Need Help! Carleton College vs Colorado College

Hi CC,

I am deciding between two colleges atm: Carleton College and Colorado College.

I’d be happy to go to either- which is my dilemma I can’t choose! I plan on majoring in some sort of soft science/social science. I really think that Colorado College’s block plan is great, but I feel like it would give me the chance to slack off by taking easy classes.

I really like the rigor of Carleton, but I’m worried that the students will be too competitive. I like the location of Carleton more than Colorado College(weird, I know), but I think that the block breaks offer great chances for amazing adventures/experiences.

Cost is pretty much the same for both. For a business graduate school, which college is generally better regarded? Also, do you know how big the spheres of influence are that the schools cast out?(Colorado College carries weight all the way to Houston, or maybe it only carries weight in Denver)

One more question, one thing I really look for in a college are the students, specifically, I want to be able to have an intellectual conversation with any of the students, and also joke around with them. Which college has students that are more abstract-ideas-oriented and humorous?

Thanks, CC

@CCorCCPLShelp My nephew who got an economics degree at Carlton, got top summer jobs in Boston, and eventually three jobs offers in Boston, all at top economics consulting firms. He plans to get an MBA and this is one path to do that, most MBA programs expect some years in banking, consulting or other business related career in between a LAC and MBA today. He also did the Carlton London economics summer program which is business oriented. Carlton offers slightly better teachers in the sciences.
Colorado Springs is a bit of a large city anymore, with a lot of military presence and high tech. Its not a college town, but a big city now, almost as big as Denver.

@CCorCCPLShelp

I can’t speak to Colorado College and its reputation, etc., but I did want to say that Carleton students aren’t the cutthroat competitive type at all. I’ve had the pleasure to meet dozens of them, and competitive is just not an adjective that I’d use for any of them. Well, except for ultimate frisbee maybe. :)>-

I have an anecdote that addresses your last two questions (reputation and intellect). I do college counseling and was at an event with HS counselors. A woman who is new to our area and the head of counseling at a fancy private school (boarding and non-boarding) learned that one of my sons went to Carleton. Her face lighted up, and she said, “The smartest person I ever met went to Carleton.” Turns out this woman had moved to Boston after graduating college and lived in an apartment with a woman who was a Carleton grad. That’s who she was talking about. And this woman didn’t know a lot of people in Boston so when they had parties they would be full of her roommate’s friends, all of whom were Carls. She said every one of them was so sharp and fun, and she marveled how such a small school could turn out so many awesome people who remained tight for years afterward. And then she said how she wished she had sent her own kids there.

I love that story, because it’s true in my experience as well. I admit that I was a little nervous sending ds1 there because it was so far from home and because I know not many people around here know about Carleton. But ya know who knows about Carleton? Academics, including grad schools. So maybe the sphere of influence isn’t huge all over the US with regular people, but absolutely it’s well-known and highly regarded in graduate admissions. Choosing Carleton won’t be a mistake from that aspect.

Good luck with your choice. Have you visited the campuses?

Two interesting choices. Recently I read that Colorado College students tend to come from wealthy families. Colorado College was at the top of the list for students from wealthy families.

The block plan is interesting & gives one a lot of down time to enjoy long weekends skiing or traveling.

Carleton College is more of a “baby Ivy” in the respect that it is a very intellectual environment.

Thanks for the anecdote and reply! I am heavily leaning towards Carleton College rn, and am visiting in about a week.

Let us know what you think after your visit.