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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More DMV private kids seem to go to Carleton than St. Olaf and Mac.

Also if this matters to you, Carleton has a winter break that goes from Thanksgiving all the way into January. And somehow it still starts the school year into September and ends in May. My college kid was very jealous of her friend with this schedule.

It's a trimester schedule. Fall trimester is September-Thanksgiving. Winter trimester is early January-mid March. Spring trimester is April-June. (This year, exams end June 8.)

How many classes do they take at one time?

Three

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:More DMV private kids seem to go to Carleton than St. Olaf and Mac.

Also if this matters to you, Carleton has a winter break that goes from Thanksgiving all the way into January. And somehow it still starts the school year into September and ends in May. My college kid was very jealous of her friend with this schedule.

It's a trimester schedule. Fall trimester is September-Thanksgiving. Winter trimester is early January-mid March. Spring trimester is April-June. (This year, exams end June 8.)

How many classes do they take at one time?

3 courses. Each course is 6 credits.

[Anonymous]

St. Olaf is an incredible value - merit aid made it a very easy decision. It's a stunning campus with gorgeous architecture. I had to giggle at a PP who said it was "isolated" compared to Carleton when it's actually a 4 minute drive to main street Northfield - charming town. My kid plays a sport and the coaching staff has been a wonderful influence on the college experience. Got a DC internship this simmer and hopefully my soon-to-be grad will be moving back here next May. Teammates are headed to Chicago or Twin Cities.

[Anonymous]

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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:More DMV private kids seem to go to Carleton than St. Olaf and Mac.

Also if this matters to you, Carleton has a winter break that goes from Thanksgiving all the way into January. And somehow it still starts the school year into September and ends in May. My college kid was very jealous of her friend with this schedule.

The somehow is that the winter term starts in very early January (where semester schools might not start till the 2nd or 3rd week) and the spring term goes into early June, while semester schools are out the 1st or 2nd week of May. It’s 3-10 week terms vs 2-15 week semesters so the same number of weeks over an academic year.

[Anonymous]

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

Not really. Grinnell is in middle-of-nowhere, Iowa.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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

Not really. Grinnell is in middle-of-nowhere, Iowa.

As opposed to Carleton and St Olaf’s cosmopolitan location?

[Anonymous]

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.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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

Not really. Grinnell is in middle-of-nowhere, Iowa.

As opposed to Carleton and St Olaf’s cosmopolitan location?

At this point, Northfield is considered an exurb of the Twin Cities, since it's 40 miles to the south.

[Anonymous]

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.

2. Carleton: Reputation for being a great school. 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?

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.

[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.

2. Carleton: Reputation for being a great school. 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?

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.

Grew up in South Dakota and had the exact same thought about St Olaf. DCUM seems to love it.

[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.

2. Carleton: Reputation for being a great school. 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?

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.

Exactly.

And GAC is fine, too, just nothing particularly special.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Look at Olaf's latest CDS:

In state - 44%
Out of state - 43%
Internationals - 12%

Carleton
In state - 20%
Out of state - 67%
Internationals - 13%

Clearly Olaf is a local college with less diversity.

Percentage of internationals is similar, although many of those for Olaf are Norwegian.

per dd, there are Norwegian, but most international students from united world colleges.

[Anonymous]

St Olaf is very strong in Math, CS, and Music. I would happily hire a St Olaf CS graduate. Sadly, few are interested in moving to metro DC.

[Anonymous]

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.