This Week’s College: Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI
Kalamazoo is a terrific liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan which has developed a four point plan for approaching the education of their students called the K-Plan. These conceptual approaches are as follows: Depth and breadth in the Liberal Arts, Learning Through Experience, International and Intercultural Experience, and Independent Scholarship. The way the K-Plan works is to produce students who are fully immersed in their fields of study, but have also studied widely, students who can engage in plenty of different contexts and can learn effectively in a variety of settings. At the end of your time at Kalamazoo and with the K-Plan, you will be able to respect differences, communicate well in writing and speaking, be proficient in a second language, think critically, reason analytically, and solve problems skillfully. The K-Plan is the beginning of a lifelong love of learning and a passion for exploring new ideas.
One of the best things about the K-Plan is that it is individualized. Your K-Plan will differ from someone else’s because what you choose to study is different from what she chooses to study or from what her friend chooses to study. Maybe you want to study Portuguese so you can study abroad in Brazil and do international banking (Brazil is a huge up and coming economy right now!). That’s going to be totally different from your roommate who is doing biology and studying Spanish and is interested in conservation efforts in Costa Rica.
While it sounds incredibly cutting edge, believe it or not, the K-Plan is fifty years old. Underpinning it is a strong tradition of the liberal arts curriculum, but with some real freedom in it as well. All students take a course of three Shared Passages Seminars: one first quarter of Freshman year, one Sophomore/Junior year, and one Senior year. The first one is about the transition to K (as students call it), integrating the skills of high school with those of college, learning the art of college level writing, critical thinking skills, and information literacy. The second course is designed to ready students for study abroad and helps to foster a sense of cultural and intercultural understanding and to help students prepare to live in a global world. The last course is the one which helps students to see their future beyond K, helps them to integrate what they have learned and what they will go on to do shortly after. These courses can be disciplinary or interdisciplinary and offer a chance to look at topics both with great depth and great breadth.
Graduating students also complete at least one unit of SIP or Senior Individualized Project. These can be based on work from an internship, study or research within a major, art works, performances, or recitals. This is considered an essential aspect of the education of a student at Kalamazoo, and because of that, much of the spring term is full of symposia, exhibitions, lectures, and performances of all kinds.
Service learning is also important at K. Over 600 students engage in service learning through the course of the year by either taking a course based class or by volunteering their time in the community. Additionally, Kalamazoo is also working hard to make sure that their students have a variety of choices in terms of internships. They have a program called Discovery Externship Program. This is designed specifically for freshmen and sophomores. They include a homestay with K alums, a short (but intense) apprenticeship experience with the alum in their place of work, and a chance to build meaningful connections to that person and people in that workplace. Placements range from one week to four weeks. But you get a good “taste” of the industry before there is any pressure to make a choice about what you want to do.
Finally, they are big into study abroad. Most schools have study abroad but a lot of students don’t do it for Fear of Missing Out. UVA is a big culprit in this! Too many students don’t take the chance to go abroad and live somewhere else and immerse themselves in a language because they might miss time with their friends or they might not get to be in that club or get that housing. But a full 82% of K students end up studying abroad. They have 42 different programs on 6 continents in 23 different countries so there is something you will want to do. From Perth, Australia to the London School of Economics, to Trinidad and Tobago’s University of the West Indies, you’re sure to find a program that supports what you want to learn about where you want to do your learning.
So let’s talk applications. Kalamazoo is kind of a great place to apply to. They have Early Action and Early Decision (both 1 November). And they are SAT/ACT optional (send ‘em if you got ‘em, but you don’t have to, honestly!). Emphasis is placed on your transcript and the rigor of it, your essay (it’s a Common App school), and your extracurriculars. If you do submit your scores, they are considered, like another piece of a puzzle, but they are not given additional weight for or against you, and all applicants are considered for financial aid. In addition to the Common App essay, they also have a supplement in which they ask how you think Kalamazoo will help you explore your interests etc. It’s optional as well. But I think it’s a good idea to send more writing not less.
