<p>I am very happy to have been admitted to these 3 respectable but little-known LACs near Chicago, and would like your input on all or any of the 3:</p>
<p>Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU)</p>
<p>Knox College</p>
<p>Lake Forest College</p>
<p>I'm asking parents specifically because my priority is job prospects. If you are an employer, how would you view undergrad degrees from these schools? What is your general perception of these schools and its graduates? Any colleagues from these schools? </p>
<p>Strongly welcome any anecdotes or personal opinions or friend's experiences too! Have you heard anything about the different schools' vibes?</p>
<p>I'm an international student, so don't worry about mentioning things that may seem 'redundant' or commonly understood in the US.</p>
<p>I really appreciate all replies because the forums for my LACs are hardly active.</p>
<p>ps: a big factor for me is being close to Chicago, and we obviously know which school from the above 3 wins in this category ;) But other factors are important too</p>
<p>I know a recent graduate of Knox. She loved her time there and graduated into a great job in a field she loves based on internships sponsored by the school.</p>
<p>Illinois Wesleyan is in Bloomington which is not close to Chicago. It’s about 3 hours south. It is fairly well-regarded in the area but completely unknown in the rest of the country. It suffers a little in comparison with its neighbor, Illinois State, which in turn suffers in comparison with the state flagship, University of Illinois. I grew up in Bloomington and many of my high school friends remain in the area although only a couple went to IWU. Bloomington is a medium-sized town.</p>
<p>I would say in terms of prestige, Knox would come out above IWU because it’s a member of the ACM (Associated Colleges of the Midwest). My sister is a Knox alum, graduated in Modern Languages. It is slightly better known on a national level than IWU. She had a wonderful time there and still maintains ties to the alumni organization.</p>
<p>Knox is a CTCL (Colleges That Change Lives.) It was on my shortlist, and the interviewer made the place seem really wonderful. They made it seem like if you put the work in, Know would give you the opportunities you wanted- funding for research, help with internships, etc.</p>
<p>I have also heard nice things about Knox. But please take all this “popularity” poll with a large grain of salt. There are many things that go into a good college choice. For instance, you will be choosing a major. An excellent professor or group of professors in your chosen field might make one of the other schools be a great choice. </p>
<p>So, if I were employing, say chemists, and I knew that XYZ College had a top notch chem department, then that is what I would be pleased to see on an application. </p>
<p>I am glad to read that you are thinking about job prospects NOW. Too many students “embrace their passion” and get four years of college and only then realize that it is very hard to get a job with a degree in Romantic Poetry (possible, but more challenging than, say, nursing). By all means, explore the things you love – but keeping an eye out for the future is a wise thing too.</p>
<p>@vballmom: I’m probably reading too much into this, but what do you mean by “many of my high school friends remain in the area although only a couple went to IWU.” Does that mean they chose Illinois State or U of Illinois over IWU for reasons like getting a degree from a more reputable school? </p>
<p>If you are planning to start your professional life in the Midwest, any of these would be just fine. If you are concerned that potential employers in fill-in-other-part-of-the-country-here-where-I-just-absolutely-must-start-my-working-life-or-I-will-die-broken-hearted have ever heard of or care about these institutions, that would be an entirely different thing. If that is the case, don’t choose a smaller Midwestern college/university as a place to pursue your undergraduate degree.</p>
<p>If you are concerned about grad/med school admission, stop worrying. People get into great grad schools and med schools every year from colleges and universities that you’ve never heard of.</p>
<p>As for Illinois State, vs. U of Illinois, vs. IWU for HS grads in the Bloomington area, you can just about bet that most chose the public institutions because they were cheaper, and in the case of U of Illinois farther from home. At the time those students were in college, it also may have been easier to get into the public universities than to be admitted at IWU. Chances are that it is not a “prestige” or “reputation” thing at all.</p>
<p>I had a couple of high school classmates go to Lake Forest, and I know some other adults who went there, too. All of which is somewhat significant, because it shows that LF has traditional draws outside its region. I’m not sure that’s true about the other two, at least before CTCL publicized Knox. </p>
<p>I have no idea what LF is like now, but back then it was a preppie place where students had good learning experiences, sort of like Hamilton (which is a great college now). I can’t imagine that many people would say “Oh, he (or she) is a Lake Forest grad, hire him (or her) immediately!”, but at the same time I can’t imagine that many people have any kind of negative association with Lake Forest, either. If I saw it on someone’s resume, I would think he went to a good, solid college.</p>