<p>for humanities based subjects such as philosophy and English? I hear that Grinnell is more geared towards this category while Carleton is a math/science school but that Carleton is a bit more prestigious so it may have a better department. What is your opinion folks? :P</p>
<p>When I toured Carleton, I did get the idea that they were more science based. I haven’t toured Grinnell, but I did tour Macalester. It’s not as prestigious as Grinnell or Carleton, but it’s ranked 26 this year in USNWR and it has great humanities/social science programs.</p>
<p>Have you toured these schools? I really expected myself to like Carleton, but it left my very disappointed. Additionally, I haven’t considered Grinnell because it’s in Iowa.</p>
<p>At a top liberal arts college like Carlton I don’t think I would worry that there isn’t enough humanities focus. Those schools have to be pretty strong in all basics to compete with each other. I would go for general academic quality which will attract top notch students (i.e. Carlton) unless you really didn’t like the feel of the place.</p>
<p>I think you’re making a mistake trying to pigeonhole these schools like this. You will get a top quality education in both the humanities and the sciences at either one. I don’t think either one is “more geared” towards one than the other. In terms of science at Grinnell, they have an amazing new science center and outstanding research opportunities for students, so there is no lack of emphasis there.</p>
<p>Grinnell and Carelton are both excellent in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Of the liberal arts colleges, Carleton, Grinnell, Haverford, and Wesleyan have especially strong programs in the natural sciences, but that does not mean that their social sciences or humanities are weak.</p>
<p>I think you should try to visit both and see about fit.</p>
<p>Just to join the chorus, Carleton and Grinnell both have great English departments, in addition to great math and science. Visit them both, and see which you prefer. They both attract similar applicants. My son is entering Carleton as a prospective English major and chose it over schools extremely strong in humanities, such as Middlebury and Brown. </p>
<p>One difference is that Carleton has distribution requirements, and Grinnell does not, which might make it easier to double major at Grinnell (not to say this is impossible at Carleton).</p>
<p>Ditto to pointoforder’s comments.</p>
<p>Carleton has some of the strongest science programs - especially physical science programs - in the country. But despite this, all science/math majors still are outnumbered almost 2:1 by humanities/social science kids. Outside of biology, the one science in the group, the remaining top five declared majors typically are:</p>
<p>English
History
Political Science/IR
Psychology</p>
<p>Your academic interests are very popular, very mainstream. I’d focus your attention on finding what feels the best fit in all other regards. Visit!</p>
<p>If you do a search on this forum for Grinnell vs. Carleton, you will come up with previous threads that compare the two schools exhaustively. Both a great schools, slightly different vibe. </p>
<p>One other obvious difference is that Carleton is on the quarter system and Grinnell is on the semester system. There are pros and cons to each which have been enumerated extensively elsewhere. Another search of the forum and you’ll get all that info too.</p>