New blog page!
Hi Readers,
We now have a new site. It’s still hosted by WordPress, but it’s much better. Please visit us there from now on.
Thanks for reading!
– Maggie
Alumni Connections
Landing an internship or getting an interview is often about who you know. As an Ole, you’ll have access to the St. Olaf Alumni Directory, a great source of contacts with alumni ready and willing to help you make connections, get great internships, find interesting jobs, and think through your career. Naturally, you have to supply the ambition, but if you’ll take the first steps, the Ole network can take you far. Scott Woodside ’13 just graduated and is starting his first job with Cargill. Here’s how he made the connections…
Visit the Piper Center for Vocation and Career and start to plan a possible path.
New Ole Admissions Blog Site!
Dear Readers:
The Ole Admissions Blog has moved! Please visit the new blog page for updated posts, as this site will no longer be updated. All previous posts have been migrated to the new blog for your reading pleasure.
Thanks for reading!
– Maggie and the Blogger Team
Career Network for Oles
Internships can be a huge part of your St. Olaf education. Some students do one or two, others do a series of internships to explore lots of different careers and organizations. Through the Career Network for Oles, you’ll have an easy way to connect to alumni interested in sharing their experiences and opening doors. Lucy Casale ’13 did a half dozen internships to get incredible experience in media and journalism. Check out her story in the video below.
Explore more of what experiences the Piper Center for Vocation and Career can provide, and visit them on campus in the fall!
What NOT to Bring to College
Zoey here! I’m back for the summer before my senior year working on programming for St. Olaf’s sustainability projects.
One of the topics we’ve talked about is college students’ relationship with materialism. The summer before your first year of college can be especially filled with new “stuff.” Between the staggering lists on blogs and the aisles of “necessities” at Target and IKEA, buying all you need for college can seem overwhelming. Now that I’m heading into my senior year at St. Olaf, I think back to the dozens of bags and rubbermaid bins I stuffed into my family’s Suburban and cringe. Most of the stuff I brought to college I ended up throwing away, losing, or stowing in my limited closet space. Looking back, I wish someone would have provided me a different list: Things Not to Bring to College.
Why should you limit the amount of stuff you bring?
First, it’s cheaper! You’ll undoubtably save money if you purposefully try to limit the amount of material things you bring to college. Remember that even though Northfield’s a small town, we do have a Target and a Kmart close by, so you can always pick up anything you need as the year progresses.
You’ll also save a lot of space. St. Olaf dorm rooms are spacious, but they’re still dorm rooms! If you reduce the amount of stuff you bring, you’ll have less to clean up and less to try to stuff under your bed or in your closet.
Perhaps most importantly, you’ll reduce your environmental impact. When we purchase new products, companies respond by using more plastic, water, and energy to create more products. When we keep buying new, we perpetuate a continuous material cycle that strips the earth of natural resources. In many ways, choosing to buy less and bring less to college disrupts this consumer culture.
A view of Larson Hall through the trees. Photo by Will Lutterman, ’15.
So what shouldn’t you bring to St. Olaf?
- An alarm clock. If you have a cell phone, you probably don’t need an alarm clock. Most students just set the alarm on their phone! When you leave your alarm clock plugged in 24/7, it continuously sucks energy, making it an unnecessary drain on the environment.
- A printer. St. Olaf uses “StoPrint,” which is a campus wide network printing system. Every student gets printing money on their card every year, and you simply need to swipe your card at any printing station (they’re in every academic building, every dorm, and most other places on campus) and pick up your paper on the way to class.
- A desktop computer. Unless you’re doing some serious multitasking, a desktop computer is completely unnecessary. Even if you don’t have a laptop, there are computer labs all over campus that run Mac and Windows and have programs like Photoshop and the Microsoft Office Suite.
- A vacuum cleaner, iron, other cleaning supplies. Every dorm has a vacuum, brooms, irons, and other cleaning supplies to check out for free.
