Mindset list for the Class of 2013

Beloit College has published the latest edition of its annual mindset list - Mindset list for the Class of 2013.

Some highlights:

• Most students entering college for the first time this fall were born in 1991.
• They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
• They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives.
• Text has always been hyper.
• They have never understood the meaning of R.S.V.P.
• They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen.
• CDs have never been sold in cardboard packaging.

About the Mindset List

This is the 12th year that Beloit College has assembled these observations that help to identify the experiences that have shaped the lives—and formed the mindset—of students starting their post-secondary education this fall.

The Mindset List is not a chronological listing of things that happened in 1991, the year they were born. It is instead an effort to identify the worldview of 18 year-olds in the fall of 2009. Of course, our students come from many backgrounds and different traditions and these generalizations may not apply to all. The list identifies the experiences and event horizons of students and is not meant to reflect on their preparatory education.

It is also not deliberately designed to make readers feel really old!