<p>I would really like to know about the student bodies at these schools. Thanks.</p>
<p>Kenyon College
Illinois Wesleyan University
Denison University
Beloit College
DePauw University
Lawrence University
Centre College
Rhodes College
Knox College
Lake Forest College
Kalamazoo College
Truman State University</p>
<p>country day - Based on your list I’d say you’re probably West County. If not, I apologize for the following characterizations:</p>
<p>Academically oriented:
<p>Socially-oriented
<p>I’m not familiar with the remainder of the schools.</p>
<p>Centre is a charming small liberal arts school located near the small Kentucky town of Danville. A little over half the students are from Kentucky, the rest from around the country. Smallish, intimate and a bit homogenous. Very focused on graduating students in 4 years (even offers a 5th year free policy if your child can’t complete degree in 4 years, guessing there are “fine print” details to this). Very well regarded locally, probably not much known outside of region. Tuition includes room and board, so at an all in cost of 38k per year, more affordable that most LACs. Good merit aid. If your child is a junior, ask guidance counselor to nominate your child as a “Centre Fellow” to guarantee a 12.5K merit award, if accepted.</p>
<p>I thought that Denison is academically orientated.</p>
<p>country day… are you an outdoorsy person? if so, look at sewanee (university of the south) absolutely rural!! but a wonderful school. about 1700- 1900 students. in TN . strong academics, merit aid available, beautiful gothic campus in the middle of thousands of acres of nature,</p>
<p>The students at Kenyon and Denison are fairly preppy. Knox has students that are a little more geeky.</p>
<p>Truman State has a very good reputation academically, and is very affordable. The downside is that it truly is in the middle of nowhere. And the student body is probably largely MO.</p>
<p>Kenyon: I visited there over spring break. Very gothic architecutre, and very preppy students. It sort of sits on a hill/cliff type-thing, so the view is gorgeous (and I was there on a rainy day). The facilities are beautiful, too. (I was particularly impressed with tiled, stainless steel, modern dining hall.) However, the community is more than a little lacking. There are a few houses, but otherwise you have to drive to Mount Vernon (which is, fortunately, quite close). I believe Kenyon is also difficult to get into and considered very expensive.</p>
<p>Lawrence: I’m a Wisconsin resident, and most people here would tell you that it’s one of (if not THE) best liberal arts school in the state. Of course, opinions are a little biased. I have not been there myself, but I know that it is center city in Appleton, which is a decent size but not huge. I have heard mixed reviews of the campus itself. It is also heavily inclined towards music.</p>
<p>Sorry, but I don’t know much about the rest.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the help.</p>
<p>Btw newhope I do live in West County.</p>
<p>My stepson graduated from Kalamazoo College and loved it. He went there because he was very taken by the junior year study abroad program (I believe it’s required for all students.) as well as a few other offerings. He was a wrestler in high school and the coach at K-College was very interested in having him come. (I’m sure it’s not a hugely competitive program.) Take a look at Colleges That Change Lives–K College is included. When my stepson went most of the students were from the Michigan, but I would think there’s probably a little more diversity now.</p>
<p>Colleges that change lives is a great book, but country day if you dont have it, you can view info on some of these colleges at</p>
<p>[CTCL</a> School Profiles | Colleges That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/profiles]CTCL”>http://www.ctcl.org/colleges/profiles)</p>
<p>Wow, except for Kenyon (maybe), that’s a list of fairly CONSERVATIVE colleges, or are located in fairly CONSERVATIVE parts of the country. Good luck to you, country day.</p>
<p>Plainsman, what makes you think these are conservative colleges? I actually thought most were pretty liberal and attracted fairly liberal students? New College, Reed, Beloit, St. Johns…conservative…I don’t think so…</p>
<p>I would never categorize Beloit or Knox as “conservative”, although Knox is located in a fairly rural area which may or may not be conservative. The students I know who attend either Beloit or Knox are more of the “quirky” bent, with strong academic and social justice interests which are strongly supported by their professors.</p>
<p>Lake Forest has more of a preppy rep; we rather liked the school and the profs we met, but after spending a day with other prospies, my daughter couldn’t get out of there fast enough…she felt she would be the perpetual “poor cousin” if she attended.</p>
