<p>I have a Fiske book right in front of me, and it doesn’t use the word grunge once. Different edition, I suppose. The description I have is “Our choice as the best liberal arts college in the Midwest. Predominantly liberal school, but not to the extremes of its more antiestablishment cousins.”</p>
<p>Anyway, not looking at a tit-for-tat. People can visit and judge themselves.</p>
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<p>Wonder if that was meant to be a reference to Oberlin and Antioch? Then again, that label may no longer apply to Oberlin judging by grousing by older alums and comments from recent grads that Oberlin has greatly mellowed out on that score since the early-mid 2000’s.</p>
<p>Not sure who that’s referring to. The part I didn’t quote talks about how it’s less selective than Williams and Amherst because of its Minnesota locale.</p>
<p>Quote is under the Olaf listing…</p>
<p>“Lutheran to the core, the well scrubbed undergraduates at St Olaf are a stark contrast to the grunge of crosstown rival Carleton”.</p>
<p>Just wanted to mention that Macalester is in St. Paul - not on the outskirts of anything. It is equal distant to both downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul in a great historical neighborhood with restaurants and cute shops. For those who are afraid of the winters of Minn., we packed our daughter with down everything for the punishing weather we thought she’d experience at Mac But it’s been really mild so far. Actually, it’s a bit scary and people out there are complaining that they can’t do their normal winter activities. </p>
<p>But judging from this conversation, Oberlin fits all the requirements - academics, music, performance, fellow free spirits and interesting clothing choices. These school have lots of similarities and kids would be lucky to go to any of them. If you can, check them all out.</p>
<p>^^I liked the Macalester neighborhood so much when we visited that, if my son ends up there, I’d be tempted to go full helicopter mom and buy a house! I think I’d be totally justified in doing so, just for the pho at the little Vietnamese cafe bordering campus, not to mention the desserts at Cafe Latte up the road, but fortunately for S, a helicopter mom house isn’t in the budget. :)</p>
<p>Helicopter mom house! Great idea. If my D ends up at Kalamazoo College, I may have to buy a pied-a-terre (can you even call it a pied-a-terre if it’s in Michigan?), strategically located between K College and Bell’s Brewery. Then I can consume beer and pretzels all day and check in on my D between half-pints. She’d LOVE that. ;)</p>
<p>Excellent plan, abs! Kalamazoo is a nice town, and yes, you may call it a pied-a-terre in Michigan, which has a significant French history thanks to Pere Marquette and others. Don’t forget, if she goes to K-zoo, you’ll also need to get a place in whatever country she spends her junior year! Incidentally, Michigan has plans to improve the rails between Kalamazoo and Indiana, which would make the Kalamazoo to Chicago Amtrak train a higher speed. Hopefully this will be done before your D graduates and not postponed until our grandchildren graduate.</p>
<p>I tried and tried, as late as two days ago (the deadline is Feb. 1! you still have time!) to get my son to apply to K-zoo, but it’s too close to home for him. Apparently he needs a minimum of a 12-hour drive. Sigh. K-zoo is an excellent college, and your daughter will definitely get a good education if she attends. Everyone I know who graduated from K-zoo raves about it.</p>
<p>We visited St Olaf, Macalester, Carleton last spring. DD’s opinions: Mac–seemed snobbish overall to her though the tour guide was very low key, St Olaf—LOVED, but was too religious, Carleton—did not have a “college” feel to her.</p>
<p>alynor,</p>
<p>Can I PM you with some specific questions about what you’ve heard vis-a-vis teaching at KZoo? At this point, it’s tops on my D’s list (she got a very nice scholarship and she’s felt at home on both of her visits). If you don’t know enough to comment, just let me know! Others in contention are Willamette U. in Oregon and Rhodes College in Memphis (accepted at both, nice dollars from Willamette, no word on merit from Rhodes yet).</p>
<p>DD is down to Kzoo and Wooster. Older son graduated from K so we know it and love it. He got a great education. Maybe if my D ends up there, our kids can meet! We are an hour away; she is going for an overnight next week.</p>
<p>Yes, I’d be happy to answer what I know. It will be my first PM here!</p>
<p>alynor–Great. Will send you something later today. I probs should get back to work now, though!</p>
<p>dentmom–We looked at Wooster. I loved it. I thought the campus was gorgeous and the surrounding town kinda cute. My D was lukewarm. I don’t know if it was the school itself or college-visit fatigue. Ah, well. She concluded that there was no chance she’d pick it over other schools on her list, so there was really no reason to keep it in the running. Loved the Black Squirrel Inn for a place to stay very close to campus.</p>
<p>Abs: is there decent merit money at K?</p>
<p>Absweetmarie,</p>
<p>Willamette also might sweeten the pot with more, smaller merit add-on awards and grants if you have some need. We did the preliminary Profile (incorrectly filled out last November!) when D applied. The give a preliminary aid estimate, then according to the FA office throw the Profile out completely and just use FAFSA. Her estimate package included the original merit offer plus an additional 4k scholarship award then grants/loans. So, even if EFC is higher, the extra merit $ could make the WU package attractive.</p>
<p>DD has Wooster overnight in 3 weeks. Liked her first visit and it really was an afterthought. We will see! The small town did not bother her—she is easily entertained with small things.</p>
<p>Merit aid at Kalamazoo was quite good for my D; from what I hear, they tend to be relatively generous. My D is a strong candidate, but not off the charts; she’s in the top 25 percent for them, though (I’m happy to PM info to anyone who wants to know; my D would kill me if I broadcasted it!). We did get the additional $4K from Willamette, which brings it closer to the price of K College. My D and I both loved Willamette, btw.</p>
<p>We’re visiting Wooster this Saturday, neither of us have been.</p>
<p>Antioch…my brother is grad and loved it, and is doing very, very well. I read recently that this year all students get a 100% tuition scholarship. “All” meaning 75 or so. They were actually closed for a couple of years but are coming back, thanks to some seriously dedicated alumni (including my brother).</p>
<p>[Welcome</a> to Antioch College](<a href=“http://antiochcollege.org/]Welcome”>http://antiochcollege.org/)</p>