Amherst vs. Carleton?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Amherst College
1

I’m very grateful to have gotten into two of my top choices: Amherst and Carleton. However, I’m currently completely stuck between them. I’ve visited both and in both cases I really liked the vibe I got. My intended major is Political Science, with other interests including French (potentially studying abroad), Economics, Computer Science, and History. End goal is to go to Grad School in Public Policy or maybe enter the Foreign Service.

I’ll list what I view to be their plusses and minuses.

Amherst

  • Diversity is good.
  • Everyone I met (including the 200 level Poli Sci class I visited) seemed really, really smart and reasonably friendly.
  • A bit more name recognition/prestige (not a reason to choose a college, but it doesn’t hurt).
  • Awesome college town.
  • Five College Consortium classes seem interesting (including the interdisciplinary certificates).
  • I liked the campus a bit more than Carleton’s (although both are really beautiful).
  • Alumni network is legendary.
  • Amherst seems to really support their students with internships, academic support, etc.
  • Library was miles ahead of any other school I visited. Really impressive.
  • No Minors of any kind.
  • Chess club is weaker (I play chess competitively and this does mean a fair bit to me).
  • Not as much Frisbee as Carleton (I love Ultimate).
  • Academics seem a bit more stressful (purely an impression based on my visits + research).

Carleton

  • Trimesters are pretty nice (consequence: more people study abroad which is good)
  • Three classes at a time means you focus in more, which fits my personal academic style.
  • I had an awesome visit + overnight with a current student I know.
  • Everyone I met was smart, friendly and warm… I think this is a Midwestern thing.
  • Chess Club is stronger, and the team gets funding to travel to the Pan-Am tournament.
  • I’m a Midwesterner, and going to a Midwestern college would be less of a shift for me (this could be a plus or a minus).
  • Frisbee is literally everywhere
  • The International Relations major is really intriguing.
  • $2,000 per year National Merit Scholarship
  • Arboretum is nice.

= Everyone does Comps… not sure how I feel about this one. Neutral to positive, I guess.

  • Not as diverse
  • Lab Science requirement to graduate
  • The winters actually are pretty bad... and you’re on campus in January.
  • Northfield really doesn’t compare to Amherst (the town).
  • The Admissions Officer I talked with seemed much more reticent about the idea of a gap year (“We’ll check up on you”), and I definitely want to do one. It’s also more common to do a gap year at Amherst.
2

I don’t think the lab science requirement is necessarily a con. For me, it has been an experience where I can work with friends on problem sets and complain about the same thing.

3

They are both outstanding, congratulations. Education and advancement-wise, there’s not going to be a major difference between the two, and each has some slight advantage in specific areas. It seems that you may like the atmosphere a tad better at Carleton if I’m reading correctly. If that’s the case, then go with your gut feeling. Honestly, for you, I wouldn’t stress so much about the decision, because of the quality and similarity of the choices.

If you’re really set on a gap year though, and Amherst vets that smoothly, then go with Amherst. Do not jeopardize your acceptances for a gap year – these are too exceptional, and you may not receive them again.

Editing to add: this is something that may not have crossed your mind. Most institutions are very concerned about their bottom line re: yearly budgets. It may be the case that, Amherst having a larger endowment (I believe) than Carleton, and somewhat more money at their disposal, the notion of Amherst permitting a gap year for admitted students isn’t a problem. Carleton on the other hand may be more concerned with meeting budgetary requirements re: admitted students’ tuition on a per-year basis. I am just hazarding a guess from the institutional level, and this has no bearing on the quality of education, nor experience. But these are considerations made at the institutional level sometimes.

4

You might check this out: Amherst’s official policy does seem slightly more automatically favorable, but Carleton’s seems doable.

http://www.americangap.org/fav-colleges.php

Why not email Carleton’s admissions office about it and explain what you want? You still have a couple of days.

5

I think most colleges encourage gap years. It provides for a year of real world experience and an opportunity to do something exciting and meaningful. Most students are more mature and also more motivated to attend college as they may have a greater sense of purpose about their education.