<p>So I can't be the only one on these boards who's applying to Mac this fall. I'm very excited; it's definitely one of my top choices and I really felt happy there when I visited. Best of luck to us all!</p>
<p>Hey, t_c!</p>
<p>If things don’t work out w/QB for ds, he’ll be applying to Mac.</p>
<p>I’m applying!</p>
<p>What did you like about it? My son is deciding if he wants to make the 7 hour trip to visit.</p>
<p>t_c – my S is applying to Mac this fall also! This July we visited 6 schools in the Midwest and he liked all of them enough to apply. Mac is not his favorite (maybe a touch too granola?), but we loved the international focus, and I think he would do well there. </p>
<p>Are you applying to any other school in the area? Carleton or Grinnell?</p>
<p>Hi Bengal Mom - recognize you from the 2010 thread. Our kids are applying to at least 3 of the same schools! </p>
<p>I wish all the students the best of luck getting into Macalester. We visited last spring and loved the school and the area. It is a great choice.</p>
<p>stockmom123: I take long, vivid notes when I visit colleges to refer back to later, and here’s an excerpt from my notes on Mac:</p>
<p>“I like it. I like it a whole lot.
The entire campus seems lively, the campus more open and the buildings more well-lit than Carleton’s and Grinnell’s. The food is fantastic (thank you, internationalism), the tour was good, everyone seems friendly, happy, and socially aware (Sexual Assault Awareness something or other was selling shirts they’d made) but unlike the other urban places I’ve visited there’s no pretension and no hipsterdom. The facilities are absolutely beautiful, too; the chemistry labs were good and the art/music/theater&dance building is beautiful architecturally and looks good. The sports facilities are are brand-new and amazing, and the library looked alright but not amazing. Walkways between dorms and between science buildings are great.
Thing that I didn’t really like: Half of upper-termers live off-campus. I asked my interviewer about the effect that has on social life, and she said that between moving off-campus and study abroad, there is a definite shift when you get to junior year and sometimes you can feel alone.”</p>
<p>Essentially, I knew about the urban-ness and the internationalism and all that good, interesting stuff before I visited, but in visiting I really got a feel for how it all played out in real life. I would strongly encourage visiting, as the intangible things I really liked were quite subjective and I can completely see someone else having a very different reaction; I can say “I loved the architecture and I felt I could really fit in” but those are highly personal reactions.</p>
<p>BengalMom: Interestingly enough, I originally wanted to fly out to the Midwest to confirm that Carleton was, in fact, my first choice. I decided to add on Macalester because we were already in the area. I ended up really disliking Carleton and really loving Mac, so ultimately it was just a happy coincidence 
I also visited Grinnell, but while I liked the students there I didn’t get the same vibe as I got from Mac. Also, I realized upon visiting Grinnell just how rural and remote and isolated it was, and I realized that that really wasn’t what I wanted.</p>
<p>Hi t_c! It’s funny how different our perspectives can be depending on our vantage point. For you, living in NYC (greatest city in the world IMO) I can imagine that Grinnell feels like it may as well be on the moon.</p>
<p>We live in the west, where going nearly anywhere involves many hours driving through rural countryside. Grinnell did not feel isolated to us at all! :)</p>
<p>Good luck to all of you that are applying to Mac. My D is a freshman there. She applied ED after the Fall Sampler last year where she fell in love with the school.</p>
<p>Hey everyone! I am also applying RD to Mac. I visited it last spring and I really liked the campus, had a great interview and tour, and generally just loved the school. So it’ll be on my list.</p>
<p>Funnily enough, I also loved Carleton. All of my top schools seem to be rival pairs.</p>
<p>Def. applying.</p>
<p>I’m applying ED! I love Macalester, the visit was awesome. Good luck everyone, but not too much luck : )</p>
<p>Just got back from athletic visit, loved the liberal activist vibe, loved the Twin Cities, my mother made me go and now it’s in my top 3 choices.</p>
<p>I’m applying to! I wonder how hard it’ll be this year</p>
<p>As a current freshman at Mac, I’m just going to say good luck with admissions because our class is ~100 kids bigger than any class in Mac history.</p>
<p>Mu guess is that Mac will accept less students but put more in the waiting list. After all, Mac accepts 100 more than it should this year. If it happens again, there will be no enough dorms for freshmen.</p>
<p>Whoa! Was that on purpose? Where are people living?</p>
<p>More accepted students enrolled in the college than Mac expected. For example, if the school wanted 1000 students and the field is 25%, the school will accept 4000 students to fill a freshmen class of 1000. Obviously the yield was much higher than expected for Mac this fall.</p>
<p>The good news was that no one became homeless. Mac managed to house everyone. Academically it added two freshmen seminar and expanded the seminars to 17 students to accommodate them.</p>
<p>Private colleges are gonna be hurting for money, so I hope that means more admissions.</p>
<p>Mac is my top choice at the moment. I absolutely loved it when I visited. I was a little worried about its relatively close proximity (I live about 5 hours away and can’t wait to leave SD), but it truly fits me the best. St Paul is amazing as well…definitely nicer area than my number two, UChicago.
Does anyone know what their major will be yet?
I’m seriously considering a double major in Int. Relations and Math…that’s what instantly excited me about Mac.</p>