Carleton College Top Questions

From my experience, the quirkiness and nerdiness is true. Most Carleton students tend to be a bit offbeat in their own special way, and not afraid to show it. It also helps that they don't take themselves too seriously. They also tend to be very intelligent and interested in learning, but not obsessed with studying. Carleton as a whole seems to subscribe to the "work hard, play hard" attitude, and you will find most students having fun on weekends instead of staying cooped up in the library. The ugliness thing is not true, but Carleton students do tend to dress more casually and less fashionably than St. Olaf students.

Yes, although they are also part of what make Carleton great.

Yes.

in a lot of ways. But not always.

While I have found this to be true many times it is normally in a good way. Every kid at Carleton has something I like to call Carleton Awkward. Everyone is just a little bit weird, but it works out in a wonderful way. People have skills that you would never expect.

Um, actually a lot of this is more or less true though obviously not as black and white as one would assume. There a surprisingly large number of people from outside the midwest at the school (mainly from the East and West coasts) though I'd say about half come from Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin (you learn as a West coast kid that these people didn't all just grow up on farms and are fun, crazy, cultured peopl like yourself--though none know what a real burrito should taste like). There's also a sizable contingent from Chicago. There a certain truth to the whole "Minnesota nice" stereotype. Students are almost universally nice, uncompetative, and pretty relaxed (except perhaps when it comes to work). I think if the school doesn't just get the nice people from the Midwest, it draws all the nice ones from the coasts. Kids are definitely very smart but not pretentiously so. A lot of people worry that they aren't smart enough to fit in when they first get here but soon realize that there was a reason they were accepted and that they actually can keep up with classes and whatnot. Also, I think the smartness just adds to the style of humor on campus. People will be as willing to make a joke involving some chem theory or philosophical thinker as they are to make one about something in pop culture. This friendliness and love of learning adds to the vibe on campus. I think a lot of us joke about the college hyping up our "quirkiness" but on a whole I feel the label fits: Carleton students love to do silly things to let off steam and flex their creativity in their free time (even the kids who think they are too cool for such a term should realize that the 4/20 triathalon is a quirky idea even if it involves substance abuse on a massive scale)

While almost everyone at Carleton does have their quirks, like probably any college, it attracts all types of students. The one thing you can count on at Carleton is that everyone there will be able to have an intelligent conversation with you about almost anything.

We are very nerdy. However, it's a type of nerd that is quite socially capable (excluding a few departments). It just happened that even the most normal Carls are obsessive about learning something or everything. I call it mostly harmless over-enthusiasm. Also, we don't dress very well.

yes, generally, although people are actually better dressed and groomed than i thought they would be

I was nervous about how much admissions was touting group studying, but my fears were essentially unfounded. It's true that students can work together if they want to, but I have had very few assignments where I have been required to work in a group. I do all my homework on my own, but I occasionally compare answers with classmates. There isn't so much material that you would have to be in a group to cover it all, but other students are always willing to lend a hand. Carleton is an excellent school, and the reason a lot of people have never heard of it is that it doesn't wildly advertise itself. Unlike the schools here in New England, Carleton won't boast about its prestige, and our president even refused to let admissions advertise our number 5 spot on US News. However, if you meet someone who has heard of Carleton, they'll tell you what a wonderful place it is and how much students seem to enjoy their time there.

To a certain extent these stereotypes are all accurate, but then again Carleton has a variety of people with different backgrounds and interests and not everybody is ugly.

Hippies: There are some, but there are also some Yuppies, while the school overall probably has more liberal people there are plenty of conservatives too and they aren't ostracized or anything. Ugly: NOT TRUE! There are lots of attractive people at Carleton. Yes, during classes people don't try that hard and show up in sweats but on weekend when people take more time on their appearance you realize how many hotties there are at Carleton. Smart: TRUE Awkward: True, especially for freshmen, but everyone's a bit awkward so you learn to overcome that and by junior year people are more socially normal. Work Hard Party Hard: VERY TRUE

The first is true, the second is not. I have met some incredible attractive women at Carleton

probably but all in a good way

They are often smart, but not always, and yes, we tend to be less attractive than state schools.

These stereotypes have some merit. There are a lot of LOR and Star Trek fans at Carleton. We also have many seemingly strange traditions. On the other hand, the typical Carleton student tends to be much more well-rounded than outsiders often perceive. I would say that about 10 to 20 percent of students fall into the category of students who constantly study. Most students, however, just study maybe 20 to 30 hours a week and do other things for the rest of the time.

People here are unique and don't form cliques or groups. You can be yourself here and this helps you learn to a great extent. Everybody here is smart and you learn great things from each other.

We ARE smart, we do tend to be quirky, and there are socially awkward and unattractive people here. However, I think there are also socially competent and attractive people here. Carleton students just don't care about how they look (dressing fashionably, putting on makeup, etc) as much as people at other schools do. We have more important things to worry about.

to some extent. if you want a school with a metropolitan feel, carleton isn't for you. if you want to go to school with smart but chill people who are comfortable wearing anything from tuxes to pjs to breakfast, thats us.

Some are more stinky than others, but yes the stereotype is fairly accurate.