<p>As May 1 draws near, has anyone committed to Lawrence yet? If yes, what do you plan to major in and where do you plan on living? </p>
<p>I'm sending in my deposit on Friday. I plan on majoring in Neuroscience and living in Ormsby.</p>
<p>Hey TSSSIL do you know where you want to stay if you did commit to Lawrence? Have any questions about the different dorms?</p>
<p>Well, I put Sage single gender floors as my first choice, and Sage mixed gender floors as my second choice, but I heard that Freshman hardly ever get in at Sage, and Ormsby was my third choice, so I'm assuming I'll most likely be living there. </p>
<p>I just don't especially want to live in Plantz due to high population of connie kids. While I respect what they do, I'm not sure I want to listen to it all the time.</p>
<p>D decided yesterday -- hooray -- she completed the housing form with Coleman, Ormsby, and Plantz at her top 3 choices -- she will be a "connie"!</p>
<p>How exciting! </p>
<p>Maybe, if your daughter and I don't get into our top choices, we will both be in Ormsby next year.</p>
<p>I haven't applied for housing yet, but I'm thinking Colman.</p>
<p>Vitaly, what do you plan on majoring in?</p>
<p>Math, although I would like to take plenty of classes in the English department too.</p>
<p>Hey, I'm a Lawrentian so I thought I'd give a few words on housing. It's tough for me to predict the situation for next year, but I'll try to give you whatever knowledge I can.</p>
<p>First of all, if last year is any indication, Freshman can get into ANY of the dorms if they send their housing info in relatively early. There are quite a few Freshman in Sage (I'm one of them).</p>
<p>In my opinion, you can't go wrong with any of the dorms except for Kohler and Trever. Trever is relatively far away from everything and the guy floors can be a mess. Kohler seems to have a very distinctive (alternative) culture that may or may not be your thing. </p>
<p>If you have any specific questions let me know, but I think most people would be happy with Colman, Ormsby, Plantz, or Sage.</p>
<p>Oh, I'm also majoring in philosophy and math. I could answer questions about either of those departments as well as questions about the jazz program.</p>
<p>I've seen on the LU website that it's possible to loft beds. Do many kids do that? </p>
<p>How hard do you generally have to work for good grades? Is the student body generally motivated? Any life-changing professors? Any professors that have made you wonder how that person even got a degree in anything? </p>
<p>Any advice about just general LU stuff?</p>
<p>"I've seen on the LU website that it's possible to loft beds. Do many kids do that?" </p>
<p>Yes, I don't know any percentages, but quite a few people do. I personally chose not to because I don't have much stuff to begin with and I had to sleep on the top bunk at home :( </p>
<p>"How hard do you generally have to work for good grades? Is the student body generally motivated? Any life-changing professors? Any professors that have made you wonder how that person even got a degree in anything?"</p>
<p>As far as grades go, it really depends on the teacher and the class. Grading has always been fair. I've only been here about 2.5 terms, but so far my experience with professors has been EXTREMELY positive. I've really liked 5/6 professors I had the first two terms. TSSSIL, you mentioned you're considering neuroscience. I had Mr. Hetzler for Intro to Psychology (he's also the head of neuroscience) and I thought he was a really interesting and quirky guy. Very intelligent too. </p>
<p>One thing about the Lawrence student body is that it is extremely diverse when it comes to interests. There are people who only care about music, there are people that only care about sports, there are people that only care about drinking, and there are people that are into having philosophical and political conversations into the early morning. </p>
<p>As far as difficulties of majors (from what little I know) I'd say Physics might be the most difficult major. There are a lot of athletes doing history, political science, and biology (that doesn't necessarily mean they're easier, however). </p>
<p>Out of curiousity, what classes are you guys considering?</p>
<p>I'm thinking of taking a calculus class since I'm in AP calculus (not taking the AP test) now and it couldn't hurt to get my math out of the way early since it will be relatively fresh in my brain. Unless there is a way to get around taking a math class because then I will be all about that. </p>
<p>And of course the basic intros to a language (either Japanese or Russian), English, Psychology, and Biology. May anthropology. Not sure yet. </p>
<p>How do most people coming from far away get to campus? I'm coming from Texas, and I almost think it'd be easier to fly even though I'd have to ship some stuff. Do kids who fly usually fly into the Appleton airport or somewhere else? Are there shuttles? </p>
<p>Are you happy with your roommate/Do you think Lawrence, for the most part, does an okay job of matching people? </p>
<p>You mention that the student body is diverse and that's great, but do the students get along? Is there a sense of community or is it cliqueish?</p>
<p>Oh, this is kind of big... Does Lawrence have a time where students can visit a bunch of classes to see what they might want to take? I guess I'm so indecisive about what I want to take is because I want to take so many different classes that I won't possibly have time for. I think some other colleges do that, and I'm just curious about Lawrence because I can't remember if it was Lawrence or somewhere else I applied that did that. </p>
<p>And I'm sure I have more questions, but that's all I can think of right now.</p>
<p>Actually, yes I can. </p>
<p>Does Lawrence still assign colors to the incoming class? Are there any cool things about Lawrence that might not be available on the website... college lore and things like that?</p>
<p>"I'm thinking of taking a calculus class since I'm in AP calculus (not taking the AP test) now and it couldn't hurt to get my math out of the way early since it will be relatively fresh in my brain. Unless there is a way to get around taking a math class because then I will be all about that."</p>
