<p>I live near Chicago and hope to do the pre-law thing in college so I need a college that will get me into a good law school. </p>
<p>So my current choices are:
Gustavus Adolphus
Augustana (rock island)
St. Olaf</p>
<p>I dont live in MN so I havent heard of Gustavus or St. Olaf so I was hoping someone here could tell me their reputation for academics and how they compare. </p>
<p>Even though I live kinda close to Augustana and most of the rep around Augustana is "that is where the rich kids go" I dont really know much about the academics either and how they stack up against the other two. </p>
<p>I did not realize it until yesterday that Gustavus was a test optional school (along with Augustana) so I am wondering if that will hurt my chances of getting into a good law school down the road.</p>
<p>As a native Minnesotan, I’d say St. Olaf has the best reputation of the three. But if you’ve got the stats, you may want to check out Carleton and Macalester, which are even held in higher regard.</p>
<p>Law schools generally do not care whether or not the college you attended was SAT/ACT optional or not. They want to know how you performed in college and how you performed on the LSAT. If you are in college or have been accepted by the college(s) you want to attend it is time to put behind childish things – a preoccupation with SAT/ACT test scores is at the top of that list.</p>
<p>Gustavus, Augustana and St. Olaf are all highly regarded schools and have no problems sending qualified, high performing graduates to top law schools.</p>
<p>I think all three are perfectly fine schools. Getting into law school is all about your GPA and your LSAT scores. But if I had to choose the one, I think St. Olaf has the best academics.
Have you visited?</p>
<p>IMHO, Gustavus Adolphus is the least well known of the three. One of my roommates at Harvard law was an Augustana grad. They have a great study abroad program.</p>
<p>I concur with many of the others: St. Olaf has the best reputation and is the most well-known. (That is not to say that the others have poor reps, I hasten to add.)</p>
<p>Academically, the Minnesota LAC’s would probably rank as: 1) Carleton, 2) Macalester, 3) St Olaf and 4) Gustavus. </p>
<p>Near the beginning of D2’s college search, we deliberately chose to visit St Olaf and Gustavus back-to-back on their Fall Open House Days to directly compare these Lutheran-affiliated schools (St Olaf is Norwegian and Gustavus is Swedish). Before Gustavus went ACT-optional (this year was the first year for that, I believe), there was about a 2-point difference in their average ACT scores (29 for StO and 27 for GA). St Olaf draws 40% of student body from out-of-state; Gustavus only 20% (however, both Carleton and Macalester draw 80% from out-of-state). St Olaf has a much greater emphasis on music (which is its primary draw and reputation out-of-state; also it’s in the same town as Carleton so many out-of-staters visit both); Gustavus is more balanced in the Fine Arts (music is still good, but I’ve been really impressed with their theater program; many in the Twin Cities theatre community come from Gustavus and I’ve seen some great plays at Gustavus). Students at Gustavus are more athletic; the on-campus ice rink with open skating was a big plus for my daughter and Gustavus has both men’s and women’s hockey teams. Although both schools have a religion requirement, StO requires 2 (all first-years take the same religion course on the Bible + one other of their choice) and Gustavus requires only 1 (choice of several). Gustavus’ general ed requirements were fewer and more flexible than St Olaf’s in general. Both schools have a 4-1-4 schedule; St O requires 3 January terms and Gustavus requires 2 (but students can take J-terms all 4 years without additional cost). Our overall impression from 3 visits to Gustavus (Fall visit, return visit to attend classes + overnight, and Scholarship Day) has been very positive–the students seem genuinely friendly, helpful, good school spirit, and the kids seem just plain “balanced” in their academic, athletic, social and service lives. All-in-all, Gustavus and St Olaf seem to draw similar types of students, academically, from daughter’s high school–Gustavus gets the athletes and theatre types, while St Olaf attracts the musicians.</p>
<p>In the end, D2 applied to Gustavus and Macalester, but not to St Olaf (just felt too conservative to her, she felt St O’s curriculum was more restrictive, she’s more into theatre and studio art than music). She’s actually having a bit of a hard time deciding between Gustavus (merit money) and Macalester, but will go to one of the two.</p>
<p>If you are interested in pre-law, I’d suggest checking out Macalester as well–very strong Political Science, International Studies and Econ–all of which are good preparation for law school.</p>
<p>While you are doing the Upper-Midwest Lutheran College Tour, you may also want to check out Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Very good school. Very cute town. Also Norwegian if that matters to you.</p>
<p>Currently Gustavus is giving me over $30000 in scholarship money and with the subsidized loans, means I will only have to come up with about $2k for the first year, which when I read it, I almost fell out of my chair. </p>
<p>St. Olaf mails out my award letter tom so I have to wait and see if they can even come close (as long as I have to pay under $10k i should be fine). </p>
<p>St. Olaf is higher on my list but like I said, it is currently a matter of moolah.</p>