Inside View: Carleton College

If you're looking for a college with top-notch academics, smart and talented students, and a sterling reputation with graduate schools, Minnesota might not immediately leap to the front of your mind. But, that's exactly where one of the nation's best liberal arts institutions, Carleton College, is located. Home to just under 2,000 students, Carleton enjoys a well-deserved reputaton for challenging students academically while providing a warm and welcoming campus community. What's life like at Carleton? I asked Jane Sturges, a Carleton junior from Texas who is majoring in International Relations (with a minor in French and Francophone Studies) for her inside view.

When you were looking at colleges, what were the three most important things you were looking for?

I knew I wanted a liberal arts college, a strong academic record/reputation, and a social fit – I knew the first two before visiting, but when I attended an Accepted Student weekend, I found the last one. I also was enjoying the idea of experiencing something completely different from the suburb in Texas I grew up in – so that if, like my parents, I ended up close to home after college, I would have experienced something different for 4 years.

What other schools did you consider or apply to?

Visited: Davidson, Williams, William and Mary, Skidmore, Hamilton, Allegheny, Centre, Rhodes, Macalester, Southwestern, Tulane, Emory, Vassar, Sewanee
Applied: Davidson, Bowdoin, Carleton, Southwestern, Allegheny, Rhodes, Hamilton, Macalester, Tulane

What were the main reasons you decided to go to Carleton over other schools where you were admitted?

Mainly because when I visited, it was a perfect fit. Socially it was great (I’m very good friends with my hostesses now – they are graduating soon!), and the classes I sat in on were good. It was laid back and non-competitive in a mean-spirited-what-grade-did-you-get kind of way, but in a way where you try to do your best, and improve your GPA, or whatever your goal is. I liked the friendliness of people on campus, and just that bit of awkward that keeps anyone from thinking they’re too cool.

What has been your biggest surprise about Carleton, something you either didn’t know about before you started, or that you expected but that didn’t prove true?

I am always surprised that every time I think I know most of the class of 2010, I meet someone who I’ve never met, seen, or heard of, in any way. Coming from a graduating class of almost 1200 people, I assumed that 400 would be easy – I’d know them all by junior year, right? And their major, significant other, and latest gossip, right? Wrong. Just this term alone, I’ve met at least 3 or 4 people whose existence I was in no way aware of before. It’s crazy how on such a seemingly small campus, there’s always someone new to discover.

How would you describe the "typical" Carleton student?

Is it way too cliché to say that there isn’t a “typical” Carleton student? Yes? Ok, a real answer then. I think the typical Carl has a secret (or not-so-secret) passion for something. It could be studying diversity in education, playing the cello, or being the best Dungeons and Dragons mage there is. Whatever it is, there’s always a moment where you attend a play, concert, walk by a chess tournament or sporting event, etc. and see some kid from your French class or that football player who scored a touchdown last week, or the person you met at your friend’s birthday party. Whatever the situation, there’s that moment of “oh, that person has complex layers!”

Some general adjectives to describe Calrs, however, could include: smart, passionate about something or other, generally friendly, sometimes awkward, but usually in a lovable, charming, disarming kind of way, somewhat ambitious, and relatively political. Many students are not as actively/passionately political as I expected, but most people have opinions and can defend or discuss them over food or late at night when work doesn’t look too fun. Oh! The last word is balanced! This one is crucial for any college student, and I think Carleton students get it pretty right on the whole – there’s a balance between work, activities, socializing, personal health etc. Finding that balance is key to surviving no matter where you are. You can tell by the bags under my eyes if I’ve been letting my life get unbalanced, so it’s pretty important.

How would you describe the academic environement at Carleton to a prospective student?

The academics are tough and you’ll probably be challenged, especially to keep up with all the reading you’re assigned. Most people have to learn when to stop themselves from being sleep-deprived – you learn to prioritize what you can and can’t do and how you can get things done.

However, I have always found professors accessible and willing to help – they have office hours, and some profs are better at communication than others, and some do their general work in the office, regardless of office hours. You definitely get the feeling, since research is not a huge requirement of their job and there are no grad students, that they are here to teach you, to work with you, and to give you the experiences and tools you need.

I like calling my profs by their first name and feeling like they respect you as a person, not just a warm body in a chair. I like that you can make your schedule with no classes longer than 70 minutes, no classes after 11:00am, no classes before noon, no classes on Fridays, etc. etc. There’s a lot of flexibility that can be used to shape your terms. However, I think academics are really what you make of them. If you like reading, you can take English, Political Science, and History, if you like problem sets, you can take Astronomy, Statistics, and Physics, and if you like labs, you can take Geology, Biology, and Chemistry, etc. There are a lot of ways you can make your schedule fit you and your learning style. Personally, I recommend a balance – right now I have a French culture class, a Geology class and lab, a Political Science course, and African Drum – having the balance of creative, interpretive, and deductive/inductive reasoning really keeps me thinking in a variety of ways and I’m not always reading all the time.

