<p>Here's a nice broad post. If anyone has anything to add, either positive or negative, about any of these colleges please post. I'm sort of in a pre-May 1st panic.</p>
<p>I have visited all of these colleges and I am still undecided. I am also undecided about a major but am leaning slightly toward a pre-med or pre-vet program, although that will likely change.</p>
<p>I have made many pro and con charts but still I don't know. :(</p>
<p>Any contributions are greatly appreciated. :)</p>
<p>There are already many posts on this board talking about Oberlin in great detail. Maybe you should read those first, and then ask again if you still have questions. Hard to know what to say that hasn’t already been said.</p>
<p>Of course Dave72 is right; and these comparison threads are really not all that helpful a lot of the time…in the end, once you know you can afford your options, you have to take a leap of faith, helped by good gut feelings. I don’t even know what UVM stands for; Geneseo is a pretty good SUNY, in a very cold location; it has mostly NY students. Academically and reputationally, Oberlin is a better choice than Geneseo hands down if there are not financial concerns.</p>
<p>Thank you for your replies. I have extensively researched all of the schools and read every forum on this board, looked at the oberlin website, and the oberlin blogs.</p>
<p>I guess what I really wanted was for someone to say something that would basically make my decision for me which I realize is silly and rather naive. Geneseo is the best school for me economically and distance wise but in every other way I prefer UVM (University of Vermont) and Oberlin.</p>
<p>Anywhose, thank you again for your responses.</p>
<p>I definitely understand your dilemma - I grew up in Burlington, go to Oberlin now, and know lots of people who were torn between the two. Socially, there’s a lot of overlap - if one school seems like a “fit” to you, you’d probably be happy at the other as well.</p>
<p>Both schools have good med and vet school placement rates. UVM has a very highly respected animal sciences program, in particular, and the PEP program is a cool opportunity for pre-med students. Oberlin’s biology department is excellent. It’s smaller, so you’d have less room to specialize as an undergrad - but you’d also have an easier time getting into higher-level research, even relative to the honors college at UVM. We also have one of the strongest undergrad neuro programs in the country, if you’re at all into brains. Oberlin’s science curriculum is more flexible if you’re not sure exactly what you want to do. (UVM’s animal sciences program is in a different school from the College of Arts and Sciences, which is where most pre-med students are…) Oberlin also generally has smaller classes, and more contact with professors.</p>
<p>Burlington’s a lot bigger than Oberlin (the town), and UVM’s a lot bigger than Oberlin (the school). Do you want a community where you’ll know everyone, or will you feel stifled after four years? Do you want lots of entertainment in town? Not that there aren’t things to do at Oberlin - there’s a lot, it’s impossible to find time for it all - but it’s all on-campus. Is it important to you to have Greek life, or a traditional college athletic experience (let’s all go to the hockey game tonight)? Or would you rather have co-ops, a Quidditch team, and a student circus?</p>
<p>Which school is more expensive for you - can you afford the tuition for undergrad, or do you need to save money for grad school?</p>
<p>@quaere Thank you very much for your detailed response. It was extremely helpful. I sent in my Oberlin deposit today. :)</p>
<p>Yay! See you in August!</p>
<p>Yay! Congratulations - I’m sure you’ll love it here.</p>