<p>May 2 and the CC Discussion board is very quiet. I'm writing this to get the yellow dot to appear next to Carleton's listing in the "Colleges" section. It will be the only active thread this morning.</p>
<p>I'll put another yellow dot here (also trying to get more posts for Carleton than Washington & Lee). There used to be more prospective student chatting, but it seems to have moved mostly to Facebook.</p>
<p>treeman, yes, at 5:10 AM, we're quiet . . . veeeerrrrrry quiet.;) I'm up that early occasionally--when my cat decides <em>she</em> wants to be up and outside that early.</p>
<p>I sent you, Mmomm, and kimfred a link to sign up for the Carleton Parents E-mail list, if you want. It's been a huge help to me this year, from what coat to buy for my son (something Tenzing Norgay would have appreciated or something a little less puffy?) to keeping up with Carleton's change from Sodhexo to Bon Appetite for dining.</p>
<p>My D will be going to Carleton in the fall too. She's thrilled, so we're thrilled.</p>
<p>Limner - that Carleton parents e-mail list sounds like it might be useful.</p>
<p>I'm somehow signed up with the Carleton parents e-mail list, and receive e-mail postings from other parents, asking and answering questions. I find it delightful, but frustrating, because I have no earthly idea how to respond or post a message of my own. You can't just hit reply--I tried that. (I'm a Neanderthal when it comes to all things computer-related.) Would someone please enlighten me?</p>
<p>I think I have to click on "reply all", and then remove all the addressees besides carletonparents.</p>
<p>Make your hotel reservations for graduation now. Not kidding.</p>
<p>Hmm, hindoo, that's weird. I am signed up with a secondary e-mail address, so I have to be careful that when I hit reply I'm doing it from the right address. But if not the message just bounces.</p>
<p>What happens if you hit "reply"?</p>
<p>Oh, and aliceiinw, I sent you the link (which, for other new Carl parents, is on the Carleton web site).</p>
<p>I only tried once, but nothing happened. I assumed my response would show up in my email, but it never did. Do I have to be logged on somewhere other than my regular home email address? (Yes, I know. I'm a dimwit.)</p>
<p>According to the Carletonian, 496 students accepted admission to Carleton. Since Carleton usually targets around 510, it seems likely that they will accept some from the waitlist.</p>
<p>I'm curious. Do you know how many current freshman Carleton has? My daughter is one of them, but I never heard a final number.</p>
<p>509, according to the Common Data Set</p>
<p>I read that Carleton got the green light to build two new dorms. I really hope that this doesn't mean that the size of the student body will increase. When I read the announcement, it would seem that the goal is to keep more students on campus. But it still opens the possibility. I think keeping total enrollment under 2000 should be a high priority. I also wonder what the dorms will look like. I am not a fan of building anything that doesn't look like it will be impressive 500 years from now. If money is an obstacle, then it might make sense to trade aesthetics for functionality. But when the endowments are in rarified air, I think anything less than mouth dropping is a mistake.</p>
<p>According to President Oden's talk at the last Family Weekend, he wants to decrease the number of students at Carleton. </p>
<p>As for the new dorm complex, everyone (administration, students, Northfield community) seems pretty satisfied with the plans/aesthetics. The city of Northfield granted a waiver on the required number of parking spaces so more trees could be saved. I'll see if I can find the site with the pictures on it - it's on the Carleton website somewhere. The dorm is being built because housing has been strained for some years. Watson has forced triples (doubles converted into triples), and over 100 students each year live off-campus (many at the mercy of a particularly notorious St. Olaf slumlord).</p>
<p>OK - here's the site with drawings and plans: <a href="https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/facilities/residence_halls/plans_maps/%5B/url%5D">https://apps.carleton.edu/campus/facilities/residence_halls/plans_maps/</a></p>
<p>Thanks, firefly! I really like the architecture of the buildings.</p>
<p>I don't think Carleton's endowment qualifies for "rarified air"(in fact it's really impressive that they do so much with so little compared to their peer schools). However, they've kicked off a capital campaign which should help.</p>
<p>Treeman, I couldn't agree more with each of your points and it appears that Carleton is of a similar mind. </p>
<p>They're starting construction this week on the two residence halls with occupancy scheduled for next year (September 2009). The buildings are designed to blend in comfortably with adjacent Nourse Hall's circa 1917 architecture. The siting looks great - it essentially takes an existing 3 sided quad and closes in the fourth side establishing a central open green space and sense of intimacy that doesn't now exist. While the look of the new buildings may be "classic," the construction will be cutting edge. True to form for the school, the buildings are being built "green" (solar panels, less impervious paving, etc.) and they've applied for a LEED Gold certification for the project (the first for any Minnesota college).</p>
<p>There'll be room for 230 students in the two buildings. One building will be apartment style, the other standard doubles and singles. Carleton's explained that half of the new space is devoted to increasing the number of students living on campus from around 90% to around 95% (i.e. a small number still doing Northfield option). The remaining rooms are devoted, as fireflyscout explained, to eliminating triples and "over-capacity" problems (can you say "euphemism").</p>
<p>The project looks great. Don't worry about gold plated faucets in the bathrooms. Any money "above and beyond" will be spent increasing energy efficiency and reducing impact on the environment. This is Carleton we're talking about.</p>
<p>fireflyscout -- Thanks for the update. I like what I see. I also like the emphasis on trying to save trees.</p>
<p>bingle -- I respectfully disagree. While Harvard may top the charts at 36 billion, and several LACs have endowments over 1 billion (Grinnell, Amherst and Smith among others), Carleton's endowment is still very healthy. When I last checked, the 650 million plus endowment ranked Carleton number 55 of ALL colleges and universities of any size, and measuring endowment per enrolled student moves Carleton significantly up that list.</p>
<p>Well Treeman, I have to admit that I didn't actually look at any data before posting (blush; I should know this group is too savvy). </p>
<p>Your point is well taken - Carleton is not exactly in the poorhouse by anyone's standard. OTOH, they are ranked 5th overall by USNWR, but 24th in financial resources which supports my recollection from time on the Annual Fund Board that our endowment was low compared with peer schools. As an alum who's been involved in fundraising for years, I do take great pride in the #1 ranking in alumni giving:)</p>