What's In Your Own Backyard: Why Macalester Stopped Me In My Tracks

My mission is simple: I visit colleges across the country and give families my honest, unfiltered, boots-on-the-ground take. Not the brochure version. Not the tour guide script. What it actually feels like to be on that campus, talk to those students, and walk those halls. This is visit number one in my 50 Colleges series, and Macalester is where it all started.

I have spent time at some of the finest colleges and universities in this country. I know what serious academic culture looks and feels like when you walk onto a campus. So when I pulled up to Macalester College on a recent morning, right here in St. Paul, I was not expecting to feel what I felt.

I was genuinely impressed. This is not a campus for students who want to coast. It is a place for young people who are intellectually restless, globally curious, and ready to do something meaningful with their education.

Macalester's acceptance rate is approximately 28%, placing it among the more selective liberal arts colleges in the country. The median SAT score is around 1,410 to 1,440, with a median ACT of 32. The average GPA of admitted students is 3.96. This is a destination for students who have worked hard and want to be surrounded by others who have done the same.

Worth knowing: Macalester is permanently test-optional. Sixty percent of admitted students applied without scores, and 80% of those test-optional admits still received merit scholarships. The school is looking for who you are, not just what you scored.

“The school is looking for who you are, not just what you scored.”

One of the things that struck me most was how intentionally Macalester has woven itself into the Twin Cities. This metro area is home to the largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies per capita in the country, fifteen in total, and Macalester has built more than 200 established internship relationships within eight miles of campus. Students here are not waiting until graduation to build their careers. They are doing it while they are enrolled.

The adjunct faculty are practicing professionals working in the city right now. The classroom and the real world are, effectively, the same place. And the neighborhood surrounding campus is full of great restaurants, coffee shops, and other university communities within walking distance. Hamline, St. Catherine's, and St. Thomas are all nearby.

The student success stories I heard on my tour were not abstractions. They were specific and they were stunning. These are not outliers. They are independent thinkers who seek out interesting careers.

Macalester is intentionally small by design, and it shows. Classes run 20 to 30 students compared to the 100 to 200 you find at large universities. Eighty to ninety percent of students combine multiple areas of study across more than 600 possible combinations. The interdisciplinary model allows courses to count across multiple requirements simultaneously, giving students real flexibility to follow their curiosity.

Eighty percent of STEM students get research opportunities outside the classroom. The school draws students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries, with students speaking over 88 languages on campus. The international dimension here is not a brochure point. It is the actual texture of daily life.

Merit scholarships go up to $35,000 per year. Sixty-two percent of students receive need-based aid, and fifty percent receive merit aid. The average need-based package runs between $64,000 and $68,000. For families earning around $100,000 with typical assets, Macalester often offers a minimum scholarship package equal to the full value of tuition. These numbers are real, and they matter.