dottified

Many people have called and have been told the school as a whole is overenrolled. I guess the yield for the class of 2013 was higher than expected, and there are also more upperclassmen than expected on campus next semester - not as many people studying abroad as usual, perhaps?

Inquisitive Mom

The latest post on the Oberlin Blogs states that there is not an overenrollment problem, there was drop off during the summer. See: Oberlin Blogs | Blog Entry: "Summer Duties"

dottified

Oh, okay. Well, that's good to know.

Fanatic517

The person who answered that question is from admissions. I can tell you as fact that there are serious housing issues right now, and Resed is having a difficult time finding enough rooms (though if the class of 2013 figures have changed, then it's chiefly from people returning from leaves/canceling leaves). It will all get resolved sooner or later, but it will almost certainly be messing with housing arrangements this year.

califmom1

When I spoke to the Residence office this week, I was informed that a large number of students were admitted off the wait-list and now they're having trouble housing them all. My guess is admissions admitted so many kids this year to bring in more tuition, given the financial problems Oberlin, and most other colleges, are faced with this year!

dave72

This is incorrect, califmom. Oberlin was more selective this year, not less. And my understanding is that no students were admitted from the waitlist--Oberlin's yield (the number of accepted students who accepted the offer) was unexpectedly high.

jazz_parents

Thanks for the facts, Dave. Can you tell us the number of students attending Oberlin for the upcoming year versus the past few years or last year? Since I perceive a mix of correct and possibly incorrect information in this thread, it would be helpful to know if there is, in fact, a shortage of housing, a spike in enrollment beyond the typical variations from year-to-year, or is it just the way things go from year-to-year?

Plainsman

"Oberlin was more selective this year, not less." - Dave72

"...Oberlin's yield (the number of accepted students who accepted the offer) was unexpectedly high." - Dave72

Dave72, any theories to explain the above? What does the administration think was the cause of both situations?

pakk

Oberlin Online April 7th 2009 President Krislov states:

11: Will the College increase the number of enrolled students to balance the budget?
No. The long-term strategic plan actually calls for reducing the undergraduate head count to 2,720. The current economic situation has caused Oberlin to slow the process of this reduction by holding the student body static at 2,831 for the short term; however, increasing the student body beyond this in order to generate additional revenue would have a negative impact on housing, access to classes, and our faculty-student ratio, among other things.

dave72

Enrollment is always notoriously difficult to predict or control under the best of circumstances, and in the current economic climate, admissions officers have been hard-pressed to come anywhere near their enrollment targets. This year Oberlin exceeded all its enrollment targets, so while many of our "competitors" had to go deep into their waitlists, we did not have to use ours, and given minimal summer "melt," I understand that we are now right at our enrollment target. Since I'm neither an administrator not an admissions officer, I don't know the current projected fall 2009 enrollment--the number is not usually released until October, after students have actually enrolled. Here are the undergraduate enrollments from the last few years:
2005: 2845
2006: 2829
2007: 2762
2008: 2839
As you'll see, there is unpredictable fluctuation from year to year, and last year it did unexpectedly spike up. I don't know how this year will compare.

Who knows how to account for Oberlin's popularity? I do know that the schools who had to go deep into their waitlists have been asking themselves the same question. Oberlin is one of the top schools in the country, and we're obviously doing a lot right to get the word out. But what makes one school "hot" at any particular moment remains pretty mysterious to me.

jazz_parents

Thanks so much.

intoairwaves

I guess I was misinformed about the large over-enrollment. I do know, however, that at least one girl was admitted from the wait list.
Freshman move-in day is in ONE MONTH.....my daughter is so excited !

Fanatic517

Enrollment is over 2900 this fall, which is a sharp spike.

pakk

Where did you get this number from?

quinoa423

So I just got my housing assignment (a quad hmmm) and there is this column that says "Chosen MP"

Anyone have any idea what that means? It's probably something completely obvious but I'm just curious.

Thanks.