Carleton Vs Grinnell w/$

College Search & Selection
1

I’m a high school senior that has been accepted into and visited both of these schools. At Carleton I would be paying full price (about 64k per year) and at Grinnell I was given a 20k merit scholarship making the price about 43k per year. I plan on studying economics in college with a possible double major or minor in math. Financially I have the amazing fortune of having parents that plan on supporting me through college. We don’t qualify for any need based aid but the extra 21k per year is still a lot of money. Here is the run down of my situation and thoughts:

As of now, if both colleges were the same price Carlton would be the no brainier choice for me. I love the heavy emphasis on academics and trimester system combined with the laid back, happy, and down to earth campus vibe. I like the town of Northfield and the general location of Carleton much more than Grinnell. I even prefer having breadth requirements opposed to an open curriculum. Lastly (without trying to seem superficial) Carleton’s academics and reputation seem to be one tier above Grinnell’s (though I’ve heard plenty of mixed opinions on this). However I still had a really positive time during my visit to Grinnell and know I would be happy there too. The only benefit of going to Grinnell (other than the scholarship) I can think of is its massive endowment. In terms of the other aspects of Grinnell, many seem very comparable to that of Carleton, but like I said my personal preference sways toward Carleton.

All this being said is Carleton worth the extra 21k? I know I didn’t provide a whole lot of insight into my situation so feel free to as me clarifying questions. Any opinions or insight is greatly appreciated.

PS. I know there are a ton of Carleton vs Grinnell threads out there, I just wanted a more recent one that applies more specifically to my situation.

2

I’m in Illinois, and my son applied to schools this year, with a focus on LACs, so I’m somewhat familiar with these two schools. I think you’ve laid out a lot of the important considerations, which shows you’re thinking about this in the right way. I get the sense you’re kinda hoping people are going to tell you it’s OK to go with Carleton – in which case you might not like what I’m going to say, in that I think, all things considered given what you say, you should go with Grinnell.

Some of my thoughts: I’d say that Carleton is maybe half a tier above Grinnell – I’ve always heard them as the top two LACs in the midwest, with Carleton just a bit higher. Regarding the requirements, even without specific requirements, you can essentially create your own breadth requirements for the courses you take, perhaps finding advisers that can help you with that. I agree that the town/location of Carleton is nicer, but then I’ve also heard that, because of that huge per-capita endowment, Grinnell brings in so many things (events, speakers, performers, etc.) for students to see and do, with most/all of them being free, that they’re kept happy, busy, and entertained. I know several Grinnell graduates, young and old, and they all rave about the place. (I know a few Carleton grads as well, and they’re very positive about their school as well – but not quite to the same level.) And you say you see yourself happy at Grinnell.

That $21K per year ($84K total) is just too much to pass up. One way to think about it is what it would mean to have that money available for other use; for example, it’s 2 or 3 very nice cars; it’s a pretty good portion of the cost of a house; and it’s a damn fine start (or addition) to a retirement savings account.

Anyway, only you and your family can say how much difference that amount of money will make to your situation, but those are my thoughts.

3

I always hate to tell people how to spend their money, but if your parents have budgeted the money, then I would go with Carleton. It seems like you generally prefer Carleton and when making economic decisions it’s okay to spend more if you perceive a benefit. Less expensive is not always the best choice. Both are strong schools with lots to offer. But Carleton is really a very special community and a unique education. With Grinnell, you really have to be comfortable being in the middle of no where. It is much more of a no where location than the east coast LACs that get discussed here for remoteness.
I think Carleton is worth the extra $, because you prefer it for legitimate reasons and from what you say, you can afford it.

4

OP now you have two different opinions and both of them make sense. I want to echo this: "only you and your family can say how much difference that amount of money will make to your situation, " Please have another very open and honest conversation with your parents.

And don’t forget to come back and let us know what you decide! Congrats on two wonderful options.

5

I’ll probably be crucified by my fellow Carleton alums, but I’m afraid that I can’t really recommend one school over the other. In addition to the monetary concerns, I also have to comment on this:

Carleton does not currently offer minors [li]. There is, however, a proposal to have minors next year. It would be up to the individual departments to decide whether they want to add a minor in addition to their current major. If a department chose to offer a minor, they would have to send a proposal to the Education and Curriculum Committee for review. If the proposal passed the review, it would be voted on by the full faculty for approval. I have no idea whether the Math Department would be one of the departments interested in offering a minor (perhaps email someone there?), and even if they did, it might take a number years before it got implemented.[/li]
Double majoring in Econ and Math is a possibility. You have to petition the Academic Standing Committee. In fact, I know that particular combination has been done in the past, but umm … Well, let’s just say that I could never have done it. I barely graduated with just one major! The senior comprehensive exercises (for the major) take up a lot of time. If you double majored, you’d be doing two of them, probably one during junior year, and the other during senior year. That means you’ll likely have to get all the Distribution and other graduation requirements out of the way by sophomore year. Then you’ll have to juggle around the required courses for both majors; you’ll not have a lot of time, if any, to explore any other academic interests.

