@3gigglinggirls Yikes—sorry to he so
late in replying! For shy ones I would highly recommend applying to LU’s Freshman Academic Institute program. I cannot imagine what my son’s freshman year would have been like had he not attended this program. The students he met in this orientation group were his friend group for the the entire year. In fact, he is in Japan right now (and has been for the last 2 months) with a friend he met in FAI. They come to campus early and do a lot of pre-planned activities. The event culminates in a weekend at Bjorklunden and did I mention that it is free?! From what I understand, not everyone who applies is invited to attend. I would just be sure to have her make a case for why this would help her socially. Good luck! Hope you love Lawrence! Definitely join the class of 22 Facebook group For parents—mine has been really helpful!
My son is a new freshman at Lawrence. He has been there for 2 weeks and loves it. There is a nice mix of people from across the US and foreign countries. They have a freshman studies class that all freshmen take. It is a small group that discusses assigned books, but really I think the goal of the class is to help them form friendships right from the start. The campus is beautiful. The staff is attentive and responds to email and phone calls promptly. My son says he already feels more at home at Lawrence than he did at his high school.
The school is on trimesters, so they start right after labor day and go until the day before Thanksgiving. Then they are off until January 2nd. There are 2 trimesters at the start of the year, so they go until about June 10th. This might make it harder to get a summer job when they get home due to other college kids getting back earlier.
There aren’t many negatives that I can think of other than the food is a little expensive ($5100/year) and there aren’t air conditioners in most dorms so it could be hot in Sept. and May/June.
My daughter surprised us last spring and chose Lawrence over east coast schools including Northeastern, Virginia Tech etc. She is not in the conservatory but gets to hear great music all over campus. She is working hard and really enjoying it. They gave generous scholarships and are committed to diversity - kids from all over the country and world.
That’s great @hathora! It’s great to hear positive reviews from current students/families. We had a very positive visit at Lawrence this weekend. 
MusakParent- Would you tell us more about your visit?
Hi,
I am a current parent of a sophomore. Happy to answer questions from a parental view.