<p>does anyone know much about this school? i've been looking to add some schools to my list, and i like it because its pretty close to home, its not too expensive, and has majors im interested in. but i havent visited the school yet, and im just wondering what the campus is like, what the dorms are like, what the town is like, etc. thanks in advance.</p>
<p>I know quite a bit about it.
2nd or 3rd best school in michigan, in my opion. Kalamazoo college is a competitor.
It is the most conservative university in the USA. I know a kid who went there, walked on the track team (never threw before) an It is super diverse in the number of countries and states represented, but not so much in ideology. Greek Life and Christian Clubs are the 2 major social outlets. Very good school for a michigander as yourself if you are into having a broad education with an emphasis on something in particular.</p>
<p>thanks for the info. have you ever visited the campus?</p>
<p>I have not, but It is your typical liberal arts campus. Nothing extraordinary, but attractive nonetheless.</p>
<p>It seems like a very nice school. Nice town, nice campus, good school spirit, good alumni network. Lots of famous conservative people speak there each year. I knew several very bright people who went there, and they really liked it.</p>
<p>bosox,</p>
<p>If Hillsdale is close to home, by all means go for a visit. Make sure you sit in on at least two classes. DS visited in April and was very impressed with the level of instruction and the school overall. I don't know if it's the most conservative school in the US, but the conservative viewpoint prevails while other viewpoints are able to be voiced. There is quite a bit of construction on campus at present, but the good news is that the bulk of it will be completed in early '08.</p>
<p>I live near Hillsdale College too, and I've also been looking at it. I had at first thought of it as a safety, but when I saw the 25/75th percentile SAT scores, I just about fell out of my chair. 75th on CR is something like 710 and maybe 690 for Math. I also like how they give lots of merit aid to good students, even though they have so many.</p>
<p>The drawbacks for me, though, are that it's close to home, so it would be very similar to the way I grew up. I'm trying to avoid that and get out. And though they don't report the race diversity of their students, I'm guessing it's something like 90-95% white, which is also something I want to avoid. I'm also not into the whole Greek thing, so when a school has more than 25% of students in frats/sororities, I lose confidence in the school.</p>
<p>It obviously won't have much name recognition, but if you like the conservative/rural setting, it's a good school for you.</p>
<p>We toured Hillsdale in the summer time, so there was no opportunity to get a feel for the atmosphere with students. But facilities were very impressive! Gorgeous brand new arts building and we were quite surprised at the football stadium and swimming facilities, which were outstanding. Campus was beautiful with many dorms/houses lining the streets around the school. We have friends who live near Hillsdale and they love the small town atmosphere. We left with a terrific impression of Hillsdale and their mission in education. Definately worth a look to see if it interests you.</p>
<p>2nd/3rd best school in Michigan???? WHAT??? </p>
<p>Here are the peer assessments of every school in Michigan, grouped by category.</p>
<p>NAT'L UNIV</p>
<p>Michigan 4.5
Michigan State 3.5
Wayne State 2.7
Michigan Tech 2.6
Western Michigan 2.5
Central Michigan 2.2
Oakland U 2.1
Andrews 2.1</p>
<p>LAC</p>
<p>Kalamazoo 3.3
Hope 2.9
Albion 2.8
Alma 2.6
Adrian 2.3
Hillsdale 2.2
Olivet 2.1</p>
<p>Bachelor's</p>
<p>Calvin 4.1
Concordia 2.9
Rochester 2.7
Baker 1.6</p>
<p>Master's</p>
<p>UM-Dearborn 2.9
Grand Valley State 2.9
Northern Michigan 2.8
Eastern Michigan 2.8
Detroit 2.8
Aquinas 2.8
Spring Arbor 2.6
Ferris State 2.6
UM-Flint 2.6
Saginaw Valley State 2.5
Lawrence Tech 2.5
Siena Heights 2.4
Madonna 2.3
Lake Superior State 2.2
Marygrove 2.2
Cornerstone 2.1</p>
<p>I said in my opinion....I'm extremely conservative.</p>
<p>It's the only school in michigan that I would personally even consider apart from UMICH hence the 2nd best in my opinion.</p>
<p>Not my fault that you are extremely biased.</p>
<p>And why not Calvin if you are a right winger? And UM is the most liberal school in the state, so I'm confused there.</p>
<p>Calvin is notorious for really bad financial aid.
yes, UMICH is liberal, I can look past that for a superior education. It's big enough that you can find your niche. There's not a school academically that holds a tee to michigan, and please don't say MSU, it's not even close in job recruitment.</p>
<p>i would consider calvin, except its about 5 minutes from my house.</p>
<p>And Hillsdale is???</p>
<p>MSU blows Hillsdale out of the water in every recruitment, preparation, or whatever other segment.</p>
<p>UM</p>
<h2>MSU/K College</h2>
<p>the rest</p>
<p>That's how schools are organized in Michigan. The rest are a step below, those are the 3 at a national level. Not that others are bad(Kettering is great at engineering, MTech is solid, and so on), and any college education is worthy of respect. But there are three schools which can actually offer something academically to bring in OOS students.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo college is not at the national level. That's absurd.</p>
<p>UM, yes. MSU, yes but moreso for their athletics than academics.</p>
<p>MSU would never blow Hillsdale out of the water; in fact, just the opposite would happen. Hillsdale is a fantastic school with no racial biases and complete inclusion for all (generally speaking.). In fact, I would bet the farm that there is less racial disharmony at H.C than at MU, Wayne St., or any other Mich school. In fact, I would go so far as to make that statement for any college nationwide. </p>
<p>Calvin is not on the same par with HC because it is a dedicated protestant school with built-in biases due to its mission. HC does not have religious, racial, gender or any other built-in biases.</p>
<p>My son goes to HC and loves it. And, it is not true that it has no national recognition. My S has been researching grad schools and when they find out he went to HC, they are VERY impressed. The education at HC is exemplary, and grad schools know it.</p>
<p>K-zoo gives excellent preparation for grad school, as is evidenced by it's very good grad school placement(WSJ[flawed as it is] #51). It also does have a reputation as one of the best LAC's in the midwest.</p>
<hr>
<p>Hillsdale doesn't have racial disharmony? OK, that wasn't the topic, and also, when there are 4 black kids, I don't think they are really standing out much.</p>
<p>A 3.5 at MSU will garner more respect, job opprotunities, grad school options, and so on, then Hillsdale.</p>
<p>Hillsdale isn't a bad school, never said otherwise, but it does not have a national appeal beyond it's (for a college) extreme conservatism.</p>
<p>Thank you fencers. Going by peer evaluation is foolish. Hillsdale has higher average GPAs and ACTs. My mom's friends son is going to grad school at Harvard. That would never have happened if he had gone to MSU, but is perceivable going to an ultra conservative LAC.</p>
<p>Oh ya, Hillsdale puts out just about the most read college newsletter in the nation. 1.25m subscribers.</p>
<p>The current US News and World Report rankings don't give Hillsdale much respect. Hillsdale is classified as "third-tier" among National Liberal Arts Colleges. Several other Michigan LACs -- Kalamazoo, Albion, and Hope -- are all rated higher. There must be some statistical weaknesses at Hillsdale, but I don't have access to the full ranking data, so I don't know what they are.</p>