(no subject)

[honoumiko]

Gaia hangouts are amusing.
And I find it more amusing that there's more stuff in Plymouth, NH than there is in Oberlin, OH. You know, where the BIG PRESTIGIOUS CONSERVATORY is.
I've heard so many mixed opinions about Oberlin it's not even funny. You either love it or you hate it, I suppose.

Comments

[polynerd.livejournal.com]

I went to visit Oberlin the summer before my senior year, and I absolutely loved it. I was certain I wanted to go there, and I talked about it all the time. I wanted to do their second round of ed in January (due on my birthday, so good karma there) but my parents convinced me not to. I still wanted to go there for the next four months.

So out of the schools I got into, I'm deciding between Smith and Oberlin. I didn't like any of the other schools I applied to, and Oberlin was definitely my first choice. I fly out with my dad- this is a Sunday night. I didn't have a lot of choice in when I visited colleges since I was working during the week and the March for Women's Lives was on April 25th. Anyway, I was supposed to call the host that the admissions office assigned to me, but since I'm a lazy procrastinator, I never got around to it. I go to the campus center, where I'm supposed to meet her, but she never shows up. I wait a while, then a friend of hers comes, telling me that Jenny was out of town for the day (it could have been easter? It definitely was passover), and that I could put my stuff it her (Jenny's) room and come hang out with her friend. Her friend had to work on a project, so I sat in her house for and hour and a half. I walked back to Jenny's house and sat there for another hour and a half. I went to the campus center and sat there for an hour. Meanwhile, the people at the desk are calling to find if there's anyone who could host me instead. There was someone I knew from camp (who I hadn't spoken to in several years), but he wasn't available either. I wait some more. Finally, around 8, they make sure I get some dinner (I'd already decided I wasn't going to keep kosher for the trip- it would have been too difficult). Finally Jenny shows up. We go to her room, but she has to spend the evening doing laundry. She looks of the schedule of classes online, and helps me pick some out. Her roommate leaves to go do homework. I go to bed. In the morning, she left before I woke up, so I never saw her again.

new paragraph:
I'd been trying to call my dad, but I didn't have a cellphone, and I went to the inn but couldn't remember what room. Finally I run into him, and I just start crying and can't tell him what happened. I blamed myself- I should have called my host.

I get back to school on Tuesday, and Mr. Berk asks me how the visit was, since I'd been talking about Oberlin for months. I looked heartbroken, but still felt like it was all my fault. I didn't want to tell anyone.

It turned out that Mr. Berk called Oberlin to complain about the way I was treated. I didn't want him to call. They only reason I know is because my dad also called, which I didn't want him to do, TEN MINUTES LATER. A week later, I received an e-mail from the admissions person in charge of the northeast region. He apologized for what happened, hoped it wouldn't tarnish my view of the school, etc. It was in an odd style; it seemed like it could have been written by a 7th grader.

Next weekend I went to Smith. Liked it a lot. Still do.


That's just my view of Oberlin.

and I apologize for the inconsistent tenses and whatnot.

[honoumiko.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'm glad my ordeal wasn't that insane.
But yeah, they made me go through the entire application process (they sent me about FOUR applications), and I got incredible recommendations from music teachers... I mean, um... I have no idea what they said about me! *looks around suspiciously*
(don't worry I didn't snoop, they let me see it lol)
But anyway, so I had to send a screening CD before I could get invited to an audition. Of course, we were getting impatient because we had already made flight reservations and wanted to know if we were going to need to cancel or not, and we were calling about a month before I was supposed to audition and they were like "oh, when was your preference date?...February 12? Oh, yeah, that's coming up soon, I guess we'd better get going on that."
Needless to say, I didn't get invited to audition. But they kept sending me stuff, all this diversity crap because I'm half Puerto Rican (because most Puerto Ricans aren't smart like me, you know... /sarcasm). And my mother called, (which I didn't want her to do either lol) and asked whether they even look at the recommendations and applications when they're listening to the screening CD, and lo, they do not. So why go through it in the first place?? You should only have to do it if you get invited if they don't even LOOK at it to begin with. The whole thing is corrupt. And they allow undergrad freshmen and sophomores to be in their opera productions, and that's sketchy. (typically you have to wait for your voice to develop before you get to heavy serious stuff, so you stick to oratorios and what not.)
And that's my view.

[sleeping-sand.livejournal.com]

Steph, are you applying for the conservatory, or as a college music major to the liberal arts college?

[honoumiko.livejournal.com]

Ah ha ha. See my above comment, lol (it WAS the conservatory)