<p>Can any parents give me info? I'm a transfer student applying ot both places. I'd like to know more about the surroundingd, student body, etc. Thanks.</p>
<p>The biggest difference has to be the location. Macalester is in a nicely maintained urban neighborhood and has a surrounding perimeter of funky shops and college oriented businesses and restaurants. Grinnell is in a small Iowa town. The school is in the middle of town, but it is not a college-y town. Grinnell imports all it's entertainment, etc, and the school life is enhanced by a tremendous endowment. My son, who is a freshman, has new things to do every weekend. At Macalester, by contrast, the town provides so much, that there is less need for the school to do so, though the campus life is plenty active. At Macalester a higher % of kids live off campus, because there are more places to live. Grinnell is nearly completely residential.</p>
<p>I visited both twice. Of the two my first son applied only to Grinnell, the second to Mac, where he was accepted. Son #2 did not want a a small town. The first son could have been as happy in St. Paul, but he was put off by the kids at Macalester...I think he felt they had a bit of a "sharper edge"...which might have been what made it appealing to #2. Grinnell is an extraordinarily friendly campus. </p>
<p>I think a lot of kids apply to both because they have high % international kids, stimulating academics, great professor-student relationships, etc...but I know that for my sons, at least, they are easily differentiated schools...</p>
<p>thanks a lot!</p>
<p>I'm curious about how folks would fit Carleton into this mix. Our daughter visited all three -- Carleton, Macalaster, and Grinnell -- but in the end only applied to Grinnell and Carleton. She was accepted at both but offered substantial merit aid ($12,000 a year Trustee Scholarship) at Grinnell. We're grappling with whether Carleton is worth the extra money.</p>
<p>Parent, Both are great schools. Unless she has some compelling reason for wanting to go to Carleton instead of Grinnell, however, I personally don't think there's a difference in educational quality.</p>
<p>Carolyn, I tend to agree although I think it's fair to say that Carleton is generally considered the "better" of the two schools and is certainly a harder admit. I'd also guess that most students accepted to both end up choosing Carleton.</p>
<p>I think the biggest difference between the Grinnell and CArleton is the diversity of students. 11% of the kids at Grinnell are international, at Carleton it is 3%. By contrast, Macalester, well known for its IR program, is also a haven for international kids. Carleton, by the way, is striving to increase its international %, it is just not there yet. If international diversity is appealing, Mac or Grinnall are great options. </p>
<p>Grinnell, as well, has no core curriculum- which was not a selling point for my son originally, but now that he is there he is enjoying his options (with excellent guidance!). </p>
<p>If Grinnell had the location of Macalester or maybe even Carleton I think it would be much, much harder to get into. Last year Grinnell had a very high yield, so I don;t know how that impacted their % admit this year. </p>
<p>This is a can't go wrong choice, for all 3 of these schools, ...if the money is important, therefore, it has to be a determinant.</p>
<p>All three of these schools have very intellectual environments. As noted on another current CC thread, the students at Carleton are a bit more "mainstream" than those at Grinnell and Carleton, meaning more kids interested in more traditional careers and more kids rated lower on the "question authority" scale (if there was such a scale.) Grinnell and Macalester are more diverse, and do have a higher percentage of international students, though internationalism is a bit more deeply rooted into the Macalester culture. This may sound like I favor Macalester and Grinnell over Carleton. I don't. Three excellent schools. . . our Midwestern AWS.</p>
<p>By the way, and completely off-topic, why is it always AWS, and not SAW or WAS or . . .</p>