Midwest College Trip Advice

Parents Forum
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<p>As a Wisconsinite, I was hoping to visit a few Midwest schools during the school year; however, I was unable to do so with my booked schedule of school work and such. With this being said, I'd like to plan a college visit trip for a few schools in the Midwest that I'm interested in. I've already visited Northwestern, UChicago, UW-Madison, and Grinnell, but I'd like to visit a few other schools I'm interested in (Knox, WUSTL, Carleton, St. Olaf, and Macalester). (I also like Beloit and Oberlin, but those will have to wait for another time.) Any specific advice for when to do so (I could either do the trip next week or otherwise it would have to be sometime in late July), must-see things near the schools, and other advice related to any of those schools? Any schools similar to the ones I like that I shouldn't miss? Also, any idea on how many days a trip like this would take? I want it to be a fairly short one, yet not a completely rushed trip either.</p>

<p>Thanks for your help!!!</p>

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<p>It depends on how much you want to do on each campus. You likely won’t be attending classes at most of them, as it is summer time (maybe at WUSTL?). But if you want to meet with a prof and/or a coach, or do other things that are more than the tour and info session, that will affect your schedule.</p>

<p>You can do St. Olaf & Carleton in one day, IMHO. Each of the others are far enough apart that you won’t be able to combine them. You could make a 2-3 day swing over into MN, and then a separate 3 day or so trip down to Knox/WUSTL. Too many colleges in one trip tend to run together.</p>

<p>Have you considered Lawrence or Kenyon? Also midwestern LACs, since you already have several of those on your list.</p>

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<p>Yeah, you have the three top LAC’s in Minnesota. I wanted my son (from Minnesota) to visit all three but he only visited Macalester. He ended up wanting a large school and is ending up at Michigan this Fall. Similar to Madison is Minnesota - Twin Cities (and you get the reciprocity). I don’t know if you have any interest but it is a real nice campus to visit in the Summer and have great tours. Plus the Twin City area is fun to vist as well. </p>

<p>As Intparent mentions, St. Olaf and Carleton are both in Northfield so, depending on tour times (if that is your thing), you likely can do both the same day.</p>

<p>Michigan may be a great school to visit as well if you can make it over to Ann Arbor. Even w/ OOS tuition, it won’t cost you more than the private LACs.</p>

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<p>Yes, I am actually a Wolverine, can’t argue with the Michigan suggestion :slight_smile: A lot people also like Kalamazoo College.</p>

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<p>Having visited the first 4 you mentioned, what do you like best? Urban, suburban, rural? Size? I’m presuming your stats are fine for the more selective schools. Looks like you need a few matches/safeties?</p>

<p>I believe reciprocity for Minn/WI is likely on the chopping block, so don’t count on it for fall of '12, sadly.</p>

<p>From most places you might live in WI, I would think Beloit would be on the way to Knox? You could do both in the same day. Augustana is in that general vicinity, too.</p>

<p>If you do like small LACs, I second the suggestion of Lawrence, and Kalamazoo if you are willing to start including MI. There are also several very nice other schools in IA, that are somewhat less selective than Grinnell: Coe College, Cornell College, Luther College. I think U of Iowa is terrific and in a great little city.</p>

<p>We have friends who are sending a second kid to Bradley University in Peoria - I guess their first kid has been pretty happy!</p>

<p>I tried to get my D interested in looking at IL State and IL Wesleyan in Bloomington (on the way to WUSTL), but she never ended up including them. It would be easy to stop off for a lookaround if you do drive to St. Louis.</p>

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<p>If you are interested in a business major by any chance, the University of St. Thomas is about a mile down Summit Avenue from Macalester and would be a very easy add on; you could top by for a quick look. St. Thomas is good for business majors.</p>

