<p>The OP’s son may like Knox College as it is very strong in sciences, but the student body is much more mainstream then Beloit and Lawrence.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo and Beloit are about 4 hours apart (according to Google Maps), and Chicago’s about 2 1/2 hours from Kalamazoo and 1 1/2 hours from Beloit (again, courtesy of Google Maps). It’s a bit of a ride for the Kalamazoo student, but such a meeting should be feasible.</p>
<p>Great story Cardinal Fang! The distance between Beloit and Kalamazoo is not so great but the sprawled expanse of the Chicago metropolitan area lies between - adding a lot of time to any trip - one possible public transportation option for them to meet in Chicago is
Van Galder (I do not know if Kalamazoo has this option but Beloit does: [Van</a> Galder Bus Company](<a href=“http://www.coachusa.com/vangalder/]Van”>http://www.coachusa.com/vangalder/)</p>
<p>We figured Fang Jr would take the train from Kalamazoo to Chicago, and probably his friend would take the bus from Beloit.</p>
<p>To return to the topic, OP’s son should think whether he’d be happy in a more rural location (Knox), a town (Beloit) or a city (Lawrence, Kalamazoo).</p>
<p>As someone who graduated from Beloit in December I thought I would weigh in.</p>
<p>Beloit is an interesting and great place and I don’t think your son would feel very out of place there at all. Thinking back, I was interested in similar schools. Beloit wasn’t the best I applied to, but it was my top choice.</p>
<p>Anyway, yes there are hippy types. There are more “hipsters”, but there’s every kind of student you could think of there and with a few exceptions everyone is friendly and the diffrent “groups” mix a lot. Generally the students could best be described overall as quirky, intelligent, and motivated in some way. If what motivates you is politics, then that’s what displays. I started college as a bleeding heart liberal, but very apolitical. There are a lot of bleeding hearts there and they’re the most vocal, but there are also a lot of moderate liberals. I’ve slowly become more conservative as time has gone on and there are also conservatives and people of other political persuasions at Beloit too. Most of my friends from Beloit are pretty normal, average people. We dressed and acted like average college students. The fraternity life doesn’t dominate at all (I was involved even though I one of the resons I originally chose Beloit was because there wasn’t much Greek life). Only one of the 3 fraternities on campus is what you could really call stereotypical.</p>
<p>Visit if you can for a full day and ask if you can get 2 diffrent hosts, one for the day and one for the night. You may see two diffrent sides of the student body and a more accurate representation of people.</p>
<p>As far as the sciences go, Beloit just built a beautiful new science center. All my science major friends were/are pretty happy there. This includes the ones who used to slave away in the dingy old building from the 60s. The attention that you get from faculty is top notch and that’s really what makes it.</p>
<p>-Lee</p>
<p>Cardinal Fang, for what it’s worth, my S says that many Fridays there will be a group of students walking over to the train station to all ride to Chicago. It is fairly easy and many students go home to the Chicagoland area that way.</p>
<p>OP asked about the sciences. Beloit just opened a brand new science center; it’s huge. The college is committed to teaching small sciences classes with an interactive or seminar style approach. They also send a good chunk of their science majors on to graduate school. My S, who I’d describe as casual/nerdy, seriously considered Beloit and felt very comfortable there. They were quite generous with merit aid, too. Definitely visit, even if it’s for one of the summer samplers, to get a feel for the school and the small city of Beloit.</p>
<p>I asked my D, currently on a Beloit summer program whether her school is too ‘hippie’ She said not at all, and though it might have had more hippie tendencies at one time, it is perhaps becoming just a bit more conventional these days. She said there are students of all sorts. Though I’ve observed a great tolerance for diversity, which is part of the Wisconsin tradition. My D might be described as being a bit on the unconventional side, though has found plenty of venues for her wide range of interests. She did reject another school, not in the midwest, as ‘too hippie’ which was rather a surprise. Beloit is a fine and happy place for her. </p>
<p>And yes, the science classes are great. My previously non science oriented girl has found a dedication to science that I never would have thought possible.</p>