<p>Um, I basically want to go. Right now. :P</p>
<p>so why oberlin? im trying to decide between cal oberlin and bc.</p>
<p>I want to attend! But I need some more money…or else I’m off to Cal.</p>
<p>My reasons:
- Small with a good community feel.
- Excellent music programs even for non-music majors.
- Artsy/liberal (really just my preference).
- Lots of cool things like the Experimental College, library womb chairs, Oberlin blogs, etc.
- Social justice/activism happens, the place is eco-conscious (first solar-powered academic building).
- It’s in Ohio. I want to get away from the east coast… It’s also not in a busy city, but close enough to interesting places.
- No frats/sororities (if that appeals to you).
- Seems like people there are just nice and a little different without being competitive.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>OMG…three totally different schools and environments. How well do know yourself, Caitylin? What makes you who you are? Answer these questions and you’ll know which school to attend (if money, scholarship, etc. is not a primary factor).</p>
<p>I’m assuming by “bc” you mean Boston College? Cal and Oberlin would be most alike culturally, i.e., liberal. BC not so much. So, which are you? BC is Catholic and draws more center-right students or conservative students than the other two. </p>
<p>Cal has significant Asian representation. In fact, there is a plurality of Asian students, i.e., more Asian students than white students. Only in the state of California will you experience that phenomenon. If that is important to you, then go to Cal. Oberlin and BC will be overwhelmingly white, BC more than Oberlin. </p>
<p>Oberliln has no frats or sororities, which is the way Oberlin students prefer it or they wouldn’t go to Oberlin. If you want Greek Life, pick one of the other two. </p>
<p>If you’d like to get away from the bustle of city life for awhile, your answer is easy: go to Oberlin.</p>
<p>If you want your college life enriched by unending opportunities to enjoy all kinds of music right on campus, only Oberlin has a world-class conservatory. And you don’t have to be a conservatory student to enjoy it. Conservatory and Arts and Sciences students are mixed together, live together. </p>
<p>If you prefer “whiter” student body, more conservative, fewer minorities, the thrills and the chills of east coast urban, there is only one choice: BC</p>
<p>If the best weather is at the top of your list, again there is only one choice: Cal</p>
<p>Who are you? Answer the question and you’ll know what to do.</p>
<p>haha that was really informative thank you.
to me cal and oberlin are alike in the liberalism and the students. if oberlin was in a city like berkeley then this wouldnt be a problem: i would go to oberlin. my only big problem at this point i guess is the location. im from southern california so it will be a HUGE change. i really like having a coast. and im a history major which is why i love the boston area to begin with (SO MUCH HISTORY ITS FANTASTIC) plus bc has a great history program. but i know the other two do too. i havent visited oberlin yet (im going for admit day on the 10th) so i guess that will hopefully answer the rest of my questions</p>
<p>On the Ohio/Southern California issue:
[Oberlin</a> Blogs | Blog Entry: "Welcome to My Oberlin! "](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/applying/welcome_to_my_o.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/applying/applying/welcome_to_my_o.shtml)</p>
<p>thanks dave72 that was the perfect blog to read :)</p>
<p>I know both Cal and Oberlin pretty well (went to Cal (undergrad and grad) and have a kid at Oberlin - and I live in Berkeley). They are quite different experiences. Cal has over 30,000 students; classes tend to be pretty large, even the small ones, by comparison to Oberlin’s. Most of them will be lectures, taught by professors, with graduate students (GSI’s) teaching “sections.” Graduate students are also anonymous “readers” for any larger class. There are great professors, but it takes a lot of motivation to get to know them – and for many courses they will not be the ones actually reading and grading your papers. Oberlin courses tend to be discussion based, taught and graded by professors, and the level of student involvement in discussions I have attended there was impressive; the students were also relaxed and comfortable about participating and asking questions at a lecture I attended by a visiting professor at Oberlin – quite a different feel than a similar lecture at Cal, where there would have been graduate students dominating the questioning. The housing situation is also vastly different; after a year, most Cal students live in apartments. The resources at Cal are vast, but Oberlin’s are also impressive, and it is a far more nurturing environment for an undergraduate. And though Oberlin is small and “rural,” there is always something to do, and students do those things with lots of friends. Cal has an enormous array of things to do, but the experience is less communal. But the weather is infinitely better in Berkeley, the food is unsurpassed, and SF is a far better city than Cleveland, and easier to get to, if you want access to a city. If I had the choice and finances were not an object…I would go to Oberlin as an undergraduate over Cal. My kid did.</p>
