<p>Could anyone help me make some distinctions between the two schools? To me, they both seem a little looser than the average LAC, with more music, diversity, etc. What specifics set them apart? </p>
<p>Note: I posted this on both the Oberlin and Wesleyan threads but no one responded so I'm trying again.</p>
<p>I’ve known students and graduates of both, so this is second hand. The two schools attract similar students.<br>
But there are social and political liberals. In my mind, Wesleyan tilts social and Oberlin tilts political. I’m guessing that drug use and adventurous sex is heavier at Wes, social causes more central at Oberlin. Maybe it’s the difference between the Northeast and the Midwest.</p>
<p>We visited both with my son. He is attending Oberlin and didn’t apply to Wes. The thing that attracted him to Oberlin was the presence of the music conservatory. He loves the music culture that infuses the college. That was not present at Wes, so one difference that may or may not matter to you.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>While Wes does not have the same music culture that Oberlin does because it does not have a conservatory, it actually does have a very strong music culture, IMO (as a student). We have one of the strongest ethnomusicology grad programs in the country so there is a wide variety of music (taiko drumming is very popular), there is a classical presence (though not as strong as at Oberlin), and there is a HUGE band scene, especially in alt rock (there is a reason Wes has recently been turing out number of successful bands). So it depends what kind of music scene you want. It is true that less students will be performing at the high classical level they do at Oberlin.</p>
<p>As for Dana’s claim: as a Wes student who has friends at Oberlin, I’m not sure I buy that distinction. Wes does tilt pretty liberal socially, but so does Oberlin, and Wes’s student body is very active, politically. It might be true that Wes has more conservatives (socially and politically) than Oberlin, as we have a bigger sports scene and I think are more likely to draw from East Coast prep schools, but that’s just a guess based on talking to friends.</p>
<p>In general, they are very similar – if you like one, I would suggest applying to the other, and I really think visiting is the best way to get a feel for the differences. The sense I got on visiting is, as I said above, that Wes is SLIGHTLY more diverse in terms of having people who aren’t liberal/hippy/hipster, but I could be off base on that. Oberlin’s town felt more small-towny to me, while Wes’s felt slightly more urban, and I liked Wes’s access to NYC. I liked Wes’s campus better, but that is totally subjective.</p>
<p>Because of Wes’s closeness to NYC, it might have a slightly higher percentage of Brooklyn-type hipsters, and Oberlin more “hippies” though my sense is Oberlin attracts the hipster type too. Wesleyan is slightly more selective and higher ranked (#13 vs #22 this year), but the differences aren’t huge. Really, they are very similar.</p>