Mary13

Thank you, lollypop39 for all your thorough answers. I'm glad to see the Beloit thread revived. It's a great school--my daughter is a freshman there and loves it.

lollypop39

Your are Welcome!

djdietz

Lollypop,

My daughter is looking for a small LAC to study Psychology, Art, and Creative Writing. She plans to go to Grad school for psych. most likely after undergrad. Would you say that Beloit is well represented in these areas? She would like to do a double major - does Beloit have a "flexible distribution" that would help that?

Socially she just enjoys unjudgemental people who accept everyone as they are. It sounds like you have that covered form the other posts?

Did you look at any other midwest LAC's like MAcalaster, Carleton. St Olaf, or Lawrence? Those are on her list too.

Thanks

DJD

Masquemom

djdietz,

Your daughter must be my daughter's twin. We've visited all 5 schools you listed (+ Gustavus Adolphus). I'd be interested in your impressions.

Mary13

Beloit has what they call “breadth requirements”—students must take two courses from each of the school’s three academic divisions: Mathematics and Natural Sciences; Social Sciences; and Arts and Humanities. (That's from the website--there are more details there.) My daughter is only a freshman, but it doesn’t appear that it will be too difficult to fulfill these requirements, and from what I’ve learned since she’s been there, double-majoring is not uncommon.

As for enjoying “unjudgemental people who accept everyone as they are”—that sounds just like the students at Beloit! My daughter has been very happy. She also considered Lawrence—it was her second choice—but ultimately went with Beloit because the college struck her as a little less rigid (she’s a gal who hates rules), and the students seemed a little more her style.

icemaker

I am an alumnus of Beloit and when I was there, it was probably more common for a student to double major than not. For some reason, I found myself hanging out with alot of physics/classics majors.

asdad

djditz, it sounds like you are describing a Beloit student.

great lakes mom

The one way you can get into trouble with double majoring, is to want majors in the same concentration. My D had considered History and Modern Languages, but as they are in the same concentration, felt it might be difficult to get her breadth requirements in as well. Does not seem impossible, but she didn't didn't choose that route. Creative Writing is well known and strong. I don't know as much about psychology or art.

DJD, my Ds applied to all your mentioned schools, aside from Carlton. They all have their strong points. We liked Beloit's semesters vs the quarters at Lawrence. I liked Macalaster, but no acceptance for us, and not being needs blind probably had something to do with it. St. Olaf seemed a little more white bread, though for dedicated non major musicians, nothing could be better, and I like their values oriented education. Ds were a little doubtful. Beloit has been great for one D, and the other is in a different part of the country. Some twins need separate schools.

lunitari

What's the new student orientation process like? My D is a shy kid who is anxious about being able to get acquainted with people.

Mary13

lunitari, Beloit’s FYI program (First Year Initiative) would work well for a shy student. The new students are on campus together for 10 days before the upperclassmen arrive. This gives them the opportunity to meet new people and make friends at a reasonable pace rather than at the break-neck speed of many other orientations. Before arriving on campus, the student reviews a variety of different FYI topics, and selects one. The FYI classes are a lot of fun—not dry, “academic” material—and that helps to draw out the students that might be a little more introverted.

This is from the Beloit website:

I sound like a broken record, I’ve posted this so much, but once again: My daughter is a freshman at Beloit and loves it.

lollypop39

The FYI program is amazing at Beloit. It gives you a set base of friends outside of your dorm. Before I came to Beloit, I was told by my tour guides and hosts that the people from your FYI will become your best friends. I did not believe it then, but now, as a senior, I live in a townhouse of 4 girls who are my best friends (me included) and 2 of the 3 are form my FYI, and we often have our other friends from our FYI's come over and hang out. My other best friend lived in the same dorm as me our first year. I'm not sure how it is done, but the people who you first make contact with, complain about loads of work with, and read the common reading together do become your friends. You do not have to worry about being alone at Beloit, because if you just put in an ounce of effort, you will find a group of people who will become your best friends.

