Visiting Oberlin late January

[Anonymous]

If there’s an overnight in Cleveland involved in your husband and daughter’s trip, I’d recommend staying either by University Circle or right downtown (rather than say along a highway or in some dull suburb), and maybe try to get dinner at a nice restaurant in Tremont or Little Italy or Ohio City or 4th St. Cleveland has more going on than most DMVers expect. Your daughter may feel Oberlin is a little less isolated if she realizes even though it’s surrounded by farmland it’s just 30 minutes from a pretty sizable and culturally lively city.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin has a cute little town but Lorain County is depressing. The nearest city is Elyria and then Lorain, which is on the lake.

The kids at Oberlin are really insular though.

This. Half of my family tree is from Lorain and Elyria and depressing is an understatement. Cleveland is a little better (parts) and is relatively close. But the Oberlin kids are def. very insular from the cities of Lorain/Elyria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin has a January session, so check to see whether they will be between sessions, have tours, etc.

If you want her to like Oberlin: stay at the Hotel Oberlin if you can. There’s a super cute bakery down the street and a nice coffee shop near the Apollo movie theater. There’s a cool vintage store called Ratsy’s. There’s also an art supply store where you can spend 20 minutes with kittens who are being fostered (the under of the store wants them to be socialized to get ready for adoption).

The Oberlin art museum might appeal.

Yes, OP. Please research this cute bakery (I'm assuming pp means Gibson's--but even if OP is referring to someone other one, please research Gibson's) and their recent history with Oberlin.

After what Oberlin did to that bakery, I can't imagine why any parent would think their child would fit in there. Surely your daughter has at least some redeeming qualities?

How many times are you RWNJs going to bring this up? And why would I judge the entire college by one incident (even if your version is correct)? It's an excellent academic institution regardless of what you think of it politically.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin has a January session, so check to see whether they will be between sessions, have tours, etc.

If you want her to like Oberlin: stay at the Hotel Oberlin if you can. There’s a super cute bakery down the street and a nice coffee shop near the Apollo movie theater. There’s a cool vintage store called Ratsy’s. There’s also an art supply store where you can spend 20 minutes with kittens who are being fostered (the under of the store wants them to be socialized to get ready for adoption).

The Oberlin art museum might appeal.

Yes, OP. Please research this cute bakery (I'm assuming pp means Gibson's--but even if OP is referring to someone other one, please research Gibson's) and their recent history with Oberlin.

After what Oberlin did to that bakery, I can't imagine why any parent would think their child would fit in there. Surely your daughter has at least some redeeming qualities?

How many times are you RWNJs going to bring this up? And why would I judge the entire college by one incident (even if your version is correct)? It's an excellent academic institution regardless of what you think of it politically.

It's "one incident" that the entire college participated in, and that they were still refusing to pay as recently as several months ago (July.)
Blatantly lying and trying to destroy someone's livelihood is not "politics"--it's pure evil.

[Anonymous]

Winter term is Jan 3-25. Only about a third of the students will be on campus at that time. Spring semester starts 1/30. Just a heads-ups. It will be cold, but so far this year, only a dusting of snow has fallen. We’ve heard the snow is worse to the east. DD is a first-year so we’re still learning.
DD also looked at (and was accepted at) Kenyon, Denison, and Macalester. She chose Oberlin because it just felt right. I would say, apply and get in first (no supplemental essay!), then visit in March. They do a great re-sell event called “All Roads Lead to Oberlin” in March that really sealed the deal for our DD. She got to sit in on a class, tour the museum, eat in the dining hall, etc. Kenyon wouldn’t even allow us back on campus for a revisit before decisions were due.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin has a January session, so check to see whether they will be between sessions, have tours, etc.

If you want her to like Oberlin: stay at the Hotel Oberlin if you can. There’s a super cute bakery down the street and a nice coffee shop near the Apollo movie theater. There’s a cool vintage store called Ratsy’s. There’s also an art supply store where you can spend 20 minutes with kittens who are being fostered (the under of the store wants them to be socialized to get ready for adoption).

The Oberlin art museum might appeal.

Yes, OP. Please research this cute bakery (I'm assuming pp means Gibson's--but even if OP is referring to someone other one, please research Gibson's) and their recent history with Oberlin.

After what Oberlin did to that bakery, I can't imagine why any parent would think their child would fit in there. Surely your daughter has at least some redeeming qualities?

How many times are you RWNJs going to bring this up? And why would I judge the entire college by one incident (even if your version is correct)? It's an excellent academic institution regardless of what you think of it politically.

It's "one incident" that the entire college participated in, and that they were still refusing to pay as recently as several months ago (July.)
Blatantly lying and trying to destroy someone's livelihood is not "politics"--it's pure evil.

