Can Oberlin ever change its image as a failed school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin problem isn’t that it is woke bakery hating . If Oberlin was a foul mouth breathing bastion of MAGA Christian crap it would be even worse off. Its problem is that it is expensive and struggling like many SLACs outside the top 10. At to this it’s in Ohio which is increasingly rivaling Indiana as the arm pit of the Midwest. Kenyon is also having problems.

Thank the opioid crisis, MAGA cult and racist Christian right for making Ohio one of the worst states to live in.

This is all true, Oberlin is weathering it fairly well considering.

This deflects from Oberlin’s challenges. In the 70’s and 80’s, Oberlin was the most rigorous and well thought of college in Ohio. Now it sits ranked 11th in the state by Niche. If you asked me in 1980 whether Ohio State would be ranked above Oberlin by a significant margin I would have been shocked. Now, rankings are often misleading and it still is the case that Oberlin offers an excellent education, but when ranked below schools like Cincinnati and Dayton one has to wonder what has happened. Oberlin is expensive- it needs some form of prestige and perceived rigor and opportunity to thrive. Blaming MAGA and politics doesn’t address matters for Oberlin. They can and should be doing better. (Still a good school, but schools today need to be strategic).

By the way a long time fan of the school. They hired a great coach to be their athletic director after stints at Northwestern and Auburn. Oberlin was progressive in that they didn’t care he was gay. Sounds like an easy call today but in the 80’s it was rare that people simply stepped up and did the right thing. Their prior AD was the incomparable Tommie Smith - the Mexico City gold medal winner in the 200m who was retaliated against for his protest at the podium. They should not shed their progressive ethic; rather they should infuse some common sense into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not a choice school.
So many things not going for it.
Of my parent social circle, the most academically challenged child went to Oberlin. Couldn't get in anywhere else.

Cool story bro.

It has a 34% acceptance rate for heaven's sake. It is a selective school. We were impressed by the STEM tour and the conservatory when we visited. DC ended up EDing elsewhere but if we had chased merit, it would have been a strong contender.

34% acceptance rate is considered selective?

Yes, a school that rejects 2/3 of its applicants is by definition selective.

[Anonymous]

My guess is that the red/blue split doesn't help, and the embrace of urban settings is also a problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not a choice school.
So many things not going for it.
Of my parent social circle, the most academically challenged child went to Oberlin. Couldn't get in anywhere else.

Cool story bro.

It has a 34% acceptance rate for heaven's sake. It is a selective school. We were impressed by the STEM tour and the conservatory when we visited. DC ended up EDing elsewhere but if we had chased merit, it would have been a strong contender.

34% acceptance rate is considered selective?

Are you for real?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is not a choice school.
So many things not going for it.
Of my parent social circle, the most academically challenged child went to Oberlin. Couldn't get in anywhere else.

Cool story bro.

It has a 34% acceptance rate for heaven's sake. It is a selective school. We were impressed by the STEM tour and the conservatory when we visited. DC ended up EDing elsewhere but if we had chased merit, it would have been a strong contender.

34% acceptance rate is considered selective?

In this analysis, Oberlin placed 78th by selectivity when considered among colleges and universities nationally:

College & University Rankings in 2025 https://share.google/wKllY3vHXOjxW9vsN

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin problem isn’t that it is woke bakery hating . If Oberlin was a foul mouth breathing bastion of MAGA Christian crap it would be even worse off. Its problem is that it is expensive and struggling like many SLACs outside the top 10. At to this it’s in Ohio which is increasingly rivaling Indiana as the arm pit of the Midwest. Kenyon is also having problems.

Thank the opioid crisis, MAGA cult and racist Christian right for making Ohio one of the worst states to live in.

This is all true, Oberlin is weathering it fairly well considering.

This deflects from Oberlin’s challenges. In the 70’s and 80’s, Oberlin was the most rigorous and well thought of college in Ohio. Now it sits ranked 11th in the state by Niche. If you asked me in 1980 whether Ohio State would be ranked above Oberlin by a significant margin I would have been shocked. Now, rankings are often misleading and it still is the case that Oberlin offers an excellent education, but when ranked below schools like Cincinnati and Dayton one has to wonder what has happened. Oberlin is expensive- it needs some form of prestige and perceived rigor and opportunity to thrive. Blaming MAGA and politics doesn’t address matters for Oberlin. They can and should be doing better. (Still a good school, but schools today need to be strategic).

By the way a long time fan of the school. They hired a great coach to be their athletic director after stints at Northwestern and Auburn. Oberlin was progressive in that they didn’t care he was gay. Sounds like an easy call today but in the 80’s it was rare that people simply stepped up and did the right thing. Their prior AD was the incomparable Tommie Smith - the Mexico City gold medal winner in the 200m who was retaliated against for his protest at the podium. They should not shed their progressive ethic; rather they should infuse some common sense into it.

