Oberlin College

Caveat: I must warn you, I am a nerd, but I understand that not everyone is a nerd and is not looking for the same things from college. My friends, most of whom are not nerds, by and large like Oberlin, too. So I'll try to make it applicable to everyone.

So: Party scene? I'm not sure. It exists. I've heard that it's not good. But if you're more into drugs than drinking, this is the place for you.

The stuff about Oberlin being a "gay" school: If you're homophobic, this probably isn't a good place for you. But it's not a big deal; some people are gay, some people are straight, some people are transgendered, some people are of non-discernable gender. So what?

Anyway. All of my professors have been really helpful… once I talked to them, and I love my advisor.

Our libraries are greeeeeeat. There are four of them, and the main one has WOMB CHAIRS. Yes, womb chairs. They are awesome.

You'll have to study a fair amount, but not because of busywork—the professors expect you to Think.

If you're a classical or 20th cent. music person, even if you're not in the Conservatory of Music, there are still a lot of opportunities for you to perform or see other people perform.

Main social events of the year: Safer Sex Night and Drag Ball. No alcohol is allowed, technically, but I saw plenty of plastered people.

Dorms: Divided doubles are awesome. You have a roommate… but you have your own space. There's a wall separating the two halves of the room. But of course there are also singles, open doubles, triples, and quads. There's Afrikan Heritage House, German House, French House, Spanish House, Asia House, Third World House (seriously), co-ops, Women's Collective, Substance Free House, a quiet hall, the de facto sports dorms, the Firelands (Oberlin's apartment building), "village housing", and then also just the regular dorms.

I don't know about the other dorms, but I lived in East this year, and it was kept very clean, which was nice. The showers were a little scuzzy once in a while, but what college showers aren't? Wear flip-flops and you'll be fine.

Admissions are no longer need-blind, which Totally Sucks. But they were until a year or two ago, so we're hoping they'll change back.

The seasons: The four seasons of Oberlin are almost winter, winter, still winter, and construction. And winter is nasty. But it's bearable.

Campus mental health services stink. In fact, the whole student health system seems to stink, unless you're in crisis, in which case it's okay. But that's not really ideal, is it…

There are a lot of clubs to join, if you want, people are friendly, the academic resources are great, the campus is beautiful even when it's snowy (and/or muddy), there are nerds, there are (smart, overachieving) jocks, there are queers, there are people who don't care about their appearance at all, there are people who wear miniskirts and high heels in the snow (they're not All voice majors, really), there are computer geeks, there are social butterflies, there's… well, there's really just about everyone. Except maybe Republicans (and there are probably a few of those. Someplace. I know of one, at least). We have both pro-choice and pro-life groups. Despite our reputation for being crazy Godless radicals, there are plenty of religious groups around, too, although they're not in your face. (We have Taize, Kosher-Halal Co-op, Hillel, Oberlin Young Friends/Quakers, Ecumenical Christians of Oberlin, Newmann—a Catholic organization—, Pagan Awareness Network, a Muslim group, a Zionist group, and all sorts of things.)

Anyway, if you're kind of a weirdo of any sort, you might like Oberlin, and you should visit and see how it is for you.

If nothing else, maybe you'll get to see the Harkies (people from a co-op, Harkness) bust out their pirate boat and kidnap some prospies. It happened when I was visiting, anyway.