<p>I consider myself exceedingly privileged to have been accepted to both of these schools. I was initially set on applying to only mid-west Liberal Arts Schools, when at the last moment I decided to apply to Amherst under a sort of 'who-knows?' mentality. Carleton, therefore, was always my top choice, but since getting accepted to Amherst, the thought of me studying on the east coast has now opened up as an opportunity. I have always been a firm believer that it is the student, not the school, that makes the experience what it is. I am a hard worker, but do enjoy learning for the passion of the subject, rather than the thrill of competition. I would prefer a more laid back school than an overly competitive one, and I fear that an east-coast school such as Amherst might be out of my league. I've has a chance to visit Carleton, loved it, and am going to the Amherst Admitted Student Open House in the middle of April. My brother, a student at Grinnell, is pushing the Carleton ticket. However, I don't know how much of this is truth, and how much of this is Midwest-bias.</p>
<p>***ONE MORE BIGGIE FOR ME
Carleton, has a pretty harsh core-curriculum (4 years of PE. Yikes!) whereas Amherst has NO core curriculum. This is a big plus on the side of Amherst. Should this play largely into my decision? Or do College counselors push the well-rounded course-load where ever I go?</p>
<p>Thanks so much. All and any input is greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>First of all, it’s 4 TRIMESTERS, not 4 years, of either PE or participation in a club or varsity sport. And virtually EVERYONE at Carleton, no matter how physically unfit and clumsy, loves the PE offerings and usually opts for many more than are required. </p>
<p>All are offered pass/fail and range from scuba to aikido to yoga to sailing to skiing to folk dancing to backcountry hiking to rock climbing to ice hockey to frisbee, frisbee and frisbee … you get the picture. </p>
<p>And the academic core requirements at Carleton are no challenge. On a scale of cores out there, they are little more than an enforced dabbling.</p>
<p>As far as Amherst is concerned, it’s a great school with a very different vibe. Sports - varsity - command a much stronger presence on campus, math and the sciences are much less prominent, the student body tends to be more traditional, less individualistic, and more pre-professional. Don’t know which profile suits you best. Your brother may know you well enough to think you more a Carl than a Jeff.</p>
<p>Listen to 1190 on the core curriculum…and yes it is 4 trimesters or PE. I did Frisbee…honestly we went out and threw a Frisbee around for 45 minutes once a week. It was a nice break. I learned how to throw a Frisbee in many strange ways. I think I also did weight lifting and social dance. The other core requirements are minimal.</p>
<p>Do visit both schools and keep an open mind. As for Amherst being out of your league and Carleton not being that way…I don’t know…after you experience the work load in some of Carleton’s majors, you may not think any place would be out of your league. In other words, I just don’t think Carleton will be any easier. I think there’d be a different type of student at both schools. Certainly, Carls will be more individualistic.</p>
<p>Also, consider your long term goals and your desired major. Knowing those might also get you some better advice here too.</p>
<p>It sounds like the core curriculum at Carleton is less of a harsh set of guidelines, than it is an opportunity to explore new things. That actually really eases my mind. I am an avid frisbee player - I suppose I’m just coming from the high school mentality that PE comprises of nothing more than mile-runs and Varsity-football dominated dodgeball.</p>
<p>I’m actually planning on majoring in Political Science. Possibly a double major in Poly Sci and Sociology. The Social Sciences and Humanities are definitely what I’m gearing towards: Maths and sciences have never really been my strong point. The one exception might be physics - although from what I hear Carleton’s stronger in their Bio program. </p>
<p>Grad/Law school is definitely an option for me. I’ve also been looking into possibly doing the Peace Corps in between my undergrad and any further schooling. </p>
<p>As for the question of Amherst being out of my league and Carleton not - apologies for the miscommunication. It’s not so much the rigor of academics I’m referring too: I understand that both schools offer a challenging work-load. What I’m worried about is the student population’s philosophy on academics. A school that likes to boast their intellect for the sake of flaunting an ego is not the school for me. Is the ‘east-coast mentality’ just a stereotype? Or is there any truth in that? I suppose my visit will help me answer that for myself. </p>
<p>Yeah, the distribution requirements have not been a problem for me whatsoever. It’s not like high school, where you have to take personal finance, have to take a health class, and so on–it’s much more flexible. Chances are that unless you’re extremely focused in one subject area (and it doesn’t sound like you are) you’re going to wind up filling most of the distros with classes you would take anyway.</p>
<p>I was sort of in the same position as you at the beginning of my college search–I’m from the midwest but I was almost positive that I would end up at an east coast LAC. After visiting all of the schools, I could definitely tell the difference between midwest and east coast schools–nothing concrete enough to describe, but it was there. Not to say that people out east are bad or anything…I just felt like I fit better at a school like Carleton. I’m glad you’re going to have visited both places by the time you make your decision; try to talk to as many students at Amherst as possible. Whatever you choose will be a great choice.</p>
<p>Making a similar decision. I’m a humanities/social sciences person, and I keep hearing about Carleton’s strength in natural sciences. Are their other programs also strong? I’m particularly interested in international relations, maybe history or religion as well.</p>
<p>Poli Sci/IR is, I think, in top 3 most popular majors here (if not the first), and the polisci/IR & history departments are really good (polisci/IR even more so).</p>
<p>My D is an IR major at Carleton. One of the benefits of the trimester system is the ability to do more than one study abroad program - she’s done political economy in Europe and colonial French culture in Mali. The department is very strong and offers a good variety of courses.</p>
<p>PE at Carleton is awesome! It was not a burdensome requirement for me and I’m glad I had that institutional nudge to try out PE classes I would have otherwise ignored. My stupid expensive gym’s classes are not as good as the ones I took at Carleton.</p>
<p>The sciences and math are discussed because for a LAC they are unusually strong at Carleton. But even here, they constitute only about 1/3 of kids on campus. 2/3 are still doing the more typical humanities/social sciences/arts thing.</p>
<p>This is a list (in order of popularity) of declared majors for the class of 2010:
As you can see, the sciences are by no means dominant even on this campus.</p>