Smith vs Oberlin vs Macalester

College Search & Selection
1

<p>We could really use your help! Our DD has a big decision to make! She got accepted into Smith, Oberlin, and Macalester. </p>

<p>She plays drums in a band, but will not be studying music -- most likely she will choose some sort of liberal arts major (music is just a hobby for her). She has a very high GPA and an ACT of 30.5 (about 2100 approx SAT). She got straight A's for the past 2 years, even in the difficult AP classes (and did extremely well in the AP tests). Based on that, we were hoping that the private colleges would offer her some merit scholarship money.</p>

<p>She visited Smith last summer and fell in love with it, so of course she was thrilled to get accepted. But Smith offered her no merit scholarship money. Nothing! </p>

<p>Oberlin, on the other hand, offered her $52K total for the 4 years. </p>

<p>Macalester offered her nothing, either. </p>

<p>This was extremely disappointing. We are going to try to do a appeal to Smith and Macalester for merit money. </p>

<p>She has not visited Oberlin or Macalester yet, and will go there in a few weeks during Spring Break.</p>

<p>We are trying not to base our decision on money alone. We want her to go to the school where she will get the best liberal arts education and feel the most comfortable. She wants to be around creative intelligent people who are LGBT friendly. In high school she has not "found her niche" as far as people go -- and we want her to find that in college.</p>

<p>Our older daughter is a sophomore at UC Davis, so this will be our second kid in college. We want to help our younger daughter make the right decision, especially if we wind up going to a school that will be "full price private." It is a financial stretch for us without aid money.</p>

<p>I appreciate any advice you can offer about these three colleges. Oberlin sounds like it's full of creative, intelligent quirky people, but would she get as good of a liberal arts education there -- and make as good contacts there -- as Smith or Macalester? </p>

2

<p>Anyone???</p>

3

<p>I know that Oberlin is DEFINITELY LGBT-friendly and so is Macalaster, since that is where two of my LGBT friends are going. </p>

<p>I have personal experience on Oberlin since I had been planning on attending for the last year, have visited, and am definitely in love with the school.</p>

<p>Oberlin’s quality of education is wonderful, especially for the arts, sciences, and humanities. The courses offered vary from usual to the unusual, but are all wildly interesting. There is a winter-term, which can be as intensive as your daughter desires, and there are also student-led courses on subjects from folk dancing to Lost (the show). Oberlin is not very well-known, but that does not say anything about the education offered there. Those who have heard of Oberlin are well-aware of the smarties that reside. But branding can pose a bit of a problem. (Check the grad-school statistics; I think they are still very high. At least that is what I was told.) Obies are utterly dedicated to what interests them and are always interested in something. Many of the area requirements call for mingling subjects. My friend who currently goes there says Oberlin is wonderful (and without specific required courses). Everyone is very connected; there is a warm atmosphere.</p>

4

<p>You may have made your decision by now and if so I hope the finances worked out, they are all wonderful schools. We are not familiar with Smith, but our son is at MAC and loves it. It is very LGBT friendly and is a great school. If you have not already done so you should discuss the financial package with them. My son chose MAC because he wanted a small liberal arts school in an urban setting which is definitely MAC. This proved a big advantage for us this winter when he was flying in from California and the temperature in St. Paul was sub zero. It was nice to know he could take a warm cab from the airport and be delivered to his dorm in 20 minutes for less than $25, and if he could share a cab, which often happened, all the better. If he was at a more rural school it would have been a more challenging commute tho some schools have shuttles. This issue is really more about my peace of mind as a Californian with no concept of that kind of weather. Our son enjoyed it all, and never complained. He has close friends at Oberlin and they are very happy, it’s also a wonderful school. Best of luck! BTW I went to UC Davis, another great school!</p>

5

<p>What kind of liberal arts major? (i.e. humanities, social studies, science)</p>

<p>How big of a financial stretch are Smith and Macalaster relative to Oberlin (i.e. does the $52,000 over four years make or break the household finances?), and does she have other lower cost options?</p>

<p>Some random notes:</p>

<p>Smith has a cross-registration arrangement with four other schools (three LACs and a large research university), which can be helpful to expand course selection. It also offers engineering majors. Students at the consortium also can use the career center at the large research university.</p>

<p>Oberlin appears stronger in physics than many small LACs.</p>

6

<p>If the money doesn’t come from Mac, then Oberlin is the sure winner, imho. Please don’t take this as snobbery, but those to whom it will be important will know that the Oberlin degree is solid/excellent. And, what a cast of characters at that school. + Fascinating institutional history. </p>