O
BERLIN
College, founded in 1833, is an independent, coeducational, liberal arts
college dedicated to recruiting students from diverse backgrounds. Oberlin comprises
two divisions: the College of Arts and Sciences, with roughly
2,300 students, and the Conservatory of Music, with about 600
students. Students in both divisions share one campus; they also
share residence and dining halls as part of one academic
community. Many students take courses in both divisions. Oberlin awards the Bachelor of Arts and the Bachelor of Music degrees.
In Oberlin's unique double-degree program, students pursue the B.A. and
the B.Mus. degrees in a unified, five-year program. Selected master's
degrees are offered in the Conservatory. Oberlin was the first college in the country to admit women, and one
of the first to admit African Americans. By 1900 nearly
half of all the black college graduates in the country–128
to be exact–had graduated from Oberlin. This core of Oberlin-educated
men and women formed the first black professional class in the country.
Today, Oberlin's progressive history lives on in the idealism and conviction of its students. Students are united
by a commitment to social justice and a willingness to
confront social issues that many would prefer to ignore. As
the New York Times noted in an article marking Oberlin's
150th anniversary, “In its century and a half, while Harvard
worried about the classics and Yale about God, Oberlin worried
about the state of America and the world beyond.”
Oberlin seeks a diverse and promising student body. Recognizing that
diversity broadens perspectives, Oberlin is dedicated to recruiting a culturally,
economically, geographically, and racially diverse group of students. Interaction with
others of widely different backgrounds and experiences fosters the effective
and concerned participation in the larger society so characteristic of
Oberlin graduates. Among primarily undergraduate institutions, Oberlin ranks first for
the number of graduates who go on to earn Ph.D.
degrees. Its alumni, who include three Nobel laureates, are leaders in law, scientific and scholarly research, medicine, the arts, theology,
communications, business, and government.
Oberlin has several distinctive academic
programs. During the four-week Winter Term, students create independent projects
(group or individual) that can be pursued on- or off-campus. These projects may have an academic or career focus and
need not be connected to a student's major. Oberlin's Experimental
College, a student-run program, offers courses for limited academic credit
taught by Oberlin students, townspeople, administrators, and faculty members.
Oberlin offers a small-town atmosphere, and is located not far from Cleveland. There is never a lack of something to
do. More than 400 concerts and recitals take place on
campus annually, from ticketed events like the Cleveland Orchestra to
free student and faculty recitals. Each year the Conservatory stages
two operas, and the theater and dance program presents several
productions. Numerous lectures and readings feature guests prominent in a
variety of disciplines.
Location Oberlin College is an
integral part of the city of Oberlin, a town of
about 8,000 residents located 35 miles southwest of Cleveland. The
town is primarily residential, with tree-lined streets and fine old
clapboard houses. The College is located in the center of
town, close to the business district, and virtually everything a
student needs is within walking or biking distance.
Majors
and Degrees
Oberlin offers the Bachelor of Arts degree
(awarded by the College of Arts and Sciences), and the
Bachelor of Music degree (awarded by the Conservatory of Music).
Oberlin also offers a unique “double-degree” program, a five-year course
of study leading to the B.A. and B.Mus. degrees. Students
wishing to enter the double-degree program must be accepted by both the College of Arts and Sciences and the Conservatory of Music.
The B.A. is awarded in African-American studies,
anthropology, archaeological studies, art (history and studio), biology, biopsychology, chemistry,
cinema studies, classics (Greek, Latin, and classical civilization), comparative literature,
computer science, creative writing, dance, East Asian studies, economics, English,
environmental studies, French, geology, German, Hispanic studies, history, Jewish studies,
Latin American studies, law and society, mathematics, music, neuroscience, philosophy,
physics, politics, psychology, religion, Russian, Russian and East European studies,
sociology, theater, Third World studies, 3/2 engineering, and women's studies.
In addition, many students pursue interdisciplinary individual majors.
The
B.Mus. is awarded in composition, electronic and computer music, historical
performance, jazz studies (performance or composition), music education, music history,
and performance (baroque cello/viola da gamba, baroque flute, baroque oboe,
baroque violin, bassoon, clarinet, classical guitar, double bass, flute, harp,
harpsichord, horn, lute, oboe, organ, percussion, piano, recorder, saxophone, trombone,
trumpet, tuba, viola, violin, violoncello, and voice). A major in
music theory is only offered as part of a double
major.
