<p>There are a lot of things about St. Olaf that I think would make it a very good fit for my youngest son. He agrees with me on most of it, but he is concerned that the students there may be "too religious" for him. I was wondering if any of you and any incite regarding this. How much of a presence is religion? How well do non-religious students fit in? Are differing views on religion accepted and can students discuss religious topic openly both socially and in class without feeling like the need to "tow the party line" as it were? Any thoughts appreciated.</p>
<p>My D has several friends who go to St. Olaf's. It is more on the conservative side than many colleges, but not "in your face" religious. When the kids want to get a little wild, they go across town to Carlton!</p>
<p>Shennie,
If you look closely at the St. Olaf website, and do a search of the student newspaper there, as well as a search for "St. Olaf" on livejournal, you may come away with the same impression I have: yes, there are lots of "religious kids" at St. Olaf, but many of them are fairly liberal in their political views and the school administration seems to work hard to insure that all feel welcome, even if they are not particularly religious. By the way, only 40% of the students who attend are lutherans.</p>
<p>For some reason, our high school (in Colorado) sends kids every year to St. Olaf's. They're normal kids and they like the place. I'm not sure why/how the school came to the attention of our kids, but it seems that when one kid goes someplace new one year and still communicates back with the local community, others take a look at that college as well.</p>
<p>A friend of mine went to the school many years ago and said it was full of born again Christians.
At the time, he was one of them.
St. Olaf should be visited before anyone decides to go to the school.</p>
<p>Born-again Christians? At a Lutheran school? That's surprising to me. I'm Lutheran, and while I think a lot of ELCA Lutherans are socially conservative as applies to themselves, they're not typically politically conservative as born-again Christians would be.</p>
<p>Do Lutherans think of themselves as "born-again"?</p>
<p>ELCA Lutherans are not born-again Christians. Missouri Synod Lutherans are much more conservative than ELCA Lutherans, but I don't think they consider themselves born-again either. St. Olaf is affiliated with the ELCA. I've never been to St. Olaf but many kids from our church have gone there over the years and seem very happy with the school.</p>
<p>There are plenty of kids at St. Olaf who are not deeply religious. One of my local friends who is a Roman Catholic is thinking of her son going there (she thinks it's a good fit for him). She and her husband met at a Catholic college in town, and she saw some figure on the number of students at St. Olaf who are Catholic that was surprisingly high for a historically Lutheran school. Overall, the majority of St. Olaf students will self-identify as believers in some variety of Christianity, but most will be just the mix of kids you would expect in graduates of secular high schools, which nearly all the kids are. </p>
<p>I'm a St. Olaf "legacy"--my dad and his mother got their degrees there--and I listened to the college radio station ("America's first listener-supported station") until it was recently sold to Minnesota Public Radio (which I already listen to in other formats). So I think I'm reasonably familiar with the situation there, although perhaps I may be misestimating someone's sense of how much religion on campus is too much.</p>
<p>I am a recovering Catholic who is now happily attending an ELCA church. The Lutherans I know are thoughtful, respectful, positive, community oriented and moderate, not like the new-age evangelicals. (No insult intended to anyone.)I have many friends who attended this school and know several great kids who are there now. Anyone thinking of attending ANY school with a religious affiliation would be wise to visit. That said, it is a beautiful place, full of, as Digmedia says, normal kids. Visit. I think you and your student will be pleasantly surprised--unless, of course, Wesleyan is more their style!</p>
<p>thanks momofour</p>
<p>I was pretty sure Lutherans were not "twice-born," to use Gore Vidal's phrase.</p>
<p>My best friend went to St Olafs
I wouldn't say she is religous or has been. She is from Minn. and originally went to st olys cause it was in Minn. However she quickly realized she was sick of weather and spent a year in Paris.
If you identify in anyway with Lake Wobegon, then you will probably do fine.