Briefly, on the other points:

Yes, Grinnell is much more isolated and even more rural than Northfield. Yes, Grinnell is much better endowed. The two schools have similar climates, both meteorological and political (both made Princeton Review’s list of Most Liberal Students for 2017: Carleton #16, Grinnell #8). Both have crunchy/granola/hippie reputations (both have made Princeton Review’s Tree-hugging Vegetarians List: Carleton #17 this year, Grinnell not on this year’s list, but in the past). Both have equal random-person-on-the-street name recognition (namely, almost none). Academically, I would put Carleton slightly above Grinnell (of course I’m slightly biased). In fact, I would probably agree with csdad2: maybe half a tier.

[*] Actually, there are what are called “concentrations”, which are sort of cross-disciplinary areas of study like biochemistry, neuroscience, political economy, etc. With the current proposal, all the current concentrations would automatically become minors. However, majors would not automatically have corresponding minors added. This is because the individual departments would have to sit down and figure out what the requirements for a minor in their department would be. They’d also have to decide on things such as: whether it’d be desirable to offer a minor; what the demand for a minor would be; whether they have the resources to offer a minor, etc.

6

Grinnell actually is relatively close to Des Moines and Iowa City, two hoppin’ cities, and Cedar Rapids is a short drive north of Iowa City. Des Moines has a population of 200,000+, IC is now around 80,000 (and growing…), and CR is around 130,000.

I think if you like Grinnell, even a little less than Carleton, you should take the money and run. Who knows what you or your parents can do with that extra ~$80k – grad school, down payment on your first house, help with their retirement, etc. – but it certainly would come in handy somehow.

However, if you have a strong preference for Carleton and do not like Grinnell – if Carleton has a huge fit advantage – then, OK, go to Carleton.

Academically they’re both outstanding. Carleton does have a bit of a rep edge, but what that is actually worth nobody knows. But they are generally considered the top two Midwestern LACs, or two of the top three along with Oberlin, so they both possess a high level of quality. They both have plenty of money to spend – especially Grinnell, with its huge endowment.

Please note that Grinnell’s curriculum is open, while Carleton’s is more traditional/structured. In terms of academic vibe, there is plenty of intellectualism at both, but Carleton is really becoming known for its rigor. And socially, Grinnell is known to be crunchier than the more rounded Carleton student body, though you’ll find your people at either.

7

For some discussions of how much Grinnell is somewhere vs. nowhere, see this recent thread in the Grinnell forum.

http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/grinnell-college/1985584-grinnell-what-is-admitted-student-day-like.html#latest You can also factor airfare differentials, if any, into your calculations. (Typically Grinnell is a bit harder to get to, but it depends on where you start.)

I’m a huge fan of Grinnell, but don’t think there’s a right or wrong choice here for your particular circumstances. Just keep reading/listening, make some pro/con lists, and see what seems right.

8

Another huge Grinnell fan who agrees you have no bad choices but with the extra money you’ld have at Grinnell you could spend your junior yr at the London School of Economics. Also easily double major and this yr 20 kids from Grinnell met with Warren Buffett.

9

Thanks so much for all of the feedback so far! I’ll definitely consider it going forward with my decisions. If anyone else has any suggestions or opinions to add it would be greatly appreciated. I’ll be sure to post my decision in a few days when everything is figured out.

10

I agree that Carleton and Grinnell are much more similar than different. If you think of certain colleges as being siblings, Grinnell and Carleton are twins. I don’t think you can go wrong. So, what are some tangible differences? You bring up:

  • semesters vs. trimesters (pros and cons with each...trimesters can make study abroad a bit trickier)
  • endowment (Grinnell wins here and I think it does have a practical impact - think merit aid, travel opportunities, research opportunities, facilities, who is brought to campus)
  • location (Carleton wins here in my opinion, but again the locations are more similar than different)
  • reputation (I think they are very similar here. True that U.S. News tends to place Carleton a bit higher, but I'd say they share the same overall reputation among grad schools and employers. Both have strong, loyal alumni networks. Grinnell was a bit more selective last year.)

