Gustavus Adolphus College Top Questions

The cafeteria is open early in the morning to late at night, with loads of options for every day. It's an undergrad school and a private school, so we pay a litte more, but the difference is definitely there in the housing, food, and the quality of our education and community.

Gustavus Adolphus curriculum is ALL an honors program. You have to have an excellent high school record to get accepted. it is a small, gorgeous Luthern (ELCA) affiliated campus. The teachers are ALL PhD's and there are no teaching assistants. There are never more than 20 students to one professor. The guidance counselors are beyond helpful. They are all accesible, 24;/7, 365 days of the year. They encourage diversity of all races, religions and sexual orientations. The good in the cafeteria is fabulous with many different "stations" and nationalities and food plans to choose from.

There is a strong sense of community and people are able to discover themselves through the strengths and learning of the students and professors. They develop life-long friendships that are different from many other friendships. Majority of the students are Minneosta residents, which keeps communication and relationships strong and sucessful in the summers, and after graduation.

The community at Gustavus is what draws many students. There is a good science program and a god music program, which attracts many people. However, the best part of Gustavus is the fact that it is a small enough campus to always see people you know. The sense of community is great. Everyone is accepting and it is really easy to meet people and get to know new friends.

Gustavus has an incredible sense of community that welcomingly includes new students, foreigners, and alumni! The first few days on campus force the freshman to mingle with one another in various groups, allowing them to meet at least half of their incoming class. By senior year, despite the area of study, people know most of their graduating class. If there is an issue on campus, security and residential life solve it immediately. Students are so comfortable here, it becomes "home". It is very difficult to be in an "out-group", though such a thing may not exist.

If you are a freshman: do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT consider living in a dorm other than Norelius ("Co-Ed"). As a freshman, I lived in Sorenson. It was a very nice dorm with new furniture, but there were only 6 freshman on my floor. The other 44 were sophomores and juniors (and my roommate was a creep). By the time I realized that the sophomores and juniors all already knew each other and weren't interested in making freshman feel welcome, I tried to make friends with some freshman. But, all of the freshmen lived in Co-Ed and had already gone through the initial getting-to-know each other/making friends phase and I totally missed out.

The greatest thing about Gustavus is the community feeling you get here. People don't go home on weekends, we stay on campus and have tons of fun with campus events like weekend movies, plays and we have even had lazer tag tournaments. There is also a wonderful welcoming weekend set for the first years as they first come on to campus, called Freshmen weekend, where you tour campus, go to fun events like the president's banquet, rodeos, and dances in the dive.

The relationship between students and staff members is very personable. I am a recent transfer student, and at my old school I felt I was just a number. At Gustavus, this isn't so! The food is outstounding (ranked 8th in the nation!)

I choose Gustavus because it really feels like a college campus. It is small enough that I can walk anywhere on campus in less than ten minutes, and it is set apart from the city so there aren't any major roads running right through it. There is a strong sense of community. Most of the activities are on campus, and you never go long without seeing someone you know. I also love that Gustavus has a January Interim Experience. It is a nice break between semesters and a good chance to take a class outside of my major.

Gustavus is very friendly with professors who really know their stuff. My freshman English professor discovered a lost Shelley poem in the Library of Congress.