<p>If you don't have any AP/transfer credit in math, you will need to take a "Quantitative Reasoning" course. I checked the website and it looks like stats is often taken by psychology/neuroscience majors. I'd advise holding off on math unless you want to major in chemistry, physics, economics, computer science, math, or physics (in which case you need to do calc Freshman year).</p>
<p>"And of course the basic intros to a language (either Japanese or Russian), English, Psychology, and Biology. May anthropology. Not sure yet."</p>
<p>Check this out for info about classes being offered next year: <a href="http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/registrar/cs-0607.shtml%5B/url%5D">http://www.lawrence.edu/dept/registrar/cs-0607.shtml</a></p>
<p>"How do most people coming from far away get to campus? I'm coming from Texas, and I almost think it'd be easier to fly even though I'd have to ship some stuff. Do kids who fly usually fly into the Appleton airport or somewhere else? Are there shuttles?"</p>
<p>There is an airport nearby (although it is quite small). Many kids do fly. Other options would be flying to Chicago or Milwaukee and then taking a train or bus up (airfare may be cheaper). I'd also look and see if Amtrak offers anything. I'm not sure if there are shuttles.</p>
<p>"Are you happy with your roommate/Do you think Lawrence, for the most part, does an okay job of matching people?"</p>
<p>I'm happy with my roommate, but I have no idea how Lawrence matches roommates. It seems to be completely random. You have conservatory kids with athletes and some of the pairings don't really work out. However, it's pretty easy to get a new roommate if things don't work out.</p>
<p>"You mention that the student body is diverse and that's great, but do the students get along? Is there a sense of community or is it cliqueish?"</p>
<p>Students definitely get along. I do think there is some cliquishness when it comes to the Conservatory and when it comes to athletic teams. But you'll be in a dorm with people of all different interests, so that helps to break the boundaries a bit.</p>
<p>"Oh, this is kind of big... Does Lawrence have a time where students can visit a bunch of classes to see what they might want to take? I guess I'm so indecisive about what I want to take is because I want to take so many different classes that I won't possibly have time for. I think some other colleges do that, and I'm just curious about Lawrence because I can't remember if it was Lawrence or somewhere else I applied that did that."</p>
<p>If you visit, you can sit in on classes, but otherwise no. You actually choose classes sometime in June or July via mail. My advice is to try to find classes that you are interested in that also fulfill general ed requirements. </p>
<p>"Does Lawrence still assign colors to the incoming class?"</p>
<p>Yes</p>
<p>"Are there any cool things about Lawrence that might not be available on the website... college lore and things like that?"</p>
<p>Main Hall is called the "Nipple of Knowledge." Lots of little things like that, but you'll find them out when you get here.</p>
<p>To the Lawrence student: What exactly do you mean by "alternative" when describing Kohler?
I will be in the con and I'm looking for a relatively quiet dorm, but I don't want any kind of reputation to precede me, especially if I don't know what it is...</p>
<p>There are definitely kids in Kohler just looking for a quite dorm, but Kohler has a reputation for being kind of secluded and just a little "off." There are lots of kids who pretty much never go out that live there and there are a fair number of people into various "geek" cultures. Many Kohlerites do drink (elsewhere). </p>
<p>But to tell you the truth, I've hardly spent any time in Kohler so I'm not the person to ask. Another dorm that is fairly quiet is Colman. Although the downside to Colman is it's pretty isolated.</p>
<p>Don't most of the kids who live in Colman just go down to the diner for meals and such, or do they go to Downer?</p>
<p>Yeah, most of the kids just go downstairs. However, breakfast is not served at Lucindas (at Colman) and neither are the weekend meals.</p>
<p>I'm from Skokie, Illinois, incidentally (Niles West).</p>
<p>I was thinking about doing math and philosophy. How difficult is it to take courses from two unrelated departments along with all the required classes?</p>
<p>How is the math program at Lawrence?</p>
<p>I play trombone and would like to play in the jazz band. Is this possible for non-conservatory students? What about playing in the other bands? A pit orchestra?</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>"I'm from Skokie, Illinois, incidentally (Niles West).</p>
<p>I was thinking about doing math and philosophy. How difficult is it to take courses from two unrelated departments along with all the required classes?</p>
<p>How is the math program at Lawrence?</p>
<p>I play trombone and would like to play in the jazz band. Is this possible for non-conservatory students? What about playing in the other bands? A pit orchestra?</p>
<p>Thanks."</p>
<p>Wow...we have quite a few things in common. We probably live within ten minutes of each other, we plan to major in the same things, and we both do jazz. Awesome!</p>
<p>A double major in philosophy and math is definitely possible. Will you have AP credit in math??? Unless you place out of calc entirely, Freshman year you'll be doing the Calc sequence (or whatever calc you didn't do in high school). Personally, I've liked both of the math professors I've had so far and the others I've talked to are very friendly. The courses are pretty challenging and focus mostly on theory (calculators aren't even required for the calc courses). </p>
<p>The philosophy department is amazing. I really like the professors and can't wait to work with them more in the coming years. </p>
<p>I play jazz guitar and I've been doing lessons, jazz combo, and this term jazz band in addition to my academic courses. It's definitely possible for non-conservatory students to get into the jazz program or symphonic band/orchestra. Honestly, if your main focus is jazz, you probably have a better shot than some of the kids in the con who play classical and seem to think that they can do jazz too ;)</p>
<p>I got my receipt from my $200 deposit today, as well as a a window sticker for my car!</p>