UBC vs Carleton... Opportunity Costs.....

Colleges and Universities A-Z Carleton College
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<p>I am an international student. I am having a difficulty in choosing between Carleton College and University of British Columbia. I have got scholarship at both the places. </p>

<p>At Carleton I will have to pay around $5000 not including $2250 that I have pay from employement which is a part of my aid. At UBC, i will have to pay around $1500. Both are estimated including the whole of my expenses. </p>

<p>I want to major in Economics and also have an interest in Psychology and Mathematics. I actually wanted to double major in either Econ and Psycho or Econ and Maths. But considering the workload at Carleton College this seems like an impossible task.</p>

<p>Only think I actually know about Carleton College is about its rigorous. It encourages and discourages me from choosing Carleton College. Its not that I am scared of hardwork.. it is just that why work extra if I can learn the same thing in a more relaxed way. I need more info about what does it mean when they say rigorous. Does it mean 2 all nighters a week or studying 4 hours a day except classes. </p>

<p>Also weather seems another factor. </p>

<p>Its being a really hard decision for me. I really want to know which of these college is more fun. When I say fun I say fun not only in conventional sense, but also academically fun. </p>

<p>Any info (study abroad, extra activities, local environment... ) will be really helpful.</p>

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<p>I am doubling in econ and math and never had to pull an all-nighter – it’s definitely possible and doable. I think at Carleton rigorous (instead of hard) means that you will have less busy work, and more of understanding of concepts and general ideas, which you are then expected to apply. If you are not overloading, you should be able to find time for many other things besides academics. The environment at Carleton is very nice and friendly; Carleton is also pretty big in terms of study abroad – I think around 70% of student body study abroad at some point. For math there is a Budapest program in the fall, and for econ we have got Cambridge seminar in summer as well as DIS in Denmark. :slight_smile: There are many more options, you can check [Carleton</a> College: Off Campus Studies: Program Browser](<a href=“http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/programs/browser/]Carleton”>http://apps.carleton.edu/curricular/ocs/programs/browser/).</p>

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<p>It’s largely impossible to learn the same thing in a more relaxed way. Greater rigor correlates to a more thorough understanding - assuming the professors know what they’re doing well enough not to assign trivial busywork. And you can be assured that the Carleton professors know what they’re doing.</p>

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<p>You’ve got more to think about than the rigor of your coursework. These schools stand in great contrast to one another.</p>

<p>–UBC is a huge university (45,000 students) in a large city (over 2 million metro wide), Carleton a small college (2,000 students) in a large town (about 18,000). The Twin City metro area, about the same size as Vancouver’s, is not too far away but you won’t be living in it at Carleton. In which environment will you be more comfortable?</p>

<p>–UBC, and Canadian schools in general, will focus more tightly on your major academic interests. A small set of your courses will be outside but you will not get the broad approach of an American liberal arts education that usually requires about a third of your classes to be distributed outside your major and allows another third to be distributed as you see fit. Some might see a liberal arts degree as a welcome intellectual goal, others as superfluous and unfocused.</p>

<p>–Should you want a double major at UBC you will probably have to take more credits above the normal threshhold. At Carleton you might be able to support a second major out of some of those optional courses.</p>

<p>– At UBC, as well as at other other public flagships, the faculty’s primary concern will be research and publishing and their most frequent instructional contacts will be with graduate students. At a school like Carleton the faculty’s primary concern is the teaching of undergraduates. An undergraduate at UBC, therefore, might have exposure to more resources and up-to-the minute research but probably sacrifices the amount of direct attention s/he would receive from the faculty in the course of their education.</p>

<p>–At UBC, 22% of the students live in University housing, the rest take private housing scattered through the city. At Carleton, 94% of the students will be on campus. Depending on your inclination you might find either the openness or the intimacy reassuring or anxiety producing.</p>

<p>– UBC will have a more moderate coastal climate than Carleton’s more extreme continental climate.
-16 C average Jan low, 29 C average July high in Northfield. 107 cm snow annually
0 C average Jan low, 22 C average July high in Vancouver. 57 cm snow annually</p>

<p>– Topographically UBC has mountains and ocean nearby. Northfield and Carleton is situated in mostly flat farmland. Some people won’t care about this. Others will have a strong preference.</p>

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<p>^ I agree with a lot of the above differences, but want to highlight a few additional things and points of clarification:</p>

