RD 2017

Colleges and Universities A-Z Saint Olaf College
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@CroissantMiser - Glad you S18 is thinking about St. Olaf. If you’ve been on their website I you know you can read about they many wonderful programs at this school. We are so happy for our S16!

Re: Admission rates. If you go back further in the records - Google “St. Olaf Common Data Set” you’ll see that 2015 was an outlier. http://wp.stolaf.edu/ir-e/st-olaf-college-cds-summary-most-recent-5-years/

I checked even further back in the records, because I was curious, and found that the # of applicants was pretty steadily around 4000 per year from 2007-2013, with admit rates in the mid to high 50% range.

As you pointed out, in 2014 the amount of applications jumped about 20% to 4875, and then leapt to 7571 in 2015. This figure almost looks like an error, it’s so out of the norm, mostly due to 4695 Male applicants (more than 2x the # of 2177 male applicants in 2015.) The # Female applicants has remained fairly stable, (2698 in 2014 and 2876 2015).

So the overall admit rate fell to 36%, in 2015, but mostly due the admit rate for men, which fell to 25%. Women’s admit rate was still 53% that year. Then, in 2016, the # of applicants fell but was still well above the past numbers: 6041, but admit rate was still 44%, below the historic norm. Again male applicants exceeded female applicants 3213/2828, which is unusual for a liberal arts college, as you know.

I’m not sure the reason for this 2 year upward trend, and it will be interesting to see the data for my S17 year. He knows about an = number of men & woman applicants from his school, but of the people we met at the amazing parent’s reception they held, most were parents of boys, so we’ll have to wait and see.

Anyway, I would not base a decision to apply or not apply to a college based on admit rates. Finding a good campus fit, where you S18 will be happy, and where he will find areas of academic and extra curricular interests, are most important, IMHO.

Also we used information from the “Freshman Profile” of each school’s Common Data Set, to find out if our S16 and S17 had a good chance of being admitted. For St. Olaf, the 25% / 75% range for the ACT was 26 / 31, and the avg GPA was 3.63 UW. However, most LACs DO consider the complete application, not just these stats. You’re just more likely to get merit aid, if the schools gives it at all, if your student is above the 75% level stats.

Sorry for the long post!

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@morningside95 — it’s definitely not a deterrent, more a question out of curiosity as anything. It seems to be a wonderful school and fit for our D, whose interests include english/creative writing/Visual & Perf. Arts, Dance, Philosophy, poly sci, journalism, etc…That 2015 number was so out of norm that it naturally raised an eyebrow. Being a female and from NE, it certainly helps that St. Olaf’s is one of the few LACs where female admission rate is consistently higher than male. I will be very curious to see this year’s numbers, given the “trump effect” that some midwest LACs felt over this cycle. Kenyon reported a 12% dip in applications and admit rate rose from 25 to 33%…Grinnell saw a 22% reduction in applicants and so on…Congrats again on completing the Journey and hope to see some posted reports along the way.

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Thanks, @CroissantMiser. Feel free to PM me in you have any questions, over the next year. Are you close enough to visit St Olaf during the school year? Stav (dining) Hall, and Buntrock Commons, overall, are great places to see the student body, in action.

With 3,000 students, larger than many LACs, they offer a wide variety of programs. If you D is interested in opportunities to study abroad, a large % of St. O students study overseas for January Interim session, a semester or an entire year. Our S is really interested in the Global Semester abroad, where a small group of students travel for 4 months, with a professor, and live in 3 diff countries, for 1 month each, and then hit several other cities, for a week at a time, long the way.

Good luck in your search with your D!

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I read recently that there was a large donation to St Olaf dedicated to the Global Semester. It will no longer have a hefty surcharge.

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Snowball, thank for the tip! We felt lazy and cheap so we went with the free breakfast the school offered, which was very good.

Morningside, nice new avatar! It must be a relief for all involved to have the decision made. My son has made St Olaf his top choice but…even with the scholarship it is a lot more money than our state schools which are just as good scholastically. We have explained to him that if he chooses St Ola it will mean that he will have less money for grad school, should he choose that route.
Overall we got a great vibe from the campus and the students. Our S is in heaven thinking about the Great Conversations program. Other professors that impressed us were math (we really liked him), chemistry and physics. It was a bit disappointing, but understandable, that you can’t do the conversations and CHUBB programs together.

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Glad you had a great visit to St Olaf, @BillW13 but sorry for your financial situation. Totally understandable that you and you S have to think carefully about how much debt he wants to take on. Our sons do, and will, work, some hours during the school year, and step it up to 25+ hours per week, over the summer, to contribute $ to college costs, and cover their personal expenses, in addition to taking out loans.

Just a question: Do you have any other kids who will be in college at the same time as S17, in future years? We have 2 in college for the next 3 years, and St Olaf provided a very fair aid package for our son. It was a benefit we just found out about when we s/w S16’s fin aid office, last year, in trying to work out his aid package at Grinnell.

If you don’t mind sharing, let us know what the final decision is!

