<p>Okay,this is going to be a looong post,but please bear with me.Basically,I am not i excited to be going to Oberlin anymore.In fact,I’m nervous.Strangely,I feel like I made the wrong decision and should have gone to Amherst instead.Unfortunately,I have only just found out some things about Oberlin that really shocked me and that I had no idea about when I applied that really make me nervous,like how extremely “out there” it is(I am very religious and from a very conservative culture).I also realised that Oberlin is in a small town in the middle of nowhere(I previously thought it was very close to Cleveland)I also read an article that said that an Oberlin degree is one of the most poor investments and that Obies don’t really get well paying jobs.All this just makes me so anxious that I may have made the wrong decision and I am so depressed when my friends are excited to be going to places like UPenn and Amherst and I’m just depressed.Can someone who goes to Oberlin reassure me and calm(or confirm) my fears?</p>
<p>Don’t believe everything you read/hear. Oberlin is not “extremely ‘out there.’” Nor is it in the middle of nowhere: [Oberlin</a> Blogs | Blog Entry: ““The middle of nowhere””](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/living/town/the_middle_of_n.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/living/town/the_middle_of_n.shtml) . And the notion that an Oberlin degree is a poor investment is simply ridiculous. Oberlin is one of the most prestigious, highest-quality colleges in the country, and most students end up loving it, even those who may come from very different environments.</p>
<p>The best way to reassure yourself is to read the [Oberlin</a> Blogs](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/index.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/index.shtml) . See for example [Oberlin</a> Blogs | Blog Entry: “100 Awesome Amazing Fantabulous Things”](<a href=“http://blogs.oberlin.edu/about/ethos/100_things_oberlin.shtml]Oberlin”>http://blogs.oberlin.edu/about/ethos/100_things_oberlin.shtml) .</p>
<p>That wasn’t a long post by my standards!</p>
<p>I think you’re experiencing something perfectly natural. You’re looking at opportunities that you declined and doors that you chose to close behind you and now you’re wondering what might have been…</p>
<p>Here’s another “might have been” for you: If you had chosen Amherst, you might be asking yourself about its prevailing ideological winds, its proximity to big cities, and the marketability of a liberal arts degree. You might be posting a message on that forum asking advice from that community if, perhaps, Oberlin would have been the better choice.</p>
<p>I’m not one for comparing colleges head-to-head as though one can every be universally better than another. And there’s no way for anyone here to know whether Oberlin or Amherst (or any other option you had) was the best fit for you back in April when you had decisions to make. We can’t say “Oberlin’s perfect for you!” or that “Oberlin is waaaay better than XYZ U!” because you’re unique and that means the best fit for you is going to be chiefly a function of who you are.</p>
<p>You’re only two posts into your College Confidential experience, but I’m confident that I know this much about you: you had some great options in April. The type of person who has those kinds of options doesn’t go about important decisions in a foolhardy way. I also know that Amherst is not an option for you now, more than three months after you sent them the postcard declining their offer of admission, so there’s really no need to sweat that decision. It’s not yours to make now. But you* did* choose Oberlin…first to select it among many colleges that you applied to and then, once the acceptance letters came in, you made a very deliberate choice to select it.</p>
<p>So, instead of focusing on the benefits and merits of the colleges you cannot be attending this fall, consider the benefits and merits of Oberlin that you honed in on last April that made you say, “this is the one that, above all others, stands out as the right choice for me.” You can do it as a personal introspection; you can do it with family and/or friends; or you can come back here and share those thoughts.</p>
<p>Your friends are getting excited about college and I hope you do, too. Even if it’s just being excited about college in general. Don’t let them project their choices onto you and convince you that when they made the right choice about Amherst and UPenn and other great colleges that you must have made a wrong choice in selecting Oberlin because your choice was different from their excellent choices.</p>
<p>Your choice was right for you in April. You were confident enough in your choice to decline those other options you had. I would place far more weight in that April decision, when it mattered to you, than I would give weight to the doubts that are haunting you now, at a time when, frankly, there’s nothing on the line and there’s nothing at stake and nothing, really, to be decided.</p>
<p>Your mind is completely free to wonder about various college scenarios and you’re more apt to question yourself and your choices because there’s no consequence to this late summer exercise that you’re engaged in. It’s a very natural thing for you to do. I think it’s kind of neat, actually, that you’re running through these scenarios. But there’s no reason that it should be painful or cause you to grieve or feel remorse. In fact, I believe that this is your way of anticipating the big day when you set foot on the Oberlin campus. It’s not the same way that your friends who are headed elsewhere are getting excited…but you’re different from them and that’s probably one of the factors that had you make a different choice from them.</p>
