<p>D loves the art dept at Oberlin, but is troubled by it's "dodge ball target" rep (D is black, but also a little preppie and a definite jock - -laments lack of spirit at her western MA boarding school).</p>
<p>At a friends rec, we looked at Kenyon - - definitely more jock, but lousy art.</p>
<p>Anything positive I can tell her about sports - - particularly volleyball and track - - at Oberlin?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>My understanding is that generally they are making a concerted effort there to improve their sports presence. You should definitely check with the PE department and see what they have to say; it might be better think, particularly going forward.</p>
<p>The non-team PE offerings they have for regular students to take are actually pretty darned good, from what I can tell. Wish my daughter took more of them, though she does take some.</p>
<p>I don't know much about the art program at Kenyon, but I've heard countless excellent reviews of the studio art program, and recommendations of Kenyon for liberal arts students who want a great art program. Have you visited Kenyon, or are you just going off of word of mouth?</p>
<p>1- sent you a PM</p>
<p>2- fyi, "I've heard . . . " is word of mouth.</p>
<p>so we're not all into the football team here, but i know ppl on both the track and volleyball team and have gone to meets of both sports. The ladies field hockey and rugby teams did comparatively well this year compared to years past, and people with friends on the teams were excited.</p>
<p>I mean, we are DIII so it's not going to be that intense, but people involved in it are definately involved.</p>
<p>we just came back from "family weekend" at oberlin and definitely got the impression that the school is trying to focus on athletics and create a well-rounded student body. I've heard a lot of stereotypes about the typical oberlin student as a hippie, or hipster, or weirdo or whatever (none of which fit my kid at all btw) So I was surprised to see lots of kids of all types there. It really seemed like a neat place to me -- wish i were a student again.</p>
<p>Several posts (this thread and others) have stated that Oberlin is "trying ot focus more on ahtletics" or "beefing up its athletic program." Excactly what does that mean? Monydad, mchs - - what did you see? How is this interest in athletics expressed?</p>
<p>well, for one thing, the school's field hockey team made it to the second round of a national championship, which was "history making" for Oberlin apparently. And I know of several athletes who were heavily recruited and who are now on oberlin teams.</p>
<p>but make no mistake: this is NOT a jock school. the culture at oberlin is very much dominated by the arts, particularly music since it has such a prestigous conservatory. i'm simply making the point that there is more diversity on campus (in terms of "type" of kids) than a lot of the guides and chatter would lead you to believe.</p>
<p>I don't see the artistic and the athletic as mutually exclusive; D is at least as gifted musically as she is athletically. Also, I accept that a focus on sports usually means beefing up the high-profile male sports - - football, basketball, hockey, baseball - - and may have little to do with track, which gets little attention on any campus (well, maybe track generates some interest in the South).</p>
<p>But clearly, the admin is making an effort to change the school's image, if not its culture. The question for D is, whether this new diversity in student type will expand to include a critical mass of student athletes and student fans? If not, then it's not a good match for D and won't be at the top of her list. </p>
<p>I'm just trying to get a handle on this to help me decide whether it's worth taking a trip to Ohio. (D attends boarding school, so visiting any college more than an hour's drive is expensive, time-consuming and logistically complicated.)</p>
<p>There are a lot of club sports at Oberlin too: fencing, equestrian team, sailing, hockey, ultimate, and outing club, akido and other marshall arts, waterpolo and rugby....some of the club teams are really competitive. the outing club is really popular and organizes a lot of climbing, hikeing canoeing trips.</p>
<p>NYC: My info is distinctly second hand, dribbled from my daughter. But according to her, the way this new priority is to be expressed is in the admissions process, for one thing.</p>
<p>Actually she has commented that the part of campus she lives in currently has a lot of athletics-types in the dorms, e.g. her dorm.
That's really all I can offer. Other than my prior comments on PE eleectives, which seem to me to be really strong.</p>