Anonymous wrote:Who are you trying to impress? Which is the best school for your child?
I have a very "prestigious" background (prep school/Ivy grad) and I've only ever heard of one of those schools. Not that I really care what school your child goes to, but putting a Carleton sticker on your car would get a polite "oh, so where is that?" reaction out of me. Many people who care about the label on the degree are only going to focus on HYP anyway.
Focus on the school that best suits your child - which one has the program that works for your child's interests and future plans. Don't fixate on "prestigious".
ITA on the complete irrelevance of prestige to finding the right school for your kid, and I, too, am an Ivy grad for both college and law school. That said, however, I certainly know where Carleton is. If you live in this area and have kids who are college or high-school students, you certainly have heard about Carleton, which is becoming increasingly popular with bright and capable students here and elsewhere along the east coast. There's only so much dorm space at Swarthmore, Bowdoin and Wesleyan.