Will I fit in at Oberlin?

[Plainsman]

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My take on the conservative/liberal thing is that the culture at some schools is more communitarian and at others more libertarian, and Oberlin seems more the latter than most. In other words, at some schools the culture - whether left or right - tends more toward “being one of us” . That 's the feel I got at Wesleyan and Swarthmore, that it was fairly important to be the Wes or Swattie type of student in order to be fully engaged in campus life. </p>

<p>The feel I get from Oberlin is that it’s more important to be passionate about what you do, and that students do not care as much about what your passion may be. So, all else being equal, I’d expect a conservative student to fair better at Oberlin than at most other “liberal” schools because Oberlin has a stronger strain of libertarian in it.

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<p>A broad but interesting framework to use to understand differences between similar colleges’ political cultures. I don’t know what a Wes or Swat (or W&L, sorry FLVDAD) type is except as the students themselves describe and define it. But I agree with your analysis of Oberlin as libertarian from the standpoint of “fitting in.” Nicely done, Kei-o-lei.</p>