Agree with starting at your ED school with the intent of staying four years. Getting a near full ride is a wonderful gift.
Once you get settled in at the college, I suggest you seek out professors in areas of interest and see if you can do research with them to supplement the academics offered at the college – LACs are typically very good about promoting these types of opportunities.
I’ll assume we’ve ended out debate in terms like “contract” and legally binding." OP can get a legal consultation if so inclined
I’m honestly kinda happy I got deferred from my ED for this reason. Now, I don’t have to be stressing out whether my ED college is an ideal choice for me.
OP- congrats on an ED at a good school with lots of $$$. Thats the trifecta!! I read a lot of negativity in your post (you feel it lacks academics, you don’t want to take a gap year, you don’t want to go to a SUNY, you think you made a “dumb” decision.). Not only is buyers remorse common in HS seniors with their acceptances, but you may be struggling with some underlying mood issue, and the current focus seems to be on your college acceptance. Please look inward and see if there might be a bigger issue going on. Talk to a professional. Good luck!
Thank you all for the kind words and ideas put forward. I agree, it does make the most sense for me to attend this LAC with an honest effort to try for all 4 years, and the aid is definitely an amazing gift. However, I realize now I was incredibly vague in my original post, so I’ll try to go more into depth about my reservations and why I want to transfer out so soon.
I pulled out of every single school I applied to a few days after my acceptance, so I’m not violating any agreement. The T80 I was admitted to is Oberlin College. The horror stories about the left-wing protest culture there, in addition to the largely LGBT demographics (I’m a straight white male, not extremely liberal) are driving my strong fears about lack of fit. Additionally, I feel like most of their programs in financially viable career fields are just very weak, especially CS and economics. Feels like I locked myself into attending a school that’s always somebody else’s last choice.
I also figured I wouldn’t get in anywhere better. It is no exaggeration to say that I just lazed around for half of high school and existed with good grades. By the time app season rolled around, I thought top schools were out of reach because my whole application wasn’t up to par. I was grinding for the college process for a whole year from the moment I learned about it, and really wanted to end up somewhere good. Subsequently, I visited Oberlin for an overnight, figured it was the environment I wanted and “prestigious enough,” and got in ED.
Finally, I am averse to a gap year primarily because I do not have the kind of self-motivation and resources necessary to facilitate a productive/fulfilling year off from education. I still rely on my parents to get me to and from places and live in the middle of nowhere. I am bored out of my mind these days, and another year of waiting around for the next stage of my life to start simply doesn’t feel right to me.
Oberlin is a great college. Congratulations!!
FWIW I know someone who’s kids went to Cornell, Vassar and Oberlin. They are very confident that the Oberlin student had the best classroom experience.
Congratulations! Great school!
I understand your concerns about not fitting in. You will find kindred souls. You will find people to date. Many people attend schools where they are not part of the dominant culture and don’t merely survive, but thrive, and create great friendships.
It’s also normal to second-guess, and then devalue, things that seem “too easy”.
Go with good intentions – of making the most of the classes, people, etc. If it feels really wrong, you can consider transferring, knowing you gave it your best and got the best. Odds are, though, if you’re positive, you’ll find your happiness and be able to stay put.
Clearly, you did not do any research before applying with an ED application supplement. It will be interesting to read updates about your first year experience at this school.
P.S. Would be interesting to know to which other schools you applied. To me, Wesleyan, Grinnell, Vassar, & Brown have some similarities.
If you are a judgmental person, this may not be a pleasant experience, but if you are open-minded & accepting, then it should be an interesting year or two or more.
Oberlin is #51 in US News - not that it matters.
It has far better name recognition than many schools above it.
And they are paying or mostly paying for you to go - and money is clearly an issue for you. I mean, anyone who is willing to pay for you - that’s a home run, even if it’s a no name school - which Oberlin isn’t.
I can’t find recent career data but in 2019 15% of their grads were in tech and 9% in finance and consulting.
Asset Managers are listed as well as the Federal Reserve. Google and Netflix, amongst others tech wise.
I think you’re selling it short.
Their grads go on to many grad schools - many of the tops like Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Penn, Columbia, Yale and many more.
