OldinJersey

My DD has been reading about Beliot for months. Loves everything about it but has held off due to the distance from NJ and distance from airports.
It keeps coming up since she is wild to study anthropology. Beloit is way up there in dept reputation. Also keeps coming up that kids are not yuppie beemer prada girls - a major concern for her.
I'd like to ask first, how far is it from the nearest airport(s) and how long is the actual travel time, how complicated to do? The website makes it sound semi-easy but the links didn't seem to have the needed info. It gave the impression that flying into Chicago it would be 4+ hour bus ride, once the shuttle bus arrived.

Also, I read on that ************** website some major complaints about lack of things to do. It is not that she is a wild and crazy kid looking for the high life. ( NYC visits involve more shoppping on canal street, not wild clubbing)
My concern is unhappy student attitude on campus.
Any thoughts?
There is also a slight fun side note-DD1 is applying to Northwestern for grad school - 1 hour away? Cousin conducts Debuque Orchestra-2 hours away. No clue if anyone goes to Debuque on a whim. Amazing conductor if you get there!

northeastmom

Since we are from NJ too, I am interested in the answers to your questions.

Chedva

You might want to send a PM to carolyn - her d goes to Beloit and travels from southern California, so she should know about the airport connections.

MilwDad

I took this schedule off the Van Galder Bus Lines website. (Linked from the Beloit College website). Now an important caveat -- I'm ASSUMING that this bus makes a stop whenever necessary to drop people off in Beloit because the obvious route from O'Hare to Janesville, Wisconsin (which is what the schedule actually shows) goes right past Beloit. (Janesville is about ten minutes north of Beloit.) That assumption is buttressed by the comment on the Beloit website that the college can arrange pick up/drop off at the Van Galder stop at a service plaza on the Interstate just outside Beloit.

So if my assumption is right, you'll see that this bus service (which may actually be more of an "airport limousine" vehicle than a big bus) leaves O'Hare about every hour and a half all day, and would get you from O'Hare to Beloit in a little less than two hours.

You could also get from Beloit to Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee in less than an hour and a half, and from Beloit to the airport in Madison, Wisconsin in no more than an hour, by car, but I don't think there is any regular bus service to either. (Although I would expect that there is a ride board and plenty of student traffic to both cities.)

Anyway, here's the O'Hare/Janesville schedule. The first time listed is pickup at the International gate, the second at a domestic gate:

From:
Chicago O'Hare Airport, IL To:
Janesville, WI

Terminal 5 (International) lower level door 5E

O'Hare Airport, Bus/Shuttle Center Door 4

Van Galder Bus Terminal, 3120 North Pontiac Dr. Janesville

Route/Trip
Daily 6:00a 6:30a 8:35a
Daily 7:00a 7:30a 9:30a
Daily 8:30a 9:00a 10:55a
Daily 10:30a 11:00a 12:55p
Daily 12:30p 1:00p 2:55p
Daily 2:00p 2:30p 4:25p
Daily 3:30p 4:00p 5:55p
Daily 5:00p 5:30p 7:25p
Daily 6:00p 6:30p 8:35p
Daily 7:00p 7:30p 9:25p
Daily 8:00p 8:30p 10:35p
Daily 8:30p 9:00p 11:05p
Daily 9:30p 10:00p 12:05at
Daily 10:30p 11:00p 1:05at

t Indicates next day.

I hope that helps.

Here's the link itself: http://www.coachusa.com/vangalder/ss...d=863136215383

And here's the link to the appropriate Beloit college page:
http://www.beloit.edu/~admiss/visit/...beloit/bus.php

Chanel_nicole

i was just accepted into Beloit and will probably be attending if i cannot afford NYU. like your daughter, i was a little worried about being bored and there not being a lot to do. i've been in contact with several students, and i have heard quite the contrary.
the town of Beloit's population is roughly 40,000 people. it has your basic stores and shopping an art museum and even an opera house (i think). but the one GREAT thing about Beloit is that three major cities are less than two hours away. madison is 30 minutes away, chicago is 90 miles away, and milwaukee is 80 miles away, and rockford(IL second largest city) is just 15 minutes away. but the great thing is, 90% of students stay on campus every weekend because there is so much to do! students say that they are hardly bored and love beloit. there are also tons and tons of clubs to join.
like i said, i'm only an prospective student but i am in love with the idea of beloit and i'd be happy to answer any more questions.

oh, and beloit has a 94% retention rate, which is a big thing.
AND they're one of the happiest campus' in the midwest.

good luck

northeastmom

Thanks for posting Milwdad and Chanel. Chanel, good luck to you!

carolyn

MilwDad is correct - the Van Galder bus service has regular service. It stops in South Beloit, Illinois, which is five minutes from campus (Janesville is about 15 minutes north). The school runs a shuttle bus over to the bus stop on school breaks, but it's not a problem to find a ride at other times. (It's just a little too far to walk). The same bus goes up to Madison and points in between. My daughter (a freshman) been up to Madison several times with friends to go to concerts, to shop, to eat out, etc. It's a really fun town. She has also gone down to Chicago twice.

One of the pluses about Beloit is that it is very much a residential campus. 95% or more live on campus, the rest within walking distance. Since it's very geographically diverse, pretty much everyone sticks around on the weekends. As a result, there's always a lot going on. My daughter sometimes has trouble deciding what to do on a weekend night. Keep in mind that she is not a partier, but she has plenty of options. I have not yet heard her complain of bordeom!

The priority application deadline was January 15. If your daughter is interested, she probably should call them on Monday and see if they would still take an application because application numbers have gone up every year recently, and they had a higher than expected yield the last two years.

carolyn

Chanel,
Wanted to say, congratulations! I would definitely describe most Beloit students as a happy and friendly bunch. Those that aren't tend to leave pretty quickly.

OldinJersey

thanks, all. Everywhere seems to have a higher applicant pool and a higher yield. wild!