Do these schools have similar student bodies?
Selectively-wise Wesleyan > Brandeis > Oberlin (but they are somewhat close).
I think Wes and Deis get a lot of overlapping applicants. Less so for Oberlin.
Best as I can tell Deis gets a bit more hard-core science folks due to the active research that goes on there. Wes is probably a bit more artsy and Oberlin even more artsy still.
(Full Disclosure: I went to Deis and S went to Wes).
All three have pretty ugly campuses so neither is going to attract kids who are into campus architecture.
(Wes is the only one of the three that has anything close to what could be called an “attractive” campus, but they are all pretty bottom-of-the-heap on that metric).
Wesleyan and Oberlin, artsy liberal. Brandeis more conservative and probably stronger science chops
@soze How recently did you attend Brandeis? I realize that these schools have reputations, but I’d really like to hear some firsthand experience. Did you find the students at Brandeis more conservative and preppy, or simply less liberal?
Take a look at College Niche. The schools are rated by students attending the schools in a lot of different categories.
Maybe I have poor taste, but I’ve been to Oberlin’s campus a few times and I thought it looked fine. Better than fine, actually, To me. The main area I was at was very prototypically “college-like”, with venerable stone buildings surrounding a grassy “square” traversed by paths. It reminded me of the College of Arts & Sciences quad at my own alma mater. And the transition from the town of Oberlin to the campus is through a nice park. In the Fall, with the leaves turned yellow/orange, it’s all quite lovely looking. To me.YMMV.
I’ve only been to Wesleyan twice, very briefly each time. I thought it looked OK too.
Not stunning perhaps, but I wouldn’t be embarrassed to go there.
I’ve never seen Brandeis, is it ugly or something? Is that what this is really about, covering up for that? If so, it doesn’t really work to try to do that at Oberlin’s expense. Because Oberlin looks fine. And, on a good day, more than fine. To me, anyway. YMMV.
Also, I have no idea who gets more, but from what I can see, from CC and eslewhere, Oberlin And Wesleyan probably get a substantial number of cross-applicants. Academics aside, a good chunk of their respective student bodies have similar values socially. Oberlin and Brandeis will have some too of course, but probably less so.
I went to Brandeis a generation ago, but I’m very active and talk to current students all the time.
All the schools you mentioned are very liberal – the difference is splitting hairs. There is absolutely nothing conservative or “preppy” about any of them – not by a long shot!
They are all very good schools, I obviously know Deis and Wes the best because of my family. What do you want to study?
I think the schools do have similar student bodies. I thought Oberlin looked nice and Brandeis was ugly. However, it is not so ugly as to not consider going there (at least for my son).
My d went to Brandeis and I toured Oberlin with younger d. Never been to Wesleyan so cannot comment about their campus. I personally like the Brandeis campus. Oberlin didn’t do a lot of me, it was fine but it seemed pretty generic. Maybe it was the tour we took of one of the ugliest dorms I have ever seen on any campus.
I would hardly call the Brandeis student body preppy… Brandeis probably has more research going on than Oberlin but Oberlin does also have a good reputation in the sciences. I think Brandeis location outside of Boston adds a lot to both campus life and accessibility for faculty exchange, bringing speakers to campus and so on. Oberlin was a very boring drive from Cleveland…not much more I can say about that aspect but it is a very highly rated school.
The reason I posted this thread is because I am a transfer student trying to decide between these three schools and am unable to visit. I am coming from a top ranked LAC in Maine that I had often heard described as full of “hippies,” but I found to be incredibly preppy. So, as I’ve learned from my past experience, everyone has their own interpretation of what is preppy. In comparison to schools such as Colby or Hamilton, would you say that Brandeis is much less preppy?
I hate to generalize about entire student bodies, but given that I can’t visit schools to really experience the student bodies, I think using descriptive labels to characterize the majority culture at a school is my best option.
We’ve visited all three, and none of them gave off a preppy vibe, nor did their campuses strike me as unattractive (though my two least favorite dorm visits were at Brandeis and Oberlin – small sample size though).
None of the schools you listed are preppy! I would say Oberlin is very alternative/artsy, Wes is very political/artsy, while Brandeis is more “quirky”. You would be hard-pressed to find a preppy, boat shoe-wearing kid at any of those three schools.
Brandeis (and Wes and Oberlin for that matter) are on the opposite end of the preppy spectrum from Colby or Hamilton.
Brandeis is a liberal arts university w/ significant science. Very tough to get into. Wesleyan-expensive, elitist & right in back of me. Not much of a campus. Limited majors & mostly non-traditional tempo. Every time I walk in their bookstore I am disappointed by the course offerings. Oberlin very competitive. All 3 are liberal w/ Wesleyan & Obie off the chart.
Not sure how this thread got steered into a discussion of campus architecture, since that wasn’t part of the OP’s question. But, it’s pretty easy to settle such arguments. Google is your friend.
Seems to me, all three campuses could keep an architecture student interested for a day or two. =D>
Oberlin and Brandeis are not preppy. Of the three, I guess Wesleyan might be the preppiest as it does have some competitive teams in Division 3 and a longstanding rivalry with Amherst and Williams (the “little 3”) but any preppiness is offset by artiness/political activisim.
Wes is by far the most liberal and counterculture, and is not exactly preppy @uesmomof2 from what I’ve heard (Amherst and Williams far surpass it in this regard).
Wes and Oberlin are fallen stars, a modern day Blanche so to speak, a faded southern (although not southern cuz they’re like not in the South dur hur hur) belle living off reputations from decades ago.
Clearly not as preppy as Amherst and Williams but definitely preppier than Oberlin and Brandeis. Look at their teams. Who do you think is on their field hockey, lacrosse, tennis, squash (etc.) teams?
Beep beep beep. Agenda alert! >-)
“Wes and Oberlin are fallen stars…”
If that’s even true, the same can be said for Brandeis.
Average SATs* class entering 1971 (I think):
Brandeis 1339 (13th highest nationally),
Wesleyan 1326 (16th highest)
Oberlin 1307 (21st highest),
That year Brandeis admitted 20% of applicants (fifth most selective nationally). So did Princeton. Stanford accepted 21%,
- old scale then CR +M only, about 50-80 points lower than re-centered current scale IIRC, though it isn't that simple.