I applied and have been accepted into Lake Forest but have not been able to visit campus… Looking for reasons why I should (or shouldn’t for that matter) consider attending?
Compared to what other college?
St. Lawrence, Hobart and William Smith, Franklin & Marshall, Susquehanna, Stonehill, Kenyon, Oberlin, Skidmore (etc) basically smaller liberal arts colleges.
I was told it is a lot like HWS
We have visited Lake Forest, St. Lawrence and Oberlin so I can speak more to those schools.
Lake Forest is in a very affluent suburb of Chicago. As a matter of fact, one of my daughters was just accepted and we got a letter from the mayor of Lake Forest yesterday, touting the community resources, positive “town and gown” relations and the safety of the area. The campus is pretty and well maintained and you could walk into the village. The village consists of some upscale shops and restaurants and a commuter train station. Lake Forest seems to put a lot of emphasis on the proximity to Chicago and the opportunities for internships there. There is also a beach that you can walk to from the campus, on the shores of Lake Michigan (though I’d think it would be a little cold to hang out there most of the year!). Our tour was given by an international student and she seemed to be satisfied with the diversity on campus, even though it’s a very small school. I sensed they did a lot of recruiting to try to draw in a more diverse group of students.
St. Lawrence is in upstate New York, almost in Canada (close to Montreal).I’d say the weather would be similar to Lake Forest. Also, a very pretty campus with nice facilities. However, it is much more rural. IMHO, the students seem to be a little more “outdoorsy” and into those kind of pursuits and it is a spectacular region of the state if you enjoy those things. You can walk into the village of Canton and there are some student hang-outs there, drive down the road to Potsdam (SUNY Potsdam and Clarkson). I never got the sense there was a great deal of diversity there though.
Oberlin would be the most diverse of the three, as far as I’m concerned. They also have a very highly regarded music conservatory so they draw from a national and international pool for that. I’d say the type of student is generally creative and more liberal than the other two schools. You can step right off campus into the town and there are plenty of student hang-outs. The nearest major city is Cleveland but I don’t know how much students venture in. The area is also very rural but it’s cornfields, not mountains like SLU.
I don’t know where you live so I don’t know if travel is an issue. I also don’t know if finances are a factor.
Do you know what you would like to major in? One tip is to research the department(s) you are interested in and maybe e-mail (if you can’t visit) with the department chair to find out more about opportunities within the department.
Congratulations on your many acceptances!