<p>caitylin, this is actually the one I meant to post:
[Oberlin</a> Blogs | Blog Entry: "Sand to Snow: the West Coast to Midwest transition "](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/community/life_culture/sand_to_snow_th.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/community/life_culture/sand_to_snow_th.shtml)</p>
<p>that one was even better 
it gives me hope that i can survive a low below 50 degrees and she really summed up a lot that ive been worried about</p>
<p>thank you!!</p>
<p>Caitylin: We’ll be there on the 10th also. My D2 who was accepted plus my wife and our other kids. This will be our second trip to Oberlin. </p>
<p>If you have the chance, have dinner at Weia Teia. It’s the best. :)</p>
<p>wow you guys are all so helpful!! mamenyu that was so much helpful information thank you! and ill have to see if i can go to weia teia lol. the decision is definitely far from easy for me but i still have a month to visit and talk to people and see so thank you all!!</p>
<p>Breakfast or lunch (and now dinner) at Black River is even better. (But Berkeley has the best ice cream: Ici, on College Avenue, near Ashby.)</p>
<p>I’ve been following your guidance and links. Everything is very helpful. We are from So.Cal also. My daughter will be visiting on the 12-13th. She is very hopeful that Oberlin “feel” great when visiting. How about theater and dance–is anyone familiar with this program. She knows that is overshadowed by music, but hopes it holds its own.</p>
<p>Oh oops. I tend to get a little nervous posting on CC and always forget to proofread before sending. Forgive the mistakes!</p>
<p>Dr. Dre: My D was admitted to a couple of other LACs as well as Oberlin. One of the other LACS, Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, has a better known theater and dance department. Muhlenberg College is split almost like Oberlin with it’s music conservatory and Arts and Sciences: at Muhlenberg, there are the theater and dance (and art) majors, and then everybody else, i.e., Arts and Sciences majors (a ton of pre-med). </p>
<p>My D would be more interested Muhlenberg than Oberlin, but she’s a cellist, so music is her thing, not theater and dance. I’m not saying Oberlin’s theater and dance isn’t good, but music is the big option at Oberlin other than Arts and Sciences.</p>
<p>In the 2008 Edition of Princeton Review’s “366 Best Colleges”, they rank Best College Theaters. Yale is #1; Brown is #13; Muhlenberg is #7</p>
<p>Plainsman thank you. Actually my D was accepted to a couple of other great Theater Schools – UCLA and USC. But her interests are many and applied to Oberlin for the overall structure and size–creative, socially aware students with hands on learning. Also it appears that the ability to combine interests and programs is possible. That being said, she knows that music is the draw for Oberlin. Theater is often highlighted on the Oberlin site, but I was looking for a CC perspective/observation too.</p>
<p>Comparing music and theater at Oberlin is comparing apples and oranges. The Conservatory is a separate institution from the College of Arts & Sciences, with its own faculty, curriculum, and requirements, so of course it is going to loom larger in terms of the way Oberlin presents itself. Theater, on the other hand, is a department within the College, just as studio art and creative writing are. All of these are very strong programs, with lots of students expressing both curricular and non-curricular interest in them. But none of them has the hundreds of majors that the Conservatory does.</p>
<p>To study theater at Oberlin is to approach it within the context of a broad-based liberal arts education. It’s very different from studying it at a conservatory (e.g. Julliard), where the approach is much more single-minded.</p>
<p>FWIW, D1s freshman roommate at Oberlin was into theater and loved it. Said there were a lot of productions, and it was easy to get into one.</p>
<p>IIRc dance had 4 levels, which was relatively good . D2 was not impressed much when she sampled a class, but she’s been dancing since a wee child and only a couple programs impressed her.</p>