools are superb.</p>
<p>I love the midwest. I was born and grew up in the Northeast but went to grad school in the midwest. It’s so much nicer, frankly. People are more polite to strangers, more open. </p>
<p>I’m not talking about the respective schools but the geographic areas–rural Ohio vs. urban Connecticut.</p>
<p>I have a daughter who is a senior at Wesleyan (studio art major who loves the school) and a current high school senior who was accepted early decision to Oberlin (proposed theatre arts/sociology major). Her two top choices were Wesleyan and Oberlin. After spending time at both schools, she just felt more comfortable at Oberlin. In her words, Oberlin is homey and has a closer knit feel and the students and professors were very approachable and warm. She was especially drawn to the arts, the intimacy and small classes, the cooperative living, working with local farms, the music and the focus on environmental studies and political activism. It is all such an individual choice and intuition, gut feeling plays a big part. Spending time at both schools is key.</p>
<p>My son also ended up with these two as his top choices and selected oberlin. I think he liked the midwestern sensibility as opposed to the new england sensibility. I’m not sure how to better articulate that, but that was my impression.</p>
<p>Thanks, everyone! Part of the problem is probably that she hasn’t felt any sort of overwhelming connection to either school when visiting. Hopefully she’ll be able to go to both schools’ visiting days and figure things out.</p>
<p>She is so fortunate to have such great choices! Good luck to her.</p>
<p>Where did she end up going? How does she like it? I am having the exact same dilemma right now. </p>
<p>I think what monydad and studiomom said about Oberlin still holds true today. What I loved about it were that learning and intellectual pursuits were strongly encouraged. It was a place with bright and friendly students and faculty members. I don’t think I met a truly nasty person the whole time I was there. There was so many activities and events to take advantage of, in addition to top academics, that I was never bored, and there was never any pressure to get high or drunk. You read about many small colleges where there is nothing to do, and there are tremendous alcohol problems. That was generally not the case there, although some students drunk to excess. </p>
<p>Both very good schools. My son visited them this year. He has decided to apply to Oberlin and has not decided whether or not he will apply to Wesleyan.</p>
<p>My son is applying to both, sight unseen, after his ED application to Brown was deferred. If he gets in, we’ll do a visit in the spring. </p>
<p>My eldest son stayed overnight and attended a class at both. fwiw, he felt the drumbeat of activism was higher at wes and the kids more intellectual. Still, he really liked Oberlin and if his overnight had gone better (the student he was to stay with blew him off), he’d probably be there today.</p>
I try to encourage my son to “take it all in” and assess the whole experience and offerings and not let him judge his four years based on a couple bad apples. They’ll be bad apples everywhere in life.
good advice, twelthman. My son didn’t judge the college by the act of one irresponsible student. If he’d had a great time during his overnight, met a lot of interesting students, I think the experience would have swayed him to oberlin. But that never happened.
he did urge my middle child to strongly consider the school and he’ll be attending in the fall.
Love love love both schools. For DS Wes lead the way for almost a year, but after a visit to Oberlin, he fell in love. The classes were discussion based and people participated ( unlike at Amherst) and everyone was nice. Music was in the air and he loved that. A counselor once told me that Wes is urban artsy and Oberlin is granola artsy. That makes sense to me. Oberlin is also just such a strong school across disciplines and much of it is student run. The trusted student body was another draw. Then there’s fourth meal, a true sign of a school that understands its students. Love it. But then again Wes is just so jazzy. Hard choice.