St. Olaf College

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Students Say - Academics
St. Olaf, a small Lutheran liberal arts school located 40 miles south of downtown Minneapolis, provides a "great liberal arts education rich with musical, academic, and social opportunities in a tight-knit, caring community." The school is renowned for its "amazing and extensive" music department (with which "most students are involved somehow"), but that's hardly the school's only asset. On the contrary, St. Olaf offers "excellent vocational training programs in nursing, social work, and education" (supplemented by "great...hands-on learning in addition to classroom learning through internships") as well as "an amazing science and math program. The new 200,000 square foot of Natural and Mathematical Sciences opened last year. One of the best things about this school is the broad range of academics and academic experiences you can have." For most here, those experiences include study abroad; the school's numerous study abroad programs mean that "almost everyone goes abroad for at least a month." Writes one student, "St. Olaf has an amazing study-abroad program. I've ridden camels in Egypt, climbed the Great Wall in China, seen the ruins of the Acropolis, and gone drinking in Switzerland all in the same semester!" Many students here complete a five-course sequence called "the Great Conversation Program, which provides a rigorous introduction to college, exploring the many 'Great Books' of western culture. The liberal arts requirements make everyone somewhat knowledgeable on every field."

Students Say - Campus Life
There isn't much to do in Northfield, so life at St. Olaf "is very centered on campus." The school and student organizations make sure that "there is always something to do on campus, despite the small size of the student body. Bands are brought in to the student nightclub; there are more than 100 concerts a year. The theater and dance programs put on frequent shows, and sports events are happening constantly. Students have the ability to participate in most of these activities, usually without too much prior experience, either." Also, undergraduates are "very focused on clubs and special interest groups. For about 3,000 students there are more than 100 clubs on campus, serving everything from religious beliefs to environmental concerns to just having fun." Undergraduates "are very progressive...Their passion for creating progressive social and political change often springs from their religious convictions." Intramural sports "are huge, so if varsity sports aren't your thing there are outside options," and because students "walk absolutely everywhere...the freshman 15 is more like the freshman five, if that. We're very healthy." When students need some big-city diversion, the Twin Cities are only about 45 minutes away. "Many students go up there to eat, see a play, sporting event, concert, or just to shop on weekends."

Students Say - Student Body
The stereotype that St. Olaf is completely made up of blond-haired, blue-eyed, Scandinavian Lutherans is not true, students insist, although they quickly admit that "We do have a large number of them!" As one student explains, "We joke about how it seems like every girl is 5-foot-4, blond, and fair-skinned, but that isn't totally true. There is a place for more diverse students. It seems like the typical St. Olaf student's mindset is open enough to embrace different religions, races, ideas, and beliefs." The true common ground here is that most St. Olaf undergraduates are "highly motivated toward success, whether academic or vocational," and are "also likely...type-A personalities" who are "involved in many extracurricular events yet maintain good grades under a full academic load." While St. Olaf is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, its student body is quite diverse when it comes to religious orientation. One student notes, the population is not particularly conservative or evangelical. They are more liberal politically and ideologically."

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