<p>Which is a better school to go to for "after college" (getting into grad school/getting a job)</p>
<p>Carleton for grad school, Colgate for a job.</p>
<p>really.....how mcuh better is colgate for job?</p>
<p>You may want to check out the career center websites for each college. I believe Colgate has more corporate recruiters visit campus than Carleton. </p>
<p>That's not to say that Carleton graduates have a difficult time finding employment, but they are arguably more grad school oriented. Carleton has an excellent reputation with graduate schools.</p>
<p>When I visited Colgate the woman leading discussion specifically mentioned the high rate of graduates who receive jobs. I think they have lots of recruitment and a really strong job placement office. The campus is also gorgeous, and freshman can have cars.</p>
<p>so where would u go</p>
<p>if you plan on living/working in the east, colgate definitely. if you plan on living/working in the midwest, definitely carleton.</p>
<p>well i dont know where i want to live</p>
<p>stop asking bad questions</p>
<p>To be honest (and most people won't like this), one would have to base this choice partly on the party/fun scene. The schools are quite similar academically and the only other factor that is extremely different between the two is location. If you don't plan on partying at all in college, you might not have the greatest time at Colgate. If you do want to party, then you might be somewhat disappointed with Carleton.
Not to judge, but based on what I've seen in your other threads and the other schools you are interested in, I might guess that Colgate is more to your speed (I seem to recall you liking Middlebury, Vanderbilt, etc.)</p>
<p>that makes sense</p>
<p>As someone who had a child attend Colgate and another Carleton, I would disagree with the assessment that they are "quite similar academically." Carleton seemed to have a stronger intellectual bent than Colgate and, as described above, much less of a party scene.</p>
<p>Strong academics do not necessarily equate to a strong intellectual feel, however.</p>
<p>its such a freaking toughie</p>
<p>Ditto. Just because the students are smart doesn't mean the school's academics are strong.</p>
<p>Id agree with most of the above. Without trying to stereotype, while there is clear overlap between the two schools, the career focus at Carleton tends to be more academic/ grad school oriented while the orientation at Colgate more pre-professional. Carleton sends a much larger percentage of graduates on to post-baccalaureate degrees, especially PhDs, generally ranking along with Swarthmore and Reed highest in the country of any non-tech school (MIT/Mudd/Caltech send even more). In terms of the student bodys goals, the best comparison on a familiar university level would probably be U Chicago vs. Northwestern. Both great schools, both sending a lot of kids directly in to the workplace as well as on to JDs/MDs/MBAs/PhDs, but with different breakdowns percentage-wise. Carleton probably holds some advantage with grad schools given its long tradition of rigorous, quality academics. Colgate offers alumni connections, especially in business on the East coast, that are very strong.</p>
<p>Having said all that, the biggest difference between schools is campus atmosphere. Colgates is much more familiar including frats/sororities and a more traditional party/social scene. Carleton is known for having a brainy and zany student body. More alternative, kids love their time there. Even voted most fun school 3 years ago by Newsweek. </p>
<p>Think carefully about where you think youll better fit in. Both schools turn out grads extremely happy with their experiences.</p>
<p>Going back to the initial question, Colgate has an incredible career and job placement initiative, as well as a strongly supportive alumni network. The career placement services start early, setting up internships, giving advice and intensive help in resumes, interviews etc. In my daughter's sophmore year all of her friends got internships in national and internationally well known companies. Seniors get excellent job placement. </p>
<p>That is not to say that grad school is demeaned, but probably more Colgate students are pragmatically oriented and will take advantage of the contacts and help to secure a job/career first and return to graduate studies later. </p>
<p>Having also some familiarity with Carelton, I believe that the thinly veiled statements about the "party scene" at Colgate vs the "studious intellectual bent" of Carelton students, is mostly gross rationalization and semi deliberate niche creation on the part of students and parents of students who attend an admittedly excellent school, but one whose academic reputation and post grad network has only recently developed compared to Colgate's. That's not to say that such attempts don't lead eventually to self selection and become true. But Colgate was already quite well known and established way back before anyone outside of Minnesota and the upper Northwest had ever heard of Carelton. </p>
