<p>I don’t know where the hanging tree inferred that I implied only strange and weird people is suitable for Carleton. I must clarify that this is not true. In fact, I would say that most white kids from a upper middle class family will find Carleton wonderful. If you are one of them, go ahead and apply and you will feel like home.</p>
<p>You didn’t answer my question about where else you could have attended WITH YOUR STATS (I can’t tell if you would have had a chance to get into your holy grail of Amherst) that would have been a better fit or what you would recommend for your own kids, but I assume a research university is what you would recommend. Interestingly, I attended a prestigious large research university, and steered my kids more down the LAC path because of what I see as the limitations of the research university for undergraduate studies. Some of the things you see as negatives I see as positives when putting the two systems side by side. Has worked out fantastically for my kids, too, although neither ended up as a Carl. </p>
<p>I also find your post confusing… do you think if you had gone to University of Minnesota, for example (just picking the in-state research university) that you would have had an equally good chance of getting into a graduate program at Stanford? You seem to have done very, very well with your Carleton education as a foundation in spite of your bitterness toward it.</p>
<p>Honestly, I don’t take much away from your post except the newsflash that liberal arts colleges are not for everyone, just as large research universities are for everyone. Your post seems like an immature rant that is sort of biting the hand that fed you – you ARE in grad school at Stanford according to your post. It isn’t anyone’s fault out here that you did not research your colleges carefully and ended up someplace you were unhappy that wasn’t a good fit for you.</p>
<p>CAlum, your experiences at Stanford might be helpful for people to understand. Is it just that you didn’t do well on some exams? Are you still at Stanford? Did you go in hoping for a PhD and end up with a masters? Were there other problems?</p>
<p>Being that you have only made a few posts criticizing Carleton, you don’t give much of a track record for people to judge you by. Specific problems in grad school and how Carleton could have prepared you better would be helpful. I won’t judge your writing…I mean we’re not writing journal papers here.</p>
<p>There is some truth to what you’re saying. For example you said:</p>
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<p>I actually agree. It is a valid criticism of Carleton’s education and worth discussing. I hope I’m not agreeing with a ■■■■■ or a somebody faking it…this is why more specifics would be helpful.</p>
<p>Jack63, The truth is actually the opposite, I actually did better at Stanford. In Carleton, most of the exams are like: almost 20% percent of the people are able to finish the exam and score more than 90% percent of it, so the only distinguishing factor is how careful you are (things like if you forget to write down the units? Have you stated the Newton’s law that you used?) In Stanford, the exams are much harder in terms of the depth of thinking, sometimes nobody expects you to finish the exam, the average can be around 40/100, they just treat the exam as a learning experience. The distinguishing factor is how well you grasped the materials. Have you developed an intuition about the concepts rather than mechanics of solving a problem? The exams are stretching your maximum potential. However, I was able to do better relative to other Stanford students, so I was not frustrated about this at all while I was in Stanford.</p>
<p>Were you a physics major?</p>
<p>Getting in at Stanford and doing well is pretty cool. I’m still not sure about the specifics of your concerns though.</p>
<p>Your right on Carleton’s exam vs. top grad school exams. This has been my experience too. I never saw an exam at Carleton with a 40% average. These are common in grad school. </p>
<p>Still…You’re saying you got into Standford, did well, and now you are upset at Carleton. What am I missing?..</p>
<p>intparent, I don’t like your metaphor about Carleton as a feeding hand and me as the one being fed. The school and students should be two parties benefiting each other. I admit, I made the wrong decision to go to Carleton. But I witnessed several people making the same mistake as I did, so I don’t think that I am an extreme outlier. I wish I had heard some balanced view, that’s all.</p>
<p>Carletonalum has made his/her point, so I am closing the thread now.</p>