Strangeness, I live in SE Minnesota about 4 or 5 hours from St. Cloud. I visted there back when I was applying to colleges and it seemed all right, I wasn't a fan for the smaller/mid size campus so I opted for elsewhere, but the academics seemed sound, and I have a couple friends and an ex who go there and they are big fans of it so if that's what your looking for I'm sure you'll love it!