- Pots, pans, and other cooking supplies. Each dorm also has cooking supplies in every kitchen (plus, you probably won’t be cooking much. Our food is awesome!)
- Mini-fridge. I know this will be controversial, but mini-fridges are a huge waste of energy. Every dorm has a big communal refrigerator, and you can usually trust other Oles not to eat your food. If you don’t want to use the dorm fridge, consider sharing a fridge with a neighbor, or buying a used fridge from an upperclassman when you get to campus. Chances are you’ll save money by buying used!
- Two sets of sheets. Most lists I read when I was buying my college supplies recommended buying two sets of sheets, “Just in case.” Honestly, I never used my second set of sheets once! Just wash your sheets every few weeks, and you’ll be fine with one set.
- A bike. This is another item that may cause some disagreement, but hear me out. St. Olaf rents bikes for free from the library for any student. You just check them out like you would a library book! Besides, in Minnesota you usually only end up with a few months of nice weather anyway. Unless you’re planning on joining the Cycling Team or the Triathlon Team, leave your bike and save some car space!
- Hundreds of pens, notebooks, and looseleaf. Wait until you sign up for classes during Week One before you buy any school supplies. Often you’ll sign up for a few classes that don’t require notes, use a workbook, or recommend electronic notes. You can always buy what you need at the bookstore or at Target later.
- A fan. This depends on the year, but most of the time you can get away with not purchasing a fan. Generally it’s only hot in September, and the rest of the time fans go unused.
Interested in a program that helps you better understand your relationship with material culture? Sign up for this year’s Environmental Conversations program!
Plus, be sure to check out St. Olaf’s SustainAbilities website and Facebook page to keep up to date on sustainability projects. Watch for the Ole Thrift Shop in the fall! You can buy gently used things from other students to save money and reduce your impact.
Ole Connections
You know you’ll get a great education at St. Olaf. What you might not yet be thinking about is the value of the connections you’ll make. The Piper Center for Vocation and Career will help you connect to Ole alumni working in many different industries, companies, and organizations across the country. One of the Connections programs in Ole Law. In the video below, Will Raun ’14 will tell you more…
Explore the Piper Center and hear more when you visit campus!
Welcome, 2017 Oles!
Congratulations! After at least one year of the search, apply, wait, and decide process… you’re an Ole. You will soon adopt an affinity for black and gold and in a few months, move to campus to begin your lives as St. Olaf students.
Oles enjoy outdoor class. Next year, this will be you!
In the coming few days, you’ll receive a postcard with information on deadlines and how to find the Destination St. Olaf page. The forms and tests formally go live on June 1st.
So, what’s next? Here’s a quick look ahead to see what’s coming up:
Due June 1st: your second enrollment deposit of $300 (do it via your applicant status page or by mailing a check).
Due June 15th: the roommate preference form
Due July 1st: the advising questionnaire (remember: you meet your adviser and do first semester registration during Week One – so there’s no registration during the summer).
Due July 1st: the music interest and information questionnaire
Due July 15th: the checklist of registration holds (you’ll learn about this soon)
Due July 29th-August 1st: Course choice submission and registration for Writing 111 or Religion 121 for the fall semester (you’ll be able to see all the options for each required first-year course and mark your first, second, and third choices)
Due August 15th: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Assessment
In the meantime, connect with your future classmates on the St. Olaf Class of 2017 Facebook page, and check the St. Olaf Admissions page for updates throughout the summer. If you visit campus in the summer, chronicle your time here with #stolaf17 on Twitter and Instagram.
The Admissions Office has loved working with this class, and the Dean of Students and Residence Life Offices look forward to working with you as questions arise about your upcoming transition to life on the Hill. Congratulations on making your decision and good luck in your preparation for Move In Day on August 31st.
– Maggie
Countdown to May 1st: It’s Time to Decide
After months (or maybe years) of careful planning, the time has come: it’s time to choose your college. The National Candidate Reply Date of May 1st is about a week away. You have visited, talked with admissions officers, sat in on a class, met professors, chatted with current students, and maybe even stayed the night on campus. By now, you have the facts you need about financial aid and scholarships. You know how you feel when you’re on campus.
