Carleton is a strong feeder to US grad schools. It is academically challenging, but not cutthroat. Although it draws a national student body, there is a more low key midwestern feel to it than many east coast schools.
@intparent How is Tufts in sending people to grad school? Is it of similar caliber to Carleton in that aspect? I lokked up the stats but wasn’t so clear.
Congratulations on having two excellent choices. They’re very different in terms of setting, climate, size and vibe. Tufts is closer to a major city (Boston, half an hour by public transportation) than Carleton is (Minneapolis, about an hour by shuttle). Carleton is much stronger overall in terms of per capita PhD production, but that does not seem to be the case in Psychology specifically. If you want to do some data sleuthing in this regard, see https://ncsesdata.nsf.gov/ids/sed for data from the Survey of Earned Doctorates. Organize the data by detailed field and institution name, and refer to the Common Data Sets for the two schools to find the respective numbers of Psychology graduates - a comparison of raw numbers of PhDs wouldn’t make sense, because Tufts has over twice the number of undergraduates as Carleton.
In terms of competitive atmosphere, Tufts is not typical of “East Coast” schools because it was founded by Universalists (there is no elect, everybody is equal; there is no hell, everybody goes to heaven) rather than one of the traditional Protestant sects. It may be more “low key” than Carleton,
A somewhat controversial book arguing that competition is actually bad, was written by someone teaching a course in the Experimental College at Tufts. Tufts has one of the only remaining Experimental Colleges (which were a product of the '60s). Students can take courses in the Experimental College for academic credit. https://www.alfiekohn.org/article/case-competition/ http://www.excollege.tufts.edu/courses
My daughter, who attended a highly competitive high school in the Boston area saw a big difference between Tufts and high school, while her classmates, who attended other highly selective schools, did not. She really enjoyed the difference.
There are many grad school alternatives for a psych major, so per capita Phd production is more of a proxy for the selection of a research oriented career than a proxy for grad school in general.
As examples:
A psychiatrist will pursue an MD degree
A psychologist will pursue either a Phd or a PsyD where the Phd is skewed toward research and the PsyD is skewed toward clinical practice.
Education is a common field for Psych majors and there are a number of masters and Phd degrees in education and educational psychology
Business (specifically marketing, advertising and HR) is another common field for Psych majors, so an MBA can be a common graduate degree.
Product Design (specifically Human Factors/Human Computer Interfacing and Artificial Intelligence) is a less common field for Psych majors (but a specialty that Tufts is known for) The advanced degree in this area would either be in Engineering, Computer Science or Cognitive Science.
Based on the NSF data, Tufts produces more Psych Phds than Carleton, but Carlton produces more per capita.
I would speculate that Tufts produces more MD’s and PsyD’s because Tufts has a Medical School and it also offers an undergraduate degree in Clinical Psychology.
I would speculate that a larger number of Tufts Psych majors go into education, because Tufts has a very highly regarded Child Study department/major
I would speculate that a larger number of Tufts Psych majors go into marketing and advertising because Tufts has Entrepreneurial Leadership and Media and Communications Studies minors that are popular with Psych majors.
I would speculate that a larger number of Tufts Psych majors go into product design, because Tufts offers an undergraduate degree in Engineering Psychology and has an internationally recognized Cognitive Science program.
In general, I would say that Carleton and Tufts have similar rates of sending students to grad school, but the mix of grad schools would be different, with Carleton skewed more toward pure Psych Phd’s and Tufts skewed more toward interdisciplinary/applied/clinical degrees.
Two great schools. No wrong choice. Carleton College is more isolated (which could be a positive if you prefer fewer distractions from the school community) than Tufts University & will experience more severe cold weather than that of the Boston area.
If you want to go to graduate school for a PhD, then research experience is important. You will have opportunities for that at Carleton, which like many other LACs values student-faculty collaboration and hands-on student research experiences. The ability to get to personally know professors is a major plus of the LAC model. It creates a learning experience outside the lecture hall, which is essentially giving you more bang for your buck therefore. Tufts may well offer a lovely experience too – I’m just speaking to Carleton.