<p>Hey everyone, Im sorry if some of these questions seem a little trivial, but I was accepted late to Macalester and, as a result, didnt have time to visit the school or do more extensive research on student life before I confirmed my enrollment. </p>
<li><p>Do a lot of domestic students stay at Macalester over shorter breaks during the year (Thanksgiving, Spring Break etc.)? Do the dining halls stay open?</p></li>
<li><p>Is there a weight room on campus that students who arent athletes can use freely?</p></li>
<li><p>Are students who do summer internships given places to stay on campus? </p></li>
<li><p>How is the quality of internet access for students? Are games, torrents, and similar things blocked by the school?</p></li>
<li><p>What advice can you offer about picking the required first-year course?</p></li>
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<p>Thanks a lot for taking the time to answer these for me; feel free to elaborate on anything you want. See you in the fall!</p>
<p>Congrats on getting into Mac! I hope these answers are helpful. </p>
<p>1) A lot of people stick around during breaks. The dining hall (I think I remember) is open over thanksgiving but closes during spring break, which ticks a lot of people off but everyone survives.
2) The weight room is open to non-athletes, but they're tearing the gym down in December and the new one won't be done until summer 2008. They're going to have temporary buildings, with a weight room, but I'm not sure who'll be allowed to use it. There's also an exercise room with hand weights right next to the underclassmen dorms.
3) You can live on campus during the summer, but you obviously have to pay room and board. Often renting a house or apartment near campus with some friends is cheaper. A lot of people stick around the area for the summer.
4) The school network isn't as reliable as people would like, but the internet works (almost all the time) and the school doesn't block anything.
5) The residential first year courses are great. If you know you want to major in one area (art, social sciences/humanities, math/science) pick a course in that, because your first year course professor is going to be your advisor until you choose to change, and you want them to know about your field. Otherwise, pick it in whatever department you want, and have fun with it.</p>
<p>Hi.... I have been accepted to Mac.... and I wanted to ask that whether it is a good choice for a math major.... especially if I want to head into Actuarial Sciences.... ???</p>
<p>Macstudent answered 1-4 as well as anybody could, but I do have one thing to say about 5. My suggestion would be to either pick a class you LOVE ro pick a class that fulfills a requirement you don't like. I, for example, signed up for a poli sci class as my first choice (it was my intended major) and a science class (ugh, I hate science) as my second choice. I knew that way if I got the science class, I'd be with people who loved the class and could help make it more fun and help me with the work. And I would be getting a science requirement out of the way. I know a couple of people who did it that way and had a great time and made friends with people they might otherwise have never been in class with or gotten to know at all. </p>