<p>To the extent it is true, the athletic/sports "mens sana in corporo sano" orientation and social/frat melieu of Colgate is a part of the process that makes it a great school to attend and creates the amazing alumni loyalty and professional network that Colgate graduates enjoy after graduation.</p>
<p>mhc48:</p>
<p>For someone claiming "some familiarity with Carelton" I must admit surprise at your having mispelled the schools name not once, but all three times you use it in your post. C-a-r-l-e-t-o-n.</p>
<p>To set the record straight. Carleton was ranked 5th this year among LACs by US News and has held a top 10 position for every year this past decade. Colgate was ranked 17th and has never held a top 10 position. Carleton's peer review score (at 4.4 this year) is only bested by Williams/Swarthmore/Amherst/Wellesley. People in the know at doctoral and professional programs nationally hold the school in extraordinarily high regard.</p>
<p>Carleton is many things, but certainly not an upstart. If anything, underappreciated and underreputed by virtue of its Midwestern location, it has been, for decades, known for extraordinary academics. </p>
<p>I again refer the poster back to my original post. These are two very different schools. Colgate, more traditional in its campus atmosphere, Carleton more alternative. Both offer excellent academic opportunities but in different milieus.</p>
<p>1190, the school you've loyally written about or mentioned in at least 80 of your 85 posts is without doubt a wonderful, exciting, prestigious place where one of my nephews goes and indeed as you once put it where, "students worship the god of quirky fun. From broomball to Tofu Princesses to Friday flowers". </p>
<p>You won't find those sorts of activities at Colgate.</p>
<p>The the school is also very highly ranked......Today.</p>
<p>But any way you spell it, both its quirky and its academic ranking, are of relatively recent vintage (as colleges and universities go). And its reputation amongst the public at large is circumscribed both by its location and recent entry into the heights of public perception and regard.</p>
<p>Heck most people whose kids haven't applied to college within the past 7 years probably haven't even heard the term LAC or know the names of any of them.</p>
<p>That doesn't denigrate your school's excellence or suitablity for many students. Or its students' chances of getting into grad school. But your pride in the school and its current rankings over the past 10 years shouldn't blind you to its more limited ability (vs Colgate) to place grads in jobs in West and East Coast cities. And that was is one half of what the OP asked about. </p>
<p>Gotta go, Happy New Years.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>I plead guilty to the charge of loyalty. But I am not blinded by that loyalty. My first post was entitled Different Schools and ended with the warning to Think carefully about where you think youll better fit in. Both schools turn out grads extremely happy with their experiences.
You apparently dont take kindly to the idea of finding flowers in your mailbox come Friday, a Carleton tradition (allergic?), but the poster just might. </p></li>
<li><p>You suggested Going back to the initial question but you seem intent to address only the latter half of it - "Which is a better school to go to for "after college" (getting into grad school/getting a job)."
I already suggested that Carleton probably holds some advantage with grad schools and offered that "Colgate offers alumni connections, especially in business on the East coast, that are very strong."
In fact, I plead guilty here as well, this time to offering an incomplete response. To be complete, Id have to offer that Carleton ranks 6th among all colleges and universities in the nation in PhD production. Colgate is not in the top 50. Id also remind you that the poster asked about getting a job. I know that you are from Long Island but not everyone is. While Colgate offers strong connections in the important NY market the world doesnt end at the Hudsons western border (despite what the New Yorker drawing may suggest).</p></li>
<li><p>You suggest Carletons very high ranking and reputation are of recent vintage. The school is 141 years old and has held that reputation of academic excellence for all those years. Stanford is 25 years younger. I guess theyll both need some time to prove themselves on the East coast.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Wow, bedtime, even for New Years eve. Footbally, you may want to PM Carlmom to hear more about the schools from someone so personally connected to both. Id argue, again, that Both schools turn out grads extremely happy with their experiences but neither is for everyone. More than any thing else, make sure your choice is a place that feels right to you.</p>
<p>Happy New Year.</p>