<p>Can u guys tell me more about Oberlin? How the atmosphere is? How the kids are? How the classes? I want to know more since I cant afford the luxury of campus visits :)</p>
<p>I'm not a current student, so I can't help you very much, but here are a few sites with a lot of information:
CC</a> visit reports
Two Oberlin LiveJournal communities: [url=<a href="http://community.livejournal.com/obie_questions/%5Dobie_questions%5B/url">http://community.livejournal.com/obie_questions/]obie_questions[/url</a>] and [url=<a href="http://community.livejournal.com/oberlin/%5Doberlin%5B/url">http://community.livejournal.com/oberlin/]oberlin[/url</a>]
[url=<a href="http://oberwiki.net/Main_Page%5DOberWiki%5B/url">http://oberwiki.net/Main_Page]OberWiki[/url</a>], a student-written wiki about the college</p>
<p>There are also some helpful posts from current students in the Oberlin 2011 and 2012 Facebook groups, if you're on Facebook.</p>
<p>I would describe Oberlin as having an accepting atmosphere so lots of different people feel comfortable there. In general people are friendly and liberal. I'd say that Oberlin students take their education very seriously and enjoy learning, but also like to be goofy and have fun. Though Oberlin could stand to be more diverse in some ways, students range from more hippyish to hipsters to athletes, though there aren't a lot of really preppy people. Music is also very big on campus. Speaking of the campus - it is pretty compact but a charming mix of new and old buildings. It is also right next to town - which is basically just a main street. And classes range from good to not so good, but overall, I think that I'm getting a very good education.</p>
<p>estargrl88,
What are u majoring in? I am thinking bout neuroscience or bio, do u know how the professors are for these courses? Any classes tht students are scrambling to get in ?
I would totally won't fit in a preppy school, so nice to hear :)</p>
<p>quare,
thank u for the links!</p>
<p>Yes, I'd say that accepting is the single best word. The atmosphere is difficult to describe in any other way.</p>
<p>Bio and Neuro are both excellent choices- teachers are excellent and thoughrough and there's a lot of interaction between the two departments. They are very demanding- science majors at Oberlin work very, very hard. A lot of neuro majors also do OCircus, so when they aren't doing neurophysiology research, they're stilting and juggling.</p>
<p>One of the strongest aspects of these departments is the ability to do research with professors, as well as small lab classes. Students are geared toward grad-level work and do research that sometimes yields publication. </p>
<p>Great Biology Profs - Yolanda Cruz, Taylor Allen, Catherine McCormick
Great Neuro profs- Loose, Braford, Thornton, McCormick (she does both)</p>
<p>See you soon!</p>
<p>noir.stork,
Thank you for the great info! I have been considering a lot about Oberlin these few days, I think I will be really happy if I go there!</p>
<p>SkyGirl-</p>
<p>Estargrl is spot-on regarding campus atmosphere. Anything more you'd like to know? If you get in, do try to visit. The "All Roads" program is pretty neat and you don't really get a clear view unless you visit. What else are you interested in?</p>
<p>-Stork</p>
<p>How is the Physics department? On par with Bio and Neuro?</p>
<p>I'm much more knowledgable on Bio/Neuro, but Physics is very strong. Really, really hard. Classes are small and intense- problem sets are killers. But teachers are known for being really amazing, kind people. I took the 2 low-level physics courses and had a great time with the prof, Dan Styer. He's one of the sweetest, most hilarious "absent-minded professor" types I've ever met. He also runs marathons, so I see him sometimes jogging around when I'm jogging around. He's very good at clarifying complex ideas.</p>
<p>Physics majors work very, very hard. At the same time, they also have lives. The drummer for my favorite band on campus (Space Pengin) is a physics major, as is my first oberlin friend (who I met as a prospie). The latter is a co-op gal, contra dances, and does a lot of work with the folk music club.</p>
<p>the hipsters suck though.</p>
<p>noir.stork,
Thanks again! Even the admission people who emailed me seem really friendly. I hope I can get in now. Totally excited lately about Oberlin.
