<p>Any one of these schools is a good choice.</p>
<p>My daughter applied to Carleton and Grinnell and did overnight stays at both. I’ll echo that Carleton is TOUGH. We talked to a couple random students at lunch about the school, and they both said they were surprised at the rigor. Everyone I talked to who has gone there has underestimated the workload. But they also play a lot, even in the cold. My thin-blooded daughter played broomball for an hour on the outdoor ice that night in -8 degrees. Carleton students aren’t normal, but they’re smart and fun.</p>
<p>The overnight stay is what changed my daughter’s mind about Grinnell. She was a little overwhelmed by the sex and drugs atmosphere of the campus – that’s almost all she heard the whole time she was there. Most LAC’s are politically liberal, but Grinnell is about as far left as you can get. They’re not all partiers, but because the partying population is so much more evident than the nerdy contingent, the school sometimes comes across like a four-year party. Grinnell was the top school on her list until the overnight stay, then it fell out of consideration.</p>
<p>Also consider the different schedules the schools use. Most LAC’s are on a semester schedule where you’ll take four or five classes at a time. Carleton is on trimesters – three ten-week terms in which you take three classes at a time (3-3-3). At Colorado College you take one class at a time for six weeks. Depending on your learning style, some of these schedules might be better for you.</p>