What Makes Carleton Different?

So, you’ve applied to a few liberal arts colleges, maybe you’ve even gotten into a few. But now, the time has come to decide on one, and you find yourself met with nearly identical “tight-knit communities,” “small student to faculty ratios,” and “quirky student bodies.” How can you be sure which school will offer you the tightest-knit community, the smallest student-to-faculty ratio, and the most frisbees per capita?

The truth is, pretty much every small liberal arts college will be able to offer you at-least one of these things—that is why you applied to them. So how do you choose? And why is the correct answer (maybe) Carleton? In this blog, I’ll give you a few tips that helped me clear my head when it came time to decide where I was going to school.

1. Supportive Community

The main aspect that differentiates Carleton from other small liberal arts colleges is that the campus community is passionate and academically engaging, but not competitive. The ten-week term is a sprint—a sprint that I have found worthwhile and intellectually exciting for most subjects I’ve studied—but does make it so that you and you’re friends will have a lot of work to do. Because of this, and because students at Carleton are so genuinely passionate about learning, people do talk about school a lot. I had the concern before applying that people who focused on academics might be less supportive.

This wasn’t the case. There are a lot of opportunities for engaging in the academic departments and pursuits you are interested in. I love hearing about my friends’ archaeology research, poem collections, and physics comps projects even when I have no idea what they are really talking about. In general, students are smart, friendly, and curious. They tend to support each other and participate in each others’ projects, and there is truly a campus-wide sense that we are “all in this together.”

2. Location

Carleton College is located in Northfield, Minnesota: a small, mostly-liberal college town in the Midwest. It is a forty-five minute drive to the Twin Cities (St. Paul and Minneapolis). We have four seasons, and one of them is very cold. There are about 2,000 students here.

If you are deciding between liberal arts colleges, location is the most important factor you need to consider. Where do you want to live for the next four years? What do you want your life to look like? Do you want easy access to urban amenities? Do you want access to natural areas like Carleton’s Arboretum? Would you feel enriched or constrained at a college with only a few thousand students? The question of location requires more introspection than people realize, and it is worth considering in detail.

I ended up narrowing my search to the state of Minnesota because I wanted to live within reasonable driving distance of my family, but not so close that I would return too often and avoid breaking out of my comfort zone. I feel happy with my choice, I don’t require a lot of variety in my daily life in terms of food and recreation options to feel satisfied. The coffee shops in Northfield are wonderful, but there are only a few, and you will run into people you know every time you go.

3. Get Specific

I had no idea what I was going to be involved in once I got to college. However, once I started to get specific in my research, it became easier to imagine my life at college and rule out certain schools.

If there are things you think that you might want to do in college (a major or minor, research in a certain department, various student organizations, study abroad), compare and contrast Carleton with other colleges on your list. Maybe you are interested in being an English major. It is a good idea to look into the department’s course offerings, major requirements and professors at the different schools you are considering. That way, you know what will actually be possible once you get there.

For example, Carleton offers a Creative Writing minor, but not a major. Or also: Carleton’s Geology department is uniquely large, but there are only a few Environmental Science majors in my class year. If you want to double major, know that you will complete two comps projects (senior theses) at Carleton. These are overlooked and important factors to consider.

Look for information online or social media accounts made for campus organizations. Maybe you played a sport in high school, does the school you’re interested in have an official or club team? Maybe you are interested in theater or music. Communities vary widely.

Those are my tips for deciding between small liberal arts colleges. Hopefully Carleton has emerged as the clear winner, and I will see you on campus next year! If not, I wish you luck at the SLAC of your dreams.

Jess (he/him/his) is a junior English major/Creative Writing minor from Milwaukee, WI. He works for Admissions and Off-Campus Studies, blogging up a storm. On campus, he can be found on the Bald Spot with a book, next to the CD player in the Record Libe, or along the trails of the Arb on a late night run. He is a big fan of spring term and dining hall vegetarian sausage. As far as Northfield coffee shops go, he remains loyal to Goodbye Blue Monday.