Gustavus Adolphus College

Date: Nov 05 2007
Major: Political Science (This Major's Salary over time)
I think GAC is great for some people, but you should know what you're getting into.

The Political Science department is one of the stronger departments on campus. The small faculty work as a team and will really put in a lot of their personal time to enhance your learning experience. It is, however, a small rural Midwestern campus, and sometimes classes that emphasize discussion fall completely flat as 1) people from similar backgrounds tend to have similar opinions 2) everyone is too shy to get the ball rolling or state a contrary opinion or 3) no one has the background knowledge to know what they're talking about. Many of my classes included so much discussion that the content of the class became secondary. I like discussion classes, but a good solid background before the discussion is always preferable to drawing blind conclusions. If you know your stuff and aren't afraid to speak up, you can get a lot out of these classes, but expect your peers to be light years behind you.

I would say the art department is the least impressive on campus, the student work is often poor and the faculty is very small. The town of St. Peter is also not conducive to creative inspiration.

Creativity is valued but stymied by the lack of student diversity on campus and I mean LACK OF. GAC really wants minority students, but it can be very uncomfortable to be THE black girl on campus, THE Hispanic guy on campus, THE gay man, THE lesbian etc. The campus also suffers from lack of faculty diversity, and it kind of feels like yuppie WASP city.

Going to GAC is like living in a bubble. The town of St. Peter has a great Food Co-op and some yarn stores, and that's about it. The movie theatre might still be open, and the Chinese restaurant is pretty good. The biggest drawback for me was GAC's location. YOU WILL NEED A CAR OR YOU WILL GO CRAZY. Also the parking is terrible and expect your car to not start in the frigid winter. In addition to a real lack of interesting activities, the location also means a lack of internships, community activities, etc. that you could experience in a larger city.

GAC is on a hill and in January and February it is windy, snowy and brutal. Snow days are rare. There are no warm tunnels to walk to class through, so please invest in a good down coat and a wool scarf and don't try to look spiffy in your nice thin peacoat because you will be frostbitten and want to die by the time you get to class.

GAC's best points are its wonderful, dedicated professors and small size. It's easy to get involved in campus groups and to get help and support from professors. Most people form tight-knit friendships here, and the overall atmosphere is friendly.

However, the college is Lutheran and I mean LUTHERAN! There was even an essay contest one year on the topic "Why be Christian?" The majority of service groups are faith based. This has put a lot of students of different faiths on edge. If you're Christian, you'll fit in great. If you're not, you may feel imposed upon and offended, because there isn't a lot of boundary respecting when it comes to religion at this school.