<p>I'm interested in Carleton but afraid it'll be too isolated and there won't be enough to do there. How far is it from the twin cities? Is it easy to get there? Do students leave campus much?</p>
<p>Have you read the student blogs on the admissions website? There’s certainly plenty to do on campus. My daughter usually has a variety of choices. When I visited a few weeks ago, there was an outdoor Shakespeare performance, three a cappella concerts, an original musical performance, live music, and probably a few other things I don’t remember.</p>
<p>As for distance to the cities, depending on where you are going, about 45 minutes. For information about transportation, read [Carleton</a> College: shout: Coming Next Fall: The Northfield Metro Express](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/shout/?story_id=538441]Carleton”>http://apps.carleton.edu/campus/shout/?story_id=538441)</p>
<p>Honestly, I’ve never heard of another college campus coming close to having as many different kinds of activities going on as Carleton has. If there is a drawback to Carleton, I think it would be the difficulty transitioning to a place where the academics are tough and the distractions are endless. </p>
<p>As a parent, I was also amazed by how little spending money was used this year - way, WAY less than in highschool, due to the fact that there’s so much free stuff to do on campus. </p>
<p>Of course, the Twin Cities and all that they offer are only 45 minutes away, but I get the feeling that isn’t something that students even want to do very regularly because they’d be missing out on the on-campus fun.</p>
<p>When my soon-to-be-a-junior Carl was looking at schools, his two primary criteria were that it be in a big city and be large (over 5000, he figured). Ahem. As you’ll have noticed, Carleton doesn’t meet either of those criteria, but my son is very, very happy with his choice.</p>
<p>He’s been surprised at his lack of interest in going into the Cities–there’s so much to do on campus. However, when there’s something he wants to do, like a concert last term, he can do it. </p>
<p>I think you have the best of both worlds: plenty to do on campus but a thriving cultural metropolis nearby. Carleton, it’s my understanding, runs a shuttle into the Cities on the weekends, but it doesn’t run very late at night.</p>
<p>The Twin Cities are a moderate pain to get to if you don’t have a car of your own or a friend willing to lend you one. I went, like, a couple times a year, virtually always for concerts or Mall of America runs. There’s tons to do on campus, though, so I never was itching to get up to the cities on a Saturday night with nothing else to do, or anything like that. Carleton is not a campus where people clear out on the weekends.</p>
<p>There’s this thing they sent me that says they’re adding in some kind of bus that goes from Northfield to Minneapolis multiple times a day? It seems like a new thing from how they advertised it, and you need to buy a pass…I think. </p>
<p>I know I’m being vague, but I don’t have the paper with me right now. I can check in a few days when I get back to where the paper is. Or some other class of '13er can chime in, because we all got the paper mailed to us. :)</p>
<p>Breakfast - presume this is what you heard about:</p>
<p>NORTHFIELD LINES, INC. ANNOUNCES EXPRESS DAILY SERVICE TO AND FROM THE TWIN CITIES.</p>
<p>NORTHFIELD, MN Northfield Lines announces express daily service to and from the Twin Cities metro area. The service named The Northfield-Metro EXPRESS will begin multiple daily round trip bus service seven days per week beginning September 2009. Stop locations will be at Carleton College, St. Olaf College, Northfield (TBA), The Big Steer, Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport as well as the cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis Route times, exact stop locations and ticket prices are currently being refined. </p>
<p>The motorcoaches will feature bike racks, seatback tray tables, restrooms and wireless internet service. </p>
<p>[EXPRESS</a> DAILY SERVICE TO AND FROM THE TWIN CITIES on Northfield Lines](<a href=“http://www.northfieldlines.com/news.php?viewStory=56]EXPRESS”>http://www.northfieldlines.com/news.php?viewStory=56)</p>
<p>The detailed schedule is supposed to be released the beginning of August. Will make cheap MSP access easier for those souls who, as dietcokewithlime references, don’t rate their own wheels and can’t pry loose a friend’s ignition key.</p>
<p>Minneapolis and St. Paul are really great to have accessible for escapes and special events. But agree with posters above that campus happenings are so active on weekends few venture off with regularity.</p>
<p>Oh my God, if that’s actually happening, that’s amazing. It sounds like that will make the Twin Cities significantly more accessible to Carleton students, and getting Northfield-MSP commuters to sign on gives it a fighting chance of lasting (since it would certainly be hemorrhaging money if it were mostly Carleton and St. Olaf students, who aren’t going to be any freer time-wise than in any previous year).</p>
<p>My cousin’s daughter attended Carleton a couple years ago and despite open offers from us to come to the Cities and stay any time she wanted (we would run down and pick her up), I think she generally only made it up here a couple times a year at best. Way too much to do on campus.</p>
<p>Time-wise, it’s about a 45-minute drive, although that can vary because of hideous construction on I-35. The new Metrolink sounds promising (it’s $16 for a round trip, but you can save money by buying multiple trips), but keep in mind that it is a commuter bus, so good luck trying to take that home after a night in the Cities. Cabs to downtown Mpls run in the $75 range, I think; you can save money by taking a cab to the Mall of America and then taking the light rail into downtown. Definitely worth splitting the fare with three other people. Forget about buses like Greyhound – Jefferson Lines will take you to a truck stop right off 35W, but that’s six miles from Northfield. All in all, the most convenient and least expensive option is to borrow a friend’s car and cover gas expenses (about $15, but don’t forget parking).</p>
<p>I personally enjoyed going to the Cities whenever I got a chance. Once a term there’s a free bus ride to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and last spring Campus Activities sponsored a Knight Bus that took students to and from Uptown Minneapolis on a Saturday night. There are lots of things to do on campus, but sometimes I need to do city things and not recognize everyone in sight.</p>
<p>you certainly don’t wanna stuck on campus no matter how engaging it is. you need professional theater, accomplished artists, underground music, art house film, shopping, chinese restaurants, etc.</p>