Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Did I make a mistake? (College Decision Woes)

mulletJeb · 07-01-2004, 10:55 PM

I've been on a waitlist at Oberlin College since early April. I visited after finding out my status, and enjoyed the school. The people were friendly, and intelligent. The school itself was well kept, had good resources, and a kickass art museum in town. The education is a fine one, and if I am to go there then I would have a shot at a fine 3-2 Engineering program where I would study at Oberlin for 3 years and transfer to a cooperating school for the final 2 years (one of the coop schools is Columbia University to which I'd love a shot at attending) .

Unfortunately, it's located in Ohio (I'm from NJ) and it's expensive (almost 30 grand in tuition alone). I'm currently enrolled for Rutgers Engineering which is local and costs 1/4 of what Oberlin would.

So, I got impatient, forced myself to make a decision and I told the admissions counselor that I was no longer considering Oberlin. My reasons for this were the above, and an acceptance of my situation at Rutgers which really isn't all that bad (it's not too expensive, the resources are vast if I work them right and I can get a decent education there).

So, tonight I got to thinking about the two days I spent at Oberlin, and how nice of a time it was. I also realize that I'll probably have good times at Rutgers too, but I haven't experienced that yet and so I'm beginning to wonder if I made the wrong decision. Is 4 years of education worth such an extravagant sum? I'm probably making the smart long-term decision here, but there's other stuff to consider: the liberal arts education I would receive at Oberlin, an extra year in school...

Does anyone have some experience to share? Am I right in weighing the factors of distance and finance against all the benefits?

07-01-2004, 10:55 PM	#1 (permalink)
mulletJeb Insane	Did I make a mistake? (College Decision Woes) I've been on a waitlist at Oberlin College since early April. I visited after finding out my status, and enjoyed the school. The people were friendly, and intelligent. The school itself was well kept, had good resources, and a kickass art museum in town. The education is a fine one, and if I am to go there then I would have a shot at a fine 3-2 Engineering program where I would study at Oberlin for 3 years and transfer to a cooperating school for the final 2 years (one of the coop schools is Columbia University to which I'd love a shot at attending) . Unfortunately, it's located in Ohio (I'm from NJ) and it's expensive (almost 30 grand in tuition alone). I'm currently enrolled for Rutgers Engineering which is local and costs 1/4 of what Oberlin would. So, I got impatient, forced myself to make a decision and I told the admissions counselor that I was no longer considering Oberlin. My reasons for this were the above, and an acceptance of my situation at Rutgers which really isn't all that bad (it's not too expensive, the resources are vast if I work them right and I can get a decent education there). So, tonight I got to thinking about the two days I spent at Oberlin, and how nice of a time it was. I also realize that I'll probably have good times at Rutgers too, but I haven't experienced that yet and so I'm beginning to wonder if I made the wrong decision. Is 4 years of education worth such an extravagant sum? I'm probably making the smart long-term decision here, but there's other stuff to consider: the liberal arts education I would receive at Oberlin, an extra year in school... Does anyone have some experience to share? Am I right in weighing the factors of distance and finance against all the benefits?