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@BillW13 and @“Snowball City” - Both the Great Conversations programs and Global Semester were big draws for my son. He was interested in Global Semester even before we found about the donation to the program, so now S is worried the competition to be accepted into the program will be even tougher!

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Well, after spending time at Grinnell, we find ourselves driving to Northfield for a final “looksee”. S genuinely loves them both- for different reasons and is stuck between them. Generous financial package from both puts them on equal footing - I guess it may be Grinnell’s great funding of travel/internships/etc vs St Olaf’s fabulous music. (S say math seems equal in both places). Parent question: how is St O’s network for placing kids in jobs/internships compared to Grinnell (if anyone has insight on this)?

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(It is certainly to St O’s credit that when my son emailed last night, asking for a second chance to see a class - the only other visit he had was early March- they cheerfully offered a couple of classes for him to visit. They have always been excellent in admissions)

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Have you had a chance to go into the career office at St Olaf?

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That is my assignment for tomorrow - do you have suggestions for questions to investigate?

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I would see what kind of calendar they have for things like resume work shops, interviewing skills, internship funding for non profit positions, cover letter review. My friend’s kid went to an alumni networking event in the cities. Good practice for small talk. I am not on Facebook so I don’t know if they have a dedicated page to go back through.

If he is chatting to students or profs tomorrow he can work into the conversation questions about what students in this major do and what individual students actually did last summer. As I tell my kid, everyone likes to talk about themselves and everyone likes to give advice.

A lot is going to depend on if he understand that the process starts early. He should have a resume by Thanksgiving and start looking for opportunities in December.

He needs a personal elevator pitch covering who he is and what is looking for with a comment on any experience. After writing all these college applications he should feel a little more comfortable expressing his core interests.

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Excellent input, @“Snowball City” ! Thank you very much!

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@listener76 - Wow, can’t believe you are swinging up here, but I guess if you’ve driven up all this way, might as well go an extra 150 miles or so, to return to lovely Northfield! Glad your S has a chance to see the schools back to back. I forget, did you make it to one of the St Olaf Accepted Student’s events, earlier this year?

Re: Career opportunities - I have several friends, my age, who went to St. Olaf, and they tell me that the alumni network, all over the US, not just here in the Midwest, is amazingly supportive. Here is some information about the Piper Center for Vocation and Career, from the St Olaf website:
https://wp.stolaf.edu/pipercenter/

Safe travels!

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Also, about study abroad, St. Olaf’s Global Semester, to which a student must apply, was a big draw for my son. A professor travels with a group of 20-25 students to live in 3 different countries, for 1 month each, and, along the way, there are 1-week long visits to 4 other countries. Also, some students travel during the 1 month January term. Here is some info on that: https://wp.stolaf.edu/international/blogs-from-programs/

And, the most important program that influenced my son to choose St. Olaf is their “Conversation” programs. He learns best thru discussion, and said he’s up for all the reading involved. There are a couple of choices, but you or your son, @listener76 can check it out here: http://wp.stolaf.edu/admitted/conversations/

Let us know if you have any questions!

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@listener76 As your son is a singer - There is a freshman only cabaret show http://manitoumessenger.com/article/fresh-faces-to-feature-first-years/

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Thanks for sharing the news story, @Snowball City. Fun event towards the end of Freshman year, and I’ve forwarded it to my S17, as he is a singing/trombone playing/thespian! Hope to see him in that show, next year!

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@listener76 Which tshirt is he wearing tomorrow?

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Well, @“Snowball City”, my S’s an Ole now! Yes, the Cons were a draw, and the administration’s wonderful response to his request for yet another look at classes (he was at a Buntrock weekend in March) was quite helpful. The campus is spectacular. The Director of the Piper Center was friendly and to the point in very helpful ways (Grinnell vs St Olaf), but the winning influence turned out to be the people themselves. On the day S visited classes, the protests began and the teachers discussed the racial issue and the student actions as part of the class - S (who went to an urban stem magnet, very diverse) was impressed by both the teachers and the student’s discussion of the issue. He said it was “less reflexive outrage and more reasoned exploration”. Also, he texted a couple of kids he met (hosts) and their responses today were very mature - acknowledging complexity and voicing strong optimism about the community. (I know I was happy to hear that the students are not just book smart, but thoughtful and moral as well). Lastly, a random professor stopped to chat with him as we got off an elevator on the wrong floor, and was quite friendly and helpful (20 minutes of career advice and commentary on the campus). So, S is happy to go where he believes he will fit in. Now for the second son (14) - but perhaps, first a rest. Thank you again for all your help - I hope to meet you at Family weekend or Christmas festival…

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@listener76 Yay! What a great visit he had. I am impressed that the student hosts were still answering questions days later.

Get your hotel reservations now for move in and family weekend and Christmas festival if you would come up for that. If I had my choice I would stay clear of the downtown hotels and stay at the Americinn out by Target. There can be a lot of train noise at the Country Inn and the Archer House.