From a recent Grad

Introduction
Small liberal arts colleges are all the rage now, and Macalester is a great one. It is one of the few that are located in a city (although the Twin Cities might not be that big). I once heard somebody say "Macalester is a place where some people do nothing, and others do everything," which is definitely true. People run the gamut from type-A achievers who get 4.0s and are involved everywhere to people who only go to class, do a minimum of work, and still do ok. I know my friends were all over that spectrum.

This place is definitely liberal. If you're not open minded or at least somewhat accepting of liberal causes, be prepared to be left out. Conservatives may be able to deal but be prepared to be in a very small minority - corparate america loving Bush supporters need not apply. People here are generally accepting though, they will disagree but usually people do not ostracise you for your beliefs. Open-midedness extends to many social issues: religion, sexual orientation, race, etc, but not so much toward political beliefs. I consider myself a liberal and I would say I am in the center here.

The college has a definite international focus. About 15% of students are international students (not 50% like some other review claims!). Mac Alum Kofi Annan (secretary-general of the United Nations) is revered as a god. Again, if you read that and thought "eww, the UN!" don't apply.

Campus Life and Social Life
The party scene exists, but in a different way than your typical college I think. Parties are usually small and consist of friends or a couple groups of friends either on-campus or off. A few times a semester there are big parties at a house where tons of partygoers try to congregate, but if you're looking for frats, sororities or huge keggars, they're not here. The parties will not necessarily fall into your lap early on, you have to go out and find them or make your own! RAs are usually pretty cool, they do not tolerate extreme noise or drinking in hallways, etc, especially if you're underage. That said, everyone knows the RA rounds schedule and it's easy to avoid getting caught - I know I never did.

Sports are not that popular at Mac. The soccer teams are good, and they are by far the biggest draw. Football stinks. Athletes may feel a lack of support but they definitely have a built-in friend base of other athletes; they tend to hang out together but definitely do not exclude others. There are plenty of club sports to participate in: Ultimate Frisbee, Rugby, Hockey, as well as intramural sports every season. Advertisement
Academics
Like I said before, at Mac people have varied experiences with academics. Some do tons of work, others do next to none. It doesn't just depend on your major, although some (sciences) can expect to do more than others. It mostly depends on your willingness to do more work for a better grade - you can squeeze by doing very little; I didn't work my butt off but I feel like I did enough to get out of each class what I wanted to.

Professors are easily accessable no matter what department you are in. They respond to e-mails and are available for one-on-one chats as well. Some departments have better professors than others, I suggest talking to students in departments you're interested in. TAs are usually a crapshoot - some are helpful but you have to seek them out! Others just want the work study money/credit.

The biggest departments are Econ, Political Science, English and Geography (plug for my major too!). The Geography department is one of the few left at small colleges. Many international students are Econ majors, and PoliSci draws from the international focus of the college.

The academics in general are great. It's hard to go wrong when picking a major, but take time to know professors and others in the departments you're interested in.

Student Body
Not everyone is a "tree-hugging, weed smoking, dreadlocked, Birkenstocked, frisbee player." Not even the majority. Yes, people are liberal here. The center of politics here is well to the left of that of the United States as a whole. All in all people are very open minded, especially with regard to social activities. You will not feel pressure to drink, get high, burn your bra, or whatever - people are cool with who you are (as long as you're not a conservative.) Other reviewers have it right in that there is no typical student: people are of all different types and are not pushed to conform to one standard or another. Many people are involved in different causes but you definitely don't have to be - I know I wasn't - but being informed on social issues is the cool thing.

About 15% of the students are from countries other than the US. Reflecting the college's regional roots, about a quarter of the students are from the Midwest. The rest come from all over the country! There will most likely be somebody from your state around - and people usually love to talk about home.

In Closing...
If you are a conservative, or a fan of president Bush, I suggest you read the review titled "You Wanna Go Here??" Your experience could be like that.

Otherwise, check out the college! The city location is great, there's stuff to do in Minneapolis and St. Paul and it's all accessable by car or public transit. The city does mean that the college is somewhat lacking in providing activities for people - there's fun stuff to do but you won't see headlining bands or anything like at other schools. Campus is small but feels like part of the urban environment.

Also, believe the other reviewers - the cafeteria food is really good.