Tufts vs. Carleton College vs. UMich

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carleton College
1

<p>Tufts, Carleton, and UMich.</p>

<p>These are the three schools I'm deciding between right now. I'm interested in double majoring--one of the majors would be either Cognitive Science, Psychology, or Neuroscience. The other could be something like International Relations (or another social science).</p>

<p>I come from a very small private school and am a bit unsure of how I'll adapt to a large school atmosphere. You might say, then, that UMich is out, but I don't see it that way.</p>

<p>I'm from New York, got no financial aid unfortunately, so don't factor cost into your discussion.</p>

<p>Which of these schools fit me best? Which should I choose?</p>

<p>THANKS!</p>

2

<p>As a Carleton Alum, I must say I really do like Carleton and it would always have my recommendation. I certainly had friends who took IR course and really enjoyed them. There are really good profs there. At any major University with Graduate studies, you’ll be in class with 100+ students and will interact with Teaching Assistants often. Rarely at Carleton are the Classes that big. There are no TAs at Carleton, so you always get to work with the professors. Some students do favor a more distant relationship with professors though. Some could argue there may be less subjectivity at a bigger school.<br>
Rarely does anybody take more than 4 years to finish Carleton. At bigger schools, you can easily end up spending five years.</p>

<p>As for any potential downsides…other Carleton alums might jump in and disagree…these are just my opinion… I would definitely speak to people at Carleton in the various majors you are interested in and ask how easy it is to double major. I remember it was done occasionally, however it was discouraged. It is difficult to double major because you must complete a comprehensive(Comp) project or test in any major that you do. Often double majors end up completing one Comp junior year and another Senior year. This can leave both professors and students frustrated.</p>

<p>If you want to go to grad school Carleton is amazing, you get to know your professors and they are very willing to give out letters of recommendation. This will be harder at a big school. On the other hand, if you are determined to have a job after 4 years, it will probably be tough to beat the resources and industry connections of a major research institution like Umich.</p>

3

<p>Even better than not having TA’s, Carleton has TA’s for intro level classes in addition to having full professors teaching each class session. For instance, my intro psych, intro econ etc. classes we had about 30 students, a full professor, and a TA who would run help sessions outside of class. Of the three schools you are considering, Carleton would almost certainly have the smallest classes.</p>

<p>Also, you said you’re considering Psychology. I’m a Carleton Psych major (I literally declared my major today) and I’ve really enjoyed my psych classes. While jack63 was right to note that it is difficult to double major it is certainly possible. Also, you have the option of completing a concentration, which is sort of like a minor at other schools, and Carleton offers one in cognitive science, which you mentioned. You could major in another social science and concentrate in cognitive science, or major in psych w/ a cog sci concentration etc. Hope that helps!</p>

4

<p>Are the top two posts in this thread switched? This forum software is so damn buggy.</p>

<p>International relations is one of the most popular majors at Carleton, great department. Unless you want to focus on a very narrow area within IR (which you probably wouldn’t even be able to do at bigger schools because of distribution requirements), I think you’d be satisfied with Carleton’s offerings.</p>

<p>Cognitive science can be done as a special major, which four students in the junior and senior classes have chosen, or as a concentration (basically a minor), which five students have chosen. Neuroscience is offered as a concentration, with a couple dozen students doing this (most of them psych majors). You should look through the psych, cog sci, and neurosci course listings online to see if they’ll meet your expectations. Undoubtedly the corresponding programs at Tufts and U Mich will be much larger.</p>

<p>Double-majoring is generally discouraged at Carleton, as jack63 mentioned, because you are required to do comps (senior thesis) for each major you declare. Concentrations have slightly fewer required courses and a less involved capstone, so you could plausibly major in IR with a concentration in neurosci or cog sci, but you’d have to plan your courses pretty carefully and even have to forgo study abroad if a required course is only offered when you want to go off-campus.</p>