Kalamazoo (the town) is about the same size as Charlottesville (a little bigger actually), and it’s home to Western Michigan University as well as K. There’s plenty keeping it going and lots to do off campus, but there’s also so much to do on campus that you might not venture off. K is a Division III school and offers football, basketball, lacrosse, track, swimming, baseball (m), softball (w), volleyball (w), not to mention the club and intramurals and intercollegiates as well. There’s no Greek Life, but there are over 70 different student activities to choose from (Anime? Childish Games? Health Conversations and Shadowing Club? Kalamadudes? Naked Musicians and Culture Magazine? Society for Conversations in Research? Young Men of Color?). Not to mention the usual suspects: Student Government, Literary Magazine, Newspaper, Jazz Band, Symphony Orchestra, MUN, TV Station, Theatre.
Most students live on campus freshman and sophomore year. But many move off junior and senior year (and many are abroad junior year). Students eat at the dining hall in the student center. The residence halls have a residence assistance and then also have full time Senior Residence Assistance who are professionals and who are trained to work with students who are living in a residence. These folks are terrific and have dedicated themselves to residence life programming. There are no cars allowed on campus, so living off campus means you can drive to school but also to Chicago which is only a couple hours away or to detroit which is a couple hours away as well.
Is Kalamazoo for you? Are you interested in shared experiences (there’s a freshman book everyone reads before coming) and also individual experiences? Do you suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out)? Can you stand a Michigan winter (it’s not worse than Cornell’s)? Are you interested in the K-Plan? If these questions tilt one way or the other then you might have your answer!
Pros:
Cons:
Kalamazoo is a terrific liberal arts college in Kalamazoo, Michigan which has developed a four point plan for approaching the education of their students called the K-Plan. These conceptual approaches are as follows: Depth and breadth in the Liberal Arts, Learning Through Experience, International and Intercultural Experience, and Independent Scholarship. The way the K-Plan works is to produce students who are fully immersed in their fields of study, but have also studied widely, students who can engage in plenty of different contexts and can learn effectively in a variety of settings. At the end of your time at Kalamazoo and with the K-Plan, you will be able to respect differences, communicate well in writing and speaking, be proficient in a second language, think critically, reason analytically, and solve problems skillfully. The K-Plan is the beginning of a lifelong love of learning and a passion for exploring new ideas.
One of the best things about the K-Plan is that it is individualized. Your K-Plan will differ from someone else’s because what you choose to study is different from what she chooses to study or from what her friend chooses to study. Maybe you want to study Portuguese so you can study abroad in Brazil and do international banking (Brazil is a huge up and coming economy right now!). That’s going to be totally different from your roommate who is doing biology and studying Spanish and is interested in conservation efforts in Costa Rica.
While it sounds incredibly cutting edge, believe it or not, the K-Plan is fifty years old. Underpinning it is a strong tradition of the liberal arts curriculum, but with some real freedom in it as well. All students take a course of three Shared Passages Seminars: one first quarter of Freshman year, one Sophomore/Junior year, and one Senior year. The first one is about the transition to K (as students call it), integrating the skills of high school with those of college, learning the art of college level writing, critical thinking skills, and information literacy. The second course is designed to ready students for study abroad and helps to foster a sense of cultural and intercultural understanding and to help students prepare to live in a global world. The last course is the one which helps students to see their future beyond K, helps them to integrate what they have learned and what they will go on to do shortly after. These courses can be disciplinary or interdisciplinary and offer a chance to look at topics both with great depth and great breadth.
Graduating students also complete at least one unit of SIP or Senior Individualized Project. These can be based on work from an internship, study or research within a major, art works, performances, or recitals. This is considered an essential aspect of the education of a student at Kalamazoo, and because of that, much of the spring term is full of symposia, exhibitions, lectures, and performances of all kinds.
