<p>I'm most likely going to major in Biology and I think I might minor in either History or Anthropology.</p>
<p>According to my interviewer, you cannot "minor" at Carleton. They have concentrations, but only in certain fields:
-African/African American Studies
-Archaeology
-Biochemistry
-Cognitive Studies
-Cross-Cultural Studies
-East Asian Studies
-Educational Studies
-Environmental and Technology Studies
-European Studies [sunkist-this or any other might "suffice" for history]
-French and Francophone Studies
-Latin American Studies
-Cinema and Media Studies
-Medieval and Renaissance Studies
-Political Economy [Lianapark-this looks close to int'l relations]
-South Asian Studies
-Woman and Gender Studies</p>
<p>Double majors are specifically "discouraged" by the college because between the two major requirements and the distribution requirements, you wouldn't have any room during your four years to try anything else. Also, please correct me if I'm wrong, as I would like to minor in something if possible.</p>
<p>wow I didn't know that! That's crazy. I guess then I won't be minoring in anything if I decide to go to Carleton (that is if adcom decides that I'm worthy enough to be accepted... = highly unlikely). I also didn't know the thing about double majors either though, even though I wasn't considering doubling in anything. But the girl who interviewed me from Carleton was doing a double major (she was a Senior), so I guess she decided to go against the grain. Cool. Thank you for the information!</p>
<p>Wow, I sure didn't know that about Carleton. That's definitely going to influence my decision if I get in. That is if I get in. Hehe. Well, thanks for the info nebzter!</p>
<p>Double majors here are more common than the admissions office had led me to believe before, though, so I wouldn't make a decision whether to come here based on whether you can double major or not. The idea behind discouraging double majors is that the college wants you to REALLY focus on your chosen area of study and they give you a long time to choose it (no designation of major until final term of sophomore year, so you're already finishing up half of your credits here by the time you do that.) The only thing that makes double majoring harder here than elsewhere are the comps, which vary from department to department but can be in the form of research, a large paper, a test of fundamental knowledge and an assigned presentation, and so forth. They all involve a great deal of work, which you usually spend either one or two terms doing. A double major will probably have to do comps for one of the majors during junior year and the other senior year, which is...intimidating.</p>
<p>Just because you aren't majoring in a field doesn't mean you can't take a ton of courses in it, though. Students take 36 classes while they are at Carleton with a normal load (you can overload to 4 classes for certain terms with special permission). Assuming you don't make ANY placement when you come in for foreign languages and that you don't take classes that satisfy multiple requirements: 4 classes will be of foreign language, 1 recognition and affirmation of differences, 2 arts/literature, 2 humanities, 3 social sciences, 1 writing requirement, and 3 math/sciences. That's 16 of your 36 classes. Note that the RAD overlaps usually with one of those, as does the writing requirement, and that most people who continue a foreign language they did in high school will probably only be taking 1-3 foreign language classes to fulfill the requirement, so this is like worst case scenario. You still have 20 classes free, about 12 of which will probably be related to your major--and this is assuming that none of the classes you met distribution requirements in are in your major, which is not the usual case. Those remaining 8 classes are completely and totally yours to do what you want with and a double major is quite possible with some departments, especially if you got placement (passing score on an AP calc exam can get you out of one or two calc classes and into higher level ones very quickly, 5 on an English meets the writing requirement course credit, chem and physics C get you placement, 4 or 5 on foreign languages meets the language requirement, things like that that many Carleton students did before coming here).</p>
<p>Oh, and also, there is some Certificate of Advanced Profiency in the foreign languages that is essentially a minor in whatever language you do, if anyone was interested in majoring in English and minoring in French or something...well, you can do basically the same thing here.</p>
<p>Thanks a lot, Toothbrush. I was accepted to Carleton ED caught between IR and English, and I shrugged it off thinking I could do a double major. I am glad to see that it is still possible, or at least that I can get my degree in one thing but still take a lot of courses in another. Also, the Certificate of Advanced Profiency sounds like a pretty good deal too...</p>
<p>I applied RD but the winter weather here on the east coast is making me seriously reconsider whether I can handle Minnesota's crazy winters. I guess I'll see what happens. Good luck everyone!</p>
<p>yeah if you thought the east coast was cold, wait till you take in minnesota weather :</p>
<p>Carleton is in southern minnesota and has almost the identical weather as U Chicago and Grinnell... :)</p>
<p>I had never really lived someplace that has WINTER until I moved to Maryland so I'm undergoing a bit of a climate shock. I should be able to adjust....hopefully.</p>
<ol>
<li>sunkist184</li>
<li>cantstandmenow</li>
<li>wbm777</li>
<li>lianapark</li>
<li>boethian</li>
<li>raindrops22</li>
<li>mae</li>
<li>cavalier302</li>
<li>kosuke</li>
<li>adummb05</li>
<li>ckakalacheva (international)</li>
</ol>
<p>Good luck to all! :))</p>
<p>Yeah Wisconsin! the climates are pretty much the same in the two states aren't they? I mean, they are pretty much right next to each other. :-P</p>
<p>i'm from sun~shiny cali, so if i ever go to carleton, i'll have problems adjusting to the weather.</p>
<p>same here.</p>
<p>I don't know what number this makes me but, I also applied RD. Does anyone know what's up with people not posting on this board? Where's the Carleton love, I ask you?!? Lol. Anyway, after much viewing, I decided to post. Good luck to everyone who applied and sorry for my rambling. Oh, btw, where's everyone from? I'm from Minnesota, and while I'm used to the brutal winters, they are nonetheless still brutal!</p>
<p>Wisconsin, baby! Tell me about brutal winters, man. I've had my fair share of them. :)</p>
<p>How did you get a free frisbee? Did they mail one to you?</p>
<p>Matriculating freshmen get one.</p>
<ol>
<li>sunkist184</li>
<li>cantstandmenow</li>
<li>wbm777</li>
<li>lianapark</li>
<li>boethian</li>
<li>raindrops22</li>
<li>mae</li>
<li>cavalier302</li>
<li>kosuke</li>
<li>adummb05</li>
<li>ckakalacheva (international)</li>
<li>bogororo (international)</li>
</ol>
<p>I'm wondering if they'll me a frisbee across the Pacific Ocean. I'm curious about the game though.</p>