***Lawrence University Class of 2021***

Basbleu
Fri, 06 Jan 2017 05:22:42 +0000

Thank you! That’s interesting that your D isn’t thrilled about the trimester schedule because that’s actually one thing my S loves–in his mind I think he sees it as the next best thing to Colorado College’s one course at a time. He just seems to do better when deadlines are in 4 days as opposed to 4 weeks. 3 classes at a time instead of 4 or 5 means fewer teachers/syllabi to juggle.

Aside from that, he’s in a somewhat unique position in that he’s obsessed with classical music and plays piano, but he’s never been in band and hasn’t done much formal training. That said, he’s dying to take some classes in theory and composition. Lawrence has a pretty unusual set up in that they have a rather large, distinguished composition/theory faculty (considering the size of the school) and they allow non-majors to take music courses. I think they probably take them in a different section than the conservatory students but still–having access to the same faculty could be pretty sweet. The conservatory there is very down to earth.

On our tour this past summer, Lawrence was probably my favorite. Colorado College was nice but toney and I was less impressed with the facilities at Earlham. I’ve just been so impressed with the correspondence from Lawrence–whoever they have doing their copywriting is a genius–always so smart, but warm and sometimes funny. Beyond that, nearly everyone I’ve interacted with there has gone above and beyond the call of duty to be helpful. My S was truly touched when he got a handwritten note last week from his admissions rep and she mentioned the restaurant where he works–it’s a popular trendy place and naturally she travels to the area for school visits, etc. Little things like that go a long way.

We both love the idea of the seminar weekends at the Bjorklunden retreat property, and the students at Lawrence have made some of the most entertaining videos. There’s a whole series where one of the guys is channeling Napoleon Dynamite. All that combined with what looks like genuinely top notch academics. We’ll see!