<p>Would love to know more about Mac and how accessible the city is. Do the students go in often and for what? Do they have internships and does the school facilitate that relationship? Do you need a car to take advantage of the city? Can anyone compare Mac to some of the NE LACs like Bates, Bowdoin, Wesleyan? Thanks.</p>
<p>I actually don't go there, was admitted last year and went elsewhere. but i'm from st.paul and know a number of students there. Mac is IN the city, so as far as "going there", thats kind of everytime you walk outside. st.paul has a few cutsy coffeee shops and stores in the area that college kids frequent, but minneapolis is where the scene is. as far as i know, they frequent the spots in town as much as any student in the area. don't know much about internships, but i'm sure if students talk to their professors and search in the area they would be as accessible as any in a metropolitan area.
hope that helps!</p>
<p>My daughter is a soph at Macalester and she is out in the cities a great deal both for recreation and for work/study. She uses the bus system for both. The Walker Art Center is one cultural venue she frequents and really enjoys. Her work/study involves working with kids in two different parts of the metro area. This is not to say everyone is gone on the weekends leaving the campus deserted at all. Macalester has the community feel and atmosphere of most LACs.</p>
<p>With respect to location, Macalester is better situated than Bates or Wesleyan. Bowdoin is in a small oceanfront town in Maine. Great food & great dorms make Bowdoin's semi-rural location more palatable for an urbanite than one might expect. If you want urban, then the choice is clearly Macalester over Bates, Bowdoin & Wesleyan.</p>
<p>My daughter, a first year, also has found plenty to do in and out of Macalester. She has taken the bus to a volunteer ESL teaching job, to concerts in Minneapolis, to the Walker Art Center and the Science Museum, to the Edwards and Obama campaign speeches, and to visit her boyfriend at another university. She loves to bike around the campus area. The north side of campus is bordered by Summit Avenue, a long stretch of beautiful old Victorian homes--bike about 2 miles west and you'll pass thru the University of St Thomas campus and end up at a scenic park overlooking the Mississippi River, go a similar distance east and you'll end up at the St Paul Cathedral and the beginnings of downtown St Paul. She has found lots of activities on campus, as well as simply hanging out with her roommate and their friends. Despite being in the city of St Paul, the actual Macalester campus is compact and has a definite campus feel to it.</p>
<p>Political action, job opportunities, standby tickets at Praire Home Companion, a long walk along Summit or the Mississippi, the aforementioned museums, Uptown concerts, all kinds of neighborhoods to explore... light rail and bus service make two fabulous cities available to Mac students. Our family has experience at more remote campuses, so the advantages of having a broader city available are very clear - especially by the third year. It certainly relieves the potential for suffocation in a small campus community. It's also fairly easy to pick up a class at one of several nearby colleges so, for example, if the language you want to study isn't offered at Mac, you're not out of luck.
What I call "cornfield" schools might be more naturally beautiful, but without a car you had better love that scenery a LOT.</p>