<p>So there are sort of, 'the big 3' of liberal arts colleges in Minnesota. If anyone had any information of pro's and con's of Macalaster College, St. Olaf, and Carleton College that would be AWESOME!</p>
<p>Mac is in St Paul (city), the other two are in Northfield (small town) = pro or con is user defined.</p>
<p>All great schools - Carleton has the strongest rep, St Olaf probably the least name recognition outside the midwest.</p>
<p>St Olaf is Lutheran and the most conservative of the three (dry campus), but I don’t think it’s uncomfortable for “average” liberals. Carleton and Mac might be uncomfortable for ultra conservatives but all three will have a mix of kids.</p>
<p>LACs tend to be good across the disciplines, but St Olaf really strong in music and religious studies, also Math and CS. Carleton exceptional for physical sciences - particularly great for women in those fields. Mac most diverse and strong international scene.</p>
<p>Carleton has trimester system - again pro or con depending on your perspecitve.</p>
<p>^ Good summaries.</p>
<p>Yeah, as someone who is enrolled at Macalester and considered both St. Olaf and Carleton as well, I can say Bingle pretty much hit it spot on.</p>
<p>Thanks! This makes sense. I’ve visited a little bit, but was wondering, I assume, Theasterisk, since you are enrolled at Mac, you like it there. What do you like best about it…?</p>
<p>The urban location and the international focus are probably what I like the most about Mac. The Twin Cities are great – Macalester takes advantage of that – and I feel that the dedication to multiculturalism alongside the liberal arts gives a great, well rounded education.</p>
<p>see if you can find any of these three schools here:</p>
<p>[REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://web.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]REED”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College)</p>
<p>the fact that Carleton is included here is very very impressive</p>
<p>Of those listed, Carleton is the most difficult to get into. DD1 was waitlisted with a 3.95UW GPA and a 34 ACT.</p>
<p>As mentioned above, Carleton is on a quarter system. Mac is straight semesters, I believe. St. Olaf is has a 4-1-4 calendar. In other words, in January students take one course in an intensive, 3 or 3 1/2 week term. Typically a J-term course meets for at least two hours every single day. There are also a fair number of travel courses in the J-term; the cost of the travel is not part of the tuition, but they do give students the chance to travel and study abroad for a short period of time for a course taught by a regular St. Olaf faculty member.</p>
<p>The sticker prices for Carelton and Mac are a bit higher than that of St. Olaf. All three are pretty good with need-based FA and I believe that all three also distribute a pretty hefty amount of merit aid as well.</p>
<p>St. Olaf is bigger than either Carelton or Mac with about 3200 students.</p>
<p>Carleton has virtually no merit aid, but is very good with need-based, including guaranteeing to meet full need for accepted student for all 4 years.</p>
<p>Also, Carleton is a trimester, not a quarter. The distinction, as best I can tell, is that in a trimester each class covers the same material as a semester class, but does it in 10 weeks. Students generally take 3 classes each term, so in a year they take 9 courses that are the equivalent of semester courses. In a quarter system, a class seems to cover about 2/3 of a semester. So in the course of a year, students on a quarter system that take 3 quarters of a language are at the same point as a student who took two trimesters or two semesters.</p>