My daughter is interested in the sciences, and has committed to Irvine, but Oberlin may offer a price reduction that would make it equivalent, and the offer expires today. Please chime in with any thoughts on which would be a better school to choose.
This is about fit. Some kids thrive with the greater intimacy that LACs offer - the smaller classes, close faculty relationships, tighter community…Others do better in place with more diversity, more choices, greater privacy. Some people are very weather sensitive - CA vs OH. The music scene at Oberlin is one of the school’s outstanding features. Is that a plus for your kid? Or is big sports and the frat /sorority presence more of a draw?
She can get a good science education at either school but she may need to be a bit more aggressive to find a mentor at Irvine since the school is bigger and they do have grad students also competing for faculty time and attention.
The weather is worse at Oberlin and it will feel small after a couple of years. And the sciences are much stronger at UCI.
I would pick Oberlin in a minute, but that’s because I strongly prefer the opportunities for smaller classes and closer faculty interaction at LAC’s. These are two incredibly different institutions, so it is much more about what suits your daughter’s temperament.
Thanks everyone. She is very musically talented, and was next on the list for a few scholarships in flute. We live in Los Angeles, and she has not really experienced east or Midwest cold, like I grew up with. We are still negotiating price, so I agree we must find out if the price break would be for all four years.
My big concerns are the price, which includes travel, and the idea that she might not be challenged in science (if she chooses that, in the end). She doesn’t mind bigger classes, like she had at Santa Monica High. She is not into frat stuff or sports.
Her biggest concern is about socialization, and whether UCI is a “commuter” school.
I would tend to select on the ‘fit’ issue and which kind of atmosphere she will want. Just applying to Oberlin implies a certain preference. Oberlin will have opportunities for student research in sciences, they consider that essential to science education. They are one of 13 (Carnegie Mellon, Amherst) colleges awarded research grants for summer work with faculty by the Beckman Institute. They have their own internal grants and fellowships. And LACs often are favored in applications for REUs at Universities. to work in science you need a grad degree and LACs are very successful in getting students a good resume for grad school, personal letters of recommendation etc. So although UCI has vaster science resources being a research university, she will not have the faculty contact she would at Oberlin, at least not for a couple of years. Nothing against UCI at all.
Any other thoughts? Time is expiring. I appreciate the input.
If money is the same, I would pick Oberlin over UCI because it’s more well known in music. Eventhough I’m not really a LAC person.
My daughter is a recent Oberlin grad. Her roommate was a Chem major and had many research opportunities both at Oberlin and at summer REUs. My D also did research with her advisor. Oberlin gets tons of Ca kids. They all survive the winter. Also you can be gone for all of Jan because of winter term. It is expensive and somewhat inconvenient to fly to Cleveland from Ca. That’s a legitamate concern. Based on our experience not being challenged is not something to worry about though
Oberlin has a lot going for it.
Which sciences? You and she may want to check the catalogs and schedules to see what is offered in the sciences of interest at each school.
At UCI, 80% of frosh live in the dorms (this is usually a reasonable proxy for non-commuter students). However, some resident students may have “suitcase” habits (i.e. head back home to their families on many weekends). Whether this is common at UCI is not obvious from any published stats.
She’s interested in bio, and although she doesn’t want to throw-away a great talent with music (flute), she doesn’t want to be a musician. We are waiting to hear about a financial package to see if it will really be the same cost, for four years, and then will decide (extended to Thursday). Any other thoughts would be appreciated.