Exploring the Changes in Minimesters

Pace's Minimester program — the school's tradition of dedicating a chunk of the calendar to deep-dive, off-the-syllabus courses — looks a little different in 2025–26. Three new offerings replaced longer-running favorites, the trip schedule was shuffled, and the application process got a quiet redesign.

What's new

The headline addition is a course built around a multi-day Atlanta-history walking tour, anchored at the Center for Civil and Human Rights and led by two members of the History department. Two further new courses round out the lineup: a STEM-focused entrepreneurship lab, and a media-and-storytelling workshop run partly out of the Knightly News room.

The trip slate shifted as well. The longstanding Costa Rica option was paused for the year while logistics get sorted; new short-trip options to Charleston and Asheville were added.

What students are saying

Reception has been mostly positive, with a few familiar grumbles. The application form is shorter, but the timeline for hearing back about competitive Minimesters got compressed. Several juniors said they felt rushed making their choices.

Department chairs say the changes are part of a longer-term refresh that started two years ago, with the goal of keeping the program from getting "stuck." That seems to be working — the most-applied-to Minimester this year is one of the new ones.

Looking ahead

Minimesters wrap up in February, with student-led presentations across all three divisions in early March. Knightly News will cover highlights from each as they happen.