<p>If double-majoring is very important to you, I’d probably knock Carleton down to the bottom of your list, but you should consider WHY it is important that you double major. Don’t forget that you can take courses outside your major–even a major’s worth of classes in one department if you want–without actually majoring in a subject and having to meet every single requirement. Lots of people seem to not realize this?</p>

<p>Very very big differences between the campus atmospheres at the three schools, owing to the obvious factors: small/medium/large, rural/outskirts of city/college town, midwest/east coast, in-state/out-of-state demographics.</p>

<p>Don’t go to Tufts. I know a good number of Tufts alums and am familiar with the campus and the area. An upsettingly high proportion of the undergraduates and alums I’ve met are, how shall I put this delicately…of the toolish persuasion. (Fends off attacks from Tufts ■■■■■■, please don’t burn down my house.) The school is wanting in many ways for me (though primarily socially), but of course, Tufts students could say the same about Carleton. I basically have a hard time imagining someone really liking both Carleton and Tufts. You can probably figure out how you feel.</p>

5

<p>I’ve read/heard lot of complaints from Tufts students about their school too.</p>

6

<p>Complaints about what?</p>

7

<ol>
<li><p>Strongly agree with dietcokewithlime. My hair stands on end when I hear a school selling itself as one that promotes multiple majors. Some majors are legitimately complementary - e.g. physics/math. Concentrations and minors? Those make sense to me. But ANY major usually comes with at least some required course(s) you hated and knew you’d hate but took because of lack of choice. Why multiply these courses by 2 (or even 3 at some schools)? College is too short and courses are too valued to be wasted for the sake of an empty label. Geology major? Fill up those free spots on your academic dance card with, I don’t know, poetry courses? You could always romance the stone. So BEWARE COLLEGES PROMOTING MULTIPLE MAJORS! There, I’ve been waiting to get that off my chest.</p></li>
<li><p>Bleed Carleton blue and gold but have great respect for Michigan blue and gold too. Blue and gold or blue and gold? Very different hues. Be honest with yourself about who you are and what you want from these next four years. </p></li>
<li><p>Will I alone come to Tufts’ defense? Recent 2 grads I know had great experiences. That’s all.</p></li>
</ol>

8

<p>About the student body and social scene.</p>

9

<p>I have quite personal experiences with both Carleton and UMich. Literally, My ENTIRE family has gone to UMich, and I am breaking the mold and will be attending Carleton in the fall.</p>

<p>Honestly, UMich is a HUGE school, but you can make it smaller by joining a specific program. One cousin picked their honors college, and her twin and older sister picked the engineering school. It does take A LOT of effort to make your way through what my cousin calls the “red tape” there. Registration is hectic according to all three cousins who go there. Still, Ann Arbor is a really fun city, with a unique culture. If you feel like you’d fit in among huge crowds at rowdy football games and could manage being just one of close to 40,000 students, many of which are grad students, then UMich might be an attractive option.</p>

<p>On the other hand, I am choosing Carleton (didn’t even bother applying to UMich) because I am confident that its tight-knit, unpretentious, non-competitive and genuinely interesting student body will be the perfect learning environment. As many other posters have stated, Carleton offers a perfect way for you to combine your unique interests. Northfield is a fun little place from the experiences I’ve had, which are admittedly not as many as I’ve had in Ann Arbor…</p>

<p>… And Tufts… Eeh… I have heard complaints similar to the ones bcash lists. I think it’d be fine, and I hear it has good IR.</p>

<p>Really, its like comparing apples to oranges, and you need to visit to decide which will bet the best place for you to spend four amazing years. You absolutely cannot go wrong with any of these schools really…</p>

10

<p>I’m exactly the same as lolz2009. My entire family went to Umich, and I even lived in Ann Arbor for a while, but I’m going to Carleton next year. Honestly, I like the small town feel of Northfield, and wasn’t a big fan of Ann Arbor. Even though it’s a pretty awesome college town, I felt detached there; when I visited the campus, everyone seemed distant. I felt a lot more at home in Northfield, and everyone seemed warmer and cohesive. I can’t really comment on Tufts.</p>