Hey guys. I am trying to narrow down my college list, but I was wondering: what kind of characteristics do Carleton students seem to share? Any ideas?
Hmmm…my Carleton experience is not extensive and is mostly secondhand, but here goes:
Carls are smart but not cocky about it. They are hardworking and conscientious, but also supportive and collaborative. You hear about students working together and not about students competing hard to get the handful of As in a class.
There are all kinds of kids, which I am sure is true at other LACs: athletes, artists, scientists, humanists.
It is a very accepting community. Students are nice to each other and help each other out. I get the feeling that the culture is one of kindness and of taking care of the common areas. No frats or sororities. Few Republicans, but there are a few. No bomb throwing radicals. I asked about BDS and was told that there isn’t any, but many kids, Jewish and non Jewish, are interested in J Street. My impression was that Carls are interested in the world and in politics but are more cooly intellectual about it. (Although I also heard there is a Black Lives Matters activist on campus, a kid from Minneapolis.)
This is just one woman’s opinion, but I think there are more introverts at Carleton, maybe because of its quiet, bucolic location. Students make their own fun on campus and have a number of in jokes and traditions.
Read through the posts on here and you can get a feel for what people think.
I’d agree with all of this, and add that everyone seems to be pretty laid back, and also very quirky (nerdy+fun+weird?). The points I’d stress from Lizardly the “accepting community” and the idea that Carls are “smart but not cocky about it.” If you want to look at some of the current students, you could join one of the Carleton students Facebook pages and look around there.
Here’s what DS, who is a recent Carleton grad, and his Carleton friends seem to have in common: intelligent, interested in the world, often irreverant, hard working, thoughtful.`