So, the time has come. It’s time to send us your deposit and become an official Ole.
Click on the image below to hear a few reasons why we’d love to have you here:
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact your admissions officer. We’re excited to see you on the Hill next fall!
– Maggie
Alumni Connections: Washington D.C.
Earlier, I did a post about the New York Connections trip led by St. Olaf’s Piper Center for Vocation and Career. My friends on that trip loved it and talked about how it influenced their career plans, so I decided to apply for the Washington D.C. Connections trip over spring break. I have family around the D.C. area, but even though I’ve visited in the past, until this trip I did not have a good idea of what living and working in the city was like. During the trip, I met St. Olaf alumni that talked about how their liberal arts education translated into careers in a variety of fields.
The D.C. Connections group at Navy Vice Admiral Robin Braun and Mr. Michael Braun, whose daughter Rachel Braun, ’13 attends St. Olaf. They hosted the group and talked about their careers.
Love Odetola, ’14, Me, Kelly Tomera, ’14, and Ellie Dusheck ’14 riding the metro
With around 900 alumni, Washington D.C. has more Oles than any other area outside Minnesota, creating a strong community in the city. We met alumni working in the Capitol, participating in Lutheran Volunteer Corps, and even in (my personal favorite, as an English major and self-proclaimed book nerd) the rare books collection in the Library of Congress.
Me in front of the Capitol in (rainy) D.C.
Along with the alumni we met as a group, we also split into different three smaller groups to focus on our interests: nonprofit/education, international, and government. I chose the government group, partially because I know the least about government careers. We went to the Pentagon and talked with Anthony Aldwell, ’72. Mr. Aldwell graduated from St. Olaf with a degree in English and Theater, and after joining the Airforce and working through the ranks, ended up working at the Department of Defense. Even though he never expected to work with the Department of Defense while he was at St. Olaf, he talked about how well the public speaking skills he learned in theater and the writing and editing skills he picked up from the English major translated into his career today.
Me fueling my coffee addiction on our busy mornings!
Other alumni emphasized the relevance of classes that they never realized would be important. As a student at a liberal arts school, I admit that sometimes I get frustrated with the extensive general education classes we have to take. However, David Prestwood, ’01 a Senior Policy Advisor for the US Senate, talked about how he drew on information he learned in his sophomore year Physics of Nuclear Weapons course during a policy discussion on nuclear disarmament. Despite being a political science major that simply took the course to fulfill St. Olaf’s science requirement, the information he gained bolstered his knowledge on important policy issues years later.
As senior year approaches, it was comforting to see evidence of the supportive Ole network off the Hill. Aside from the networking and practical job application tips, the most useful thing I gained from the Washington D.C. trip turned out to be the stories I heard from alumni. Each alum’s St. Olaf degree proved useful in different (often surprising) ways, but every person I talked to described how his or her liberal arts education at St. Olaf changed their lives. Whether it manifested itself in an ability to discuss, writing skills or a broadened worldview, the foundation St. Olaf laid helped each alum succeed in what undergraduates term the “real-world.”
-Zoey
10 Things to Do on Admitted Student Days 2013
On April 13th and April 20th, we will host our Admitted Student Days for the Class of 2017. This post was originally published last year, and is back by popular demand. If you’ve contemplated attending one of these days, keep reading for what I think are pretty convincing reasons to make a trip to campus this spring.
Maybe you think, “well, I’ve been to campus, why should I come to one of these Admitted Student Days?” or “I’ve already deposited… should I still come?” So, below, I’ve highlighted a few reasons why these days are particularly special. From my perspective, my colleagues and I — who will be wearing matching blue shirts — love the energy and enthusiasm of these days. We finally get to meet students with whom we’ve worked for months (and sometimes years). Whether or not it’s your first time meeting us, we have gotten to know you by reading your application, emailing with you, and talking with you on the phone. It’s fun for us to see the next class of future Oles explore campus with the knowledge that they could actually be students here in a few months.