Maybe Oberlin College should hire US Senator Bernie Sanders as its next President. He's a common-sense progressive who wants to be President.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin problem isn’t that it is woke bakery hating . If Oberlin was a foul mouth breathing bastion of MAGA Christian crap it would be even worse off. Its problem is that it is expensive and struggling like many SLACs outside the top 10. At to this it’s in Ohio which is increasingly rivaling Indiana as the arm pit of the Midwest. Kenyon is also having problems.

Thank the opioid crisis, MAGA cult and racist Christian right for making Ohio one of the worst states to live in.

Why do you give a sh*t? Don't send your kid here then but leave others who do alone.
This is all true, Oberlin is weathering it fairly well considering.

This deflects from Oberlin’s challenges. In the 70’s and 80’s, Oberlin was the most rigorous and well thought of college in Ohio. Now it sits ranked 11th in the state by Niche. If you asked me in 1980 whether Ohio State would be ranked above Oberlin by a significant margin I would have been shocked. Now, rankings are often misleading and it still is the case that Oberlin offers an excellent education, but when ranked below schools like Cincinnati and Dayton one has to wonder what has happened. Oberlin is expensive- it needs some form of prestige and perceived rigor and opportunity to thrive. Blaming MAGA and politics doesn’t address matters for Oberlin. They can and should be doing better. (Still a good school, but schools today need to be strategic).

By the way a long time fan of the school. They hired a great coach to be their athletic director after stints at Northwestern and Auburn. Oberlin was progressive in that they didn’t care he was gay. Sounds like an easy call today but in the 80’s it was rare that people simply stepped up and did the right thing. Their prior AD was the incomparable Tommie Smith - the Mexico City gold medal winner in the 200m who was retaliated against for his protest at the podium. They should not shed their progressive ethic; rather they should infuse some common sense into it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also reject the premise and so think the entire thread is useless.

Also wondering about the degree of sockpuppetry. May just check with the mod.

All these puppet defenders. We get it you're blind, but us news isn't.

Oh, where did they call the school a failed school?

When they ranked it outside the top quartile.

Top quartile of what? More like top 5%. There are well over 2000 4 year colleges and universities in the US. Only in this space is a school that rejects far more students than it admits and has an endowment over $1B “failing” or bad. You guys are something.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are Oberlin alum who are embarrassed to have graduated from the college. It has slipped a ton in rankings too.

As there are Penn alums who are embarrassed and alums of the schools that capitulated to Trump who are embarrassed. Not an Oberlin person but miss me with the premise that Oberlin is a failed school. You want MAGA lite Dennison is right there for you.

I’ve never heard of Dennison. There is a Denison. Its faculty was anything but conservative when I was there.

+1

There is a poster here who misspells its name every single time they post and who seemingly has no learning curve.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oberlin problem isn’t that it is woke bakery hating . If Oberlin was a foul mouth breathing bastion of MAGA Christian crap it would be even worse off. Its problem is that it is expensive and struggling like many SLACs outside the top 10. At to this it’s in Ohio which is increasingly rivaling Indiana as the arm pit of the Midwest. Kenyon is also having problems.

Thank the opioid crisis, MAGA cult and racist Christian right for making Ohio one of the worst states to live in.

This is all true, Oberlin is weathering it fairly well considering.

This deflects from Oberlin’s challenges. In the 70’s and 80’s, Oberlin was the most rigorous and well thought of college in Ohio. Now it sits ranked 11th in the state by Niche. If you asked me in 1980 whether Ohio State would be ranked above Oberlin by a significant margin I would have been shocked. Now, rankings are often misleading and it still is the case that Oberlin offers an excellent education, but when ranked below schools like Cincinnati and Dayton one has to wonder what has happened. Oberlin is expensive- it needs some form of prestige and perceived rigor and opportunity to thrive. Blaming MAGA and politics doesn’t address matters for Oberlin. They can and should be doing better. (Still a good school, but schools today need to be strategic).

By the way a long time fan of the school. They hired a great coach to be their athletic director after stints at Northwestern and Auburn. Oberlin was progressive in that they didn’t care he was gay. Sounds like an easy call today but in the 80’s it was rare that people simply stepped up and did the right thing. Their prior AD was the incomparable Tommie Smith - the Mexico City gold medal winner in the 200m who was retaliated against for his protest at the podium. They should not shed their progressive ethic; rather they should infuse some common sense into it.

With the trolling here, you really think anonymous reviews on Niche are trustworthy? Sure thing.

[Anonymous]

I have hired three Oberlin grads, all were great. In the past two years I’ve had Harvard and Amherst grads completely flame out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have hired three Oberlin grads, all were great. In the past two years I’ve had Harvard and Amherst grads completely flame out.

In what business?