<p>Welcome back ■■■■■. Your life is very sad so pay your fine, study harder and drink less Ashley </p>
<p>The last post on this thread is dated May 10 … but incorrectly shows up as dated March 20. Is this yet another effort by St. Olaf to “control” the negative feedback by having the “Many Students Are Unhappy” discussion move to the bottom of the dated list (so prospective students and parents are less likely to see it)? If this is a College Confidential issue, you can plainly see that the post before mine is dated May 10. What is going on here?</p>
<p>So you wrote your message on June 11th and it is dated by College Confidential (or St. Olaf) as March 20th? </p>
<p>Hey ■■■■■ back only using 2 profiles now? Loser! </p>
<p>I just stumbled upon this thread and am pretty surprised at all the negativity. I’ve noticed that most of the posts are about things that have very little to do with academic quality. I’d like to add my own view so that folks looking at Olaf for their kids—or young people themselves—are not alarmed by this thread. </p>
<p>My daughter is a senior at Olaf. She is incredibly happy there. So, from what I can tell by the incredibly high retention rate, are a fair amount of the students. I think her freshmen year maybe one student didn’t return. ONE. That’s unheard of…I’ve even heard of kids leaving to get their act together, and coming back. </p>
<p>My daughter has a very large group of friends from all over, and involved in a vast variety of activities. They all love it there, or at least like it a lot—she says she just doesn’t hear a lot of grumbling about the general experience. (Little things? Heck yeah! They’re college kids!) Many of her friends get jobs in the summer on campus. If this is a place that creates dispirited young people, wouldn’t it be hard to fill those summer campus jobs? Wouldn’t most kids say “anywhere but here” come June?</p>
<p>I’m sure there’s a bunch of lame rules–all campuses have them. I’m sure there’s some unhappy kids—all schools have those too. But I think this is a case where since the thread is called “Many St. Olaf Students are Unhappy”, it draws people who agree with that sentiment. </p>
<p>So while I’m not dissing anyone else’s experience or viewpoints, I just thought I’d hop on as someone who happily pays full freight and sends her kid five states away to college. Saint Olaf? I’d never heard of it before the college process. But I’m sure glad we found it. It’s been an amazing experience for my kid, and her vast friend group. I doubt they’re alone. </p>
<p>I am the parent of a student (a Junior) at St Olaf and am shocked by all the negative comments. My son, his friends and most everyone he knows is happy with St. Olaf. If you take a look at any group of people, anywhere, some are going to be unhappy. Honestly, when looking at my son’s friends from High School, and their choices in colleges Freshman year, St. Olaf is one of the only colleges that his friends attended after High School that has not had someone leave. I HAVE noticed, however, that many parents are not spending enough time helping their kids do the research and make the best choices in which colleges to choose, which ultimately can lead to unhappiness with their choice. </p>