<p>In late Feb/early March, were flying to Chicago to visit the following schools: Northwestern, Lake Forest, Univ. of Wisconsin/Madison and Beloit. Im planning on approximately one day/school. </p>
<p>Ive read some visit descriptions of these schools in prior posts. Any advice about the best way to approach these schools for example, meeting with professors and any other useful strategies would be appreciated. </p>
<p>My daughter is interested in art history, journalism, social sciences.</p>
<p>If you're looking at a small LAC like Beloit, you may want to consider visiting Kalamazoo College, two hours north of Chicago in S.W. Michigan. Another one of Loren Pope's, "Colleges That Change Lives." Cami215 is an alum and speaks very highly of the school in her posts. It's considered one of the best schools in the State of Michigan: <a href="http://www.kzoo.edu/%5B/url%5D">http://www.kzoo.edu/</a></p>
<p>My advice, let her plan the trip, all of it. Let her pick the route, the schools, how long at each, who to meet and what to ask. Be flexible. If you run late one place, don't try to force it. Tour all the local Starbuck's. You think that's a joke, but it gave us a feel for the student body at many schools (and we both love coffee).</p>
<p>If you fly in Chicago Northwestern will be closest one, about 30 min ride.
Lake Forest is 30 minuts drive North from Northwestern and directions are easy. Beloit is west from there about 1,5 hr drive. I never drove from Beloit to Madison so am not sure how long it will take you probably couple of hours. From Chicago it is 3,5-4 hrs.
What kind of visiting are you planning to do? Like interview, sitting on the classes, talk with fin aid people, talk with coaches etc?
Lake Forest people are different from Beloit so be prepared that your child will like one school and hate the other. It is still might be cold, snow and drab around this time.
Check out Evanston downtown- lots of neat places.</p>
<p>We did a similar trip last year. From Lake Forest, it is about an hour and a half to get to Beloit. From Beloit, it is an hour or so(approximately) to Madison. You might want to add in Lawrence University in Appleton --- that's another hour and a half or so north of Madison, and it is possible to fly home from there via Chicago which would save you quite a bit of time (guess you could also fly home from Madison). In general, we found that drive times in the midwest were a bit longer than we anticipated or that mapquest indicated, and the scenery was often kind of boring (no offense to mid-westerners!), so bring music for the car!</p>
<p>I would urge you to allow at least half a day for each of these schools, especially Lake Forest and Beloit (and Lawrence if you go). The admissions offices at both Beloit and Lake Forest do an EXCELLENT job of setting up meetings with faculty and arranging for students to sit in on classes that interest them if you ask them to do so -- no need to worry about setting these things up on your own. Do NOT miss the opportunity to do both, especially at Beloit, as this is what impressed my daughter most when we visited, not the tour itself. The admissions offices will also arrange overnights for juniors, another thing worth doing if your child hasn't yet had the opportunity. The Beloit and Lake Forest admissions offices were just superb --- in fact, the admissions offices at ALL of the midwest schools we visited treated us so incredibly that the contrast with our visits to schools in the northeast and on the west coast was pretty amazing. </p>
<p>Also, someone here recommended the Beloit Inn to me. I am now recommending it to you. It is right down the hill from the College and is the nicest hotel in town. (Doesn't look like much from the outside but it is very nice inside, with a great restaurant as well). If you call to make your reservations, mention you are visiting the college and they will give you a steep discount or upgrade your room to a suite. You don't get the discount or upgrade if you book online or ask for it upon arrival. In Lake Forest there is an old, historic inn that was very atmospheric but pricey --- maybe the Deerfield Inn? --- but it is very close to the college. The mansions (and that's just what they are) in Lake Forest are really incredible, and it's worth spending some time to just drive around the area and gawk. Just be forewarned - there's a huge contrast between Lake Forest the town and Beloit the town --- be prepared for it.</p>
<p>Sounds like you will have a great trip, with a nice mix of liberal arts schools and universities thrown into the mix. I think it your daughter will get a lot out of it. Have fun!</p>
<p>Lake Forest people are different from Beloit so be prepared that your child will like one school and hate the other.>></p>
