<p>My son just received an invitation to visit Oberlin in the Fall with a round-trip plane ticket, all transportation and room and board for 3 days. All this for $195. Is anybody familiar with this and how one gets chosen. We have not shown any particular interest in Oberlin. We live in NYC.</p>
<p>Is your son an athlete? My daughter has been invited on an "official visit" as an athlete...</p>
<p>If it's not some kind of scam (as you have to pay money out, you should probably telephone the college office directly, without using the number that came with the offer, and verify it!) he should definitely do it -- as Oberlin is a good school!</p>
<p>Let us know!</p>
<p>Laxmom07</p>
<p>No, he is not an athlete. I'm not concerned that it is a scam. I know Oberlin is a good school. I was just trying to find out what criteria they used to pick him. I reposted this in the College Search section and communicated with someone who went on the program and then did apply to Oberlin. I don't if I will ever find out why he was picked. We sent in the check and it was confirmed by the college. I will let you know what happens.</p>
<p>My daughter received this also. She is not an athlete. We live in New York City. I think it's a good opportunity to check out the school at a reasonable price. AlanArch, is your son traveling by himself, or are you going with him? We haven't decided yet whether to accept the offer or not.</p>
<p>my guess -- and it's only a guess -- is that the school is targetting some high achieving students who may not visit oberlin because of its remote location. and it definitely is a school that you have to visit to really appreciate: it's in the middle of nowhere but you would never get that sense when you're on campus. tons going on. a very vibrant and interesting community of smart kids.</p>
<p>wow, alanarch! even if he doesn't want to go to oberlin, that is one amazing reward for being a good student! wow, i'd kill for that...200 dollars for a 3 day stay</p>
<p>I know that Oberlin is a wonderful school, but the problem with the trip is that it would mean missing school on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. That's a big chunk of the week.</p>
<p>My wife feels the same way. But how often do you get this opportunity. Most high schools know that kids will miss some school for college visits. We have already visited most of the schools that we are interested in. He will probably go back for a second look at some of them. It might come down to how interested he is in Oberlin to take off so many days. It is all a process and we will see how it all unfolds. I am I being too philisophical?</p>
<p>^^No, you have the right idea. I hope my daughter goes for it. (But even missing one day is hard for her to make up: so much hw.)</p>
<p>Oberlin has a "fly-in" program where they will have a large group of prospectives from a geographic region all come in for a special few-days-long program touting the school. I've heard other schools do it for other reasons (athletics, minority recruitment), but oberlin is the only one I know of that does it based on where you live.</p>
<p>also as a recent college grad, i would like to opine: i learned very few useful things in highschool.</p>
<p>it's hard to realize at the time, but there's a reason that a semester long (~14 wks) college class has an equivalency with a year-long highschool class (c. 26 weeks).
Even the freshmen who enter out of the supposedly excellent NYC prep schools are still just freshmen: they barely know how to read and think.<br>
I mean, it's not that highschool is pointless, but you should definitely encourage your kids to miss as much of it as they can stand in the interest of checking out colleges.
If they're going to a good college, then any part of highschool they miss will be more than made-up over the course of their undergraduate.</p>