<p>U M Morris is the public LAC of the University of Minnesota system and a fine school. [University</a> of Minnesota Morris](<a href=“http://www.morris.umn.edu/about/]University”>About UMN Morris | University of Minnesota Morris)
The tuition is under $10K/year for both in state and out of state students, so if you liked it, it could be a financial safety for you.
[Scholarships</a>, Costs & Financial Aid: Costs](<a href=“http://admissions.morris.umn.edu/costsaid/costs/]Scholarships”>http://admissions.morris.umn.edu/costsaid/costs/)
I think that Morris is about 150 miles west of Minneapolis.</p>

<p>Many Minnesotans are quite fond of Gustavus Adolphus College.
<a href=“https://gustavus.edu/[/url]”>https://gustavus.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Thank you all for the feedback!</p>

<p>intparent: Yeah, I was hoping that doing Carleton and St. Olaf in the same day would be okay. I’ll have to check the tour times, but I should be able to make it work. I also like your suggestion about making two separate trips. I’ll have to see how that would work schedule-wise for me, but I agree that if you have to many schools in one trip that they can run together, although I do take detailed notes about all of my visits! Oh and for Kenyon and Lawrence, I’ve looked at both and they are both still on the list, but I think I like Beloit a little more than Lawrence and Oberlin more than Kenyon. Still, if I have time to, I will definitely check them out sometime.</p>

<p>wayneandgarth: I think that both Michigan and Minnesota are both schools, but I doubt I’d apply to either. For Minnesota, it would be good price-wise; however, being a Badger fan, it would be tough going to school at one of their Big Ten rivals. I’ve looked into Michigan some; however, I feel that price-wise I’d probably be better off going to Wisconsin. Even though I don’t have much interest in Univ of Minnesota, I probably will walk around campus if I have time because, like you said, it’s a really nice area.</p>

<p>EmmyBet: Out of the schools in the Midwest I have visited, I liked Northwestern the best because of the location (near Chicago and on the lake), mix of athletics and academics, its medium undergrad size, and its top programs (Medill and others). I’m really attracted to LACs and enjoyed my time at Grinnell with its very neat-looking facilities. The main downside on Grinnell is its rural-ness (I don’t think I’d mind going to school in a rural atmosphere, but I’d prefer to be at least fairly close to a big city). UChicago I also really enjoyed. I didn’t think the neighborhood was as pretty as the Evanston neighborhood of Northwestern; however, I thought most of the buildings on campus looked sweet. I’m not sure if I necessarily like the core curriculum and also am not sure about the “fun goes to die” idea; however, the essays they have for their applications really make me excited to apply there. Finally, UW-Madison is my parent’s alma mater and obviously, the state U (I see you’re from Wisconsin too). I really like UW; however, I think I’d prefer a small-to-mid-sized LAC or private U that is at least a little ways off from where I live. (I’m checking out schools on the East Coast, but I’m still not sure if I prefer Midwest vs. East Coast for college.) My stats aren’t amazing, but they’re decent (have to improve my SAT/ACT). I’d say I’m fine for getting into UW, but not a sure bet, and then mid-reach/high-reach for most of the others. I’m looking at schools like Beloit as safeties, although I know that they are still competitive to get into. Also, I’ve looked into Illinois Wesleyan (talked to one of their adcoms at a college fair) and although it seems like a good school, I think I’ve ruled it out.</p>

<p>Thanks to everyone again for the responses! Looking forward to more!</p>

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<p>Midwest: I’m actually more interested in Poli Sci/Education/Journalism. I’ve received stuff in the mail from both UM-Morris and Gustavus Adolphus and I don’t think I’m too interested in those schools. Thanks for the response though!</p>

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<p>I don’t know where you live in Wisconsin, but Beloit is probably not far from your route to or from Knox/WUStL. And it’s not that big. You could see it as a break on your drive one way or the other.</p>

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<p>Regarding reciprocity between WI & MN, I do not believe the actual reciprocity agreement is on the chopping block in either state. What has been changed recently is a small subsidy that used to exist. Wisconsin used to cover the difference between WI in-state and MN in-state tuition (MN is slightly more expensive). WI stopped subsidizing that in the last year or so; so tuition for WI students at MN public colleges went up by a couple thousand dollars. But reciprocity still exists. Not that the OP appears to have any MN public schools on her list, but just wanted to clarify.</p>

