Thoughts on Macalaster?

[Anonymous]

Thoughts on Macalster? Seems like one of the few SLACs that is in a city and is bigger than some other SLACs. Could be a good fit for DC. Anybody have a child at Macalster that could weigh in? I like the idea of a smaller school.

[Anonymous]

I have a child there and wish the school was bigger. There are so many things where Macalester checks the boxes for what they wanted - and if it was about 500 students larger it would be a sweet spot.
The small size limits things like food service. The main dining hall has relatively limited hours and the quality of the food is dismal at best. I know you think - it can't be that bad. My student had the freshmen -15 and the sophomore -10 (and does a ton of doordash so we are paying for a meal plan that is not used and meals outside of campus)
The small size also dictates some programming. For example, if your child wants to study abroad, they need to apply to Macalester study away office and Macalester decides what semester you can go as they want to balance on campus enrollment. The study away office also determines what program you can apply to (students propose their top X choices and Mac determines which one they can apply to - even if it is not aligned with major)
The dorms are old - no AC which is fine for Nov - April but May can be unbearable. (I paid for a hotel for my kid during finals last year and my child preferred to stay at the hotel with parent during move in Sophomore year because it was so hot in the dorm)
My kid has made solid relationships with professors and enjoys the academic challenge. But for what we are paying - expected a different experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a child there and wish the school was bigger. There are so many things where Macalester checks the boxes for what they wanted - and if it was about 500 students larger it would be a sweet spot.
The small size limits things like food service. The main dining hall has relatively limited hours and the quality of the food is dismal at best. I know you think - it can't be that bad. My student had the freshmen -15 and the sophomore -10 (and does a ton of doordash so we are paying for a meal plan that is not used and meals outside of campus)
The small size also dictates some programming. For example, if your child wants to study abroad, they need to apply to Macalester study away office and Macalester decides what semester you can go as they want to balance on campus enrollment. The study away office also determines what program you can apply to (students propose their top X choices and Mac determines which one they can apply to - even if it is not aligned with major)
The dorms are old - no AC which is fine for Nov - April but May can be unbearable. (I paid for a hotel for my kid during finals last year and my child preferred to stay at the hotel with parent during move in Sophomore year because it was so hot in the dorm)
My kid has made solid relationships with professors and enjoys the academic challenge. But for what we are paying - expected a different experience.

To be honest, some of these issues aren't necessary related to the size, based on my kids' experiences attending SLACs about the same size (one a little smaller). I had lunch at Macalester while touring and can see what you mean about the food—my kids' cafeterias were good to great. And it sounds like both of my kids' institutions may have had fewer constraints about studying abroad. (They did have to coordinate with the school but both were able to go on the program they wanted, the term they wanted.)

That said, I feel that Macalester has a lot going for it. As OP said, it's rare to find a SLAC in a city, and the Twin Cities are great.

[Anonymous]

They have an exceptional career services program—a rarity at a SLAC. Twin Cities are great as someone said

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a child there and wish the school was bigger. There are so many things where Macalester checks the boxes for what they wanted - and if it was about 500 students larger it would be a sweet spot.
The small size limits things like food service. The main dining hall has relatively limited hours and the quality of the food is dismal at best. I know you think - it can't be that bad. My student had the freshmen -15 and the sophomore -10 (and does a ton of doordash so we are paying for a meal plan that is not used and meals outside of campus)
The small size also dictates some programming. For example, if your child wants to study abroad, they need to apply to Macalester study away office and Macalester decides what semester you can go as they want to balance on campus enrollment. The study away office also determines what program you can apply to (students propose their top X choices and Mac determines which one they can apply to - even if it is not aligned with major)
The dorms are old - no AC which is fine for Nov - April but May can be unbearable. (I paid for a hotel for my kid during finals last year and my child preferred to stay at the hotel with parent during move in Sophomore year because it was so hot in the dorm)
My kid has made solid relationships with professors and enjoys the academic challenge. But for what we are paying - expected a different experience.

I would think you might need AC in September…but it’s not uncommon for measurable snow in May.

[Anonymous]

A lot of the issues pp describes are common at SLACS ow. Everyone is suffering financially and cutting back even on basics.

[Anonymous]

Macalester has a good alumni network --benefits from a bit of a feeling of underdog status vs. East Coast and so Mac alums stick together and want to help students and each other. Smart motivated students.

[Anonymous]

My kid is at Wesleyan, which is bigger and better funded but has some of the food issues described here. I suspect these issues are present at most smaller schools—there just isn’t the scale to support lots of options. The food quality at Wes is fine, but at a certain point you just get sick of the same just-fine institutional food. My sophomore is very excited to have an apartment with a kitchen next year.

I’d be much more concerned about the programming limitations, which we’ve not seen at Wes. And it would worry me that a school that promotes internationalism as one of its defining values, as Mac does, would have such strictures on study abroad.

[Anonymous]

I worry Malcolm Gladwell made bad college food a virtue. Which is nuts. Good food is so important and you can see kids at swat and Bowdoin (great food) and middlebury (good food) lingering around tables w friends. Where as Vassar and Mac kids eat and run as soon as possible

[Anonymous]

So it's a scale issue? Then why is Georgetown's food so terrible? and William and Mary? I feel like the only truly GOOD food is at UMDCP. (and that is legit good - not even just "good for dining hall food" - actually good!). I find it irritating that paying all that money to a school doesn't get my kid decent food!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So it's a scale issue? Then why is Georgetown's food so terrible? and William and Mary? I feel like the only truly GOOD food is at UMDCP. (and that is legit good - not even just "good for dining hall food" - actually good!). I find it irritating that paying all that money to a school doesn't get my kid decent food!

I think it’s a scale issue in two ways. One, it is really hard to do mass-produced food well. Just think about catered events, like weddings, which are usually at most a couple hundred people—how often is the food excellent? Rarely, in my experience, and I’ve gone to some nice weddings! Multiply that by 10 (for the smallest schools), then add in having to cover meal times that are hours long while accounting for allergies, vegetarians/vegans, etc. I’ve never had institutional food that was much better than fine.

Then there’s the fact that smaller schools can’t support multiple dining halls, so options are limited. If you don’t like what the main dining hall is serving, you can’t go somewhere else. We recently visited Michigan, where they have something like nine dining halls; even if the food is only fine at all of them, each can serve different things each day, so students have more options.

[Anonymous]

It's small compared to universities, but with a little over 2,000 students, it's the same size as most other liberal arts schools.

[Anonymous]

Food aside, they seem to have their heart in the right place and value public service as well as top academics. I think Mac attracts good faculty given urban location and ability for spouses to also find work more easily.

[Anonymous]

Colgate and Holy Cross are both at 3200-3300 kids. 2 of the larger SLACs.

[Anonymous]

But macalaster is on a city. Dc doesn’t want to be in a small town but likes idea of a smaller school