<p>Is anyone else around here going - or has a kid going - to the Carleton fly-in at the end of this month?</p>
<p>My D is excited to be flying to MN from NY for the program. Although she's been doing other fly-ins this is the longest distance she's traveling to a college program so far - and longest solo flight ever. I thought I'd see if we might by any chance find a travel buddy :)</p>
<p>I also wanted to poll the current or alum Carleton community to see what you all recommend she seek out on campus. Because we've never been to the college (and it really feels so far!) she really wants to maximize her time there. The program is from Thursday evening (yes Halloween!) through Saturday afternoon, so not a lot of time. </p>
<p>What is not to miss for a prospective student at Carleton?
Thanks in advance for your ideas!</p>
<p>Well I won’t be attending this event but I can tell you a bit about what is in and around Carleton. I spent about a month there this summer for a program and we had way too much free time and really got to know the campus and Northfield. It needs to be addressed that Northfield and Carleton are too cute but they are tiny. You can only walk around Northfield for so long before the cuteness wears off and boredom sinks in, though if she does attend Carleton and brings a car or has a friend with a car it wouldn’t be so bad.
She HAS to stop by Hoogan Brothers to eat, they give you great bang for your buck and the giant bowls of ice cream (with constantly changing flavors!) are amazing. She should also stop by the cute art shop (I am not an artsy person and I loved it) I forgot the name but it is something clever.
As for the campus, if she meets some people she should go exploring with them. Just pick a direction and go, we did this the second day and found cool tunnels and the rec center and other awesome stuff. The Carleton and Northfield area is so safe you can really go anywhere. I walked around with my girlfriends at night and we never felt in danger. Also, the arb is terrific and she may not have time to hike around but if she attends she needs to check it out!
She is going at the end of October? Hope there isn’t a Blizzard on Halloween again! East coast kids are better prepared than southerner a but you haven’t really experienced a winter tell you experience a Minnesota winter!
Best of luck! And feel free to ask me questions, If I can’t answer them I have lots of friends who are students at Carleton that probably can!</p>
<p>My ds didn’t do Taste of Carleton because it was the same weekend as another LAC’s fly-in, and he chose to visit there. The important thing is he ended up choosing Carleton for college. :)</p>
<p>I’d say the Arb is a must. I love the downtown area. I would imagine that they keep them pretty busy so I’m not sure there is time to explore too much on your own. I agree that Northfield is tiny, but I found it totally charming. I didn’t visit until we went the last week of April when he was still trying to decide between it and an in-state school. I loved it and was hoping he did, too (this was his second visit). Thankfully, he had a great overnight. Dh didn’t see it until move-in freshman year, and ds2 didn’t get to see his brother’s school until move-in sophomore year.</p>
<p>My guess is that because it’s Halloween weekend there may be more partying than usual so don’t let that be too much of a turnoff (assuming that might be a turnoff and not a plus!).</p>
<p>Don’t worry about the flying solo. She’ll be doing it this time next year. That flight to the other LAC was the first time ds had flown solo, and there was a delayed flight, so then a flight change and a missed connection. I was a basket case, but he survived and now it’s all old hat.</p>
<p>Good luck to her! Let us know how she likes it.</p>
<p>Carleton will have quite a few events for Halloween though I’m not sure exactly when each event will take place. There’ll be a Haunted Arb tour which she’ll want to check out if she can! Everything she should see and do will probably be programmed into her schedule (touring, sitting in on classes, visiting profs, etc). If she’s interested in a club or sport or something, have her check that club/sport/whatever’s schedule and see if she can attend a meeting/practice.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay, thanks for all the tips and the reassurance too! D flew to Bowdoin last month and was delayed/re-routed through a different city, etc. so she’s had a taste of it, but this is def a longer flight and longer layovers etc. You’re right she’ll be fine. I wont sleep but thats ok :). The Halloween experience will be interesting lol. At Bowdoin they imposed a sub free weekend on campus during the fly-in (or they tried to) so there was less parting than usual, and what there was was an eye opener for D. I’ll let you know how everything went when she gets back!</p>
<p>hanging and KS 1996, thanks to you two for the ideas. I forwarded them to D who is really excited about the weekend. She will actually have a fair amount of free time as they want students to explore and talk to students and profs and seek out activities, departments etc. they are interested in. In Maine she actually walked into town with a group to get some amazing gelato ( there should be a fabulous ice cream place in every college town). And the arb is one of the things she’s most excited about seeing; I think she wrote about it in her essay. But Haunted Arb, now that might be the highlight of the weekend!</p>
<p>Thanks everyone, and thanks for the weather warning too. We are still in early fall here so that was a good reminder!</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay…did your son get in to Carleton’s fly in and turn it down, or not apply for it at all? I ask because I wonder is turning down a fly in burns a bridge (though if your son turned down the fly in but was later accepted as a student, that ends that theory!)</p>
<p>Honeybee…don’t worry about the travel distance. It is all an adventure to these kids. My D just returned from a cross country fly in and was amazed at how many kids were on their 3rd or 4th fly in…and hoping all over the country! They are well cared for on these things!</p>