<p>Denison is a school I’ve always had difficulty getting a feel for…the rep is more party/social, yet some posters on CC, whose kids attend there, feel that rep is more historical than current.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo is a wonderful school; here in MI, it’s considered the go-to school if you can get into U-M but want a LAC experience. Still very much a MI school though, which can be a mixed blessing. If you are reasonably independent without the need to go home regularly (when your classmates are headed home), it shouldn’t be a huge issue. But if an emptier campus on weekends would bother you, it might be a problem.</p>
<p>Looking at your list, I would add College of Wooster as another school to consider; it seems it would be a stronger possibility than say, DePauw, which has a HUGE Greek presence and seems like a bit of an outlier compared to the other schools on your list.</p>
<p>Denison is somewhat preppy, although as DH pointed out, that’s not the worst thing you could say about a school. We found Kenyon much more artsy–funky kids in funky clothes who were looking to be writers, actors, . . . My sense is Oberlin is even more Kenyon than Kenyon. Definitely smart kids at Kenyon (my guess is toughest to get into of all the schools on your list), but perhaps more for the kids who are a little out there. I’d echo the recommendation to look at College of Wooster. I can’t tell you how many truly excellent things I’ve heard about that school, including from a former president of the National Association of College Admissions Counselors.</p>
<p>I agree that Kenyon has become tougher to get into. Two years ago, the daughter of a friend got accepted at what were, on paper, seemingly more difficult schools and got waitlisted at Kenyon. She ended up choosing Oberlin from “her” list.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The majority of Kalamazoo students are from Michigan, but Kalamazoo has been working to diversify its applicant base. An admissions officer told me last week that the majority of applications at K this year were from studentsoutside of Michigan.</p>
<p>I’ve been told repeatedly by K students, K parents and K admissions people that K students don’t usually go home on weekends. I hope that’s true, as Fang Jr, who won’t be able to fly to California on weekends, will miss his friends if they go home. </p>
<p>Kalamazoo is a nerdy school which stresses academics over everything else. A K education starts with a freshman seminar, and finishes up with a required senior thesis or other capstone project. Study abroad is an important and expected part of a Kalamazoo education; there aren’t many juniors resident at Kalamazoo, as over 85% of K students study abroad. </p>
<p>Kalamazoo is not remotely a conservative school, and western Michigan is not a conservative area. Beloit, an arty, quirky, supportive place where everyone is friendly, is in no way conservative either, not in the slightest.</p>
<p>CardinalFang, I’m glad to hear that K College is having success with expanding beyond MI; I suspect my comments reflect an outdated perception here in MI rather than the newer reality. Thanks for the update straight from the school (and best of luck to Fang Jr!)</p>
<p>But western Michigan not a conservative area? I’m not so sure about that, although I may be thinking more of the Grand Rapids area than Kalamazoo. Still, I don’t think the relative conservativism/liberalism of an area should be a deal-breaker, since it’s the campus environment which is key for the student. And in that, I fully agree that neither K-zoo or Beloit are conservative.</p>
<p>“Kalamazoo is a nerdy school.”</p>
<p>I wasn’t a nerd…I really wasn’t LOL. All kidding aside, the kids at K are pretty darn bright. No doubt about that and it is academically challenging. No doubt about that either.</p>
<p>“19th nationally in the percentage of graduates who earn doctoral degrees and the only Michigan college or university among the top 50” comes from K’s website.</p>
<p>My son is an out of state student at Kalamazoo who can’t travel home just for a weekend but has had no difficulty finding things to do. Yesterday K College hosted a regional Ultimate (disc) tournament. He’s on the team and was playing in the tournament – except for when he had to rush back to campus to give a Roosevelt Institute presentation. Then in the evening it was a barbecue with friends off campus. Plenty to do.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo, Beloit and Lawrence are anything but “conservative,” schools, although surely all of them have some conservative students. Beloit is actually more in the “crunchy granola” end of the college spectrum, while K and Lawrence are fairly typical LACs, politically speaking. Not as “liberal” as Oberlin or Reed or Beloit, probably, but a thousand miles (metaphorically speaking) from Washington & Lee or Grove City or Hillsdale.</p>
<p>By the way, Kalamazoo did well in the tournament; took second to the mighty U of Toronto team, but considering Toronto has 30 times as many students, that’s not bad. :)</p>