Yes, we were there as well and were very impressed by the program they put together! The campus is gorgeous, and my son was able to sit in on two classes which he found inspirational. We specifically asked a professor about the fine line between academic passion and competition and got such an honest answer it only helped us trust the institution even more. She said she has no way to know what conversations happen privately between students, but overall she described the students as passionate and motivated. In her psych classes she doesn’t have any sense of competition against (vs competition for). (IE I want to get an A, not I want to get the highest grade in the class).
That said, we’re thinking Macalester moved down a bit on our list even though his application is already in and we fell in love with the vibe (think bagpipes welcoming you into your lunch). There are fewer research opportunities than we’d like right at his fingertips. (Yes they exist in twin cities, but not the same as having a choice of different projects from a handful of different professors working on different projects). It seems there are very limited slots on campus. Also, there is no neuro department specifically, it’s a major under the bio and psych umbrella).