Last week, a high school junior walked into my office. I was hosting “office hours” for all advanced-level computer science classes. It was a quiet shift. He was the first person I’d seen in thirty minutes.
“Are you a professor?” he asked me.
I considered the question before answering. I was a bored fourth-year sitting in an empty office, working on an overdue Introduction to Computer Architecture assignment. I certainly didn’t think I looked like a professor.
I took pity. “No,” I said. “Can I help you?”
What proceeds is every question he asked me, and every answer I gave. I hope it satisfies your curiosity and that if you ever visited Oberlin, you too would have the courage to ask every question on your mind.
What is the program for Computer Science like?
“It’s small. It’s intensive. There’s five required CS classes, and then you can choose elective courses. It’s a pretty cool mix between theory and practical applications. The class sizes are either small (5-10 students) or medium (20-30 students), but either way, you’ll be in touch with the professor. There’s research opportunities with professors, career panels every few months, and an ice cream social at the end of the semester where they have Luigi's Lemon Italian Ice. You can’t miss it.”
What are the good things?
“The small class sizes. The people. The elective classes (Game Design, Natural Language Processing, Computer Security). Being a TA and watching people learn. The ice cream social at the end of the semester where they have Luigi's Lemon Italian Ice.”
What don’t you like?
“How difficult it can be to get a job or internship. Less research opportunities (but not none.)”
What are the professors like?
“Personable. Kind. Incredibly intelligent. Occasionally awkward.”
What are people doing tonight?
“My friends and I are eating dinner at Thi Ni Thai, Oberlin’s local Thai restaurant. There is a movie screening at the Apollo Theatre and a theatre performance at the Wurtzel Theatre. There’s a jazz concert at the Cat in the Cream. There’s late-night trivia at Slow Train, Oberlin’s local cafe. After all of that, it is the Pole Dance Spring Show (Garden Party). A number of people will probably head to the Feve for drinks. I’ll head home after and hang out with my friends.”
How do I choose the right college?
“The fact is, a lot of colleges are pretty similar. Maybe one program has a higher emphasis on research. Maybe another's campus is on the ocean. But besides that, it matters less which college you choose and more what you do at college. Do you join student organizations? Do you find friends in unlikely places? Do you go to office hours and ask stupid questions, so grateful to the professor for entertaining you?
"It also matters if you can see yourself here, if you can imagine yourself throwing a frisbee on the quad or sitting in a computer science class, then waiting to talk to the professor after.”
What student organizations are you in?
“I am in Circus, Tank Co-Op, Pole Dance, and a number of other dance groups. I go to Friday Shabbat dinners at Chabad, and I go to Oberlin Film Society's screenings at the Apollo Theatre every Sunday."
Where do students hang out?
It was 5pm when he asked me this. I told him, “You’ll probably find students at Mudd Center, one of our libraries in the middle of campus, or Stevenson Hall, the general dining hall. If that's too boring, stand on the side of the street until you run into a biker, running late for dinner or a show.”
Can I go up and talk to them?
“Of course! Oberlin students love to talk, and there’s not a topic they don’t feel passionate about.”
How did you choose Oberlin?
“Not to be a plug, but I have a great blog about this. Ultimately, I saw myself here. When I was a high school student touring, I was vegetarian, an intended Creative Writing major, and shy. I wanted to go to the concerts here. I wanted to take Secondary Lessons and learn piano. I wanted to fit in in this small college in the middle of Ohio.
“I’ve changed a lot, obviously. I’m less quiet now. I’m a Computer Science major. I’m still vegetarian, but I’m in a co-op, and I never saw myself cooking and cleaning with a hundred other people. But I’ve never regretted Oberlin.”