1. Meet your future classmates… and roommates… and teammates…
From informally meeting during registration, to the students-only lunch in the Pause, you’ll meet the students who will become part of the community in the fall. Around 30% of the students who attend Admitted Student Days have already decided on St. Olaf (how to tell? see #5).
2. Learn about the beginning of your beginning here: Week One!
From Move-In Day to the first day of class, Week One is a time of transition. From socializing, adjusting to dorm life to registering for classes and finding level 3 1/2 in the library, there is a lot to do. Learn about the support systems in place to ensure your arrival and adjustment to college life at St. Olaf goes smoothly.
3. See some of the updated buildings on campus, including the Hall of Music.
The renovated Administration building next to Christiansen Hall of Music holds an entirely renovated space for student musicians, faculty, and staff. With 40 practice rooms (all with different acoustic levels), 9 teaching studios, a percussion suite, and even a reed-making room, it’s just one fresh space to explore of many on campus.
4. Taste the food. Make sure it still suits your palate. And, take a free St. Olaf Cookie for the road.
Breakfast in the Caf, lunch in the Pause, and a St. Olaf cookie to-go — you will be well-fed and get a true sense for the culinary atmosphere at St. Olaf. You’ll even get to taste Johnny Pops popsicles, the entrepreneurial creation of current Oles. Yes, Newsweek ranked us #1 for food, but you may as well see (and taste) for yourself.
5. Get your “I’m an Ole!” button.
Deposited students will receive this button upon check-in to wear during the day’s events. Attach it to your shirt and let everyone know you’re official. If you get to the end of the day and decide you’re ready to become an Ole, you can deposit and we’ll bestow this valued trinket upon you. Also, we have buttons for your parents, as well!
6. Update your Ole gear: the Bookstore will provide a 15% discount.
Wear your name-tag into the Bookstore, and grab the St. Olaf signature “Flavor of the Month” sweatshirt, black and gold sweatpants, and a pennant to hang in your future dorm room. These guys below definitely took advantage of the discount last year…
7. Mingle with current Oles and start planning what clubs and organizations you’ll join.
Over 30 student-led clubs will be present for the Co-Curricular Fair over the student lunch. Volunteer organizations, special-interest groups, intramural sports, multicultural and religious organizations — you’ll be able to walk from table to table and meet current students who can tell you about their groups. You’ll even be able to sign up for the clubs that look interesting to you and get a head-start for next fall. Check out the full listing of current student organizations!
8. Learn about resources for mapping out life after St. Olaf.
Led by staff from the career connections team in the Center for Experiential Learning, hear an informative panel where alumni and current students draw connections between their experiences at St. Olaf and how that has propelled them successfully into the work world. Your college career is imminent, but it’s important to know what St. Olaf can do to prepare you for life after your four years here.
9. Scope out a residence hall.
Check out a residence hall tour to Ellingson Hall, which was renovated last summer. This year, Hoyme Hall will undergo renovations, as well; it’s all part of the continuing effort to provide an even better residential experience than we already have. Start to plan your room, what to bring, and how it could fit into your new shared living space. The ladies below did a great job on Move-In Day last fall:
10. Discover your favorite spot on campus!
The official tours will show you the key places on the Hill; feel free to use that time — or time to wander on your own — to see where your new study place, meet-up spot, or meditation location will be. You can — and probably will — have more than one favorite place. I encourage you to take time to investigate the nooks and crannies of campus, from an outdoor spot, to the space under the Memorial Chime Tower, to a study corner of Regents Hall.
In addition to the highlights above, there will be a luncheon for parents with President David R. Anderson ’74, various information sessions about academic areas, and tours of campus. The basic schedule is on the registration form, found on your students’ applicant status page. You’ll receive a complete schedule upon check-in at Buntrock Commons. We look forward to welcoming you — see you soon!
– Maggie
The Ole Admissions Blog 