The Conservatory of Music also offers combined 5-year
B.Mus. and M.Mus. degrees in opera theater, conducting, and music
education and teaching as well as an M.Mus. in historical
performance and a four-semester Artist Diploma.
Academic Program
To receive the B.A. or the B.Mus. degree, students must
complete a major; nine credit hours in each of Oberlin's
three divisions: humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences; and three
Winter Term projects. Students must also demonstrate quantitative proficiency and
writing proficiency. For the B.A., 112 credit hours are required
for graduation; for the B.Mus., 124 hours are required. The
recommended semester course load is 14 credit hours for students
in the College of Arts and Sciences and 15 or
16 credit hours for students in the Conservatory of Music.
Academic Facilities Oberlin's four libraries contain more than
1.75 million items, including 1.1 million catalogued volumes– an unusually
large collection for a college of Oberlin's size. Other features
include an online catalog, connections to several networks, and access
to numerous online and CD-ROM databases. The College's Allen Memorial
Art Museum is considered one of the top college or
university art museums in the nation. Seventeenth-century Dutch and Flemish
painting, European art of the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries,
and contemporary art are especially well-represented among the more than
14,000 objects spanning the range of art history in the
museum.
The Conservatory of Music contains 153 practice rooms–all
with windows–and houses 168 Steinway grand pianos and 18 uprights. The Conservatory also has two concert halls, numerous instrument collections,
state-of-the-art electronic music studios, and recording facilities.
Oberlin's Irvin
E. Houck Computing Center provides more than 250 Macintosh and
Dell computers for student use in several locations on campus.
In all of the residence hall rooms, students have direct
access to the Internet and the campus network from their
personal computers. Computer accounts are automatically given to all students
at no charge. Although it is becoming more wireless, Oberlin
is considered to be one of the most wired colleges in the country.
Oberlin's new Science Center was designed
to accommodate contemporary methods in science education. Everything is interconnected,
promoting communication across disciplines and collaborative research relationships for which
Oberlin is so well known. The new Science Center complex
is a testament to Oberlin's long-held belief that the best
liberal arts education has a strong science component and that the best science education occurs in a liberal arts environment.
The Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies is
an integrated building-landscape system that incorporates several ecological technologies, including
solar cells on the roof that produce a portion of the building's electricity needs, an engineered wetland that treats and
recycles wastewater, a restored native wetland, and orchards and vegetable
gardens that demonstrate urban-scale organic agriculture.
Financial Aid
In an average year, Oberlin commits more than $30 million,
more than one-fifth of the College budget, to financial aid. The Office of Financial Aid works to develop financial aid
packages that meet the demonstrated financial need of all regularly
admitted students who comply with the filing deadlines. Canadian citizens
are treated as U.S. citizens for financial aid purposes. Limited
financial aid is also available for other international students.
To apply for assistance, students must submit the Financial Aid
PROFILE of the College Scholarship Service and the Free Application
for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Admission Requirements
Admission
to both the College of Arts and Sciences and the
Conservatory of Music is highly selective. Candidates for admission must
submit the results of the SAT I or ACT. The
College also recommends that three SAT II Subject Tests be
taken. For the class of 2008, the median SAT I
scores were 684 verbal and 672 math. The median ACT
score was 30. Of those students who attend high schools
that rank their students, 66 percent were in the top
tenth of their high school class and 83 percent were
in the top fifth. For admission to the Conservatory of
Music, the most important factor is the performance audition, or
in the case of composition and electronic and computer music
applicants, the compositions, tapes, and supporting materials submitted.
Application
and Information For more information or to request an
application, students should write to:
Office of Admissions, College
of Arts and Sciences
Oberlin College
Oberlin, Ohio 44074
Telephone: 440-775-8411
800-622-OBIE (toll-free)
E-mail: college.admissions@oberlin.edu
Office of Admissions, Conservatory of Music
Oberlin College
Oberlin, Ohio 44074
Telephone: 440-775-8413
E-mail: conservatory.admissions@oberlin.edu
World Wide Web: http://www.oberlin.edu
Office of Financial
Aid
Carnegie Building
Oberlin College
52 West
Lorain Street
Oberlin, Ohio 44074
Telephone: 440-775-8142
800-693-3173 (toll-free)
E-mail: financial.aid@oberlin.edu