<p>Thank you for the compliment. I am an attorney, while my brother is a teacher and high school football coach. For some reason, the judges and other attorneys in my community are not as amused with my references to The Simpsons and alternative, native peasant clothing as are the posters to this board. </p>
<p>Regarding safety, Earlham is on the edge of Richmond (the back of Earlham's campus is a cornfield), while Beloit is more centrally located. In my opinion, both campuses are safe. There are usually a couple of instances each academic year at Beloit where someone is mugged or harassed. It seems to me that these events are usually associated with the annual Folk & Blues festival (usually the first or second week of September) where the community is invited on campus to partake in the festivities. While I never felt unsafe on campus, some people may have a different opinion. This might be a good question for the livejournal community. </p>
<p>My impression of the Beloit community is that most of the crime occurs on the other side of the Rock River and in a couple of blocks north of the college. However, recently there has been considerable effort placed upon redeveloping the area around the river. Also, there was a large, unused warehouse facility just north of the college. It is now the corporate headquarters for ABC Supply Company. </p>
<p>Like I previously mentioned, I grew up in a sleepy, rural community of 5,000 where there really was no violent crime, so to speak. The hijinx of my buddies and I shooting bottle rockets off of the high school roof one evening made the front page of our paper. The entire police force and county Sheriff's Department was called out to surround us. That should give you an idea of the type of crime I grew up with. While Beloit had more crime than I was personally accustomed to, I never felt uneasy on campus or in the surrounding area.</p>
<p>Thanks again Icemaker. And, I had to laugh thinking of you using the Simpsons in a legal argument in court.</p>
<p>By the by, my D. is home sick from school today, read your comments over my shoulder, and said that both Beloit and Earlham sound like her kind of schools. Thanks!!!</p>
<p>Carolyn - On-campus overnights will expand your trip, and two-school days will shorten things up, but as Icemaker indicates, you can easily do those schools in your allotted time. My nephew and I saved time by nixing the overnights and driving a lot during late afternoon and evening hours. We also found that flying into one Midwestern city and leaving from another one was no more expensive than a round-trip, at least using Northwest or Continental. </p>
<p>Two trips would allow for one or two more schools on a more leisurely pace, though if fall schedules are tight and you want to save on airfare, you could add both St. Olaf and Lawrence (and a whole lot of miles) to your Spring trip by flying LAX to MSP and driving to Northfield on Day 1. You could spend 9a - 3p at St. Olaf, and blast over to Appleton (5 hours or so) to visit Lawrence on Day 3. Beloit is only 2 1/2 hours from there, then Lake Forest etc etc etc. This would leave Earlham for the end and pending schedules and fares you could fly from Cincy or Dayton or Indianapolis back to LAX. (Whatever your route, try and avoid Chicago at rush hour.) Even with this expanded schedule, your D could do one or two select overnights. </p>
<p>Some observations from our trip: (1) My nephew got pretty burned out by Day 5 and school #6. Maybe a sightseeing day in Chicago, or along the Mississippi or just a leisurely driving day would be a nice extra break on your trip. (2) We had to change our itinerary after a detailed check of the academic calendars at each school. There were odd breaks and both reading and mid-term days (no classes to observe) that we had to schedule around. (3) My nephew liked visits where we did the tour and he did a class visit before going to the interview.</p>
<p>You could also finish your trip in Indianapolis (my stomping grounds). It's a straight shot back to Indy from Richmond and you could spend a "relaxing" night there before heading home - to LA I gather?</p>
<p>Thanks for the trip advice everyone. I just realized this morning that her spring break is in late March...so I guess the California baby will get a "slice" of colder weather on the trip, probably a very good thing. </p>
<p>Reid, Daughter is pretty adament about NOT going to Lawrence. No matter how much I try to convince her, she says she will NOT go to a school where her last name and the school's name are the same. She is also cooling to St. Olaf, although their rep is going to be in San Diego this weekend for a group presentation that she's interested in attending. She is very enthusiastic about Earlham - has been reading the barn co-op's web site and apparently has emailed one of the co-op members and likes what she hears about the social scene in Earlham (the girl referred to it as "pleasantly moist" and said that while some people drink and smoke pot, plenty just have fun in their own way --- exactly what my daughter is looking for). I think she might like Beloit as well. She doesn't mind a school where there's a moderate amount of drinking or drugs (try to find one!), just doesnt want that to be the big social focus on campus. It's interesting to see her sense of self strengthening as she starts looking at schools.</p>
<p>I'm still trying to get her to find at least one (preferrably two) schools either in Calif. or on the west coast. She doesn't have the stats for Oxy so that's out. We will probably visit Pitzer and Scripps but both are probably reaches at this point. She's may use Redlands as a back up school --- She did a quick drive through with a friend and wasn't terribly impressed but I think it's because she has her mind focused on "east coast" schools. In a few weeks, we're going up to San Francisco to visit the University of San Francisco and St. Mary's College of California.</p>
<p>I graduated from Ohio Wesleyan and then went on to The best IR school, The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. From all the schools that you list, Wesleyan definitely has the best program. In fact, it probably has the best EAS program from all LACs. Another school that I know has a very strong EAS program is the University of Puget Sound...but I don't know anything about it. Macalester's International Studies Program is solid, too.</p>
<p>Carolyn - ordinarily I would e-mail you this but I've switched computers and haven't transferred my old e-mail address book. </p>
<p>Anyway, tell your daughter I'll send her $10 and a good novel to read if she visits Lawrence. I do think that Earlham and then Beloit would be her best bets, but Lawrence might work. </p>