I would say it is worth a look, I think it is underrated.</p>
<p>Since Emerald brought up study abroad, I have to say that I have not yet found ANY school that has as many exciting school-run study abroad programs as St. Olaf's does - in particular, their "around the world" semester is fantastic - students travel with teachers to places like China, Egypt, India, etc. all in one semester. I also have been impressed with St. Olaf's January term options, which include lots of career-oriented programs as well as shorter study abroad trips.</p>
<p>Thanks for the replys. We live in Wisconsin, so climate is not the issue. There are several kids from our high school that attend every year. Our high school is pretty liberal and the kids that go are fine with the politics. However, the kids my son knows are kids who actively practice their religion. Son was raised Catholic and hubby and I are active, but son is made the decision several years ago not to pursue confirmation and we supported that. He is unclear in his religious beliefs. St. Olaf has a lot to offer, not the least of which is an excellent music program that he can participate in fully without majoring in music. They are very strong in bio, his intended major and have a school of education as he is thinking about teaching. In addition, I think he would get pretty significant merit aid. </p>
<p>However, he has this mental block because it is a church affiliated school. We will certainly visit although his first visit will be over spring break when there are no students around. If we can get him interested he can go back in the fall for an overnight, but I am not sure that will ease his concerns. I don't think he would have any problems with the religion thing, but it is his feelings that count.</p>
<p>There are more of what I would call "mainstream protestants" at St. Olaf than at similarly selective liberal arts schools. Part of that is the size of the school. At 3000 students it is large for an LAC. If one is looking for a school loaded with edgy, secular humanists (that's what I was looking for when I applied to college BTW) St. Olaf should not be at the top of the list, though there are a few there. It's an excellent choice for just about anyone else who doesn't mind a real winter.</p>
<p>BTW. . .I posted this on another thread last week, but it merits re-posting. . . there aren't many college choirs that get their tour concerts reviewed in the NY Times. Link below may need registration to read. . .the review is very favorable:
<a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/arts/music/10olaf.html?oref=login%5B/url%5D">http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/10/arts/music/10olaf.html?oref=login</a></p>
<p>Thanks reidm! He might actually be looking more for edgy secular humanists, so I will keep that in mind. He is very interested in Haverford and we will definitely visit Swarthmore. He likes the Quaker thing.</p>
<p>Neither Swarthmore nor Haverford have kept their Quaker affiliations, though they do have traditions. Might be better looking at Earlham.</p>
<p>I believe mini is right, although, my daughter interviewed at both H and S and my daughter is very into quaker phil. She occasionaly attends Friends Meetings and mentioned that in her interviews. It apparently went over very well.
At Hav she ended up having an hour interview. At Swat a walk through the park with admissions director.
These places like the tradition even if it is in their past.</p>
<p>The Great Gatsby went to St. Olaf. (He dropped out, though.)</p>
<p>While I can't speak to the campus atmostphere at St. Olaf from a current student's perspective, I can share the following with you. My D is a high school junior now searching for the right college fit. She is interested in music. A friend who attends St. Olaf suggested she should look there. She asked me about it and I indicated that I knew of its good music reputation but that she should know that it is a "church-affiliated" college. She rolled her eyes and walked away. A few months later, she heard a recording of the world-renowned St. Olaf Choir and asked me to look into the school more closely. I noted that the student groups included a range of interest groups (gay, lesbian, bisexual transgender groups, students for choice, etc) and that the overall atmosphere (tremendous encouragement for global study, very strong science programs, Peace Corps, community service) seemed to be fairly progressive. We attended their juniors day in February.</p>
<p>We enjoyed the campus very much. The staff and students were extremely pleasant and nice. There was absolutely no mention of religion until a parent asked a question about it during a Q/A session with current students. The staff had the students field the question. They all said generally the same thing. Chapel is held daily -- it is not mandatory and the majority of students do not attend daily. The topics tend to be timely issues rather than explicitly religious sermons. There are 2 religion courses required with a range of possible choices -- all taught from an academic and not a dogmatic perspective. The students indicated that kids at St. Olaf range from religious to atheistic and that all are welcome. There are Jewish, Muslim, and Buddhist students there. The tour guide we had (a very pleasant and knowledgeable young woman with muliple piercings wearing an army jacket) also indicated that the religious atmosphere was very open. In her view, the approach was to encourage all students to examine their beliefs -- to make sure that their personal beliefs were arrived at thoughtfully -- and to make sure the beliefs were not simply what their parents or pastors had suggested they should be. Both my daughter and I were pleasantly surpised at the lack of dogma we encountered. </p>
<p>The students we met (about 6-7) were very pleasant and probably more mannerly than the average college students, but did not strike either of us as out of the mainstream -- just a really nice bunch of kids. They do have a "no alcohol" policy in the residence halls but other than that, we saw/heard nothing that we would have interpreted as pushing any religious doctrine -- certainly not an evangelical/born again atmosphere.</p>
<p>From a Biblical perspective, I would say that they are more Matthew than John. Hope this is helpful. We will be visiting again and I will update if I have any additional or different (contrasting) information after that.</p>