<p>Possibly in another few months, and almost certainly in four years’ time, I bet you’ll find that most of your dearest friends had chosen Oberlin for their college too!</p>
<p>There seem to be a bunch of different religious organizations at Oberlin [Oberlin</a> College | Office of Religious and Spiritual Life | Campus Spiritual Communities](<a href=“http://new.oberlin.edu/office/religious-and-spiritual-life/communities]Oberlin”>http://new.oberlin.edu/office/religious-and-spiritual-life/communities) so it seems likely that you will find others of your faith who are also religious.</p>
<p>Don’t get nervous.</p>
<p>Oberlin sounds to me like a great place to go to school.</p>
<p>Most of college life takes place on campus anyway.</p>
<p>And I think Oberlin is only an hour from Cleveland, but they say there is the “Oberlin bubble”, where you don’t leave the campus, but don’t really want to leave.</p>
<p>My question to the OP is “why did you choose Oberlin?” He/she doesn’t say. I’m beginning to suspect that you might have received a great merit scholarship that, perhaps, was not offered by Amherst, U Penn or some other school? If you chose Oberlin strictly on the basis of money, I can see why you’d be second-guessing yourself. Hopefully, you picked Oberlin because you really thought it the best college for you.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for the responses.I think that most of my anxiety stems from the fact that by nature I am a very indecisive person,so choosing a college was never going to be easy for me.I’m also just nervous because of my situation :I am pretty much one of two people in my entire (extended) family to go to college,and I want to use my degree to help my family out of our current situation,which is why I’m worried about job prospects.@Plainsman I had a full ride from my top 3 choices so I didn’t choose Oberlin based on finances,but because I was really drawn to it at the time.I’m just not sure anymore,mainly because of some rather negative things I discovered after depositing.I know it’s a terrible attitude to have before starting college but I just can’t shake off that anxiety and the “what if’s?”.But Dave72 is probably right,I probably have nothing to worry about.Thanks again all :)</p>
<p>What you’re feeling is entirely normal, and there are thousands of incoming freshmen across the country having the same anxiety. Hopefully the move-in days and freshman orientation will reassure you that Oberlin is a great place for you. Try not to be second-guessing yourself, and be open to falling in love with the place. Also recognize that it is also incredibly “normal” to have a wonderful honeymoon period in the first couple of months of college, and then to experience some letdown as school becomes the routine, weather changes, etc. Most second-semester freshmen who have felt this in their first semester love their colleges by about March! All of this is normal - and intellectually curious students are often the hardest on themselves! At the beginning of the year, you’ll have the chance to find some clubs and Ex-co classes that can bring you together with like-minded students. Take advantage of those, and you’ll probably make some life-long friendships. “Cleveland” is less than an hour away, but there all malls within a half hour. Oberlin grads are, by the way, eminently employable, so let go of that mis-perception. </p>
<p>As to the rumors you’ve heard that have made you worry, take them with a grain of salt. Remember it is always really easy to find out negatives about anything…but you have to dig a little more to find positives, because happy people don’t usually write blogs, entries, letters, posts or whatever!</p>
<p>Good luck - have fun!</p>
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<p>lipitopapito, no school is perfect. It’s a matter of finding the best fit for your interests, personality, values, and goals. If Oberlin lined up better than other schools, then you made the best decision you could make. </p>
<p>You may find some things at Oberlin that you do not like. But I’d bet real money that at any college, there will be something about it that you consider less than ideal. I’d also bet real money that the majority of college students, some time in their first or second year, contemplate transferring to someplace else. Obviously most decide not to do it. Rest assured. It’s human to occasionally wonder if the grass might be greener elsewhere. That goes for schools, jobs, where you live, and even relationships and marriages. And when it comes to a big decision like where to go to college, feeling anxiety and a sense of doubt is a sign that you’re a human being and quite normal. :)</p>
<p>Plainsman’s absolutely right. There’s no one Oberlin experience…or one [insert any college here] experience. You’re in control of your experience and you’ll skip past the aspects of Oberlin that don’t float your boat. And you’ll embrace the aspects of it that inspire you and lift you up. What you choose to experience is totally in your control and what Oberlin offers, more than most other colleges (including most other top colleges), is a breadth of opportunities. You may not go for some of those opportunities that are out there on the fringes, but they’re not there to the exclusion of things that you’ll more likely want to connect with. They’re there in addition to the things you find elsewhere…and you find attractive. Seek these things out and you’ll be fine.</p>
