I've seen a lot of posts on here about music majors in a liberal arts setting. Since I'm a Lawrence alum and I'm almost done with my master's at Oberlin, I thought I'd post an Ask Me Anything (AMA) thread if people have questions. This can also extend to more general discussions about music majors at LACs, to which I think I have some ability to comment but I've been a conservatory student at both schools. I'd also advise taking what I have to say with a grain of salt because one year at Oberlin as one of less than twenty total grad students is not as representative as having gone to Lawrence as a normal student.
Some points that come to mind before they're even asked:
1) Lawrence is more rigorous than Oberlin, academically speaking. I think it's because of the trimesters, not necessarily that Oberlin's classes are lacking in quality. My master's has been very rigorous, but honestly college was harder most of the time. I also feel confident saying that the undergrads I know at Oberlin are not as flustered as Lawrence students.
2) Oberlin has more consistently high-quality music students, which I believe is because they can recruit much more easily than Lawrence. Lawrence's top musicians are definitely on par with Oberlin's, but Oberlin doesn't have the mid-tier musicians that make up a large chunk of the Lawrence student body. That said, I feel that Lawrence's faculty is on par with Oberlin's so the main musical advantage to Oberlin is that you're surrounded by almost exclusively students who are at a really high level. Lawrence is probably a better fit if you want to work really hard but don't like competition.
3) Both schools have extremely strong characters. Oberlin is basically an East Coast school in terms of student body and attitude despite being in Ohio. It seems like most people are from New York (Manhattan), Philly, or Boston. Lawrence has a lot of Chicago, Twin Cities and Wisconsin (from around the state) people and feels very Midwestern. I'd say Oberlin is more hipster and Lawrence is preppier, but there's a part of the student body there that is really similar to the overwhelming majority of Obies.
4) If you're looking to do a BA in music, I would absolutely recommend Lawrence over Oberlin; at Oberlin BA majors in "Musical Studies" are not guaranteed to have a spot in a studio for their instrument. As I understand it, they sometimes end up taking lessons with upperclassmen and to me that's just not worth the tuition in that case. At Lawrence, the BA "Music" major is almost the same as the performance major, but with the senior recital not being required in lieu of taking more college classes. (The way this stacks up depends a bit by instrument.) Lawrence BAs take lessons with faculty, but in some cases actually have more choice than the BM students, as there's a few faculty members who only teach "non-majors" and BAs could choose them if they want and their instrument has such faculty.
5) Appleton isn't as bad as people make it out to sound, but it is kind of a bland town. Without a car, you'd have more stuff to do in Appleton than Oberlin but The City of Oberlin is a much more interesting little bubble. The shops and restaurants in Oberlin are totally dependent on the College for their existence and they've definitely molded themselves that way. Appleton has almost 75,000 people so it can survive without LU and you'll find a lot more people in Appleton who either don't care about Lawrence or have no relationship to it. It would be very difficult to live in Oberlin, Ohio and have zero connection to Oberlin College. It's also way warmer in Oberlin.
6) In the music world, having the Oberlin label on your resume is an advantage, period. It's up there with all the other top-tier conservatories and every time I've introduced myself to a new music education professional I've met the Oberlin label has had an immediate effect in how they respond to me. It's kinda BS because the piece of paper you have does not paint the whole picture of who you are at all, but that is something to keep in mind when choosing between the universally acclaimed schools and those with lesser names. I love Lawrence and will always direct people there, but that same effect on really happens with the Lawrence label in Wisconsin. It's not Lawrence's fault they're not as well-known - Oberlin is a super wealthy school!
I hope this is helpful or at the very least interesting, since there are only a handful of people who have gone to both schools.
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