So I’ve updated in the Up/Down thread and will just add some more color here.
-
St. Olaf: similar look-and-feel in many senses to Rhodes (contained/cohesive campus, students seemed smart, purposeful and friendly without having that edgy intensity that I associate with some of the more rejective schools) but with a special Upper Midwest (as opposed to Southern) flair. While campus itself was compact and well suited to walking/biking, the surrounding area was a little less walkable/more car-centric than I’d love. That said, there are hiking trails right next to campus and they seem to provide shuttles to places students want to go (also only 45 minutes outside the Twin Cities and easy access to the airport). Lots of flags/pride in international scope of the educational experience. If I’m being really picky, I was kind of underwhelmed by some of the posters I saw in the physics section of the science building and wonder if another school might be better for a student interested in physics. But since my kid is so hot-and-cold (for a while he was sure he wanted to do history; lately he’s been more excited about physics; today after a great wildlife bio lecture at Mac he decided maybe actually bio; so…who knows?!), I don’t want to reject them out-of-hand. And anyway, of the schools we’ve seen so far, this was a) his favorite and b) the one most likely to accept him!
-
Carleton: I was scared we’d all fall in love with it (because it’s so hard to get into) but needn’t have worried. While DH and I were impressed with everything we saw, the kids were kind of meh about it. The German couldn’t get over the maple smell emanating from the local cereal factory (apparently this changes depending on what they’re making and the direction of the wind; the locals also assured us that you stop noticing it after awhile). I couldn’t really get my kid to put a finger on why exactly he liked it less. Maybe he encountered fewer students? we didn’t eat lunch there or do a student-led tour. I’d work harder to give Carl a fairer shake except…the admission stats are daunting. I’d rather work to find more likelies and matches. Onward…
-
The U (Minnesota): This was a drive-by, partly to check the “see a big Midwestern flagship campus” box. No interest was piqued. (this doesn’t necessarily mean he wouldn’t want to attend a larger school but he definitely wasn’t feeling the Ski-U-Mah this time around.)
-
Macalester: Hard not to be a little underwhelmed by the campus scale and architecture if you’ve been spoiled by these larger, more conventionally pleasing schools. I do think that on balance it does “liberal arts campus in a real city” better than most places I’ve seen. The neighborhood reminded me of a much larger/grander Trinity Park (for folks that are familiar with Duke and its surroundings) – but with bike lanes, real transit options, and none of the safety issues that students in Durham and Memphis can encounter. I found the posters in the science building to be as impressive as those we saw at Carleton and loved seeing so many faculty making themselves accessible to students (I used to work in higher ed and boy is this not in any sense a given.) Carleton won on access to outdoors but there are a bunch of public ski trails and ice rinks in the Twin CIties, AND shopping/culture/local internships. So what if the dorms are a little less posh, the dining hall less deluxe, the buildings less Insta-worthy?
I hope DS ends up applying EA to both St. Olaf and Mac – seems like he might – and then if he gets in, he can connect with other admits/do an overnight visit/etc.
We flew to Columbus, grabbed our rental car (which was surrounded by actual ice and snow. Yikes!) and drove through the night to the crazy castle-like Granville Inn, where the nicest hotel clerk I’ve ever met showed us to our room and then went and dug up a rollaway bed for us (because most teenage boys don’t share beds if they can avoid it). This feels auspicious. Maybe Denison and Kenyon will strike a chord?
Quick local stay notes:
–We had good luck finding convenient AirBnBs near the campuses; the Scandinavian decor place in Northfield near St. Olaf was possibly the nicest AirBnB I’ve ever stayed in.
–The Twin Cities area still has Christmas decor up everywhere. Apparently this is a cultural quirk of the area.
–In Northfield we enjoyed the food at the Ole Store and found the caramel/cinnamon rolls at The Brick Oven Bakery to be WAY TOO MUCH (even for our sweet teeth). Pro tip: if you must, order the “mini” size, which is still quite large.
–Near Macalester, “Hot Hands” pie and biscuit shop was a tremendous hit with our whole family. I found these biscuits vastly superior to those served up at Cafe Eclectic near Rhodes. (and I’m a southerner) This is an essential stop for non-vegans.