lollypop39

About double majors, a lot of people do so. Actually, I was a double major, but dropped one major to go abroad because of scheduling issues. That is not the case for everyone, I know plenty of people who go abroad, double major, and are involved on campus. So, if your daughter wants to pursue two majors, like a lot of people do, she can, or she can even design her own major. I find that the only draw back of double majoring is not being able to take advantage of every class offered because you have to fulfill your requirements; and after your second year you get quite focused, with maybe only one class to take outside of your two majors.

lollypop39

About psychology, I’m not too familiar with that department. I do know we have a unique study abroad program in psychology. We have a new cognitive science professor that I’ve just met while working the Polls yesterday. The psychology department focuses a lot on cultural psychology, which is often forgotten in traditional psychology study. I also have a friend, who’s very interested in psychology and law, she’s done two summer research projects with Professor Larry White and plans to go to graduate school.

carolyn

DJD, My daughter is a studio art major, who considered psychology as a major at one point. She has also taken some of Beloit's great creative writing classes.

In terms of her experiences with the individual departments:

1. She found the teachers in the psychology department to be great, and very helpful. However, she quickly discovered that psychology is much more of a "scientific" major than she had expected -- she pictured it in her mind as being sort of a touchy-feelie major that involves "helping people" and the way psychology is taught at Beloit (and most other colleges) is more analytical, research oriented. She did enjoy the courses she took in the department, but ultimately, decided it was not for her.

2. One of the main reasons my daughter picked Beloit was because of the art department. When she visited, one of the teachers in the department gave her a personal tour of the facilities, and talked about the opportunities for art majors. The department is one of the better funded departments at Beloit thanks to a major donation from a former alumnus. As a result, they are able to bring in a variety of visiting artists, and they do offer a fairly wide variety of courses. The art facilities are fairly good, although they could be better in a few areas (my daughter would like there to be a metal foundry for sculpture, for instance). In terms of the teachers in the department, they tend to be young, friendly, and exceedingly supportive. My daughter has loved her experiences in the department, although she works quite hard as a major.

One nice plus about Beloit is that they have such a great archeology/anthropology program and also a museum studies minor. They also have two museums on campus, and a student run art gallery in downtown Beloit. My daughter will end up with minors in archeology/anthro and museum studies, which is a nice compliment to her art major. She found that her courses in these areas helped her land an excellent museum internship last summer, and she has also had some unique on-campus opportunities involving art and museum work. Ironically, she really didn't think she would major in studio art when she picked Beloit - she just knew she wanted to be able to take art courses. But, the support she's received from the teachers in the department really convinced her that this was the right route for her -- we have been pleased at how well she has been treated in the department.

3. In terms of the creative writing program, it is wonderful. One of the great things about Beloit is that anyone can take creative writing courses -- this is not always the case at other schools. For instance, at my son's LAC, you have to apply and submit a writing portfolio just to get into the basic courses. My daughter has really enjoyed the creative writing courses she's taken at Beloit.

Academically, my daughter thought that, since she was towards the top of Beloit's admissions pool, that she wouldn't have to work as hard as she did in high school. But, instead, she's found Beloit to be quite challenging. The most wonderful part of Beloit, from my daughter's perspective, however, has been her teachers. I know all colleges talk about strong relationships between students and teachers, but the teachers at Beloit (with a few exceptions here and there) really do seem to take a true interest in their students, and encourage them to strive to reach their full potential. For my daughter, this has helped her explore areas and subjects she never would have imagined in high school, and, as a parent, it is great to see how self-confident she's become in the process.

Beloit really is a great place. It may not be right for everyone, but when it is a fit, it can be magical.

carolyn

What's the new student orientation process like? My D is a shy kid who is anxious about being able to get acquainted with people.>>

I just want to add that one of the things that Beloit does is bring freshmen to campus a full week before upper classmen arrive. They begin their FYI classes during this week, and there is a full slate of activities. The fact that it is only freshmen on campus makes it very easy for even shy kids to get to know other people. I think this weeklong orientation is one of the things that Beloit really does right.