Oberlin for non-super woke

[Anonymous]

I consider myself pragmatically middle of the road and even I see Oberlin as very left wing even by the standards of LACs. It's always had that reputation. Why / how did you focus on Oberlin out of all the LACs in the country?

Kenyon seems like a better fit if looking at the Ohio schools, or Denison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I consider myself pragmatically middle of the road and even I see Oberlin as very left wing even by the standards of LACs. It's always had that reputation. Why / how did you focus on Oberlin out of all the LACs in the country?

Kenyon seems like a better fit if looking at the Ohio schools, or Denison.

I don’t see what meaningful advantage Oberlin has over these other schools for the purposes expressed. Maybe music.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Any different views if your kid will be a varsity athlete?

Right? I mean how super woke liberal are the lacrosse players??

My lax kid is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I consider myself pragmatically middle of the road and even I see Oberlin as very left wing even by the standards of LACs. It's always had that reputation. Why / how did you focus on Oberlin out of all the LACs in the country?

Kenyon seems like a better fit if looking at the Ohio schools, or Denison.

No dog in this fight, as our child looked at all three, but ended up EDing elsewhere (decided on going to a much bigger school). But Oberlin is definitely the best fit for OP's child's stated interest in STEM, creative writing, and music. Oberlin does all three very well-- and does music and STEM stunningly well--for a SLAC. Kenyon has a big focus on writing, but no one goes there for music or STEM. And Denison isn't notable for any of these areas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Forbes downgraded it in 2023 for financial reasons: 8. Percent Of Freshmen Getting Grant Aid (7.5%): Colleges that hand out scholarships and grants to a large chunk of their incoming freshmen may be wealthy and generous, but an unusually high percentage in this category is often more indicative of desperation to entice students to enroll. Every school needs well-heeled families paying the full sticker price to boost their coffers. Any college where this is less than 40%, like Tufts University (38%), receives full credit, but colleges like Macalester College and Oberlin College, where 87% and 93% of incoming freshmen receive aid, are penalized." https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2023/04/26/forbes-2023-college-financial-grades-the-strongest-and-weakest-colleges/?sh=104de4c01097

That is a strange assumption they are making. Do they account for schools that award all students a stipend to travel abroad? Do they account for the fact that they are giving merit aid to entice particular students away from other schools rather than enticing them because they can't fill the seat otherwise?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I consider myself pragmatically middle of the road and even I see Oberlin as very left wing even by the standards of LACs. It's always had that reputation. Why / how did you focus on Oberlin out of all the LACs in the country?

Kenyon seems like a better fit if looking at the Ohio schools, or Denison.

No dog in this fight, as our child looked at all three, but ended up EDing elsewhere (decided on going to a much bigger school). But Oberlin is definitely the best fit for OP's child's stated interest in STEM, creative writing, and music. Oberlin does all three very well-- and does music and STEM stunningly well--for a SLAC. Kenyon has a big focus on writing, but no one goes there for music or STEM. And Denison isn't notable for any of these areas.

I agree with this. I think people put way too much stock in the alleged "right wing" or "left wing" vibe of any school. The reality is always much more neutral to the individual experience. There are all kinds of kids at every school, even the ones you perceive as all of "something." I'm not suggesting that fit writ large doesn't matter, or that kids don't get a vibe on campus that they should pay attention to, but the on line stereotypes can be ignored if the school is a fit. Much like rank doesn't matter if a school has or does not have a good department in whatever your kid is interested in studying.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC interested in creative writing, STEM, music - all things Oberlin does well. But DC is not left-wing/alternative - is super middle of the road politically and in temperament. Does this kid fit in at Oberlin and do they find their people? Hard to tell from website and what I've read on here.

Nope. Shame these schools are so intolerant of non-homogeneous viewpoints. Crazies run the asylum.

