<p>Thundercat-
I applied to St. Olaf as well. Same group of schools, it seems. . .</p>
<p>Congrats on your acceptance!</p>
<p>Thundercat, what do you plan on majoring in?</p>
<p>Wow, Thundercat, we sure seem to have a lot in common. I turned down Carleton and my spot on the Mac waitlist for Lawrence. Where in MN are you from? PM me if you'd rather.</p>
<p>TSSSIL, I went to the admitted student days this past Sunday-Monday and I was blown away. Before visiting Lawrence, I was fairly set on Carleton. From the moment I walked on campus, I knew Lawrence was special. It took plenty of agonizing before I realized that Lawrence was the best fit, but I got it figured out in the end.</p>
<p>The campus was wonderful. It is very clean and calm, and the river running by is really cool. I was also impressed by my visit, and I have made my deposit!</p>
<p>Did anyone take pictures they'd be willing to e-mail me? Or any detailed reviews? Did anyone sit in on a class that they really enjoyed?</p>
<p>Day 1
Because of road construction in the area (supposed to be finished within a few months), my mom and I were a bit late arriving on campus. Registration went from 4-5, and we got there at about 5:10. The place to check in was closed and locked, but there was a sign on the door stating where the students had gone. After a bit of wandering, a very helpful woman from the admissions office showed me where to put my stuff. By the time we got all my things to the proper place, it was about 5:30. The woman advised that it was probably a bit late to join the other students at the grill, so she gave both my mom and me meal coupons to the Grill, which was in the same building. The food was great, if a bit expensive for regular meals for the average college student (2 6-dollar vouchers came a few cents short of covering 2 burgers, 1 order of fries, and 2 drinks.) I would definitely imagine this would be a great place to go every now and then to escape the caf food if it became too monotonous. </p>
<p>After dinner, I met my host for the night. She was really sweet and answered all the questions I put to her in a very well-thought-out manner. My host lives in one of the Small Houses, a living arrangement which I loved. She and 8 (?) friends live together in a real house on campus. She has a lot of work to do, so we went to the library. I explored for a while and then sat down in one of the very comfy chairs on the first floor and read a book. The library seemed to be very study-friendly, with desks, chairs, and study rooms sprinkled around the entire place.</p>
<p>We went back to my host's place and one of her housemates cooked us all a snack in the house's full kitchen. Then we all watched a movie. At about 2 AM we finally went to bed.</p>
<p>Day 2
At 8 AM I headed over to the morning meeting place in the music building. They provided a continental breakfast and during this time we admitted students could pick up cards for the classes we wanted to sit in on. </p>
<p>Next, I went to a presentation about the "Lawrence Difference." To be honest, it dragged on a bit long and became a bit too technical when they talked about individual students' projects.</p>
<p>After the presentation, I headed for Main Hall to sit in on a history class about Britain before the mid 1400s. This was an extremely interesting class. The professor was an old man with a great dry wit. They discussed the facts vs. the myths of King Arthur and the holy grail.</p>
<p>I then went to Youngchild Hall for a class in the comparative politics of developing nations. However, I learned that this class would be taking their midterm for the entire period. The professor, though, was willing to meet with both of us students who had wanted to sit in on his class. We talked for about half an hour about the Government department and the college in general. This willingness of his to go above and beyond meant a lot to me; he could simply have said to just leave because the students are taking a test.</p>
<p>My mom and I met for lunch at Lucinda's (?) in Coleman. The food was really good, but I think they said it was catered instead of being normal fare. We were joined at our table by another prospective student and her parents as well as a bio professor and a Lawrence student. They answered any remaining questions we had.</p>
<p>After lunch, I went to a Freshman Studies class. This was by far my favorite experience and was one of the reasons I ultimately chose to deposit at Lawrence. The class was comprised of prospective students and we read and discussed a passage from Plato's Republic.</p>
<p>Next, I went to a panel of first year students who answered any questions anyone had left. </p>
<p>Before heading home, I checked out the dorm rooms in Coleman and Ormsby. Both seemed very nice, and I think I would be happy to live in either.</p>
<p>If you have any more specific questions about anything I said, feel free to ask me.</p>
<p>I forgot to add that my camera ran out of batteries early on in my Coe-Knox-Lawrence mega-visit, so I am afraid that I do not have any pictures to share after all. I will say, however, that the campus was gorgeous and that everything was very well-maintained.</p>
<p>That sucks about the camera. But it sounds like you had an awesome time at Lawrence!</p>
<p>It's a shame I missed the Freshman Studies class; the math class I wanted to visit was at the same time. The professor moved through the material really quickly, but he taught well and it (proving all the derivative rules using a different expression of the derivative) was really interesting. I look forward to Freshman Studies next fall though, especially Plato.</p>
<p>I agree the Lawrence Difference presentation was a bit long, and I also thought the campus tour was somewhat long and boring. The guide really only told us what classes were in each building. Otherwise, it was a wonderful visit, and everyone (the dean, students, professors) was very friendly.</p>
<p>What class/professor did you go to?</p>
<p>The history calss was taught by Prof. William Chaney and it was Mark Frazier who talked to me while his calss was testing.</p>
<p>I'm gonna be a biology major. I'm from Burnsville.</p>
<p>Foundations of Analysis with Professor Alan Parks</p>
<p>Thundercat, I'm going to be a Neuroscience major so I'll be taking a lot of classes in the biology department as well</p>
<p>"Foundations of Analysis with Professor Alan Parks"</p>
<p>Yeah, I'll be doing that class next year in the Spring (different teacher). The material is really tough. Parks is a great professor, though.</p>
<p>I sat in on Advanced Calc with professor Park, ha, i felt a little overwhelmed</p>
<p>Yeah, Parks actually has the reputation of being the easiest grader too (he's a great teacher, however).</p>
<p>He taught some pretty cool stuff though. I didn't know the proofs underlying what he was teaching, but I think I followed the big ideas for most of the time. It helped that he was starting a new subject and he was proving what we learned earlier in the year in calc (quotient rule, chain rule). I was surprised with how quickly the class moved; it was straight proof, no examples, and he left some of the proofs up to the students to learn. Still, I enjoyed it, and it makes me want to major in math even more.</p>