Oberlin College Visit Report by estargrl88

Visit Activities:

Campus Tour: Yes - See below. I went on an open house day, which was a mistake. The tour was huge and so I missed some of the info and it was hard to make it extremely personal. Since I took the conservatory tour also, my college tour was shorter.

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Campus:

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Off-Campus:

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Actually, this area is the town.

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The town is cute, but small. And it's true that Oberlin is surrounded by corn fields.

Campus Visit Notes for Oberlin College

Visit Description:

Funnily enough, even though I chose to attend Oberlin the visit didn't make it seem any extra spectacular. However, I think when I took the tour I wasn't quite ready to accept the small town college which I know am.
The Location: Oberlin. It's about 30/40 minutes from Cleveland, and a cute little town. There is a main square park place, and then the town. Basically it has some interest stores that sell gifts, some coffee shop or little restaurants, and a lot of other more necessity stores. It is right next to campus so cars are not an issue. For Oberlin there are some shuttles to events in Cleveland.
The Campus: It too is pretty. It's kind of spread out, so there is one central area, and then buildings around that, which I apoligize doesn't describe it very well. There are some old buildings with beautiful architecture, including the language building with is so beautiful inside! I wasn't a big fan of the humanities building, but we were inside for just a moment, because I decided to take a tour of campus then the conservatory so the college campus tour was cut back a little bit I think. The conservatory building is modern and I think it is one of those buildings you like or you don't. I wasn't a big fan of the outside, but after being inside it it definitely grew on me. The library was last decorated in the 1970s and is a concrete building, so there is not as much sunlight, and there are some bright bold colors used in the decorating scheme! One cool building is the environmental building which is a very green building. I guess the main quad is infront of the library and surrounded by the student union and some humanities buildings. The science building is big and new though I don't remember much about it.
The Dorms: The dorm we went into was kind of dark and stuffy, and the hallway carpeted. The room I saw was a separated double which was really nice because it was big, but I guess fairly rare. However, the state of the rooms is I guess the worse there is so I would assume there must be some nice dorms because even these weren't too bad for dorms. There are also houses and the only thing I remember about that is that freshman can live in them too.
Student Life: Oberlin brings in a lot of entertainment, especially music-wise. My tour guide said that she actually did more here than at her home-town city, and there was always something to do, so I guess that's hope for a city girl like me. There are many student clubs and club sports too.
Academics: I think studying several different topics is encouraged here, and double-majoring seems to be popular. A note that conservatory and college admissions are separate, so you'd need to apply to both. I think there is a core, but I kind of forget right now.
Music: All I can say is WOW! The conservatory is awesome. Today they were bringing in brand new harpsichords. There are practice rooms equipped with organs for the organ majors. They even have a Steinways in every room, and many grand pianos too. There is also a nice modern music library. For those who can't get into a conservatory like me, the college has a music major (no minor though) that shares classes with the conservatory and lessons are free, but you must audition for them.
Notes: Well, I enjoyed Oberlin and it seemed to have a neat intellectual feel and it had a pretty small-town campus, not so much rural as cute town. It seemed as if students were pretty opinionated and any loud problems in dorms seemed to be from students having late-night philosophical debates. I think Oberlin is also pretty diverse and liberal.

Hotel/Lodging Recommendations or Comments:

The Oberlin Inn is the only place right in town, but I heard that it's more expensive.

Dining/Restaurant Recommendations or Comments:

The Oberlin Inn has a nice restaurant. There's a small but good organic food place that's sort of hidden, but right in town.

Other Comments (Transportation, local attractions, parking, etc.):

You can walk anywhere in town really.