In 2016. Under a completely different admin. With different kids. Lawsuit settled. It’s been 7 years. Move on.

OP: my kid goes to Oberlin and loves it. It’s def. More liberal than the City of Oberlin, but the College does a lot of outreach— people in the town auditing classes, a pottery collective, free tuition to anyone in the HS who is admitted ED, Maker Adair’s, a Dog Fair, plus free entrance to all the cultural events. Still— it’s more conservative.

Visit the Blue Rooster, the Feve, Ben Franklin, the kittens. It’s going to be gray and snowy. But that’s Oberlin several months a year. I’d check the academic calendar to see if students are back before taking a kid. When my kid applied in 2019, he asked admissions if he could spend the night on campus and was able to. That sold it.

Be aware they are still cautious with COVID. He’s at study abroad this year, but I believe they are back to masking in classrooms with the latest wave. My kid made it 2.5 years without getting sick.

LOTS of DMV kids at Oberlin.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin has a January session, so check to see whether they will be between sessions, have tours, etc.

If you want her to like Oberlin: stay at the Hotel Oberlin if you can. There’s a super cute bakery down the street and a nice coffee shop near the Apollo movie theater. There’s a cool vintage store called Ratsy’s. There’s also an art supply store where you can spend 20 minutes with kittens who are being fostered (the under of the store wants them to be socialized to get ready for adoption).

The Oberlin art museum might appeal.

Yes, OP. Please research this cute bakery (I'm assuming pp means Gibson's--but even if OP is referring to someone other one, please research Gibson's) and their recent history with Oberlin.

After what Oberlin did to that bakery, I can't imagine why any parent would think their child would fit in there. Surely your daughter has at least some redeeming qualities?

How many times are you RWNJs going to bring this up? And why would I judge the entire college by one incident (even if your version is correct)? It's an excellent academic institution regardless of what you think of it politically.

It's "one incident" that the entire college participated in, and that they were still refusing to pay as recently as several months ago (July.)
Blatantly lying and trying to destroy someone's livelihood is not "politics"--it's pure evil.

They have paid now. So I'll give them some credit that they want to put this incident behind them,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin has a January session, so check to see whether they will be between sessions, have tours, etc.

If you want her to like Oberlin: stay at the Hotel Oberlin if you can. There’s a super cute bakery down the street and a nice coffee shop near the Apollo movie theater. There’s a cool vintage store called Ratsy’s. There’s also an art supply store where you can spend 20 minutes with kittens who are being fostered (the under of the store wants them to be socialized to get ready for adoption).

The Oberlin art museum might appeal.

Yes, OP. Please research this cute bakery (I'm assuming pp means Gibson's--but even if OP is referring to someone other one, please research Gibson's) and their recent history with Oberlin.

After what Oberlin did to that bakery, I can't imagine why any parent would think their child would fit in there. Surely your daughter has at least some redeeming qualities?

I think you identified the issue as to excellence. The school in the 70’s and 80’s was considered one of the top 5 liberal arts colleges in the nation. It is not even close, and 5 or 6 schools in Ohio alone have a better reputation. It is without significant aid a poor value, and ranks very low in social mobility. Who knows if the school’s politics served to diminish their status? Many think so. Not sure it is worth a debate- although with a business model of attracting well off students from the Northeast, the incidences of anti-Semitism could not have helped.

How many times are you RWNJs going to bring this up? And why would I judge the entire college by one incident (even if your version is correct)? It's an excellent academic institution regardless of what you think of it politically.

[Anonymous]

At the accepted student week about 90 percent of the families I spoke to all had the same list of schools, Vassar, Brown, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Bates

[Anonymous]

Make sure you’re all okay with “contract grading” and its consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If there’s an overnight in Cleveland involved in your husband and daughter’s trip, I’d recommend staying either by University Circle or right downtown (rather than say along a highway or in some dull suburb), and maybe try to get dinner at a nice restaurant in Tremont or Little Italy or Ohio City or 4th St. Cleveland has more going on than most DMVers expect. Your daughter may feel Oberlin is a little less isolated if she realizes even though it’s surrounded by farmland it’s just 30 minutes from a pretty sizable and culturally lively city.

I agree that Cleveland has a lot more going on than most DMV people would expect. I also think it’s a much more interesting city than DC. But I doubt that selling something based on its proximity to Cleveland will work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At the accepted student week about 90 percent of the families I spoke to all had the same list of schools, Vassar, Brown, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Bates

Shocker.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin has a January session, so check to see whether they will be between sessions, have tours, etc.

If you want her to like Oberlin: stay at the Hotel Oberlin if you can. There’s a super cute bakery down the street and a nice coffee shop near the Apollo movie theater. There’s a cool vintage store called Ratsy’s. There’s also an art supply store where you can spend 20 minutes with kittens who are being fostered (the under of the store wants them to be socialized to get ready for adoption).