<p>I don’t remember whether he applied to visit Carleton or not, but I remember he had offers from Carleton and Grinnell for the same weekend, and he chose to visit Grinnell. He ultimately was accepted at both. He had previously visited Carleton in the summer before senior year, so that may have made a difference. Also, he made sure to attend local events. Showed Carleton plenty of love.</p>
<p>I do remember that year there was a student poster who was able to get a school to fly her out on a different weekend. It might be a little late in the game to make that happen for you, but you could try. </p>
<p>And just as an anecdote, ds was offered another all-expense-paid trip to a university. He went, loved it and they WL’d him!</p>
<p>Hi Raynetta, I hope you have good travels tomorrow and more importantly a great weekend at Carleton! My D is coming from the east coast and is arriving in MN/St P at 1:30 ish - they’ve asked her (and others) to get a bite to eat and wait at the airport until 5:30 when they will all leave for campus together - so maybe you guys will all meet up and get to know each other while you’re waiting! GL!</p>
<p>If your daughter enjoys nature or walking/running in a peaceful setting, I highly recommend she take a stroll in the Arb (arboretum). It is very large and peaceful. For our son, who grew up in rural/semirural areas, it is a huge asset to life at Carleton and he enjoys it often.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay – Thanks for the offer I will do that probably after D returns and I squeeze as much out of her as I can but am still not satisfied lol! I love that she is having these fly-in opportunities but it is so hard for me not to have any experience of these campuses! </p>
<p>Pootie – D is a long distance runner and also loves nature! She grew up in 2000 acres of wilderness in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains (before we moved to NY) and definitely feels the pull of nature. She can’t wait to visit the Arb and maybe even a haunted Arb as posted earlier ^^^. </p>
<p>We leave for the airport in an hour so I’m going to dig up some gloves and hats! It hasn’t been quite as cold here yet…</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay – i just reread your post #4 and noticed the comment re: Halloween and partying. Since that post, D has been to two more fly-ins and her experiences in the party arena have definitely been eye-opening. Her first program at Bowdoin was a sub free weekend on campus so it was very calm and civilized with an occasional stoned kid being funny. At Williams there was a little more drinking and she skipped the second night party because it was more craziness than she wanted. Her hosts were non drinkers for both those visits. But she just got back from Amherst on Monday and that was a different scene. Two HS kids who were there on the fly-in got so drunk one was hospitalized via ER admission and the other was sent home. Her host got home at 4 AM pretty tipsy (OK drunk) and then a drunk guy wandered into their room and just stood there until his drunk friends came to get him (“buddy this isn’t your room”). There was more typical college drinking stuff which of course is not typical for the HS kids who are on these visits! So all that is to to say that whatever Halloween shenanigans are happening at Carleton won’t be shocking after last weekend at Amherst! D liked Amherst a lot but came home pretty sure she’s going to request sub free housing wherever she ends up - for the quiet and uninterrupted sleep if nothing else.</p>
<p>Youdon’tsay, I personally loved it. To be completely honest, the only things that truly ruin these types of fly-in’s for me are the other high school kids and me clashing. Luckily, this time everything worked out, and I ended up greatly enjoying myself. It’s probably just jumped to being my first choice in the Questbridge ranking (just in time too! Rankings are due tomorrow). </p>
<p>The real clinchers for me were the English Literature analysis class I sat in on and the Nerf Ball War I competed in inside the Chapel on campus. I loved the weather, pretty campus, and classes. Unfortunately, I was not completely in love with the dining halls, but no where’s perfect.</p>
<p>Rayne – Glad you loved the Nerf War! (: Last weekend’s food in the dining halls wasn’t really great IMO – it’s usually better than what they offered this time. It also depends on which of the dining halls you go to (I personally prefer Burton’s hearty food over LDC’s healthier entrees).</p>
<p>Let me know if you have any further questions (and that goes for everyone in this thread)! (:</p>
<p>Son participated in Oberlin’s Fly In and was greatly affected by his time there. He also had an opportunity to participate in Carleton’s “Taste,” but declined it because he felt that attending Carleton’s three week Summer Writing Program (SWP) earlier this August (in which he had a wonderful experience) gave him a meaningful sense/understanding of the college. (I wish he had had taken advantage of experiencing Northfield when the regular school year was in session through TOC.) Son’s short list is now down to five colleges–primarily in the midwest: Carleton, Wooster, Oberlin, Whitman, & Lawrence. Currently, Carleton & Oberlin are tied for first choice, with a nod to the latter because of the strong music/arts pressence he had experienced while visting there. We’re all so very fortunate in this country to have these many wonderful places of higher learning for our children to learn & grow into young adults. I’m one of those parents biased towards the LACs.</p>
<p>oompaloompa64, if you son is into music. He should definitely look into another school near Carleton – St. Olaf College. Its ranking may not be as high as Carleton, but its music programs are way more superior. St. Olaf also has much more rigorous math programs.</p>
<p>St. Olaf’s big science library and computer clusters just outshine their counter parts in its rivalry school. (In fact, some of Carleton’s computer science research have to depend on St. Olaf’s computer clusters).</p>
I will do that probably after D returns and I squeeze as much out of her as I can but am still not satisfied lol! I love that she is having these fly-in opportunities but it is so hard for me not to have any experience of these campuses! </p>