<p>If the OP had stated that she had lost interest in St. Olaf and had become convinced that Carleton was a better choice, I wonder whether there would be posters urging her to apply to both?</p>
<p>I read through this thread because my S has some interest in St. Olaf and absolutely no interest in Carleton even though his stats would make him very competitive for Carleton (top quartile).</p>
<p>^I think so. There are many side-by-side comparison threads. Usually the high-school kids say “go with the higher-ranked school” and the wise parents say “go with the best fit.” Those of us who have been out in the real world for a while (or have kids who are) recognize that arbitrary rankings of a magazine dependent on newsstand sales and page hits are not the best way to go about evaluating colleges.</p>
<p>I agree with 1190 about summer tours. Although if I were the OP I wouldn’t bother applying to Carleton at this point. I didn’t make my son apply to schools that didn’t “click” when he visited–even those he had been in love with on paper. What would be the point? The time between April acceptances and the May 1 admission deadline does not leave a lot of time to revisit a ton of schools–especially those that didn’t feel right the first time.</p>
<p>I had the exact same experience when I visited the two. My Carleton tour guide seemed very stuck on himself and did not even ask us our names, while my St.Olaf tour guide made everyone comfortable at once and was so kind. The St.Olaf campus is much more beautiful and the people there so much more welcoming and down to earth than the people at Carleton, students and admissions included.</p>
<p>St. Olaf sounds like a great fit for you. No need to apologize to anyone, including (especially) family. When talking to your family, no need to criticize Carleton aloud, just focus on how much you love St. Olaf, how you can see yourself there, etc. etc. </p>
<p>And if you can see yourself as a pastor someday, St. Olaf is a good place to explore it as Lutherans are very accepting of women pastors.</p>
<p>I had somewhat similar impressions from visiting the two campuses. Some of these highly ranked liberal arts schools (like Carleton, Macalester) just felt snooty to me. It can be hard to pin it to exactly one cause of this feeling, so I’m guessing that the OP’s negative reaction to the tour guides is probably reflective of a more overall impression.</p>
<p>In general: If you don’t want to go to a school, don’t apply. It sounds like you don’t want to go to Carleton. So don’t apply. There’s nothing wrong with not wanting to go to a certain school, no matter its rank.</p>
<p>My high school senior son went to a Carleton science program over the summer and thought the kids and profs were excellent. Not a true picture of what life will be like once school is in, but there were plenty of students working at the program that were friendly and welcoming. His only reason for not applying to the school is the town is too small. If it was located somewhere with more to do, it would be his first choice.</p>
<p>This is an extremely important decision that will affect the next 4 years of your life. Go with your OWN instincts or you may pay the price down the road with a less than satisfactory college experience. I know the pressure of being expected to follow in the footsteps of family members, but my advice is to be honest with them about your feelings and apply where you think you will fit in best.</p>
<p>Undecided - As the parent of a Carl, I’d encourage you to go with your gut if you had a negative feeling there. In retrospect, I wish my child had heeded some of the less than favorable posts regarding Carleton. My child’s impression is that the feel of the school has changed in that it has become more academic and perhaps lost some of its warm and friendly nature that drew students there at one time. And the idea that students there aren’t competitive about grades is a misperception. Perhaps because it has become known as such an academically rigorous school with students wanting to get into grad school, my Carl has definitely experienced students in grade competition and not in a friendly way.</p>
<p>Undecided, I hoped you applied to Carleton. I think not applying because of a frustrating tour is not a good decision. If you get accepted, they have opportunities to sit in on classes or even spend the night, and talk to students. This is a better way to decide. You should based your choice of colleges on a number of things like your interests, alumni you’ve met and what you want out of college. I agree making a decision based on rank alone is a bad idea.</p>
<p>A few more things. I’m an alum or Carleton, and can Carls be a little arrogant? YES! This is nothing new. I remember going to my 5 year reunion and meeting some Carleton alumni from the 80’s. They took their pride in Carleton to an amusingly high level, that would probably not have flown when I was at Carleton. If this is a turn-off, so be it. It is real, but there is no real harm behind it in my opinion. It is not new though.</p>
<p>I’m with BeeTil on the competition for grades comment. It is competitive in certain courses. Let me leave no doubt. I don’t know where the idea that Carls are not competitive for grades comes from. It’s not true. It wasn’t true when I was there a decade ago, but this won’t be any different from many other similar liberal arts schools.</p>
<p>jack, kids have to draw the line somewhere. Applications cost time and money. If the OP doesn’t want to apply to Carleton, why push it? It’s not for everybody, any more than any other school is. And all kids are different. My first child didn’t apply to my alma mater (also his dad’s) and my younger one won’t be applying there either. There are hundreds of great colleges out there, and students have to narrow the list down somehow. As I said before, a degree from St. Olaf can get a student anywhere a degree from Carleton can.</p>