<ol>
<li><p>You will take a broad swath of courses prior to choosing your major at UBC- and in fact 10 courses per year in your first and second year-- before declaring your major in 3rd year. I believe the breadth is easily going to be the same. </p></li>
<li><p>You can also readily double major in econ and psych within having to take courses beyond the normal load at UBC.</p></li>
<li><p>Classes will be much smaller, and more discussion oriented, at Carleton. In that regard, I think you will get a more enjoyable and educational enriched experience.</p></li>
<li><p>There will definitely be a stronger sense of community at Carleton, because it’s smaller and everyone lives on campus. </p></li>
<li><p>If you are a student from Hong Kong, Taiwan, or mainland China, you may find UBC and Vancouver feels more familiar and easy to adjust to (given a big presence of students and culture from those regions). </p></li>
<li><p>You will have many more course offerings and faculty to choose from at a large school like UBC. </p></li>
<li><p>UBC is likely more well known if you plan to go back to your home country, and reputation matters. </p></li>
<li><p>UBC is ranked very high (10th in the world, if I remember correctly?) for psychology, and social science in general is around 20th (in terms of various world rankings, based upon academic output). Lots of opportunities to work with very famous faculty in their respective fields (even as an undergrad) if you seek out such opportunities.</p></li>
</ol>

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<p>UBC is cheaper, and more internationally known. Carleton academics are intense, and the double major you want plus a study abroad, will most likely not happen at Carleton. Based on those two things, UBC may be the better fit for you, although they are both great schools.</p>

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<p>LAClover…are you a Carleton student? do you know a Carleton student? You seem to have posted on many threads today and run Carleton down on each one; sometimes without seeming to know that much about it.</p>

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<p>Was a Carl- now I am at a larger university that has the name recognition I wanted and is not busting my wallet.</p>

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<p>^If name recognition is what you value, Carleton isn’t the school for you.</p>

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<p>LACLover1, you mentioned here <a href=“Application Status - Carleton College - College Confidential Forums”>Application Status - Carleton College - College Confidential Forums; that you were applying to Carleton for entry into the class of 2015 – I sense inconsistency in your post – how did you manage to <em>be</em> a Carl if you just received your admission decision within the last couple of weeks?</p>

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<p>I feel somewhat compelled to mention that it really depends where and from whom you want this name recognition…
If it’s from your neighbors (outside of Minn.) or your parents’ friends or that level then, no, Carleton probably isn’t for you but, if you’re talking about your post graduate or employment plans, Carleton definitely has it! Graduate schools recognize Carleton and eagerly look forward to accepting them. It is very highly respected in academia. In Corporate America a Carleton BA is very well respected also. My son and his friends in the class of 10 that wanted jobs pretty much all had jobs within 3-4 months of graduation in one of the toughest job seeking economies ever. USNWR and Newsweek both rank Carleton very highly.<br>
No college is perfect or perfect for everybody but, provided you have the academic chops to cut it and you have the intellectual curiousity to sustain it, a Carleton education is very worthwhile.</p>

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<p>LAClover, I also noticed that in another earlier Carleton post you identified yourself as a high school senior (who was concerned about living on a substance free floor.)
Let’s try to be honest and helpful here. This not only helps others but will also help you in the long run both in college and beyond.</p>

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<p>NEValu, I haven’t seen this happen on the Carleton board before, but you seem to be right. LACLover asked a few weeks ago when decisions would go out: “So does this mean all will be sent on Tuesday, or can we infer some will be sent earlier and the last will be sent on Tuesday?” </p>

<p>Pretty good guess he/she was wait listed and is now trying to discourage accepted students on the fence from accepting offers in hopes of opening up more freshman slots?</p>

<p>Ooooo, hope not. If true, Carleton is so not the place for you, LACLover.</p>

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<p>Well for good or for better… I am a CARL now… :)… UBCs offer was too lucrative in terms of their scholarship: full fee, room, board, books, insurance, four return tickets and stipend… but sometimes there are things that are much more valuable than financial comfort… Thank you everyone… your comments really really helped…</p>

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<p>Congratulations! My middle daughter graduates from Carleton in June. She has loved her four years there and is already feeling a little sad about leaving. I’m sure she would tell you that you made a great choice! Isn’t it a relief to have the decision making over? Best of luck to you.</p>

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<p>Congratulations, Desconcertado! I hope you like it here. Perhaps I’ll meet you next year!</p>

<p>

LAClover, you have stated multiple times that you are a high school senior applying for the class of 2015…why make this up?</p>

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<p>“momof3d”- thank you! well… carleton seems like a great place to be… and I will find out for sure this fall!! :)</p>

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