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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Thu Jan 18th, 2007 02:27 am |
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Descartes wrote:
This week "real" winter finally decided to show up in the upper Midwest so I thought of your D and find myself wondering how she is coping now. 
Just talked to her a few minutes ago. She's really, really cold.  Luckily, she asked for thermal underwear, snow pants, and a longer down coat for Christmas, and all her wishes were granted. Ask me again in mid-February. I'm sure by then the reall winter-blahs will kick in.
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Descartes
Super Moderator
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Posted: Thu Jan 18th, 2007 03:33 am |
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February is the worst! It's usually not quite so brutal as January but more blah and seemingly interminable.
On the other hand it makes you truly appreciate those first warm days in April (or late March if you're lucky) ... and the California climate, too.
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Asdad
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Posted: Thu Jan 18th, 2007 03:17 pm |
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"She's really, really cold"
LOL
Been there with mine!
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Thu Jan 18th, 2007 08:11 pm |
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Asdad, I think if my daughter didn't really love Beloit, the weather would be a bigger issue. Luckily, she is very happy otherwise, so she can put up with the cold. Well, so far at least.  By the way, her boyfriend is from Georgia. Wonder if your D. knows him?Last edited on Thu Jan 18th, 2007 08:11 pm by CarolynLawrence
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rainstate
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Posted: Wed Jan 24th, 2007 07:04 am |
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As my oldest son has said, "I didn't choose Ohio, I chose Kenyon." (But he speaks fondly of Ohio now, especially of the fall colors.) With my younger son, during his first winter at Grinnell he said that he "never knew what cold was. . . that the Iowa wind slices through everything and literally hurts exposed skin." But, he loves Grinnell despite the winters. (I don't think he will ever develop a fondness for Iowa, though.)
In short, as Carolyn says, the Midwest weather was/is also essentially a non-issue for my boys because they love(d) their respective schools.
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kdmom
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Posted: Wed Jan 24th, 2007 07:42 pm |
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Wow, Carolyn, I just noticed the post in which you say your son is six foot four! Is he at all interested in sports?
I'm bringing this up because the Macalester football program expressed a lot of interest in my son. My son is not exactly a football prodigy nor even a large person, but he is a very good student who played four years of high school ball. Judging from the number of times Macalester contacted him, I'm guessing that they're desperate for players who can meet their academic standards. (We looked up their most recent W-L record and it was pretty dismal, so that can't be helping their recruiting efforts either.)
Any boys who'd like a good liberal arts education and a chance to play D3 football might want to check this school out. Who knows, there might even be merit money involved.
(My son was quite tempted by the football, but ultimately wanted a bigger school.)
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Wed Jan 24th, 2007 11:17 pm |
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kdmom wrote: Wow, Carolyn, I just noticed the post in which you say your son is six foot four! Is he at all interested in sports?
I'm bringing this up because the Macalester football program expressed a lot of interest in my son.
Sigh. My son played varsity football freshman and sophomore year. He did quite well, too - played starting offensive line on our championship team in sophomore year. Then he decided he hated the whole locker room mentality, and quit to do other things, in spite of the protests and begging of the head coach. I don't have any regrets - for him, it was absolutely the right decision, but it's hard to hear things like this without wondering what if... Oh well, guess he'll have to get in on his good looks and charm. 
Last edited on Wed Jan 24th, 2007 11:18 pm by CarolynLawrence
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Descartes
Super Moderator
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Posted: Thu Jan 25th, 2007 12:54 am |
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Since kdmom brought it up and this is the Macalester thread, I think it appropriate to point out that Macalester's football team is near-legendarily bad. See http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/colfootball/teams/worst.html
I believe there was recent consideration by the administration to cancel the football program, but I'm not sure of its status now.
Last edited on Thu Jan 25th, 2007 01:09 am by Descartes
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kdmom
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Posted: Thu Jan 25th, 2007 06:46 pm |
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Yes, I wondered about the future of Macalester's football program. It would be a bummer to go there thinking that you'd be able to play and then have the program cancelled on you! I guess you'd need to caution any hopeful applicants about that possibility.
Carolyn, I think you're lucky that your son gave up football. Both my kids loved it and no amount of argument or reason could get them to quit. One son got two concussions playing, and the other broke his collar bone during a hitting drill -- still they wouldn't stop. The game was very rough on their mother 
(Happily, the typical locker room mentality wasn't prevalent at their schools. This may be because consistent losing records put a damper on any swagger or excess ego. I'm willing to bet that Macalester football players don't swagger much either )
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Fri Jan 26th, 2007 01:04 am |
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kdmom wrote: Carolyn, I think you're lucky that your son gave up football. Both my kids loved it and no amount of argument or reason could get them to quit. One son got two concussions playing, and the other broke his collar bone during a hitting drill -- still they wouldn't stop. The game was very rough on their mother
(Happily, the typical locker room mentality wasn't prevalent at their schools. This may be because consistent losing records put a damper on any swagger or excess ego. I'm willing to bet that Macalester football players don't swagger much either )
My son had a serious wrist break and one concussion. So, we were relieved for that alone. (Plus, we are not big football fans to begin with!)