As for the student body - go and experience. College is about learning. I don’t know the demographics (I’ve read them) - but guess what - this is real life. It’s not homogenous. You’ll be far from the only straight male. And there will be many/most - you don’t know their sexuality and why do you need to? I work with many people - no clue of their sexuality - why does it matter? We get along well and work well together or we don’t. Who you date is not relevant …companies/employers want people who do well in a diverse environment…so there’s something to be said for the environment there if it’s as diverse as you note.
You are getting a near free ride at a premier institution. And you visited overnight and thought it was right - so why second guess?
Before you step foot on campus, you say: why I want to transfer out so soon.
I suggest you get great grades - but you’ll be limited in where you go financially because many don’t reward transfers with generous aid.
Most importantly, if you have one foot out the door before you start, you have little chance of success. And if you don’t do well, your options will be limited. And if you do do well, your options will still be limited (financially).
Why not go, take advantage, and have a great four years vs. already act like you hit disaster?
If they lack student heft in your fields - guess what - you’ll have an even better education with a tight knit group - and more access to jobs.
Employers want Oberlin.
You made a great choice.
You say - I wouldn’t get in anywhere better.
Hmmm - it’s not an easy admit.
Head out of the toilet - this is a HUGE win - that many many many dream of.
Go in with a positive attitude and make it a FANTASTIC four years.
You ED’d AND they are giving you nearly a full-ride. Go. Enjoy it. Forget your buyer’s remorse and figure out how to make it work. Yes, there are protests and LGBTQ people. There are also lots and lots of people like you. You’ll learn to live with people who might not think like you. Think of the full-ride as the gift of grad school. You can pick your dream school then.
Oberlin!! Great school! And with $$$$! Congrats!!!
Gotta admit, probably most of the top LACs are a bit left leaning and appropriately diversity inclusive. That’s ok. You will find your people!
I’m going to join the chorus of people noting Oberlin is actually great and not at all something you should think of as just settling for.
Oberlin’s academic reputation is much higher than 80th among SLACs, and indeed it has a long history of academic excellence. Last I knew that was apparent in things like the US News peer reputation surveys, and also in things like per capita grad school placement. Like, in this per capita PhD feeder study, Oberlin was 16th among all colleges and universities for total PhDs per capita:
In CS, it was 33, Econ 23, so these are not actually weak areas for Oberlin.
As far as the culture is concerned, it is definitely LGBTQ+ friendly, but that does not mean it is hostile to cishet men! Generally if you actually need a large community of socially conservative people to feel comfortable, that would be a potential problem. But if you are more just moderate or not very political, and don’t easily take offense and get along well with others, you will be fine.
Of course if you do hate it, you can transfer. But I think you very likely will end up being happy, if you give it a fair chance. And again, it is a very desirable school, notwithstanding your personal attitude at the moment.
It is way better to go to a school for almost free than graduate with undergraduate debt. Whether a campus is left or right leaning, you will find your groups of friends there. College is so expensive and they are paying you. The most important thing will be to change your mindset from “I have to go there” to “it is a blessing for me to go there.” Mindset is everything in this world. You may discover a new patent or a new economics theory or find your soulmate at this exact school! Keep an open mind and recognize that YOU were chosen to make a difference at this school. Be a light in this world and make a difference!
You seem to have it exactly backwards. It appears the OP fears that it would be paradise for judgmental people, and a hellscape for open-minded accepting people.
Look into Ashby Business Scholars ASAP. Those students kill it.
also you most likely will have the opportunity to study abroad junior year and can look for programs that map
to your interests. i know of one oberlin student that went abroad for their entire jr year - approval for 2 different programs in 2 different countries.
OP, I don’t think the AOs would have accepted you if they believed you would be a poor fit.
Oberlin has the Con (Conservatory) and the College on the same campus and the students are not siloed. That means you will potentially be rooming with a music kid in your dorm and certainly will have lots of people to hang with (and date) who are not super political. Even the College will have a range of people from apolitical to activist. Really, the only way Oberlin won’t work for you is if YOU aren’t a tolerant person, respectful of differences, and that would be a problem at nearly every college.
Just like another poster, you seem to have it exactly backwards. It appears that the OP legitimately fears a political climate that absolutely does not tolerate differences of opinion.