Gateway Center & Oberlin College Admissions Office

Oberlin College is a highly selective small liberal arts college. When making our admissions decisions, we draw upon a holistic review process that allows us to get a sense of not only the applicant’s academic qualifications, but also of what the applicant is like as a person and what they will contribute to the Oberlin community. We look for students who are academically prepared for a rigorous college education and who are meaningfully engaged in their communities.

It’s easy to apply to Oberlin through the Common App or Coalition Application:
❌ No Application Fee
❌ No Supplemental Essay
➡️ ACT/SAT Test Optional

Oberlin meets 100% of demonstrated need for every student! Regardless of need, all applicants are also considered for merit scholarships and there are no additional applications or boxes to check to be evaluated for merit aid. Grants and scholarships typically make up about 75% of a student's award, with the balance composed of work-study and low-interest loans. In all, Oberlin commits over $75 million every year in institutional funding to provide access to an excellent education.

Oberlin’s Quick Cost Estimator provides an easy way for families to estimate their need-based financial aid award in just six questions! Our Net Price Calculator is another tool you can use.

Oberlin’s Conservatory of Music is the longest continuously running conservatory in the United States. World-renowned faculty teach in 42 areas of private study. Students in the Conservatory study music at a high level and go on to be professional musicians, composers, and music educators. The Conservatory and the College share a single campus and resources, but the admissions process is separate. The Conservatory of Music application includes a music theory test, an audition and other specific requirements which are different than the College application.

There are about 200 students at Oberlin who get the best of both worlds by studying in the College and the Conservatory simultaneously. These double-degree students graduate in five years with a degree in each hand: a Bachelor of Music from the Conservatory and a Bachelor of Arts from the College. Some interesting examples of double degree students’ majors are Flute & Physics or Piano Performance & English! Ashley was a double-degree student studying Economics and Trumpet Performance. Students interested in the five-year double degree program apply to the College and the Conservatory separately.

Oberlin College accepts transfer applications from students who apply for admission after beginning their undergraduate study at another institution. If you didn’t find a home at the institution at which you started, you may find a home here at Oberlin!

Oberlin welcomes students from all over the world and meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students, regardless of nationality or citizenship status. All applicants for whom English is not their first language or the primary language of secondary school instruction are required to demonstrate the language proficiency necessary to succeed in Oberlin's rigorous academic environment. We require official score reports from the TOEFL (including iBT Home Edition), IELTS, or Duolingo’s English Test (DET). The application process looks a little different for international students.

Undocumented students are welcome to apply to Oberlin and will find support while they are here. Undocumented students are considered to be domestic applicants and are eligible for need-based and merit-based aid. Oberlin meets 100% of demonstrated financial need for all admitted students, regardless of citizenship status.
While undocumented students aren't eligible for federal aid through filling out the FAFSA, they are still eligible to receive aid by filling out the CSS Profile. Obies for Undocumented Inclusion (OUI) is a student group that builds community and helps support undocumented students while they are here on campus.

Environmental Sustainability is one of Oberlin’s core values. We’ve been ranked the second greenest college in the U.S. by the Princeton Review! The Office of Environmental Sustainability and Department of Environmental Studies educate and inspire a multidisciplinary way of thinking about the world that incorporates an ethic of environmental care, social equity, and financial responsibility. Students are passionate about the environment and get involved in campus groups like Students for Energy Justice and the Sunrise Movement.

Oberlin has adopted the bold goal of reaching carbon neutrality by 2025. In order to achieve this, an ambitious construction project was started in 2021 to update the outdated campus infrastructure with a geothermal heating and cooling system. Oberlin funded the project largely with Certified Climate Bonds, only the second college in the country to do so.