Carleton uses a trimester schedule. What are the advantages and disadvantages of the trimester system?

I sometimes love and sometimes hate the trimester system. I love it when I realize I get to take 4 extra classes beyond a typical semester schedule, but only 3 at once, which allows me time to take things like piano lessons and African Drum Ensemble. I hate it when terms go by so quickly and suddenly all my friends are graduating and it feels like Spring just started (clearly I’ve been thinking about this a bit lately, since we’re almost halfway through Spring Term). I also don’t like that my schedule rarely lines up with my friends’ schedules, but that’s become less and less important as the years pass. Study abroad and internships and things can be interesting. Winter break is long enough to do an internship or job, since it’s 6 weeks, and summer is long enough, but sometimes things start in May, and so that can be difficult. The biggest issue, however, is that semester study abroad must be done in the summer or fall, since missing two terms for one program in the spring is usually impossible, credit-wise. All Carleton programs are the regular dates for the terms, but non-Carleton programs like SIT are generally semesters and must be planned for. Lastly, I LOVE that my breaks are between terms, so I have no assigned work. My friends are sitting around writing papers while I’m playing with my Christmas gifts, etc.

How are the dorms at Carleton?

Right now I live in a campus-owned house called Huntington – it’s nice, big triple with a walk-in closet. Next year I will be living in a townhouse quint with one double and three singles, the most coveted housing on campus, since they’re off-board, and while the food is fine, being off-board saves you money and gives you autonomy in what you eat. The dorms are fine, though – varying location and age, with various reputations. All the dorms except Evans and Severance (Sevy) are mixed grade level, and all are co-ed by room, except there is always one all-girls floor and one same-gender floor that switches gender every year. Sevy and Evans are differently organized and don’t promote floor life, so that’s why they don’t allow freshmen.

All freshmen live in a double or triple, and they do very good jobs of matching people up (you fill out a survey thing). I’m still friends with my freshman year roommates, and I know of a few people who have lived together all 4 years. In my freshman year, I lived in a Watson triple, which are known for being the smallest triples on campus, but they certainly weren’t uncomfortable. We got along perfectly well and only now that I live in a nice triple did I realize they were small.

I lived in the notorious Goodhue my sophomore year, and it’s well known for its location – across Lyman Lakes. Now, in real terms, this isn’t far at all, but in Carleton terms, compounded by Minnesota winters, it feels far away. It’s a nice dorm though, with nice doubles, lots of bathrooms, and great floor life (mainly because people don’t really want to leave during the winter), and now they’ve built stairs to get up the hill to the Language and Dining Center, so it’s less of a hazard in winter.

All in all, the dorms are nice, and your freshman year floor will probably be the center of your social world (if you want it to be). Your roommate is often a de facto friend, and your floormates can end up being your best friends for your entire college career. Right now we are building two new dorms, Cassat and Memorial Hall to reduce the number of seniors living off-campus. They look very nice, and fall in with the classic architecture style of most of the campus. They are also being built to save energy and be as green as possible, and the rooms look pretty big.

How's the food at Carleton?

We just switched from Sodexho to Bon Appetit, and it’s a definite improvement. All of the food is organic, locally-grown, grass-fed if it’s meat, etc. Any dining hall food is not going to be gourmet, since it’s repetitive and mass-produced, but there are a lot of options and they really try to respond to requests, criticisms, and dietary needs. I generally find it enjoyable – some days are better than others, but if you really don’t like it, there are off-board options – interest houses, etc. In addition, there are certain constants, like burgers, salad/sandwich bar, etc., just in case you don’t like the changing menu options.

What's your favorite place on campus? Your least-favorite place?

My favorite place to study is the Library by the periodicals on the 4th floor – I’m not super distracted by a computer, and it’s quieter than in the reference area. I also am very comfortable in the Gender and Sexuality Center (GSC), which has become a nice landing spot for me on campus. It’s close to my house and welcoming to me.

I’m also a fan of the KRLX record library. KRLX is our student-run, 24/7 radio station. All you have to do is fill out an application and prepare music and while you may start at 3:00am, your times get better with seniority. The record library hosts 1000s of CDs and records that DJs can borrow and listen to and play on their shows. I love going in there, picking a letter in the rock section, and discovering all kinds of new and mind-blowing music.

