Currently I’ve got admission letters from these two excellent colleges with a decent amount of financial aid packages. Before May 1, I have to make a final decision over which college I would go to and need some advice on this matter!
I highly value the intellectual setting of a college and teacher-student interaction during my studies. I think both of the colleges meet such academic requirements and equally have friendly, open-minded atmosphere for diverse students. Since Lawrence University has a conservatory that provides more musical concerts and opportunities to play musical instruments even for non-majors, I’m slightly inclined toward LU.
I tried to find more information about these colleges but no one posted anything about the difference between the two. If you have any ideas or experiences to help me out with selecting a college, would you share you thoughts?? Thank you so much! 
We have visited Lawrence, and plan on visiting K’zoo so have some thoughts to offer. While there are differences between these two schools, certainly, there are lots of similarities so you really can’t go wrong with either school. Similarities: they are are both on the trimester system, so that students typically have 3 classes at a time, instead of 4, and the term is shorter, 10 weeks, rather than the usual 14-15 weeks. That means students have 3 terms instead of 2. They are both in smaller towns/cities, in the Midwest and both will have cold winters. If travel is a consideration, LU is located about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, depending on traffic from Chicago O’Hare airport; Kalamazoo is about 2 hours from Detroit. While there may be more flights in and out of O’hare, that means there can also be delays; living in the midwest, we find that Detroit can be a good alternative for changing planes since there can be fewer delays and cancellations.
Differences: the Con at LU means it is a musically rich community, and from our tour and info session, the ensembles are open for any student to audition, and then students are placed based on their level of play. There are fraternities and sororities, but the “houses” are University owned buildings right in the middle of the residential part of campus, so no separate Greek life neighborhood – it is all part of the community. The students we talked to said Greek life at LU is not like Greek life at bigger schools, there are only a few fraternities and sororities and they do not dominate social life, but rather are just one housing option among many for students looking for that kind of bond with their “brothers” or “sisters.” In contrast, no Greek life at Kzoo, and Kzoo has an open curriculum – no distribution or gen ed requirements (though I assume there is a first year writing seminar, I just cannot recall right now). Kzoo has the K Plan which emphasizes students’ growth through hands-on experience, international study, and independent research. Zoo also is close to a large state school, Western Michigan, so there is likely to be a heavier concentration of students in the area.
That’s all I can think of right now, good luck, they are great options to have!
My D is finishing her first year at Lawrence and is thriving and loving it! I cannot offer any direct comparisons to Kalamazoo because my D didn’t look there, she wanted to be on the track team and Kzoo has xc but not track. I know several students at Kzoo from our town who love it there though so I think you can’t go wrong with either choice.
As far as travel goes, Appleton has an airport and depending where you are flying from you can get a connecting flight from either Detroit or Chicago and this year LU has arranged for a bus to pick up kids from the Chicago area on the return days to campus after the December holiday and spring break.
My D has developed personal relationships with some of her professors so far and has loved that aspect of the school. She plays in the Orchestra as a non-music major and has found them to be very flexible in helping her make that work around her xc and track schedule. She has also gotten involved in many campus groups and organizations. My D loves the friendly collaborative atmosphere at LU and she loves the town of Appleton. Though it is a somewhat small midwest town, it is not as small as some of the LACs we looked at. The town of Appleton has a population of about 80,000 and the surrounding metro area is about 200,000 so it has a lot to offer. The campus is just next to the downtown area so there are lots of shops and restaurants in easy walking distance. The S of one of my friends was very involved in playing music at Kzoo so I think that is an option there as well, I just don’t know any specifics. Good luck with your choice, I think you can’t go wrong either way. If you have any specific questions about LU I will try to answer.
Thank you so much for both of your answers! I’m kind of assured that I can’t go wrong with either school. Your personal experiences and information will be a great help for choosing my college! Thanks!