St. Olaf, Macalester, Carleton: thoughts, differences, experiences?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone who lived in Minneapolis:

1. Macalester: Fine. Wouldn’t ascribe a lot of hype to it personally. Seems to be a lot of guys who play in local bands and that sort of thing.

Isn't that true of, like, every single liberal arts college? I know it's certainly true of my own alma mater (Carleton).

2. Carleton: Reputation for being a great school.

As a Carleton alum, I will not object to this statement.

Only knew a few people that actually went there, so the presence in the Twin Cities didn’t seem that pronounced. Guess they go elsewhere?

Actually, there's a huge contingent of Carleton alums in the Twin Cities Region. Very strong alumni network there. We're also big in Chicago, the Northeast (DC, NYC, Boston) and the West Coast (Seattle, Portland, San Francisco Bay Area, and Los Angeles).

3. St. Olaf: This place always confused me. It took me years to understand that it is actually a highly regarded school. I still think of it more like Gustavus Adolphus than the other two.

Yes. St Olaf is much more underrated than Carleton, which like other top LACs is already criminally underrated. The narrative that Olaf is inferior to Carleton is so mindlessly repeated that a lot of my fellow Carleton alums are shocked when I tell them that it's more difficult to get into St Olaf today in 2025 than in was to get into Carleton in the late 1990s.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone considering these three schools but not Grinnell has a screw loose.

why? just because schools are rural, it doesn't mean they're actually compatible. It's not like Grinnell and Williams are similar.

Well, that’s where you’re wrong (or just simply a cuck for the WASP schools). If Grinnell was in Upstate NY, more kids who are into Williams and other NESCACs would look at Grinnell. Its location 90ish minutes outside of Des Moines definitely tampers interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone considering these three schools but not Grinnell has a screw loose.

why? just because schools are rural, it doesn't mean they're actually compatible. It's not like Grinnell and Williams are similar.

Well, that’s where you’re wrong (or just simply a cuck for the WASP schools). If Grinnell was in Upstate NY, more kids who are into Williams and other NESCACs would look at Grinnell. Its location 90ish minutes outside of Des Moines definitely chills interest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone considering these three schools but not Grinnell has a screw loose.

why? just because schools are rural, it doesn't mean they're actually compatible. It's not like Grinnell and Williams are similar.

Well, that’s where you’re wrong (or just simply a cuck for the WASP schools). If Grinnell was in Upstate NY, more kids who are into Williams and other NESCACs would look at Grinnell. Its location 90ish minutes outside of Des Moines definitely chills interest.

No there’s a pretty big cultural delta and school offering delta between Williams and grinnell. And yes, location matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone considering these three schools but not Grinnell has a screw loose.

just because schools are rural, it doesn't mean they're actually compatible. It's not like Grinnell and Williams are similar.

True.

However, Grinnell and Carleton ARE very similar to each other, at least in terms of campus culture and vibe. Their applicant pools overlap and they both attract a lot of the same personality types. Carleton is much more similar to Grinnell than it is to St Olaf.

You’re not really saying any overlap, you’re just selling it. HOW are they so very similar?