seahorse06

For any past/current/future Mac students, parents, anyone associated with the school, what do you think makes Mac stand out? I know it has great academics, small classes, accessible profs, but so do many other LAC's.What ditinguishes it from other schools? Thanks.

seahorse06

correction: distinguishes

trout

I don't know how much of these are 'distinguishing' characteristics, but here's a little bit of a feel for mac:

It's one of the most liberal, but not in an extreme way.
It's very compact, since it's in a metropolitan area.
Exceptional econ, chem, international studies departments.
Good food.
The 'jocks' are quite smart and friendly— just not quite as good at sports as at other schools
(Less jocks overall)
Preppy clothes are rare
No expectations of fashion
Only a small number of 'hardcore' nerds, by which i mean very poor social skills and constant video game playing— most in math/science are fairly well-rounded and social.
Cold
Practically everyone has some experience abroad.
There are some cliques (mostly internationals and jocks) but the majority of students mingle all over campus. (in the first year at least)
A lot of procrastination
A lot of people who don't seem smart but then they blow your mind (i.e smart hippies)
Humanities courses can have an immense workload. Math/science tend to be more reasonable. Humanities tends to produce somewhat inflated grades. Chem and econ produce averages slightly below 3.0.

There's a good deal of intellectualism but most of the year people have too much to worry about to get into long 'deep' conversations.
There's also a lot of groupthink.

macstudent

Students are passionate. Everyone has the some issue or thing that they're really into, like the environment or a particular music type. Community service is huge. Nobody is just taking classes and hanging out for four years.
People are really laid back and friendly. People work hard, but it's not a pressure cooker. I think it's the Midwest vibe coming through.
Nobody cares what you do. You can dress, eat, and act however you want. Peer pressure is minimal for a college.
It's very intellectual, particularly compared to other colleges. People like to talk about what's going on in the world. The internationalism is huge and I think influences most people's lives.
(I'd disagree with trout on the sciences having less work than humanities, but I suppose it depends on the department and class)