Amherst vs. Carleton?

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carleton 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

If you really want to do a gap year at Carleton you’ll be able to. A surprisingly large number of students do, there is even a club on campus for all those people who have taken a gap year. I don’t know of anyone who has wanted to take a gap year and hasn’t been allowed to. It may have happened but not to my knowledge

3

The club is called “Mind the Gap” here is there webpage: https://apps.carleton.edu/student/orgs/mindthegap/

4

No problem with doing a gap year at Carleton. Go to Carleton. Great student body that is intellectual yet more laid back. Ultimate = Carleton.

5

Thanks for the responses about the gap year! If there’s any other advice or whatnot about the differences between the two, it would be very much appreciated!

6

Well, GoP just punched its ticket to DIII Natties today, and Amherst didn’t. Just sayin’ :slight_smile: If you’re a female, both Syzygy and Eclipse are gonig to Nationals, too.

ETA: My poli sci major got a cool tank, I think, with the Einstein quote “Politics is more difficult than physics.” :slight_smile:

7

You have a good list. I would be careful of one thing on your list.

Don’t let Carls fool you. Academics are intense and stressful at Carleton too. You may be seeing the laid back midwestern nature of the school. Down another level it is a little different. Not cut throat…some one say (including me) that some classes, especially pre-meds, are competitive though

8

Current student here and I disagree that some classes (even pre-med ones) are competitive. Classes can certainly be tough but definitely enough Carls get into law school/med school/grad school that we don’t even need to think about edging each other out or getting better grades than other people.

Some people actually really like comps. It’s one of those things that people complain about more than they need to but if you choose a topic you really like, it can be really fun and a great learning experience especially for grad school.

Winter is cold here but it’s pretty nice if you think about it! We have so many winter activities on campus and they can be really fun if you embrace them (e.g. traying, ice skating on the bald spot, broomball).

The Lab Science requirement isn’t a big deal. There are plenty of science classes that humanities and social sciences majors take that actually end up fascinating them. Our Geology department is known to “steal” people into the major because Intro to Geology is just so awesome.