It’s no secret that campus always gets a bit brighter on days dedicated to visiting or admitted students. The food in Stav is always great on days with lots of tours, and Buntrock often appears to be more freshly decorated. The most recent instance of this was St. Olaf’s annual Fall Visit Days on Oct. 17-18, where hundreds of prospective students came to get a taste of what life on the Hill is like through tours, presentations, and other programming.
I went to a Fall Visit Day and a Spring Admitted Student Day before committing to St. Olaf, and admittedly, campus isn’t always as bright and shiny as it was when I first saw it. That said, I wasn’t tremendously let down when my freshman year started and I realized pasta bake and pie in Stav wasn’t an everyday thing, either — many friends I’ve made here have shared similar sentiments. Campus may be a bit glamorized on Visiting Student Days, but I don’t think it’s to a misleading degree.
As someone who has lived in Minnesota my whole life, I have a love-hate relationship with the timing of the Fall Visit Days here at Olaf. They fall on the Minnesota Education Association (MEA) break — a four-day-weekend that I looked forward to more than most holidays when I was growing up. I’ll be honest — I just find it a bit frustrating that my siblings in high school have a long weekend that’s so close to lining up with Olaf’s fall break, but so far. While it may slightly inconvenience students like myself, I do think that holding Fall Visit Days over MEA break is an amazing decision on the College’s part, as such a large proportion of St. Olaf applicants come from Minnesota. None of them have school to attend, so why not come and tour St. Olaf?
All in all, I do think that St. Olaf is doing the best job they can with their Fall Visit Days and other events for prospective students throughout the year. But, of course, not everything will be to everyone’s liking. Asking the College’s administration to satisfy both current and prospective students is a near-impossible task, and some sacrifices must be made on both sides.