Another tangible difference is size. Carleton is a bit larger, but having much larger St. Olaf in town makes for a bigger difference. I could quickly come up with a list of 20 strong similarities, but differences are harder.

I also chose between the two and went to Grinnell. It was a great fit for me and an incredible experience. But I think Carleton would have been as well. My S17 looked at both schools recently and also chose Grinnell. I really liked Carelton when we visited with him, but he liked the vibe better at Grinnell.

If you’ve spent a lot of time at both and have a strong preference, I’d advise going with your gut instinct. Instincts become self fulfilling prophecies. If you are sure a school will be a good fit, after arriving you will always be on the lookout for why you were right. If you have doubts, after arriving you will always be on the lookout for things that confirm your doubts. You will see what you look for. But, for 84K, you want to be really, really sure about your preference.

11

It’s all about the $. Have a VERY open talk with your parents about how $84k impacts them.

12

You have an amazing choice to make, @2021applicant27. My S16 visited both schools and ended up at Grinnell. He is not a huge fan of the nice little town of Grinnell, not a cute at Northfield, but it is clean, safe and has some pretty decent Mexican food!

S is on a budget and finds it easy to avoid spending $ off campus, because the dining hall food is pretty good, and there are SO many activities going on every weekend. He is a pretty avg Midwestern kid, somewhat quiet, slightly nerdy (Robotics team in HS and still loves playing SuperSmashBros when he finds a Wii), and loves books and music. He is in the Musicians Club and has a slot on the radio station. But mostly he’s an outside-the-box thinker and a very thoughtful guy. He really likes the wide variety of students, at Grinnell, and has a roommate who is on 2 sports teams. They voted differently, but still got along fine, after the election. S has become friends with some policitally active students, and is getting more involved in that as well. As we spoke on Monday night, after 8 months and a rocky start (mostly due to his coming to the realization that close HS friends are all on their own path, and he needed to put himself out there), he has made some wonderful friends and really feels that Grinnell is his home.

One great experience S16 had this year was an alumni hosted extern-ship in San Francisco. He applied for 3 different externships, which took place mostly during part of the 2-wk spring break, and he got his #1 pick - Amazon Music. They had over 100 alums offer to host a student. He spent 5 days in SFO, with two alums who live together, and he shadowed one at Amazon for a few days, and then the other at a start up company. Both are Software Developers and my S is planning on majoring in Computer Sci and at least minoring in a humanity - probably History. S really likes the open curriculum at Grinnell, which suits his intellectual curiosity.

Some facts about the student body that my S considered an asset: Grinnell is more racially. socioecnomically and geographically diverse. The Grinnell Class of 2020 had 24% International students, (vs 9% at Carleton, which is low, it’s usually closer to 12%), approx 35% students of color (vs. 30% at Carleton). Both schools are close on the # of “first generation in their families” to go to college students - 15% at Grinnell and 13% at Carleton.

My S17 will be attending St Olaf, and he has three amazing friends who will be at Carleton. He likes the (mostly) friendly competition between the two schools, and I certainly can understand the draw to go to Carleton. However S16 visited overnight at attended classes at both schools, in fall of his Sr year, not during any special event, and thought that the students at Grinnell were a little less stressed, than those he met at Carleton. Overall, it felt it was a better fit for him.

You have to decide where you feel most at home, which has the best programs for your academic interests and what the $84,000 difference means to you. You must be a very accomplished person to be accepted at two such wonderful institutions. Congratulations!

13

You’re getting great feedback here @2021applicant27. Not trying to push you in either direction, but would add to what @11bawb said: Talk not only about how far 84k can go, but also about how hard it is to save and set that much aside. Unless you luck into a VERY lucrative profession, that’s not small change. I can also say that my kid did NOT choose his most affordable option, he chose his best/best fit (still affordable) option. But in his case there was a clear winner. These two are so close (and the cheaper one has the edge in some respects) it’s harder to justify the differential. But @Andrew2199’s advice is solid too. You want to be sure you won’t always be thinking about the one that got away. You shouldn’t have to with this choice, but be clear and positive about your decision.

14

First of all I’d like to thank everyone who commented and gave advice. After a long and positive talk with my parents I decided to go to Carleton. My parents really wanted the money to be a non-factor and wanted me to go to the school where I thought I could be the happiest and most successful. I can’t wait to be a Carl!

15

Congrats and all the best to you!

16

So happy for you that your family has come to a decision you can all live with!

17

Congratulations! Either choice would have been great, but I’m sure you’ll rock Carleton!