<p>As for California/West Coast schools Lewis & Clark might be a good bet. And from what little I know of Redlands it would not jump to the top of my list for her. A friend of mine had a daughter that started last September and was in school #2 by January. She (D) thought there were too many suburban kids way too excited about being able to party unsupervised.</p>
<p>Thanks Reid - It's kind of funny but I had to interview a professor at Lawrence for an article and while setting things up through their PR department, I mentioned my daughter not wanting to consider it because of the name issue. The PR guy (a really funny and nice man), actually wrote my daughter a great email of all the reasons why she should consider Lawrence and ended the note by saying she could always take on a pseudonom. My daughter laughed out loud at the email but hasn't budged. (I must say, however, just my contacts with these folks alone have made me think even more highly of Lawrence). While she may appease me with a visit, I know my daughter well enough to know that once she makes up her mind she can be a very determined (read: stubborn) person. </p>
<p>I have some hesitations about Lewis & Clark because I have heard some things about the drug culture on campus that makes me think it would not be a good fit for my daughter. (Example: three RA's were busted for selling pot out of their dorm rooms, etc.) But we will probably visit at some point.</p>
<p>I appreciate your thoughts on Redlands. It's really hard to find a decent small school in southern Calif. Another possibility might be Whittier --- but not too sure about it. Tommorrow night is College Night at her high school - they'll be 120 schools on hand so maybe we'll get some other ideas there.</p>
<p>OWU - what's Ohio Wesleyan like? Can you tell us more about the campus, the social aspects, etc? It's really a school that doesn't get much play on these boards.</p>
<p>Another midwest LAC with an East Asian program and a strong reputation for international studies in general is Kalamazoo College ("K-College"). </p>
<p>I know a student who graduated from there a year ago, with a specialization in art and who spent his study abroad in Ecuador. K-College is a very good school, not on the caliber of Grinnell or Carleton or Oberlin but about on a par with Denison (where this kid's brother attended).</p>
<p>Carolyn, my daughter and I visited Ohio Wesleyan last year (as well as Denison and Kenyon). The admissions department was great setting up an overnight stay, class visit, as well as meetings with the chair of the psychology department and the swim coach. Before her visit, she thought she would like OWU best of the three; it ended up at the bottom of her list after her stay.</p>
<p>A number of factors: her overnight host <em>hated</em> being there (she wanted desperately to go to Ohio State - her dorm room walls were plastered with Ohio State posters - but received a better financial aid package from OWU; the campus is cut in two by a busy street; and the town it's in is worn around the edges and doesn't have much to offer to students. We both felt that the students on campus did not seem as happy as those we saw at the other two colleges.</p>
<p>She was very impressed with the psych. department, though - an outstanding program.</p>
<p>you asked about Valpo and Bradley. I know a little bit about both schools. Valpo has a very good reputation in the Midwest. I had a boss who went there as an undergrad and she thought highly of the education she received there (she went on to get her MBA and PhD in business at IU). I think that it is strongest in its pre-professional programs. Most of the kids who I know who went there were pretty religious -- but not fundamentalists. Lots of serious Lutherans running about at Valpo.</p>
<p>Bradley has a solid reputation in the Midwest as well. Most of the students who I know who went to Bradley did so on speech scholarships. They have a very strong forensics program (probably the strongest in the nation). Pretty conservative place, from what I can tell, but less religious than Valpo.</p>
<p>Thanks Flatlander and Icemaker! Doesn't sound like any of the three would work for my daughter. </p>
<p>So, here's my question - both Earlham and Beloit would be good match schools for my daughter academically and in terms of social fit. Her other choice right now is Goucher which has a similiar feel. Also would be a match. Can anyone think of any "safety" schools that have that same "individual/quirky" feel? Her main interests are history, art, psychology.</p>
<p>Her probable stats: SAT's in the mid-to-high 1200's, GPA about 3.5, honors & some AP classes, lots of art-related EC's, will have good teacher and guidance counselor rec's.</p>
<p>Guilford might fit the bill. Not midwest, though. (Also, has she considered Mills? VERY strong art department, and individual/quirky. Double X only though.)</p>
<p>Mini, Actually, we'll be up in the bay area looking at colleges in a few weeks --- I'm going to see if we can do "swing by" Mills. Unfortunately, she is not thrilled with the idea of a woman's school so it probably won't fly. She does have a close friend who is planning on applying to Mills so maybe I can use that as an excuse to get her out of the car ("We're only looking at Mills for Brianna!!!") In many ways, Mills would be a good fit for her despite the absence of Y chromes.</p>
<p>Guilford might be a good possibility. Not sure it would still be a real "Safety" for her though. She is really liking Earlham more and more these days --- hope it lives up to her expectations when we visit. I would be thrilled to have her at Earlham.</p>
<p>Of all the colleges we visited, including 3 Ivies, and most of the prestigious LACs, I thought Earlham was in more than a few ways the best college I have ever seen - for the right student. Had its music department been larger, my d. would have been proud to have gone there in a snap.</p>
<p>Would like to hear more. Daughter visited and in many ways great match but stayed a friday night and did not see much happeneing socially except for small groups. Her host told her that's what it' susually like. </p>
<p>So seems great match in ways except a moderate amount of fun on weekends.</p>
<p>Carolyn: one caveat about Earlham - be prepared for it's location. It's pretty isolated and Indiana flat - which means cornfields as far as the eye can see!</p>
<p>Whenever I hear "individual" and psychology, I always think of Clark U (although it's not mid-west, it's in Worcester, MA). Maybe College of Wooster - another one in Pope's book.</p>
<p>Fredo, The flatness will probably be a turnoff for her (we live in the mountains east of San Diego) but she won't mind a small town (she grew up in a town of 5000 with the nearest theater a 20 minute drive). And, of course, there's the coldness issue...LOL!</p>