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<p>What’s your intended major or area of interest? I almost always recommend Case Western, but if you’re not interested in anything STEM related, it’s not much of a match. I really liked Kenyon myself, i think it’s worth a visit, if you have time.</p>

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<p>JHS: Yeah, Beloit is right on the way to Knox, so that would be a good time to visit there. I’ve been on campus before, but it was late at night and didn’t have time to really walk around.</p>

<p>Sparkles: My areas of interest are mainly Poli Sci, Education, and Journalism. I’ve read a decent amount about Case Western and know it’s a good school, but with narrowing my list down, I’ve taken it off.</p>

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<p>intparent is correct. The reciprocity agreement is between the schools, not between the states. Minnesota students have always paid the (slightly higher) Minnesota tuition rate at Wisconsin, while Wisconsin residents paid the (slightly lower) Wisconsin rate at Minnesota. Obviously this disadvantaged the University of Minnesota, not only because the U lost revenue for every Wisconsin kid it let in the door, but also because it really rubbed Minnesota residents the wrong way to be paying higher tuition at their own state university than the out-of-state Wisconsin kid sitting at the next desk. So the University decided it had to charge Wisconsin kids the higher Minnesota rate. At that point the Wisconsin legislature stepped up and agreed to subsidize the difference, so as to keep tuition at the (lower) Wisconsin rate for Wisconsin kids attending the University of Minnesota. But in a budget-cutting frenzy, the Wisconsin legislature axed that subsidy last year, so now Wisconsin kids attending the University of Minnesota pay the Minnesota in-state rate. It’s still reciprocity, but not perfect reciprocity, as the University of Minnesota now charges Minnesota and Wisconsin kids a uniform in-state rate, while the University of Wisconsin charges Minnesota kids the higher University of Minnesota rate while charging Wisconsin residents a lower in-state rate. Still a great bargain for kids on either side of the border, though.</p>

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<p>We love Knox and it’s probably my daughter’s top choice right now but it is a much easier school than any of the others on your list - is it your safety? Beloit is probably her #2 right now but that could change with warmer climate college visits! Both of these schools are easier than Carelton, Northwestern, Macalester, or Grinnell, just sayin’.</p>

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<p>amtc: Yeah, Knox and Beloit are what I hope are safeties for me, but I still like both of them, from what I’ve read.</p>

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<p>Looking at the reasons you like NWU, you may like WUSL,.</p>

<p>If you can possibly do so, suspend your present sports affinities. Our son was UNC Tar Heels all the way until he decided on engineering (not offered at UNC). Deciding between UMIch and Duke, chose Duke.</p>

<p>UNC was quickly waaaaaaay back in the rear view mirror.</p>

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<p>Kenyon is real rural. Columbus is an hour and not necessarily an easy jaunt. Hillsdale is another option…definitely rural but at least in Michigan. I got the impression from our visit Hillsdale had a pretty strong poli sci program.</p>

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<p>Knox is very rural and the trains go by a zillion times per day. Lake Forest is an LAC near Chicago (and near a lake, obviously). I think Beloit has a summer language program so you might find non-Beloit students around.</p>

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<p>Hillsdale is a very religious college, so would be quite different from the other choices on the OP’s list. </p>

<p>CCsiteObsessed (great name, BTW :)), I was not aware of the “train” situation at Knox. We are planning to visit Knox for D2. I just looked in Fiske, and had missed this before: </p>

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<p>This probably isn’t an issue for D2, as we live about a mile from railroad tracks now, and trains go by at all hours. She sleeps right through, has since she was wee.</p>

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<p>I forgot about the train situation at Knox but it’s not that big a deal. It’s got a bit of history and romance to it like the rest of the college. They go by about 3 or 4 times a day, just part of the charm, if you like everything else about the school, a huge negative if you’re already leaning that way.</p>