<p>Son is accepted (with amazingly personal acceptance letter) and very generous honors scholarship. He is likely attending next fall. Anyone else decided yet? My husband and I are U of M alum, so the small LAC is new to us. Very excited he has this opportunity. Likely a biochem major. </p>
<p>Questions--Any good ethnic (mexican, asian) food walking distance to campus? Most convenient bank/atm? Do they seem to honor housing requests (i.e. nonsmoking, etc.).</p>
<p>Thanks! :)</p>
<p>There's a very good Indian restaurant within walking distance of campus. There are also a couple Chinese places I believe. I'm not sure about Mexican though. It seems as housing requests are honored as far as possible. most people I know are happy with their rooms.</p>
<p>I usually try to respond to the Kalamazoo College posts faster than this, but I just picked up on this thread. Congrats to your S BrightonMom!</p>
<p>I have a sophomore S at K College who loves it. Like you, H and I are U-M alums. Despite having great college experiences, we've been pleasantly surprised by S's LAC experience. That amazingly personal acceptance letter your S received is an accurate indicator of the attention he will receive at K...so different than the very impersonal approach toward undergrads at the big U.</p>
<p>Saffron is the Indian place referred to by ????? that's walkable from campus. One of S's favorites. Kids also walk/bike to downtown Kzoo where we found an excellent sushi spot called Sushiya, yummy Greek at the Blue Dolphin, awesome pizza at Bimbo's. Others we'd still like to try are Juanita's for Mexican and Rosa Ria for Malaysian/Indonesian. There are a couple of student-oriented Chinese joints that border the campus and also deliver into the wee hours. </p>
<p>Your S can open a checking account with National City which has an ATM right on campus for free transactions. The newly-renovated bookstore and cafe/dining hall were unveiled at the start of this winter quarter and given rave reviews by S. They're located in the student center where construction of the entire facility will be completed this summer.</p>
<p>Dorm assignments seem to be handled well for freshmen. S was very happy with his suite-style double room last year. After that, assignments work off a lottery system. S not as thrilled with the choices this year since sophomore lottery #'s are usually low, but he'll be moving out early for a study abroad term this spring.</p>
<p>As I'm sure you already know, the sciences are very strong at K with excellent facilities so a biochem major will have a top-notch academic experience.</p>
<p>To GoBlueAlumMom,
I was hoping you would reply. I had followed several of your previous posts as my son was applying! We are going back in Feb for Scholarship test for Science/Math, so will definitely try your restaurant recs. Where has your son decided to go abroad? The abroad program was a big seller for us, as he had been to France with French Club this past year and wants to travel more. Thanks for the bank info and general information that reinforces his/our decision.</p>
<p>S will be going to Madrid for the spring quarter. The program will include some weekend excursions, but he'll stay on for a couple of weeks to travel after the completion of the program since it's the end of the school year. Merit scholarships are applied to the program cost which is about the same as an on-campus term. He will be placed with a local host family rather than dorm living for language/cultural immersion. This is one of K College's short term programs specially designed for kids with on-campus commitments, such as my S who's an athlete, or for kids who would rather not be away from campus longer than one academic quarter. However, many kids select one of the long term (two academic quarters) or extended term (full year) programs since there are more placement options to choose from.</p>
<p>Just to add to the food topic - Sushiya is excellent, and I've heard great things about Food Dance(downtown). </p>
<p>And about banking, National City does have an atm in the library, which is nice. But if your son already has an account with LaSalle, Chase, or Comerica, there are branches in about 20 minutes of walking. So it isn't completely necessary to change if you don't want to.</p>
<p>Hello K families! This is my first post to College Confidential, although I was a regular reader this time last year. My D (only child) is a freshman @ K and loves it! As you can see by my log in name, we're from Maryland, and Kalamazoo was not even on our radar screen until last January. Long story short--she visited, fell in love, and has never looked back! Imagine our trepidation (husband and mine), though, about sending our only halfway across the country when she'd never even been to summer camp! Well, they take such good care of the students there that she's never been homesick one time. We made a goal that we would see her once a month, one way or another, and we've been able to do it. She lives in Harmon and is as happy as a clam--even the snow doesn't bother her! She's fallen twice and fractured her foot once and pulled her shoulder on the second fall, and she STILL loves it! And when she's happy, Mom and Dad are happy!</p>
<p>So glad to hear of your daughter's experience. All the positive feedback from current students and their parents is very reassuring. :)</p>
<p>Our son is a freshman at K from Wisconsin. He loves it too. Like K Mom in MD we knew nothing about K two years ago, but we're very happy with his choice of schools now. The college is really challenging him academically and he is responding very well to it. It seems to us that there is a very healthy culture of learning among the students, not in a competitive way but in an inspirational way. He is also enjoying himself very much socially, so there is a good balance.</p>
<p>I was accepted; I hope to attend!</p>