Inside the Minds of College Students

Thanks to Jack Powers of IN3 for pointing out the Beloit College Mindset List in his Folio presentation. It is a list of the cultural surprises that shape the lives of freshman each year. Done since 1998 by Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride and Emeritus Public Affairs Director Ron Nief, the website receives more than 300,000 hits annually. Excerpts below.

I want to know what’s the biggest surprise you see in young adults today?

The Beloit College Mindset List for the Class of 2013

Most students entering college for the first time this fall were born in 1991.

1. For these students, Martha Graham, Pan American Airways, Michael Landon, Dr. Seuss, Miles Davis, The Dallas Times Herald, Gene Roddenberry, and Freddie Mercury have always been dead.

3. The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables.

4. They have never used a card catalog to find a book.

6. Salsa has always outsold ketchup.

8. Tattoos have always been very chic and highly visible.

9. They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives.

11. Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream has always been a flavor choice.

13. The KGB has never officially existed.

14. Text has always been hyper.

Posted by Kathy Sandler on Monday, November 9, 2009 at 12:01 AM