Hello and thanks in advance.
My daughter was accepted to both The College of Wooster in OH and Macalester in MN.
We visited Wooster over her junior break and had a very favorable impression. However, since it was so early in the process everything sort of blended. Since then she was accepted, but we haven’t had a chance to go back. And we’ve not seen Mac at all (and have never been to MN).
She’s been leading the charge and doing a great job but I thought I’d ask if anyone can compare and/or contrast the two.
About D.:
She’s a smart, quirky kid, no drugs or drinking (she has very mild epilepsy-so def. no drinking— it scares her). She’s fun and silly in a nerdy, no make-up way. Not “sporty” but flag football fun with lots of school pride and cheer. Surprisingly “wholesome” for a NY/LA kid. She loves math and theater (not musicals) and gender studies—and plans to study all three. Politically liberal, yet open-minded, not religious but respectful.
We thought it funny Mac stressed it’s international diversity in a video lead by an American white boy (ha!), would rather see it than hear about it. Both school videos a tad boring (no offence) and similar. That said heard great things about both schools!!
Public transportation is important since no driving allowed (see medical background), although there’s always Uber/Lyft. We currently live in LA (so flying in). And no relatives in either state. Trying to think of stuff to give you an idea of her since she’s got to make a real decision virtually!
MANY MANY THANKS TO ANY AND ALL ADVICE!!
I think Macalaster is quite a bit more selective and prestigious. And being in a major city will mean easy access to transportation and things to do besides part and drink.
Macalester is in a very nice neighborhood. That part of the city doesn’t feel urban like NY or LA – very leafy, nice homes with their own greenery – yet has great public transportation. Wooster is definitely not a city like that, so if that is a big factor, that’s a difference.
The kids I have met from both are very nice, but I don’t know a lot about how they socialize.
Wooster seems to do a particularly good job of getting meh students to really engage with their academics, and I am always impressed by that! Not saying that Mac doesn’t do that, just that I have known a couple of boys who really hit their stride in the classroom at Wooster.
Those are 2 very nice choices, btw.
If she can’t drive and wants things to do besides drinking, I would go with the urban school (Mac) over the one in the middle of Nowhere, OH sandwiched in between two golf courses. I wouldn’t let a semi-amateur video production dissuade you from that consideration.
I wonder if you can do a virtual tour and have a virtual conversation with Macalaster.
Wooster is on the Colleges that Change Lives website. I think of Macalaster along with Oberlin, Kenyon, Carleton, Hamilton, Colgate as pretty well known and an excellent school.
One of mine has a seizure disorder and also made some choices based on public transportation, going for a more urban school.
PM’ed you so you can respond via PM if you like.
We are in the “kicking the tires” phase with our D21 and Macalester . My daughter sounds similar to yours! As for Wooster, we live about 40 mins from there and I worked there for five years. It’s kind of odd town. There is a wealthy area and a poor area and nothing really in between. Transportation could be difficult and it’s about an hour to CLE or 50 minutes to CAK.
Thanks for the reply. I got that same vibe about Wooster, a super cute town, close to the college but hard to get to—with a lot of poverty in between.
I don’t know what “kicking the tires” means. Is your daughter at Mac? D21 implies she’s graduating college, no?
I’d love to hear your thoughts about the actual colleges, both Mac and Wooster. The good bad and anything in-between.
THANKS!
Sorry I was unclear…she’s currently a hs junior. We are starting to investigate Macalester as we had no familiarity with it. Wooster seems to have a very definite “town and gown” divide and really is in the middle of nowhere! We were hoping to visit Mac this spring but now I’m hoping to get up there in June if possible.
thank you. Duh on my part, your D21 Means I have a D20. I thought that was her age or college year.
“town and gown”, Ha! that’s great, I mean not great but sums it up. I think, sadly, a ton of places are like that, but one would hope the actual college does a better job of blurring the lines.
When you say you worked in Wooster assuming town, not college. If you aren’t familiar with the school it is worth a visit. But probably too close to home for your daughter, if she is indeed anything like mine.
Good luck! Still hoping more folks will chime in. Find this helpful!!
My son chose Wooster. He was down to Hamilton, U of R, Lafayette, the Notre Dame waiting list and Wooster. Our problem was the others did not really offer much of anything related to merit based aid even though he had a 1480 SAT and a stellar resume. Wooster as do Oberlin/Kenyon offered merit based aid so the yearly cost for him was around $33,000. At the others it would be over $70,000. We didn’t think the extra $150,000 in costs brought a return anywhere near that. Add to the fact that he is a pre-med major means he’s not in engineering where it’s generally 4 and out. He has very much enjoyed his first year. He had thought about transferring to Notre Dame but I think he feels Wooster is providing him with what he needs.
