Macalester: The Big Picture
Macalester has about 1500 students and is located in St. Paul, Minnesota. It's nice to have such a small campus because professors are very accessible and you start recognizing other students' faces really quickly. A downside is that it's sometimes hard to get into classes you want. Most people from North Carolina don't recognize the name Macalester, or know about it being a relatively prestigious school; generally people just want to know why I go somewhere so cold for school. The cold for me is actually the most negative part about Macalester; it's really hard to get exercise during the winter.
Macalester Academic Life
Most students study a LOT. Most classes here, and certainly upper level classes, require tons of reading and lots of out-of-class work in order to master the material and get a good grade. Macalester students definitely have lots of intellectual conversations outside of class as well. Class participation is common in most classes when it is invited by professors; some classes are more lecture based. My major is Anthropology, which has a friendly department, offering tea and hot chocolate for anyone who stops by, and several computers that students can use, as well as a lounge for doing homework. My minor is Creative Writing, which also has a great faculty.
Macalester's Student Body
Macalester has a huge international student population, but it is a little lacking in the area of domestic diversity. Most domestic students are economically fairly well-to-do and the majority are white. Students are very open to people of different religions, sexualities, etc, but sometimes there does arise a lack of understanding of people from different socioeconomic levels who do not tend to be well-represented at Macalester. Most students are politicall aware, but not all are active. Most are left-leaning, some are apathetic, and a very small number are conservative. Most students don't talk much about how much they'll earn one day!
Macalester Student Activities + Social Life
Freshmen dorms tend to be the friendliest; students often prop their doors open when they're in their rooms and often entire freshmen halls can turn into groups of best friends. After freshmen year, it can be harder to make a lot of new friends, because people have already formed their freshmen friend groups. As a sophomore, though, I have definitely made several new very close friends this year. There are no sororities or fraternities, but drinking is present at most on-campus parties. Still, I have never observed pressure placed on drinking; it is totally acceptable to go to a party and have a great time while not drinking or smoking. Off-campus also offers a wealth of options of things to do, from ice skating to contra dancing to art museums to teaching ESL classes to immigrants.