[Anonymous]

My friend who teaches there is brilliant and also went there. Over the years I've noticed their Facebook feed become progressively more whack: posting memes about how Louisa Mae Alcott was trans, etc. It's a school we would have considered for our artsy, quirky kid, but based on what I've seen from that feed, it's no longer on our list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I consider myself pragmatically middle of the road and even I see Oberlin as very left wing even by the standards of LACs. It's always had that reputation. Why / how did you focus on Oberlin out of all the LACs in the country?

Kenyon seems like a better fit if looking at the Ohio schools, or Denison.

No dog in this fight, as our child looked at all three, but ended up EDing elsewhere (decided on going to a much bigger school). But Oberlin is definitely the best fit for OP's child's stated interest in STEM, creative writing, and music. Oberlin does all three very well-- and does music and STEM stunningly well--for a SLAC. Kenyon has a big focus on writing, but no one goes there for music or STEM. And Denison isn't notable for any of these areas.

I doubt there is a meaningful difference between Kenyon and Oberlin in STEM. They both have their departments and courses and graduates with majors in biology or who go off to STEM masters. There may be individual disciplines offered at Oberlin and not at Kenyon but computer science is quite different from biology, so in a way "STEM" has become a meaningless term.

Campus vibe is more important than courses for the typical LAC student. The risk of discussing Oberlin is confirmation bias. It will attract and disproportionately skew towards the progressive left so what seems "normal" may not be normal to people more to the right than the progressive left. Although I have heard that at Oberlin it's the conservatory students who are more "normal" and less activist and that helps introduce a sense of balanceness that otherwise wouldn't be there. But if kid isn't in conservatory it may feel like a different story.

As a side note, I wanted to find the 4-year graduation rate of Oberlin and Kenyon as it can be somewhat indicative of overall happiness (lower graduation in four years means more transfers /leaves of absence). I did notice that Oberlin kindly provided the data for hispanics, blacks, Asian, and "foreign" but not white students. https://www.oberlin.edu/financial-aid/basics/disclosures-and-consumer-information/enrollment-and-student-outcomes-data which does suggest something about the school's prevailing mentality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC interested in creative writing, STEM, music - all things Oberlin does well. But DC is not left-wing/alternative - is super middle of the road politically and in temperament. Does this kid fit in at Oberlin and do they find their people? Hard to tell from website and what I've read on here.

Nope. Shame these schools are so intolerant of non-homogeneous viewpoints. Crazies run the asylum.

Hush now, we're no longer talking about Hillsdale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's super woke. They all are. Don't send your right-thinking children there. Send them to Hillsdale or Liberty for true intellectual freedom. They will thank you.


they = everyone trying to get into these schools

Also consider New College in Florida. They have the majors your DC is interested in and are making a concerted effort not to allow woke perspectives on campus.

https://www.ncf.edu/programs/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's super woke. They all are. Don't send your right-thinking children there. Send them to Hillsdale or Liberty for true intellectual freedom. They will thank you.


they = everyone trying to get into these schools

Also consider New College in Florida. They have the majors your DC is interested in and are making a concerted effort not to allow woke perspectives on campus.

https://www.ncf.edu/programs/

It's a total crime what DeSantis did to the New College. And that poser Christopher Rufo is on the board there now, which makes it a non-starter for people who care about education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's super woke. They all are. Don't send your right-thinking children there. Send them to Hillsdale or Liberty for true intellectual freedom. They will thank you.


they = everyone trying to get into these schools

Also consider New College in Florida. They have the majors your DC is interested in and are making a concerted effort not to allow woke perspectives on campus.

https://www.ncf.edu/programs/

It's a total crime what DeSantis did to the New College. And that poser Christopher Rufo is on the board there now, which makes it a non-starter for people who care about education.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Regarding a conservative kid going to a school like Oberlin…. If you live in a very conservative neighborhood & put a Biden-Harris sign on your lawn, the worst that happens is a few eyerolls. If you live in a very liberal neighborhood & put a Trump sign on your lawn, your house & car will probably take a beating. You know I’m right. Look at the difference in tone between the pro-Israel & anti-Israel protesters.

It's true but any conservative kid who has been through FCPS or MCPS knows how to keep his head down.

[Anonymous]

Butler in Indianapolis?