The worst part of campus is probably Evans on a Sunday morning – it’s a well-known party dorm, what with the Cave (student-run performance venue) below it, and lots of sophomores living in quads and quints and hosting gigantic parties with freshmen and such. No offense to the younger set, but they tend to be less responsible party-goers, and they make the whole building smell bad after a weekend.

What is Northfield, Minnesota, where Carleton is located, like?

The surrounding community is the town of Northfield and Carleton borders the main street, called Division. Division Street is full of local businesses in historical buildings. You’re likely to find Carls at Bittersweet Bakery and Goodbye Blue Mondays for coffee, internet, and baked goods, Hogan Brothers, Chapatis, and the Tavern for meals, Ragstock and the Rare Pair for clothes shopping, and The Rueb’n’Stein and the Contented Cow for a few drinks or trivia games. There are other Carl hangouts, but these are the ones on Division Street. There’s definitely a local charm and a “Minnesota nice” to all of it. Econo Foods is just a little bit further, but still in walking distance, as is the Municipal liquor store, the Just Foods Co-Op, and Froggy Bottoms’ Pub, and down the highway is bowling, restaurants, Target, and Cub Foods. These are reachable via car or the bus that goes to Target and St. Olaf (the other college in town, but further outside Northfield) on a regular schedule.

Beyond this area of town, it gets a bit rural, but the Twin Cities are an hour bus or car ride away, and places like Lakeville and Burnsville are even closer. Cars aren’t really necessary – they help if you want to go into the cities in the middle of the week or to the airport at weird times, but Carleton runs shuttles on the weekends up to the Mall of America, St. Paul, the airport, etc. A car’s mobility is always nice, and I like having mine, but it’s not really necessary unless you have an odd schedule or want to go somewhere like Madison or Milwaukee, etc.

What do people do at Carleton for fun on the weekends?

A lot of people party on the weekends, as many college students do, but there are a lot of options. On any given weekend (especially late in the term) you probably have at least one play or dance performance, a performance of improv comedy, a cappella performances, some visiting musician or lecturer, two or three movies at SUMO – free of charge, free performances at the Cave from bands (including Gospel Gossip, Horse Feathers, Dan Deacon, and Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin), activities in town (including trivia at the Contented Cow, karaoke at Froggy Bottoms, performances at Hogan Brothers, kontra dancing, a barn dance, etc.), Sayles dances (public dances in the student center), sporting events, organized servers for computer games, and anything else you and your friends can come up with.

Most people stay on campus for the weekends, especially once they get settled in freshman year. Despite our relatively large Minnesotan contingent, most of them stay at Carleton over the weekends. I am involved in Nightshade, the a cappella group, which sings a variety of songs from madrigals to Beatles and everywhere in between, and I do a lot of activities with the GSC. Those are my two main organized activities, and I go to this amazing body positivity discussion group on Fridays. I attend a lot of things and really try to support other people’s efforts, so I certainly keep myself busy – I’m not going to bore you with individual things I’ve done, you can read my admissions blog if you’re really interested.

What do you like best about Carleton? What would you change ?

I might have the campus be a bit more diverse – it’s mostly liberal, and I often wish ethnic minorities were more strongly represented, in addition to different socio-economic classes, family structures, and general background experiences. I generally don’t privilege ethnicity over any other indicator of diversity, like languages spoken, political views, economic background, travel experience, etc. Basically I would like to be more challenged to really think critically about my beliefs and assertions on a regular basis. I am already challenged to do so, but I’d like to see even more diversity of thoughts and ideas.

My favorite part about Carleton is that I have changed so much and I’ve really become who I think I am. I’ve discovered the kind of work that makes me really passionate, and seen parts of the world I’ve always wanted to see. I have matured, grown, and met friends who have stayed with me through the ups and downs. Carleton has been like a little incubator for me to grow into myself and I’m so glad I had that opportunity. In June of 2010, I think I’ll be ready for my diploma because Carleton has provided me with a welcoming and challenging place for me to grow.

Do you have any advice for high school students about finding the right college?

You can probably make yourself happy/successful no matter where you go – you’ll graduate, survive, and receive a decent education. I would suggest that there is no one “right” place for everyone – I don’t think you have a college soul mate or anything like that. I do think you need to find a place that fits and that feels right. When you visit, and I would recommend doing an overnight with students, you’ll know if the students and their values resonate with you. Good luck, and remember that college is what you make of it. Try new things and try to figure out who you are.

Want to know more about life at Carleton? Read Jane's admissions blog.