<p>Oberlin is ranked #18 by SmartMoney magazine among non-Ivy private colleges/universities in terms of return-on-tuition for recent graduates:</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> That Help Grads Get Top Salaries - SmartMoney.com](<a href=“Spending & Saving - MarketWatch”>Spending & Saving - MarketWatch)</p>
<p>I’m citing this only because the OP was concerned about this. Personally, I understand the mathematical charm of seizing on an objective measure (like salary) to compare the value of one’s college education but I don’t understand the failure of many who glom onto those statistics to appreciate the many additional intangibles and subjectively-measured outcomes and impacts of a college education.</p>
<p>Anyway, there it is. An unbiased, objectively-measured statement that shows that, relative to other colleges and universities (of all kinds), an Oberlin education typically yields a payout that’s exceptional. When it comes to zeroing in on this metric in isolation, there can be no regrets for having chosen Oberlin.</p>
<p>OP: The return on investment/salary info can be very misleading because a lot depends on the graduates’ majors. Schools that graduate certain types of engineers will skew very high. Oberlin has a conservatory, for goodness sake, and students go into music for the love of it and not to make six figure incomes.</p>
<p>Oh, and expect the same anxiety just before you get married and just after you make the down payment for a house! It’s normal.</p>
<p>Also, understand that if you’re not happy at any institution there is the option of transferring out. See how it goes.</p>
<p>Hi all,
I just wanted to know if Oberlin is good for getting into top grad schools after college, because that’s my main concern (as in, if it has a good reputation with Stanford, Harvard, etc.-I believe it does, that’s why I chose Oberlin) . Also, it’s not THAT difficult getting a job after Oberlin, is it?</p>
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<p>Depends on time of day. At rush hour, it probably does take an hour. But I made the drive late at night after visiting my D2, and it took only 45 minutes from Tappan Square in Oberlin to the heart of downtown Cleveland. So it’s even less time to reach the city limits. That’s a lot shorter drive than my morning commute to work.</p>
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<p>Another factor is where you choose to work. Salaries in some cities/regions are higher than in others, for the same job, for a variety of reasons including cost of living and market demand. I know. I’ve moved around the country. There is a difference between say New York City and Omaha. It may be that graduates of say Bucknell choose careers in New York City or Philadelphia more than Oberlin grads. I’m betting a higher percentage of Oberlin grads choose the Peace Corps or some other low paying public service type jobs. So just looking at income is deceptive. The real measure of degree worthiness/payoff should be the percentage of grads that get the type of job they actually want. An entry level job with a non-profit or teaching kindergarten rather than Goldman Sachs may be exacty what some graduates want. So how did their expensive degree not pay off if they got the job/career they aspired to? </p>
<p>It’s up to the individual to decide if their degree has returned the investment. It’s a shameful aspect of American culture that frames every worthiness measure in terms of money. Our society sends both subliminal and overt messages that to seek a job other than one that pays a lot of money will mark you as some kind of loser. What a wonderful world this would be if every student aspired to become a hedge fund manager—or die.</p>
<p>A minor point about your “out there” comment. Feedback from my second year Obie is that compared to other schools that classmates have attended Oberlin is more of a libertarian place; that is, it’s more accepting of people of all persuasions than many other colleges. Maybe it’s the intellectual bent . . . maybe it’s the social history (deliberately and proudly open to ALL people since its founding . . . or maybe it’s because with all the conservatiory students it’s not strange to see students walking around campus in formal dress (coats and ties or long formal dresses). </p>
<p>And, hey, it’s way closer to Cleveland than Amherst is to Boston :-)</p>
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<p>This is a big change from when I was at Oberlin in the mid-late '90s. </p>
<p>From what I’ve heard from more recent graduates and complaints from older alums, Oberlin’s student body has moved much more to the political mainstream/center over the last decade compared to how it was when I was there…or more so when the older alums attended in the 60’s-'80s. </p>
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<p>I know of at least one classmate(Double Degree Violin/Bio) who was admitted into the Biology PhD program at Harvard and others to various grad programs at Yale, Columbia and other peer institutions. I also heard directly from several senior faculty members at Harvard and Columbia that Oberlin students are looked upon quite favorably as potential grad students. </p>
<p>Personally, I had no problems landing my first job upon graduation though that was a long time ago.</p>