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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Any one with DCs @ Oberlin? Or recent grads? DS has strong ACT score, 3.5 GPA, decent ECs w/some leadership. May not have the stats juice for Kenyon, which he is interested in, but am wondering about Oberlin. DH from Ohio and suggested it. DS is fairly involved in social justice issues yet also has a strong independent streak (though not as in political parties) and wary of one-side POVs. Oberlin considered pretty left and hippy when I was a kid, but am wondering if it may be more so these days.[/quote]

Read the story about Oberlin and the Gibson bakery and see if that’s the type of institution you want your child educated at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson%27s_Bakery_v._Oberlin_College[/quote]

I'm progressive and I find Oberlin's behavior concerning this case disturbing.[/quote]

This was 5 years ago, just after Trump was elected.  There is now a really impressive new president and the head of residence life during the incident is “on sabbatical”.   They were also once a stop on the Underground Railroad.  Not sure at what point you are going to move on. But everyone at the college has.

OP, if there is one thing COVId made clear, it’s that Oberlin is a very tight community.  I was so thankful that’s where my kid was when COVID hit.  They dealt with it very well, and my kid was on campus for two semester of in person classes, almost no community spread.  I was very impressed.

No one will ever convince the Fox News soundbite crew otherwise, but there is a range of viewpoint from extreme liberal to mainstream Republican, but more liberal than conservative students.  The conservatory is fully integrated into the Arts and Science campus, Con kids are assigned A&S roommates, most A&S kids play one or more instruments, sing or are into drama.  The Con kids bring a lot of diverse points of view too.  And they have some cool programs like barefoot dialogues (which my kid did, and it was good for him) and an evangelical Christian “sister school”.

If your kid os uncomfortable with openly gay, openly trans, etc, Oberlin is the wrong place.  Besides that, right of center to pretty far left is all fine.  Mitt Romney would be fine there. Trump worshipers, not so much.  The kids who have trouble with the campus culture are really those who have no fine arts interest or background.   If your kid is very Greek life and big sports, but no real interest in art, music or drama it will be a bad fit.

Carman Ambar, Oberlin’s President, did an interview with the NYT on campus culture, BLM, etc. She answers a lot of the questions you are asking.  Link is in here.  https://safesupportivelearning.ed.gov/news/no-parties-no-sports-how-oberlin-college-surviving-pandemic

My kid is HS class of 2020.  In term of Admission, Oberlin was very much in line with Kenyon in terms of admissions difficulty.  Remember when you look at stats, you are getting A&S and Con.  The pure GPA and ACT numbers for the A&S kids are higher.  But, of course, the Con kids have amazing talent.

ACT is a 32-34 ACT from the DMV  (girls probably need a point higher than boys). 3.5 GPA isn’t a helpful stat.  Weighted?  Unweighted? Rigor?  3.5 is kind of low, even UW.   I’m assuming some ECs that will show that Oberlin is a good fit?  Oberlin has a lot of applications (and students) from the DMV, and are looking for a certain kind of kid.  Fit matters to them in selecting a class.

My kid applied to A&S. 4.2 GPA. Weighted, obviously, but with 4 years of music and two feign languages, so lots of UW classes. 1530 SAT. Merit awards from Oberlin and Kenyon almost identical.  Wooster was much higher.

[/quote]

DS is full pay. Merit would be great, but not needed. Yes, GPA is unweighted and "kind of low." Had a tough start to HS - undiagnosed LD as well as undiagnosed spinal problem. Both addressed and his GPA has been on a steady upward trajectory. DC not coming from DMV but similar metro area. [/quote]

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