Carleton Liberal Arts Experience

<p>Has anyone attended the 1-week Carleton Liberal Arts Experience at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota? </p>

<p>Can you share some information about the what you got out of the experience, how were the other student participants, professors, how much reading, writing and dialogue was there, etc.? How did it compare to other 1-week college experiences? (please don't compare to a 3-week/8-week experience) Thanks!</p>

<p>Hi GSP,
Yes, I attended CLAE last summer. It was a great experience, one of the best I've had so far. I'm not sure about comparing it to other college summer experiences, because that was the first one I had attended. </p>

<p>The program is extremely well funded- not only do they pay for your plane tickets there for the program, they pay for you to come back again for a reunion in your Junior year (I'm going in May). </p>

<p>Academically and socially the program was an awesome experience for me. I met many amazing people that I still talk to- espeically for me, going to a small rural town, the social contrast was striking. </p>

<p>The program is hard work, but you really feel accomplished afterwards (rightfully so). You attend about 3 or 4 college classes each day- last year they were on the history of African American representation, contemporary African American culture, digital technology and "culture jamming," and writing college application essays. There were three main projects we had to complete by the end of the week- a mock debate between W.E.B. Du Bois and Booker T. Washington, a college application essay, and a culture jam (taking an ad and reversing its meaning using Photoshop to make a social commentary). </p>

<p>I really got a lot out of this academically... I learned how to write a great college application essay (that I've used for other applications and scholarships so far). Also, I think the history has really helped me this year in school for AP US History. History and English used to be my worst subjects, now they're among my best. </p>

<p>Anyway, sorry, that was really long winded, I tend to do that. But yeah, it was a great program. </p>

<p>-Isaac</p>

<p>Isaac, thanks for sharing your experience! I have been trying to get silicon valley students interested in CLAE for several years, but Carleton College just isn't on their radar. The program sounds even more interesting than I expected. Hopefully, hearing about your experience will excite them into applying next year!</p>

<p>Congratulations on your acceptance to MIT MITES !!!</p>

<p>Ohh.. by the title of this thread I thought you meant Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. I was like... "Wow. That's like five minutes from where I am now."</p>