Well, now the wait :)
I was wondering bout the co-op. Since I am a vegan, is tht the place for me? And since I applying for a lot aid, I will be working on campus. Co-op is a work-meal program right?</p>
<p>I'm a vegan in my 2nd year in the co-ops and it's fantastic. Not all the co-ops are vegetarian though, and some are more vegan friendly than others (even though they're all generally vegan friendly). In the co-ops you will put in 4-5 hours of work-chart work. If you have a job/work-study on campus, the co-ops also have time-aid where for however many hours you work outside of the co-op a week, you get an hour off of the workchart. (for example, in Harkness last semester for every four hours you worked at your job, you got an hour of time-aid so you had 3 co-op hours instead of 4).</p>
<p>skygirl-</p>
<p>Withinamile nailed it. Here's more:
OSCA:</a> Oberlin Student Cooperative Association</p>
<p>A lot of my friends are co-op folks and love it. It's a really unique aspect of the college and encourages a great community. For what it's worth, if you eat on a regular meal-plan, you aren't doomed. Dining hall food is good- we gripe about it because we get used to it. But there's always a big salad bar, and while vegan options aren't always plentiful, there's always vegetarian options and lots of tofu. I'm a vegetarian, and I've never been hungry here. </p>
<p>Admissions people are really cool. I didn't mention it here, but I'm a tour guide, so they're my bosses.... and really nice bosses. I like having superiors who respect my opinion and don't hesitate to tell me what they're up to. They smile a lot too. If you're looking for a good job, look into tour guiding.</p>
<p>Best,
Stork</p>
<p>noir.stork, withinamile, estargrl, Fanatic:</p>
<p>What are the rules for incoming first-years as far as joining a co-op? Can a new student sign up to eat in a co-op, but live in a traditional dorm? I've seen somewhere that first-years can only do that in the dining-only co-ops -- that is, they can't choose dining only in the living/dining co-ops. Is that true? The OSCA site doesn't mention it.</p>
<p>How do the ResEd housing process and the co-op lottery relate to each other, if at all? Would you get your dorm assignment from ResEd, then apply to eat in a co-op that's reasonably close to it? What kind of advice would you give a vegetarian (not vegan) first-year who's interested in co-op dining and dorm living?</p>
<p>Thanks from a co-op alum (Keep, '70s) and parent of a member of the class of 2012</p>
<p>TeaTime, yes, new students can eat in a co-op and still live in the dorms--I know several first years who do so. However, I believe that some things are up to luck with that, because you choose the specific co-op that you'd like to eat in, but cannot choose a specific dorm, unless you want to live in a program house. So if the student ends up living in North, but eating in Tank or Old B, that could be a major hassle. </p>
<p>The approach you may want to take is just to apply for normal housing and dining, and then after receiving the housing assignment, switch to a co-op that fits your location and tastes. Most usually have space for first-years at the beginning of the semester. I don't know terribly much about the specific food at the co-ops, but I know all are very vegetarian friendly, though some (like Fairkid) tend towards more strict vegan rules.</p>
<p>TeaTime,
ResEd and OSCA run two separate lotteries over the summer before the school year. With ResEd, you list your dorm preferences by type (not dorm, and that includes OSCA as a dorm preference). OSCA's lottery then is for both housing and dining. For some reason, OSCA doesn't allow first-years to choose dining-only in a housing and dining co-op over the summer. However, once the school year starts, any student can get on the OSCA waitlist at any point for any co-op. At that point, first-years can join dining in housing and dining co-ops (I had several friends do that). OSCA also reserves 100 out of the roughly 620 spaces for the first-year lottery over the summer (and I think about 1/3 of housing spaces within that number).</p>
<p>If you wanted dining only, you would get your dorm assignment from ResEd and co-op assignment from OSCA. There really is no way to guarantee eating in a co-op close to your dorm unless you know what your dorm is and then apply to the co-op closest to it. But it really isn't a big deal because the campus isn't that big (as I'm sure you know). I have a friend that lives in Burton and eats in Old B and it's not a problem at all for him. But in that case, it's really helpful to have a bike. </p>
<p>For a vegetarian first-year who's interested in co-ops and dorm life, I would recommend any of the co-ops really. Fairkid is particularly great in that instance I think in that it's fairly centrally located and it's a dining-only co-op so the community really rests within dining. Pyle is one the largest ones, but I've had friends who haven't enjoyed it that much and then switch to other co-ops.</p>
<p>Thanks for clearing that up. I should note it's my D, not me, that's going in the fall (though I would be only too happy to turn back the clock and do it all again).</p>
<p>Based on what you've said, it sounds like she'll have to get the dorm assignment from ResEd, then apply to either Pyle Inn or Fairkid for dining only. Two rather different choices, I would guess. And if she wants, she could get on the waitlist to eat in a different co-op after the semester begins. I'll pass this info on to her and she can take it from here.</p>
<p>Got another question. Does Oberlin give out IDs to track our applications? I am asking because I did not receive any ID yet :).</p>
<p>No, Oberlin doesn't have an online tracking system. You can e-mail them to make sure everything made it.</p>