<p>This is a good point that Linda brings up. My daughter loved the faculty and quirky people at Beloit - it just felt "right" to her but it certainly is not a school for everyone. She liked the Lake Forest campus (and loved all those mansions) but the students she saw just weren't her "type." I think it is great that you will try to visit both, as well as UWisc. and Northwestern --- between the four, your daughter will probably get an even better idea of what she is looking for, and that should help you with the rest of the search. Again, have fun, and make sure you come back with a full trip report!</p>
<p>Right now our plan is to fly into Midway (we have tickets), spend a day at Northwestern, then a half-day at Lake Forest, drive to Madison, spend a day there, drive to Beloit, spend another day, and then fly out of Chicago. We usually go faster than the mapquest times -- I certainly hope it doesn't take four hours to drive the 134 miles from Lake Forest to Madison! </p>
<p>Bandit: She picked the schools, not me. Perhaps I should reword and say, what advice do you have for her when planning this trip? And none of us drink coffee -- we usually like to go to one of the student cafeterias for a meal, to check out students.</p>
<p>She'd like to sit in on classes, stay overnight if possible, meet with professors and check out the student newspaper, possibly look at the dance facilities. </p>
<p>And I know it's going to be cold, snowy and drab -- but we are coming from Vermont after all! (I tried to push a trip to California, where it's warm, but failed.)</p>
<p>Sounds very do-able, although the drive from Beloit to Midway will be probably be at least two hours, maybe more if you hit traffic (it's about one and a half hours to O'Hare from Beloit). </p>
<p>Check how mapquest is telling you to go between Lake Forest and Wisconsin -- if you go past Lake Geneva early on the way, then it may indeed take that long as that route is basically a two-lane country-ish road the entire way. (That's how the admissions offices at both Beloit and Lake Forest as well as mapquest directed us). That route definitely is not one that you can zip along on, although it is fairly scenic, even in March. I am positive there must be another way to go that sticks to major highways.</p>
<p>You might want to want to take 94 from LF to Milwaukee and then on to Madison. Not the most direct route but faster. Just take the bypass around Milwaukee.</p>
<p>Since you're flying into Midway you might want to consider at least driving by University of Chicago - it's directly east of Midway and from there you could pick up the south end of Lake Shore Drive -- take it all the way north to Sheridan Road and follow Sheridan on up to the Northwestern Campus. Some of the most spectacular views of Chicago are from the South side heading towards downtown, plus you drive right thru the museum campus. Have fun!</p>
<p>Times getting to an from cities are going to depend very heavily upon time of day. Chicago morning rush is around 6:30 to 9. Afternoon rush is around 3:30 to 7.</p>
<p>Take your time or the traffic will force you to.</p>
<p>You certainly picked two of my favorite recommendations for this part of the country, Lake Forest and Beloit.</p>
<p>FYI, the only covenient East/West route north of I-90 is Lake Cook Road.</p>
<p>A relative of mine, aged 16, fell in love with the tour guide at Northwestern (theater major) and didn't like the granola guide at Chicago. But he got over it.</p>
<p>If you do take the scenic route along Lakeshore Dr. past U-Chicago (as Juana suggested), you'll also be passing right by Loyola U-Chicago as you make the turn onto Sheridan Rd. on your way to Northwestern/Evanston. It's a pretty campus located directly on the shores of Lake Michigan in the Rogers Park neighborhood.</p>
<p>Not intended to be actual driving directions to Kalamazoo College...just a general idea of location relative to Chicago. Anyway, a non-issue...looks like the itinerary is already set.</p>
<p>Well as long as you're flying in/ out of Chicago, consider a short layover.
get deep dish pizza. I like Giordano's.
Eat in greek town maybe.
Take in a show at Second City.
Get a sense of what may be available beyond the campus for an area student to occasionally enjoy. And have some fun too!</p>
<p>I'm pretty sure there's a Northwestern visit in my future, and that's what I'm planning to do, anyway.</p>
<p>Hmm. The mapquest directions say to go north from Lake Forest to Milwaukee, and then west on 94 -- 2 1/2 hours. I'm hoping that since we are leaving from a suburb north of Chicago we'll miss a lot of the rush hour traffic. We've all been to Chicago at least once, so we have a pretty good sense of the city (although it was in midsummer). </p>
<p>It's so hard to plan these trips, and balance them with schoolwork and other activities. I'd love to spend more time in Chicago -- or see more colleges (I wanted to drive to Macalester in St. Paul), but we decided to head home sooner.</p>
<p>Back to my original question: does the student just send an email to the department head and ask for a meeting? Or work through the admissions office?</p>
<p>Sly...my D contacted the people directly and not through admissions. If you cannot find the dept. or who to ask, I suppose you could call admissions and find out who/how to contact, if need be.</p>