I agree that Oberlin has been no stranger to controversy for 50 years. Maybe the Internet makes it seem like it is more so lately — but I’m not sure it is true.
I have been a fan of Oberlin in the past. Now there are several red flags. Regardless of whether news was printed in print and newsletters or on the Internet it’s still gets disseminated.
But the good news Oberlin should be easier to get in to, especially for a full pay student!
I wanted to go there because they are very focused on undergrad and I also really like Liberal Arts colleges in general because of their size. What other schools would you recommend besides LAC?
I am planning on applying ED (binding) for Rice because of the size, location, and the strong emphasis they place on academics. I also really liked Swarthmore and Oberlin because of the size and political activism. I wasn’t aware that they didn’t have a very strong Engineering Program. One of the things I wanted to do was research. Thank you everyone, it helped a lot!
Good choice @unknown28. Anyone in the college planning community who claim to be familiar with Oberlin and hasn’t heard about all the trials and tribulations that Oberlin has unfortunately struggled with in the past few years must have been living under a rock. Good luck with your RIce application. Its a fabulous school.
This was another issue with Oberlin in the past few years https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2016/11/16/oberlin-fires-joy-karega-following-investigation-her-anti-semitic-statements-social It has some work to do to get back on track, IMO
In the case of Swarthmore, this is far from established. Swarthmore offers an ABET accredited engineering program that brilliant students have chosen over presumably many other options.
Swarthmore also has great opportunities for undergraduate research. My kid there (double major CS/engineering) did research after his freshman year, wrote a paper, had it accepted at a conference, etc. etc. Don’t write it off because some folks here say it isn’t MIT or UIUC. It isn’t, but that isn’t a reason to write it off. Do your research someplace other than here. The program is also intentionally very supportive of interdisciplinary studies across departments, if you’re interested in that.