Service learning is also important at K. Over 600 students engage in service learning through the course of the year by either taking a course based class or by volunteering their time in the community. Additionally, Kalamazoo is also working hard to make sure that their students have a variety of choices in terms of internships. They have a program called Discovery Externship Program. This is designed specifically for freshmen and sophomores. They include a homestay with K alums, a short (but intense) apprenticeship experience with the alum in their place of work, and a chance to build meaningful connections to that person and people in that workplace. Placements range from one week to four weeks. But you get a good “taste” of the industry before there is any pressure to make a choice about what you want to do.
Finally, they are big into study abroad. Most schools have study abroad but a lot of students don’t do it for Fear of Missing Out. UVA is a big culprit in this! Too many students don’t take the chance to go abroad and live somewhere else and immerse themselves in a language because they might miss time with their friends or they might not get to be in that club or get that housing. But a full 82% of K students end up studying abroad. They have 42 different programs on 6 continents in 23 different countries so there is something you will want to do. From Perth, Australia to the London School of Economics, to Trinidad and Tobago’s University of the West Indies, you’re sure to find a program that supports what you want to learn about where you want to do your learning.
So let’s talk applications. Kalamazoo is kind of a great place to apply to. They have Early Action and Early Decision (both 1 November). And they are SAT/ACT optional (send ‘em if you got ‘em, but you don’t have to, honestly!). Emphasis is placed on your transcript and the rigor of it, your essay (it’s a Common App school), and your extracurriculars. If you do submit your scores, they are considered, like another piece of a puzzle, but they are not given additional weight for or against you, and all applicants are considered for financial aid. In addition to the Common App essay, they also have a supplement in which they ask how you think Kalamazoo will help you explore your interests etc. It’s optional as well. But I think it’s a good idea to send more writing not less.
Kalamazoo (the town) is about the same size as Charlottesville (a little bigger actually), and it’s home to Western Michigan University as well as K. There’s plenty keeping it going and lots to do off campus, but there’s also so much to do on campus that you might not venture off. K is a Division III school and offers football, basketball, lacrosse, track, swimming, baseball (m), softball (w), volleyball (w), not to mention the club and intramurals and intercollegiates as well. There’s no Greek Life, but there are over 70 different student activities to choose from (Anime? Childish Games? Health Conversations and Shadowing Club? Kalamadudes? Naked Musicians and Culture Magazine? Society for Conversations in Research? Young Men of Color?). Not to mention the usual suspects: Student Government, Literary Magazine, Newspaper, Jazz Band, Symphony Orchestra, MUN, TV Station, Theatre.
Most students live on campus freshman and sophomore year. But many move off junior and senior year (and many are abroad junior year). Students eat at the dining hall in the student center. The residence halls have a residence assistance and then also have full time Senior Residence Assistance who are professionals and who are trained to work with students who are living in a residence. These folks are terrific and have dedicated themselves to residence life programming. There are no cars allowed on campus, so living off campus means you can drive to school but also to Chicago which is only a couple hours away or to detroit which is a couple hours away as well.
Is Kalamazoo for you? Are you interested in shared experiences (there’s a freshman book everyone reads before coming) and also individual experiences? Do you suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out)? Can you stand a Michigan winter (it’s not worse than Cornell’s)? Are you interested in the K-Plan? If these questions tilt one way or the other then you might have your answer!
Pros:
- K-Plan means for a solid education and a smart graduate
- Study abroad means you will master your 2nd (or 3rd or 4th) language
- Community/Service Learning means you will make a difference in your world
- SIP means you will leave college with the ability to explain what you know with poise, grace, and alacrity
Cons:
- It’s only 1500 people so still on the small size
- You might miss out on some things by studying abroad
- Discovery Externship Program can help you make connections but the externships are short and may not result in a lot of experience
- Doing an SIP means you are taking fewer classes when you could be learning more rather than producing something.
- Michigan winter