Kalamazoo College

The college is somewhat cliquey with all of the jocks, theatre freaks, anime people ( the "freak table") somewhat exclusive. There are parties to be found - the problem being that WMU has a bad reputation for rioting and that bleeds over to all parties in Kalamazoo. The majority of the people are upper-middle class from Detroit or Chicago, with a few from out of state. However, it is possible to go here if your family is of average income.

The faculty is very reachable, but the administration is a moneymaking machine, currently hellbent at getting enough money for a library renovation project. They dig for funds to the point that they have recently started a program for undergraduates encouraging giving immediately after graduation. They also solicit parents for funds (which are not part of tuition payments. The lack of the administration's interest in student affairs coupled with the very fast pace ( forcing many professors to go on sabbatical) neglects many student needs like campus organizations. Many are poorly organized due to lack of available time and lack of student body to fill positions. Couple this with a few overly strong campus organizations and the smaller ones suffer even more.

The grounds of the college look nice, but only for prospective students. Facilities Management is one of the most poorly organized staff units on campus, often disrupting class time with leaf blowers and lawn mowers. The dorms can get very dirty very fast ( imagine a men's public dormitory restroom after 2 days of use.) Janitors vary from omnipresent to invisible.My suggestion for new attendees is to realize that student pressure forces you to work hard during the week and on sunday night, and let off all the pressure on the weekends ( a trend hard to reverse.) The last thing you should know is that since the classes are on "quarters", for reference, they follow the seasons. Hence classes do not start until the end of September, and do not end until the middle of June. This throws your schedule off from that of your friends and makes it somewhat more difficult to get a summer job or go on trips intended for college students, because we are still in college when an opportunity is opened.