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The stereotype is Macalester is full of hipsters, nerdy liberal girls, and stoners.

I would say these groups do have a significant presence but in reality the students are across the board. Jocks, Nerds, you can find them all!

The best thing about Mac is the class sizes are almost all under 20-25 students. You really get to know your professors, whom actually take an interest in your learning progression. Also students are always having intellectual discussions outside of class, which is a huge plus!

2000 undergrads is a good number in that you see familiar faces all the time, yet can still meet new people every day.

When people hear I'm going to Macalester it's usually, "Oh that must be expensive" or "I've never heard of it." Little do they know about the massive financial aid students here get. Mac is sort of a hidden gem in the twin cities in the shadow of the U of M and St Thomas. Kind of why I love it.

School pride is kind of lacking, but everyone here is here because they want to be here. You won't find many apathetic students. Students here have strong stances on issues, yet are open minded. We may not have massive crowds for the football games, but hey, its a LAC and that's expected.

At Macalester, many of the classes take Oxford-style learning approaches with lots of student participation. Also, professors are always accessible. My Japanese instructor had the whole class over for sushi and wii, TWICE!

Although many Mac students may not think too hard about post-graduation job opportunities, the resources are there. I'm not even an econ major and the econ department always sends me emails of internship opportunities!

The physics department here is small, but great. I'll hopefully be able to start doing undergraduate research after my sophomore year, which is an advantage over larger universities (for the most part). Intro physics the class size was 22, which is impressive considering how many people want to take the class.

Liberal, Quirky, Smart.

But in reality they are across the spectrum, somewhere around 15-20% of students are international students, which leads to lots of diversity and learning about other cultures even just in the dorm halls. Students here are predominantly liberal, but conservatives aren't unheard of.

Frisbee, Soccer, Football, your average liberal arts college activities. No one activity dominates the extra-curricular scene, whatever your interested in you can find!