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[quote=Anonymous]I have a 2E male at Oberlin. Definitely not cut throat. But definitely challenging him.  Their President is very fitness orient and works out with and supports the sports teams.  Then again, she also shut down Oberlin’s participation in sports (traveling to other schools, not conditioning and practice) during 2020-2021 to prioritize in person classes and low COVID rates. Except for one pissed off dad on the parents page, no one really seemed to care.  They are there to learn, and happen to be continuing a sport. They aren’t there to play a sport, and happen to need to attend class.

My very non-sporty kid has athlete friends and says all the athletes are really nice except men’s LAX. Do with that what you will.  And that athletes don’t really segregate the way they do at other LACs.

For a kid who wants a low key sports environment and to have a good time continuing on with their sport w/some real flexibility to sometimes place academics over sports it’s could be great. For a kid who thrives in a really competitive environment and wants to win at all costs, not so much.

Two interesting things from an ADHD perspective. One, my kid entered in Fall 2020 and could not update neuropsych testing (because lockdowns), so they took his 504. And never followed up to get more documentation. He’s just been able to get informal accommodations as needed. He only needs extended time in advanced math. So when he took multivariable, he talked to the professor and was told to take the time he needed.  If he has two big deadlines coming due at once, he talks to a professor, and gets a short extension on one.  He has never had a problem in any department making with making reasonable requests, in advance and getting what he needs.  It’s a very take charge of your own education/ we are here to help you succeed mentality.  After years of battling the school system over every line of his 504, it’s refreshing. They treat him like an adult as long as he doesn’t take advantage of that. And there have been zero accommodation crises.

Now, someone on here will scream unfair to other kids!  And soft academically!  But the point of Oberlin is that education is collaborative, not competitive, and ideally all kids succeed. And I assume (and hope) that other kids are getting whatever accommodations they need to succeed.

The second thing is his department has adopted “contract grading” for many classes. I’m not sure where the college as a whole is on contract grading.  He’s far enough along in his education that I haven’t gotten into the weeds on this. But, the gist seems to be that he has to demonstrate mastery, but works with the professor to decide how to best demonstrate mastery— and when. It’s very student-professor collaborative and basically, whatever the opposite of high stakes testing is.   I know he really likes it, is really engaged in his classes, and has a lot of autonomy.  And calls the professors in his department by their first name. :)  So when I ask how classes are going, I don’t get, “I’m making a B”. I get “I met with Anna this week and she said I’m on track with my contract”. He can’t give me a grade. And it’s nice to see him focused on the work itself and not the grade.

Here’s some information on contract grading:  https://ascode.osu.edu/contract-grading-schemes

Overall, it’s been great for my 2e kid. His grades slipped a bit the first semester he had contract graded classes. (A-/B+ became Bs and one B-).  I suspect he thought doing the bare minimum on a contract was enough and his professors did not agree.  But then his grades  bounced back and he has started really using the contracts to do things he is interested in.  And I love his focus on substantive feedback over letter grades.

Hope this helps OP.  I’m not sure if Oberlin is what you are looking for.  But, it could be. [/quote]

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