<p>Has anyone that applied as a fall 2013 transfer student heard back from Oberlin yet? I understand that transfer admissions are rolling.</p>
<p>I applied. Have not heard back yet…</p>
<p>Same here. I called and asked when they expected to start sendings letters out and I was just given the date on the website. I am getting very anxious.</p>
<p>Do they send letters or emails?</p>
<p>So I guess they were supposed to start sending out letters yesterday. Haven’t heard anything back yet.</p>
<p>I applied to Oberlin last semester as a transfer and was rejected. To offer you guys insight on my experience as a transfer, it seems that Oberlin gives great consideration to your financial aid need; that is, if you need a lot of aid, then it counts against your chances of admission. Not to sound bitter, but I thought I was more than qualified to be accepted: supplements, 2 hour interview with alum, 3.9 gpa. I have since transferred to Middlebury College and looking back at the college acceptances vs. denies, as a low-income college student, the schools I got accepted to had great finaid reputations and ones I got denied from, including Oberlin, either have a bad finaid reputation or simply don’t allocate enough funds to transfer students. Hope this helps.</p>
<p>@nyccali: The fact is that lots of applicants who are “more than qualified” get turned down, for a variety of reasons. That’s the nature of admissions decisions for highly-competitive liberal arts colleges: no one should assume that they have a lock on being admitted based on their grades and scores, since there are so many highly qualified applicants. Oberlin is known for taking a chance on applicants who may have slightly lower scores and grades but show great promise and aptitude. So there’s no way for you to know whether your financial status played any role in your rejection–it could have been for any number of reasons. Good luck at Middlebury.</p>
<p>@dave72
You make valid points. Just to clarify, I didn’t mean to assert any claims about why I got turned down; I meant to hypothesize that financial aid played at the very least a role, if not, a significant role in my admission decision. Maybe I wasn’t qualified, maybe they didn’t want to take a chance on me–all to say, I recognize there is no way I’ll ever know the reasons. As someone who has applied to more or less 20 colleges (as a high school senior and transfer), I know very well that the admissions game is a crapshoot sometimes.</p>
<p>I agree with nyccali. I had not heard from Oberlin until a couple of days ago, when the admissions office wrote to ask how much money my family could contribute towards my education. I gave them the amount that my father is paying for my current college tuition… Just yesterday I sent in my financial records at their request, so I do think that finaid plays an important role in Oberlin admissions, or else they would not have contacted me with this question before releasing their decision. Plus, the email came from the admissions office, not from the financial aid office.</p>
<p>My son was admitted to Oberlin and two other highly ranked LACs as a transfer student. I don’t remember too much about the process, except that all the financial aid applications had to be in before notifications were released. When he received his letters of admittance, the financial aid notification came too. Oberlin gave significantly more merit aid than the other schools. It was my son’s first choice, so he was very happy.</p>
<p>Whoa, Oberlin’s more strapped for cash than I suspected.
Thanks for sharing, Askatasuna.</p>
<p>Don’t think this small sample size represented here demonstrates Oberlin is “strapped for cash”. From Oberlin’s website - “Last year, about 65 percent of Oberlin students demonstrated financial need and received aid with an average grant of $27,100—a total of nearly $49 million.” The school still says it meets demonstrated financial need (as determined by the school - like other schools). But like almost all other colleges, it does not claim to be need blind in all admissions. There’s a difference. Some colleges are need blind for admission, but don’t guarantee financial aid. Still other highly selective colleges that claim to be need blind for admissions are need sensitive for transfer students.</p>
<p>Just to quell the angst of those still waiting - I heard back last Monday (rejected, probably due to so-so grades), and I live in upstate NY. So they have started sending out letters - Good luck to all of you :)</p>
<p>I was also wondering if anyone has applied more than once as a transfer, and how that went - I thought of applying again next year (therefore spending the second half of college at Oberlin), but was worried that that would just look pathetic.</p>
<p>@caralarm
Sorry to hear about your rejection. I actually applied twice–both times as a transfer and got rejected. I was fairly surprised that I was denied from Oberlin the second round, since I got into Middlebury, Bates, Connecticut College–colleges with lower admission rates. Every college varies and with the transfer rates even more obscure, it’s hard to know your chances. I do know this: Oberlin will look at your first application in conjunction with your second one. Good luck!</p>
<p>@caralarm, I’m sorry to hear that. I would apply again. I don’t think it’s pathetic in any way, it actually shows consistent interest. I applied last year and got rejected, which I expected because it was a very weak application :)</p>
<p>when r decisions being released?</p>