Thoughts on St Olaf?

[Anonymous]

It was actually much less blond than we expected, fwiw.

“Peaceful but purposeful” is a very good description. Well said, pp.

[Anonymous]

Soooo cold make sure your kid likes cold or knows it gets cold.

[Anonymous]

Very cold but they also had various lounges with fireplaces. and the architecture seemed to maximize natural light with lots of cozy chairs. They are definitely leaning into a hygge vibe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d feel like a Carleton reject.

That says more about your poor self esteem than Carleton or St. Olaf. People secure in themselves and their decisions don’t tend to have those issues.

I just wouldn’t want to go to school right across from another school universally recognized as being much better

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better quality of life than Carleton which is across the river.

How so?

Carleton has a lot of mental health issues. Students report being pushed beyond their limits and a weed out culture persists by making academics the extreme.

That has not been my DC’s experience at all, and he is in a challenging major.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better quality of life than Carleton which is across the river.

How so?

Carleton has a lot of mental health issues. Students report being pushed beyond their limits and a weed out culture persists by making academics the extreme.

I have a sophomore at Carleton and this is not true. It's academically rigorous, but not weed-out nor extreme. I have heard only lovely things about St. Olaf (campus is beautiful; we've driven through) but I wouldn't denigrate Carleton just to lift up St. Olaf.

My Carleton kid never had a bad word to say about the Oles.

[Anonymous]

We took at look at it for DS, and although many things seemed nice, it felt really non-diverse compared to his high school. Ultimately, he chose a very different school closer to home, but I genuinely thought it was nice in many ways.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d feel like a Carleton reject.

That says more about your poor self esteem than Carleton or St. Olaf. People secure in themselves and their decisions don’t tend to have those issues.

I just wouldn’t want to go to school right across from another school universally recognized as being much better

Luckily they're in a part of the country where your way of thinking is less dominant, making both Carleton and St. Olaf refreshing places to be for students sick of the DC area's fixation on rankings and prestige.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d feel like a Carleton reject.

That says more about your poor self esteem than Carleton or St. Olaf. People secure in themselves and their decisions don’t tend to have those issues.

I just wouldn’t want to go to school right across from another school universally recognized as being much better

I don't think the kids that go to St. Olaf are the type that would be particularly bothered by that sort of distinction. YMMV.

[Anonymous]

Is it woke?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it woke?

Yep. It's a college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thoughts on St Olaf as safety?

Yuck

[Anonymous]

DC had Gettysburg and St Olaf as safeties, was accepted by Gettys, but waitlisted by Olaf. Finally enrolled into Carleton.

So, not sure whether Olaf can be termed as safety.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Better quality of life than Carleton which is across the river.

How so?

Carleton has a lot of mental health issues. Students report being pushed beyond their limits and a weed out culture persists by making academics the extreme.

That has not been my DC’s experience at all, and he is in a challenging major.

It’s not anyone’s experience at Carleton. Not sure what weird agenda PP is trying to push. Almost all kids will have a lovely experience at Carleton or St. Olaf or Macalaster. As my kid’s Carleton interviewer noted, it a great break from the East coast corridor of ambition mindset, while offering all the opportunities to delve deeply into whatever subjects kids care about. I recommend Minnesota generally. The University of Minnesota is also pretty great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DC had Gettysburg and St Olaf as safeties, was accepted by Gettys, but waitlisted by Olaf. Finally enrolled into Carleton.

So, not sure whether Olaf can be termed as safety.

Interesting. Did they demonstrate interest?