Hey, I looked into Carleton a while ago, and it sounded really interesting, but kind of floated off my radar. How do you like it? Does being in the middle of nowhere bother you? I know it's pretty small- is it possible to take the necessary classes to graduate on time? Also, are there fun campus traditions/activities that exemplify Carleton for you? Sorry that's so many questions! Thanks!

Putting this under a read more for those of you who are really just here for the literary jokes:

Hi! All three of us loved Carleton a lot. I wouldn’t actually say it was in the middle of nowhere; Northfield, MN is about 45 minutes south of the Twin Cities, and there’s a ton to do there (including the Mall of America, the largest mall in the country). Northfield itself is also a really cute town with a nice little downtown and a bunch of shops/restaurants. There’s also a bus that goes to Target and Cub Foods so you don’t HAVE to walk there (it would be a long walk, but doable! I have done it! Once when I missed the last bus back to campus).

Yes, the campus and student body are small, but it’s definitely easy to take all your credits in four years! Carleton runs on a trimester system, and you take three classes a term, so you actually end up taking more classes there than you might at another, semester-based institution. There are graduation requirements, as there are at almost any school, but they’re just broad enough that I would say you never have to take a class you’re REALLY not about. For example, I was an English major who was deeply uninterested in taking hard mathematics courses, so for my “quantitative reasoning” requirement I took psychology, economics, and political science. And your thesis (which we call comps at Carleton) counts for credits, so you would never be doing that on top of a full load of classes.

Lastly, Carleton is famous for its many great and long-lasting traditions! Perhaps our most famous one is the bust of German poet/philosopher Friedrich von Schiller. Students steal this bust from one another and “show” it at various events around campus, whereupon other students may chase the current “guardians” and claim the bust for themselves. Schiller has made many high-profile appearances, such as onboard Air Force One with President Bill Clinton, on the Colbert Report, or, most recently, on The Odd Couple on CBS. (Click the link for a cool picture of the stars of the show with the Carleton alumni responsible for Schiller’s appearance, including yours truly!)

Other traditions include the Silent Dance Party (during reading days, participating students sync a pre-distributed playlist to their respective devices and dance from the bottom to the top floor of the library together, with headphones in), Friday Flowers (every Friday a local flower shop sells flowers in the student union, which anyone can purchase to put in mailboxes), and Rotblatt, which is a campus-wide softball game with one inning played for every year Carleton has existed. Last year was the big 150! There’s also a ton of cool campus groups that you can join (Nora and I sang in the same a cappella group, for example). There are literally so many more that I don’t have time to list here, but feel free to ask for more examples if you’re really interested!

I think the fact that I can write this much about my alma mater speaks highly of it, but you should also check out carleton.edu personally to see if its a place you could see yourself attending for four years.

Again, if you or anyone else has questions, we’re always happy to oblige. Best of luck in the college search! :)

–Jill

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