<p>Heard about this interesting place up in Michigan, Calvin College. Now I've been looking for a while for a place to continue my education in a Chrisitan environment(think Wheaton, Baylor) but Baylor's always been too big and a little too close to home, and I'm not a big fan of massive cities like Chicago(Wheaton). What's yalls opinions on it? Planned major:Worship music or English. Planned seminary afterwards. Going into vocational ministry.</p>
<p>My husband went there and visits there relatively frequently because he's involved in alumni affairs there. He feels that he got an excellent liberal arts education in a student-centered school. He also and got a highly respected national fellowship for graduate school, and would be happy to send our son there (though son probably would prefer to go to a larger school).</p>
<p>My husband was accepted to an Ivy for grad school, but turned it down for a state U that at that time was probably the school highest ranked in his graduate field.</p>
<p>He originally planned to become a minister, but ended up majoring in German and philosophy and minoring in history. He feels that the critical thinking and other skills from Calvin have served him well in his career, and he has done very well professionally. </p>
<p>The only thing that my husband complains about is that it's cold in Grand Rapids, but he was from the Midwest anyway, so he was used to the cold. :)</p>
<p>how cold we talking? im from texas, and lets put it this way, ive never seen snow. highest temp ive ever been in is 117 in the 97 drought. im very used to hot temperatures. whats the cold like?</p>
<p>My friend's brother went there. He is planning on entering the ministry. I got the impression that it is not as rigorous academically as Wheaton, but students are more serious than Baylor. Grove City College in PA is another Christian school similar to Wheaton.</p>
<p>Calvin has a good reputation in Michigan. Wheaton in Illinois is in a fringe suburb, quite a distance from anything resembling the urban jungle.</p>
<p>Calvin does have a good reputation in Michigan, and I know people from Calvin who have gone on to top grad programs.</p>
<p>If Michigan's cold winters are too much, look at Westmont College in Santa Barbara, California. The climate is great, the campus is really lovely and it's a 'growing' Christian institution.</p>
<p>camper89 - Be sure to urge your Dad to rev up the family jalopy this summer and y'all go visit Christian themed schools in other parts of the country (such as the Midwest). As you know, there are some excellent ones in very different locales. For instance, Wheaton College is in the very nice suburban town of Wheaton outside Chicago (no "big city" feel at all), but with commuter train access to downtown Chicago. You know about Grove City in western Pennsylvania. In south central Pennsylvania is Messiah College near beautiful, rolling picture postcard farmlands. Taylor University (do a search in CC for recent threads) in Indiana has high academic standards and is highly regarded. Hope College in Michigan is another. There are numerous others. Whittle down the list of possible Christian themed colleges and then get out there and visit them. Close by and possibly worth a visit is LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas. </p>
<p>By the way, you can't fool a fellow north Texan. Yes, we do get snow occasionally (but more ice storms) in Dallas-Fort Worth but it does melt fast.</p>
<p>camper89 - What's the cold like? Think back to Dallas-Fort Worth's cold snap in mid-December (where temperature dropped to 12 to 15 degrees or so for a few days and the highs were 20 to 25). Just know that there will be more cold periods like this (and considerably colder down to sub-zero at various times). However, you dress for it and do get used to it. The weather in Amarillo and Lubbock would be similar temperature-wise in the winter time. One thing that does take getting used to in the Midwest (I went to college in Chicago) is that in the depth of winter the sun sets by 4:15 pm (versus 5:15 pm or so in Dallas-Fort Worth). Apart from the day-to-day somewhat colder weather, you also have to factor in the occasional heavy snowfalls, but since as a college student you won't be driving a car much (if at all) the snow can be a nice diversion from the gloom of winter.</p>
<p>Spring and Fall can be beautiful in the Midwest (though fairly short), so you will genuinely have four seasons as well.</p>
<p>dang it my exaggeration will always be foiled.</p>
<p>bump any comments appreciated</p>
<p>bump plz respond</p>
<p>bump plz respond</p>