FWIW, our CC played a game w/ parents (fall '15) where they put up various student stats, admission percentages,
etc. and college names, and the objective was to make matches. The one that got a gasp was that Wooster and Trinity (ct) had identical test score ranges but Trinity was about twice as selective. And, the CC pointed out, Wooster offered nice merit aid. I think everyone left the room with a more open mind and a recognition that selectivity is not a proxy for the academic cohort.
@gonzaga35 glad to hear that your son is doing well there!
We visited Wooster with one kid, several times, as he was an athletic recruit, and we know grads and current students there. It is a wonderful, and under-appreciated, school. I’ve been very impressed with the new President who was Dean/Provost at Williams before taking the President position at Wooster.
On town and transportation – Wooster has shuttles to both Cleveland and Columbus airports for breaks so major in/out travel should be fine. For making runs to pharmacies/Walmart/Target, I’m guessing friends with cars or uber etc. could work. A random stat I found was that about 1/3 of the Wooster students have a car, so it is certainly not necessary to have one’s own transportation and there seem to be enough other people to hitch a ride with, if needed. The town of Wooster has some very hip blocks which could be stand-ins for Brooklyn – great farm-to-table restaurants, brew pubs, breakfast places, and my favorite hotel, the St Paul, which is industrial/Scandi chic in the middle of Ohio.
On the other hand, Mac would certainly be easier to get in and out of from the West coast and, if health issues are a concern, would be more accessible to specialists etc. Everything I’ve heard about Mac is that it is a welcoming community and is located in a pleasant, residential part of the Twin Cities, not a particularly urban area.
All in all, I can understand any student/family being reluctant to commit to a school sight-unseen, and that would push me to Wooster, especially knowing it is a real gem of a community. The only reason to give stronger consideration to Mac, in my mind, would be if the access to top notch health care were a priority.
Best wishes, and good luck in these challenging times.
My D17 applied to and was accepted to both of these schools along with a number of other midwestern LACs. Either would be a fine choice for a quirky/nerdy/non-partier.
Wooster struck us as a bit more midwestern wholesome in feel and more of a regional school, although it has made efforts to recruit students more broadly, including internationally. It does a great job of providing support for students that haven’t quite hit their stride academically but it’s by no means a lightweight school. The mandatory senior thesis is no joke.
Mac struck us as a bit more worldly and the admissions session was one of the best we attended in terms of representing the school’s character and sense of mission grounded in global citizenship. Historically, most Mac students have done study abroad in junior year - which may be disrupted in the near future due to COVID. The live session featured diverse students, with respect to ethnicity, social class, gender, etc.
An earnest quirky kid could find a home at either. IIRC, Mac does not have Greek life and it’s minimal at Wooster. There is partying at both but not peer pressure to partake. Others have already spoken of the relative ease of getting to Mac. It’s 7 miles from a large international airport, and campus is easily accessible by public transportation or Uber. The neighborhood is charming and felt very safe.
Typically, Ohio winters are cold and gray. Minnesota winters are very cold but with more sunny days.
Best of luck in your decision!
ALL colleges change lives. I dislike that notion that certain colleges deserve note for this. They need to come up with a better reason to include certain colleges on their short list. Do not use inclusion of this as a reason to choose one school over another.
Weather will be generally the same in both states. College life will be centered on campus, not visiting elsewhere. Your D needs to look at course offerings of interest at each school to figure out which one has the most she is likely to want. She also needs to consider the campus. It sounds like a coin toss may ultimately be the decider.
Whichever she chooses you and she need to only look forward and never consider any “what ifs”.
If it’s a toss up, go with the school closer to the airport. My college junior D is at neither of these schools, but the hour plus shuttle rides form her school to the airport can be difficult to reserve, when we visit there is the extra drive time. She loves her school so it is worth it to her and us, but if you are not invested yet, it is a consideration.
The Minneapolis-St Paul area has a thriving theater scene if she enjoys going to see productions.
http://www.midwestliving.com/travel/around-the-region/twin-cities-thriving-theater-scene/
…The Twin Cities boast more theater seats per capita than any U.S. metro except New York City. And historically, Minnesota ranks near the top nationwide in federal and state arts funding. It also has a strong history of private arts philanthropy…
Hi! I graduated from Mac in 2019 and had a very great experience. I echo everyone’s sentiments about there being tons to do without driving, and the drinking culture at Mac is super mild (it exists if you want to be a part of it, but a lot of people don’t engage and 97% of freshmen think its okay not to drink alcohol at a party).
If your daughter likes theater, Macalester JUST redid their theater building. It is now equipped with multiple theaters, a humongous costume/set making space, and professional dressing rooms.
Good luck with your choice!
THANK YOU! To everyone here, all your input helped greatly. Just an update Daughter picked MAC!! Fingers crossed colleges actually open at some point. I have faith they’ll wait till it’s safe.
Guess the new thread will be all about Fall 2020.
Best of everything to everyone.