I’m also really interested to see your opinions on Reed (as a current freshman)! I sense that it wasn’t a great impression but I’m still curious nonetheless.
I saw the tents of love article yesterday on one of my feeds. I think it must be a result of the one child policy that China instituted in 1979-all the little emperors are going off to college.
As closet hippie in a nerd family, I’m following this thread purely for the writing quality =).
@doschicos , interesting article. Having been to China, I have no trouble imagining this scenario. The people I encountered always seemed perfectly happy to be in enormous tour groups and never seemed to mind crowds. Of course that is me generalizing:-)
I did text the article to my D, in the hopes that the idea might so frighten her that she will throw herself into college life with renewed vigor.
“Chinese tents of love”
The link was SO much less interesting than I had hoped.
^^Agree. Considering some of them are first ones in family to go to college, wanting to hang around a few days is not that amazing. I stayed 2 days getting D1 off the college/moved in, 5 days to get D2 moved in to grad school (apartment set up) and I had money to stay in hotels. This actually seems a nice benefit for families without the income to stay at hotels or in areas without other lodging options. It’s not like they’re staying months. The ones quoted were staying 2 -3 days. More interesting was the number of family members that come along.
I actually didn’t think it was much different from American parents spending the weekend moving their freshmen in, the difference is that we stay in hotels. Not the one with 14 family members, of course, but I saw grandparents and young kids milling around at the drop off for both kids at freshmen drop off…
Why go on a big tour for hippie schools when they live across the bay from Berkeley and just an hour or two from Santa Cruz? It all seemed way too contrived for me.
Uh … cuz maybe kid wants something different from where she grew up?
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
As a reminder, discussion of a moderator’s actions is not allowed on the forums. You want to ask a mod about his/her actions, send him/her a PM. I have deleted several posts bemoaning a user that someone assumed was banned; she was not. So not only were a moderator’s theoretical actions discussed, the underlying assumption was incorrect.
And we’re back! Thanks to the moderator! I think it was the addition to the Oberlin demands that did it. Will post the Oberlin review in a bit. 
So, as I was saying . . .
First, to give credit where credit is due, I stole the Oberlin line above from @Akqj10. Respect.
Back to business.
Hippie Colleges of Ohio Tour 2016 (Day 3) — Boo and I finally made it to the Mecca of Ohio hippie colleges — Oberlin College. We performed the usual rituals (throwing stones at a statue of Dick Cheney, circling a “Sanders for President” sign seven times, dressing in organic vegan garments, determining which gendered or agendered pronouns to use when referring to others, etc.). Unfortunately, the weather goddess did not look down on us favorably. It was 32 degrees and lightly raining all day — which seemed effing freezing to us spoiled Californians. Boo did a couple of lessons at the conservatory, then we went on a tour of the college. Our guide described herself as having attended a tiny hippie school in D.C. It turned out she was an amateur when it came to tiny hippie schools. Her school had three times as many kids as Boo’s high school, and Boo’s high school is in Berkeley. There’s no way the guide could top that. The highlight of the tour was a lengthy discussion of how dormitory bathrooms are gendered or not gendered or whatever. But we were assured that group showers were not part of the program — unless, of course, that’s your thing. Whatever. It’s totally cool.
Hippie Colleges of Ohio Tour 2016 (Day 4) – I write tonight from the Overlook Hotel of Central Ohio. It’s a nearly empty large resort in the middle of nowhere. I suspect that in season, the location is lovely, but now, in the off season, I expect to see creepy little twins saying “REDRUM” every time I step into the hall. We began the day by returning to Mecca for a visit to the Oberlin Conservatory. Boo visibly surprised the receptionist by not being a boy. (Her real name is more commonly a boy’s name.) We had a “group” meeting (us plus one other student and her mom) with one of the associate directors of admission for the conservatory. I’ll give him credit for being honest, but he basically said to Boo, “You’re a soprano? Good luck with that.” Awesome. Good thing Boo doesn’t have her heart set on the Oberlin Conservatory. After a quick tour, we hopped into the car and drove through the farmlands and small towns of Central Ohio. I kept thinking of “Our Town” and half expected to see the ghost of Emily Webb in the cemeteries we passed. We saw an Amish horse and buggy on the road. Also lots of “Trump for President” signs – something that is about as common in our part of the world as flying pigs. We then checked into the Ohio Overlook, had some pizza, and watched the topiary walk around. If I don’t post tomorrow, it’s probably because Jack Nicholson has murdered me.
That would absolutely be Antioch College in Yellow Springs, but it wasn’t accredited there for a few years (it just recently got it back), so I get why it was skipped.
@OHMomof2 To be honest, I was completely unfamiliar with Antioch until we were planning the Ohio trip. I think for a lot of people who are not that familiar with Ohio schools (like me), Oberlin is and always will be the Mecca of Ohio hippie colleges. My broad and general (and probably incorrect) impression is that smart hippie kids are willing to travel if they can go to Oberlin, but not Antioch. Your results may vary.
Those of us who are older than dirt and went to college in the 70’s fondly remember Antioch. And if you really want off-beat, take a look at Naropa University. http://www.naropa.edu/about-naropa/index.php You can major in Contemplative Art Therapy, Peace Studies or Traditional Eastern Arts, among other things.
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And that’s why Oberlin came on our list, and went right back off. Well that and the price tag. Fun to look at and think about though!
I’m clutching my pearls. Our Town–that is, Grover’s Corners–is in New Hampshire. NEW ENGLAND!! NH is full of such small towns. Ohio, shmio.
She’s from California…everything east of the Rockies looks the same to her. 
Au contraire, @Hanna. I’m originally from the Midwest. I didn’t move to California until I was about 30.
But @Consolation, I’ve always lived in cities, so every small town is Grover’s Corners to me.
@hyppymom I get ya. Antioch fell off the radar for a decade or so while it got its life back together 
My brother graduated from it, Michael Moore was the commencement speaker. I do believe the younger hippie scene may have jumped to Oberlin while Antioch was in rehab.
@jym626 or Soka, right in California!
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