The Oberlin art museum might appeal.

Yes, OP. Please research this cute bakery (I'm assuming pp means Gibson's--but even if OP is referring to someone other one, please research Gibson's) and their recent history with Oberlin.

After what Oberlin did to that bakery, I can't imagine why any parent would think their child would fit in there. Surely your daughter has at least some redeeming qualities?

How many times are you RWNJs going to bring this up? And why would I judge the entire college by one incident (even if your version is correct)? It's an excellent academic institution regardless of what you think of it politically.

It's "one incident" that the entire college participated in, and that they were still refusing to pay as recently as several months ago (July.)
Blatantly lying and trying to destroy someone's livelihood is not "politics"--it's pure evil.

In 2016. Under a completely different admin. With different kids. Lawsuit settled. It’s been 7 years. Move on.

OP: my kid goes to Oberlin and loves it. It’s def. More liberal than the City of Oberlin, but the College does a lot of outreach— people in the town auditing classes, a pottery collective, free tuition to anyone in the HS who is admitted ED, Maker Adair’s, a Dog Fair, plus free entrance to all the cultural events. Still— it’s more conservative.

Visit the Blue Rooster, the Feve, Ben Franklin, the kittens. It’s going to be gray and snowy. But that’s Oberlin several months a year. I’d check the academic calendar to see if students are back before taking a kid. When my kid applied in 2019, he asked admissions if he could spend the night on campus and was able to. That sold it.

Be aware they are still cautious with COVID. He’s at study abroad this year, but I believe they are back to masking in classrooms with the latest wave. My kid made it 2.5 years without getting sick.

LOTS of DMV kids at Oberlin.

Yes, it happened in 2016 and as recently as July 2022 (so just 7 months ago) they were still fighting in court, denying any culpability. "Different admin and 'kids' (?)" but ones that obviously agreed with what Oberlin did, or else they wouldn't have stepped foot on the campus.
Of course there are many students that fit in with the disgusting behavior continued for (as you point out) SEVEN YEARS. As a parent, I wouldn't want to admit my kid was one of them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin has a January session, so check to see whether they will be between sessions, have tours, etc.

If you want her to like Oberlin: stay at the Hotel Oberlin if you can. There’s a super cute bakery down the street and a nice coffee shop near the Apollo movie theater. There’s a cool vintage store called Ratsy’s. There’s also an art supply store where you can spend 20 minutes with kittens who are being fostered (the under of the store wants them to be socialized to get ready for adoption).

The Oberlin art museum might appeal.

Yes, OP. Please research this cute bakery (I'm assuming pp means Gibson's--but even if OP is referring to someone other one, please research Gibson's) and their recent history with Oberlin.

After what Oberlin did to that bakery, I can't imagine why any parent would think their child would fit in there. Surely your daughter has at least some redeeming qualities?

How many times are you RWNJs going to bring this up? And why would I judge the entire college by one incident (even if your version is correct)? It's an excellent academic institution regardless of what you think of it politically.

It's "one incident" that the entire college participated in, and that they were still refusing to pay as recently as several months ago (July.)
Blatantly lying and trying to destroy someone's livelihood is not "politics"--it's pure evil.

In 2016. Under a completely different admin. With different kids. Lawsuit settled. It’s been 7 years. Move on.

OP: my kid goes to Oberlin and loves it. It’s def. More liberal than the City of Oberlin, but the College does a lot of outreach— people in the town auditing classes, a pottery collective, free tuition to anyone in the HS who is admitted ED, Maker Adair’s, a Dog Fair, plus free entrance to all the cultural events. Still— it’s more conservative.

Visit the Blue Rooster, the Feve, Ben Franklin, the kittens. It’s going to be gray and snowy. But that’s Oberlin several months a year. I’d check the academic calendar to see if students are back before taking a kid. When my kid applied in 2019, he asked admissions if he could spend the night on campus and was able to. That sold it.

Be aware they are still cautious with COVID. He’s at study abroad this year, but I believe they are back to masking in classrooms with the latest wave. My kid made it 2.5 years without getting sick.

LOTS of DMV kids at Oberlin.

DP. The school paid the bakery over $36 million dollars. The lawsuit was not “settled.” The school ran out of appeals.

[Anonymous]

Another Obie parent here. I second the recommendation for Hotel Oberlin if you can afford it, as your student will get a much better sense of what life is like on campus. It will be cold and I would check the weather before leaving but it should be fine. Most kids won’t be back until the last few days of January so campus will likely be quiet, but on the plus side faculty who are around for winter term may have more time to meet with your child. The real sell of Oberlin is the attentiveness of the faculty and their real investment in the students.