Our high school has a crazily-intense football program and it's taken very seriously. When we play our arch rival, a school with just 700 students, 10,000 people - I kid you not - show up for the game, which is held in a college stadium. We have several alumni in the major leagues (don't ask me their names - as I said, we aren't into football), and the coaches and many of the players treat it as if every kid is prepping for the NFL, with swaggering to match.
For my son, his love affair with football came when his team mates nicknamed him "Einstein" and gave him a lot of ribbing (not always in good spirit) about his grades.
He's much happier in the drama program.
Last edited on Fri Jan 26th, 2007 01:06 am by CarolynLawrence
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zippy
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Posted: Wed Jul 25th, 2007 04:10 pm |
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| We did a quick stop by at Macalester last Sunday. The houses on Summit Avenue and in the surrounding neighborhood are beautiful. I drove that way to the campus because I knew my daughter would love it, and she did. I thought the campus would be more distinctive but it is compact, which seemed like a good thing after driving around the U of M. We walked around campus and looked at the commercial strip on Grand Avenue. D liked the feel of the place and we will return further into the process for tour etc. I went to a small campus in a big city (which I think combines the best of both worlds) but kept my opinion to my self until I got the sign!
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Consolation
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Posted: Wed Jul 25th, 2007 04:48 pm |
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CalifCarolyn wrote: I'll ask my daughter when she gets back from Disneyland today and see what she would like. Thank-you so much. Her great-grandfather was a graduate of K.
My son's great-grandfather and grandfather were graduates of Kalamazoo, and his great-grandmother may have been also. (Or her father was a professor. It's not my side of the family, so I'm not certain on that point.) My H went there for one semester (he's one of those people who transferred several times due to poor guidance.)
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Descartes
Super Moderator
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Posted: Thu Aug 23rd, 2007 03:33 am |
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S took it upon himself to do a Mac tour solo this week. A local boy, he had never really been on campus before. Mac is not in session yet, so he did not get a direct experience of the full student body.
However he really liked what he did see. The compactness of the campus and low profile of the buildings were somewhat unique, he thought, although he guessed they could feel confining after a few months (but city buses are not far away, he added). He appreciated what he did see of the students and what he sensed about the curriculum and programs (65% of students study abroad). He thought the free meal they gave him in the cafeteria was excellent (vegetarian offerings were of quality and variety). Athletic facilities are currently gone and being completely re-built for opening in late 2008 (I believe).
Final summary: were it not so close, he would be very interested.
Last edited on Thu Aug 23rd, 2007 03:35 am by Descartes
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Movinmom
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Posted: Fri Aug 24th, 2007 03:13 am |
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| Good for him! D is interested in Mac. We won't be able to visit but she likes what she reads and really likes the fact it is a LAC yet in a city. I have never been to the area -- being a native do you have any east coast cities you could compare it to that might give me a sense? My sister lived for many years in Bemidji but she always came home in the summer to visit and our kids were very young so we never visited.
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Descartes
Super Moderator
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Posted: Fri Aug 24th, 2007 05:07 am |
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What an interesting question! I will try to answer it but you should be aware that, although I lived in Delaware as a child, I am not very familiar with East Coast cities. I have, for instance, never been to NYC.
When I moved here I took a tour of the Twin Cities and at that time the guide mentioned that St. Paul had sometimes been called "The Last of the East" and Minneapolis "The First of the West". I have found some truth to that, for St. Paul feels a little older, more historic, and established than Minneapolis (although, in truth, both cities are about the same age.) The late 19th century railroad boom made St. Paul and its Summit Avenue mansions and, although it is long passed, the city took on enough other identities to continue to be healthy today. I suppose in some ways St. Paul is similar to a small-scale Boston, a cold-weather capital city with a consciously preserved historic character (relatively speaking, as Boston is two centuries older and has better winters), defined by its neighborhoods (some not wealthy but none "slummy"), with an Irish Catholic heritage (the St. Paul Cathedral is worth a tour), more colleges than average (seven LAC if you count some in the near suburbs and also a campus of the U of MN), and even some literary aspirations (F. Scott Fitzgerald, August Wilson, and Garrison Keillor(?)). It also has a network of streets and a somewhat peculiar numbering system that drives some people (read: Minneapolitans) nuts. Too, there are interesting hills integrated into the city that create unique traffic situations. Like Boston, St. Paul has never really had an industrially-dependent economy and its largest employers are either technology businesses (3M, Lawson Software, Medtronic and other medical device companies), financial services (St. Paul Co. insurance), or government (State of MN). Finally, there are some noteable cultural amenities: the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Science Museum of MN, and some good local theater groups, but the lion's share of these opportunities can be found across the river in Minneapolis.
