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[quote=Anonymous]Here are a few more observations about Carleton and Macalaster from someone who knows both colleges a little but knows neither college well.

Carleton is beautiful.  While it looks Midwestern--there are hills but no mountains--it is one of the few Midwestern LACs I've seen that is as beautiful as most of the elite Eastern LACs.  Macalaster is pleasant but generally not beautiful, except for a few buildings.

Maclaster is located in an interesting neighborhood and is about halfway between downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis.  The neighborhood feels roughly like Woodley Park, Cleveland Park, or Tenleytown in D.C.  Macalaster is a major presence in that particular neighborhood but the neighborhood feels like a fairly small part of the Twin Cities, which have just about everything you could want in an urban area (theater, art, sports, parks, shopping, etc.).  By contrast, Carelton is located in Northfield, which is an attractive but fairly dull town.  Even with St. Olaf College up the hill, there isn't all that much happening in Northfield, which is probably a 45 minute drive from the Twin Cities.

Students at both campuses struck me as very funny and very friendly.   Students at both campuses seemed very smart.  From the admissions statistics, it appears that Carleton attracts more super brainiacs, but this could not be discerned from my interactions with people on the two campuses. There were significant numbers of quirky people at both campuses, but probably slightly more at Carleton.

The performing arts seemed to be a bigger deal at Macalaster.  Macalaster also seemed to attract more people interested in politics and world affairs.

Many people apply to both and many people who are admitted to both choose one or the other based on the considerations described above.  More probably choose Carleton, but plenty choose Macalaster.

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