The Liberal Arts Colleges...

bclintonk
Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:40:53 +0000

Illinois may be slightly stronger in math, but U Washington is close on its heels; both are quite strong, really. As for location, I’d go for Seattle, a fun and lively city in a beautiful part of the country.

As between St. Olaf and Rhodes, I guess I don’t know very much about Rhodes. Academically, the two schools are pretty evenly matched overall. St. Olaf has a very strong reputation in math, also in music (especially vocal). It’s affiliated with the Lutheran Church and was founded by Norwegian Lutherans in particular, and it continues to draw heavily from a Norwegian and Lutheran population base in Minnesota and the Upper Midwest. Some say that makes it a little more religiously oriented and culturally conservative than some other LACs, though I’m sure you’d find a diversity of cultural attitudes and points of view. Northfield, MN is a charming little college town, about an hour from Minneapolis-Saint Paul, though I imagine most St. Olaf students spend most of their weekends on campus. It’s got a very favorable reputation here in Minnesota.