What's missing? Well, the biggest deficiency is public transportation. The city bus system is adequate but not nearly as convenient as a good metro train. We're in the incipient stages of light rail, but there will be nothing a college student can take advantage of for many years yet. And no one would say downtown St. Paul is vibrant at night - typically very subdued.
Hope this helps.
Last edited on Fri Aug 24th, 2007 09:45 pm by Descartes
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Descartes
Super Moderator
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Posted: Fri Aug 24th, 2007 05:44 am |
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I haven't seen this point mentioned anywhere in this thread yet, so I thought I'd bring it up.
There actually is a co-op arrangement between five of these colleges with an inter-library loan, an inter-campus shuttle, and cross registration privileges (like the 5CC in MA and the tri-co in Philadelphia). At the very least it provides other places to study if Mac starts seeming too small.
http://www.associatedcolleges-tc.org/
Last edited on Fri Aug 24th, 2007 05:47 am by Descartes
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Fri Aug 24th, 2007 08:50 pm |
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Not an east coast city, of course, but to me St. Paul has always felt very similar to Portland, Oregon. If I had to pick a city on the east coast to compare it to, I would also probably go with Boston, but Portland is a probably a closer match.
Last edited on Fri Aug 24th, 2007 08:53 pm by CarolynLawrence
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Descartes
Super Moderator
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Posted: Fri Aug 24th, 2007 09:51 pm |
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I've never been to Portland, but from what I have heard you're probably right, Carolyn (except Portland has light rail).
Boston is a bit of a stretched analogy, I will admit, but I couldn't come up with anything better. If St. Paul were more isolated, Rochester NY might be a good comparison, but being a twin changes things in difficult to describe ways.
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CarolynLawrence
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Posted: Sat Aug 25th, 2007 12:33 am |
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Actually, I thought of Rochester too. Great minds think alike. 
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zippy
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Posted: Wed Nov 14th, 2007 05:13 pm |
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H, D and I visited Macalester on one of their visit days in October. We had an info session, a study abroad session a campus tour and listened to a panel of students talk about their experiences. I thought going in that this school would be one for D, small, urban environment and internationally focused. (We had visited during the summer when school was not in session and liked the campus. We now know why it is so important to visit when school is in session.) Daughter liked school, but at the end of the day H and I were totally turned off. It wasn't one thing but a series of small events that resulted in these feelings. My sister (who is a banker and a fiscally conservative Republican) kept warning me the school was really liberal but I discounted her opinion because H and I are much more liberal than she is. We are not, however, liberal enough for Maclalester!
The day began with a gathering of the students and parents in an attractive older building and during that time we happened to talk to the admissions advisor for our area. She grew up in a Chicago suburb and so we had a lot to talk about. She was very nice and seemed to be interested in D. We then went to the finaid/info session in the campus center which is also an attractive building. We had lunch, which was very good, in the dining hall and outside a group was giving free hugs which D found very amusing. We also saw a group which supported the legalization of marijuana having a bake sale (wondered what was in those brownies?) which husband and I found amusing as they looked like the stoners from our era. It was at the student panel that husband and I began to get disenchanted. Husband was concerned because not one of the four seniors on the panel talked about grad school plans; what concerned me was the article I read in the school newspaper (which was passed out at the session) about the behavior of a faculty member which was at least tacitly approved by the administration. I found the behavior somewhat disturbing and the fact that the administration had allowed it to happen even more disturbing. My doubts were not assuaged by the campus tour that followed. The dorm and the room we were shown was pretty bad and my standards are not that high. The classroom facilities for the most part were brutal mid-century, and walking around the campus while classes were changing did not give me a good feeling. D, for what it's worth, liked the tour guide and when all was said and done wanted to apply. H and I said to each other that there is no way we are spending a dime on this place. We have been on quite few campus tours and I have never had a reaction like this. So, I would tell anyone who is thinking of applying, try to visit and make up your own mind. We also visited the U of MN the next day and I expected not to like it very much as it is so big and physically spread out. I will report D's and our reactions to the U in a separate school report.
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