Click here to go to the NEW College Discussion Forum

Thanks for reading and any feedback upon review of this post would be greatly appreciated. I am an international student who applied to a bunch of ivy league schools including HYPSM and cornell and dartmouth. Because i have my canadian schools to fall back on for my failsafe plan, my only safety were Carleton college and illinois-weslyan. I have checked out illinois-weslyan and its a really nice school that is offering me a full-ride ($29,000+ per year) scholarship/financial aid package (scholoarship awarded to two entering students per year) but carleton still remains a bit of a mystery to me. I am now deciding between these two schools. Although it (carleton) ranks 24th among all colleges/universities for undergraduates and 5th among all colleges but it seems to be an enigma since its hardly ever mentioned on this site. How good is carleton? How does it compare with the ivies and near-ivies? Whats your impressions of carleton? Thanks for reading my little rant. Sorry if i haven't been participating in the discissions earlier, i am still a bit shocked and devastated after being rejected by 14 schools... yes 14!!! any feedback will be appreciated. thanks in advance

By Heartbroken (Heartbroken) on Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 09:23 pm: Edit

anyone else accepted at carleton college?

By Nyguy (Nyguy) on Tuesday, April 08, 2003 - 10:44 pm: Edit

i was accepted and i only applied because it was free. I seriously considered applying, but since iv been accepted to cornell, theres almost no point

By Mamamiles (Mamamiles) on Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 01:56 pm: Edit

I haven't been there but have a cousin that loved Carleton! From there, she went on to Harvard to earn an MBA!

By Carolyn (Carolyn) on Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 02:33 pm: Edit

Carleton is a wonderful school, top notch academically. I have a friend who graduated from there, then went on to Princeton and Cal Tech for graduate work (in astrophysics). I have another friend who taught there as a visiting professor and was very impressed by the school and its students.
Carolyn

By Wadad (Wadad) on Wednesday, April 09, 2003 - 04:55 pm: Edit

Carleton has a top-notch reputation among the Liberal Arts Colleges. It would be even harder to get in to if it weren't in Minnesota. If it has the programs you are interested in, and you think you would like a small college environment more than a larger university environment, it is certainly worth seriously considering. If at all possible I would recommend a visit before you decide.

By Heartbroken (Heartbroken) on Thursday, April 10, 2003 - 09:10 pm: Edit

thanks for all the replies guys, i am likign the university more and more. btw anyone else on this board admitted or attending carleton?

-heartbroken(nomore)

By Gianscolere (Gianscolere) on Saturday, April 12, 2003 - 01:42 pm: Edit

I know how you feel...I was rejected by a bunch of prep schools, not even colleges! And the valedictorian of the senior class last year was waitlisted at Brown, rejected at Smith, and other top-notch colleges, while students who ranked lower were accepted. If you're Asian, I think it's even harder to get in because you're also competing against Asians. But the college admissions process is a mystery...some of the most stellar students like you are rejected in favor of those who are a lot less intelligent.

Don't feel devastated because I'm sure tons of other students like you with similar stats were turned away. I can't even imagine three years from now when I'll start applying to colleges and the competition will most intense.

I definitely know that Carleton is a GREAT school. A lot of the topnotch colleges visit my school (which is considered one of the most competitive in Illinois) every year, and Carleton was one of the few that really caught my attention. I know many students from last year's graduating class went to Carleton. So like I said, Carleton really appealed to me among other colleges that visited my school (Harvard, Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell...there are too many to recall). Good luck, and with a 29,000-dollar scholarship it must be a dream come true. Just go to either of the schools you got accepted to because they are literally BEGGING you to attend their school with that financial aid offer!!! Don't even worry about all the others...they'll definitely miss out.

By Cscourneen (Cscourneen) on Sunday, April 13, 2003 - 03:35 am: Edit

Okay, don't even think IVY. I turned down Brown for Carleton...it is the best school in the country! NO JOKE.

I have spent about 6 weeks on the campus, been in many classes, taken a writing course, and LOVED IT. I have more info on the college in my other posts, so I don’t really want to type it all over again…but let me tell you it is great! The administration is very helpful, so are the profs. And, b/c u are an international student, you will love it. In Nov. I stayed w/ and international student from Japan, and he said he was SO happy he went there. The multicultural department is great, and very helpful.

Academically, it is the BEST. Even the rep from Brown (upon hearing that I was considering Carleton) said, oh no, hard choice, because he said Brown was the best (I would hope he would say that b/c he works for the college!) and they are always fighting over students with Carleton. Well, Brown lost the fight with me and I chose Carleton. It is awesome. The campus, the facilities, the town, everything is TOP NOTCH.

If you have any specific question about the college, just ask! I will be attending as a freshman next year, but already know about 70 ppl at the college, plus a lot of profs. and just about everyone in the administration office. I wanted to get to know my schools VERY WELL before I picked, and after doing so, CARLETON IS THE BEST. I only ended up applying to Carleton and Brown (after starting my search Junior year, I ruled out many schools—MIT, Caltech, etc).

They really want to help the students there. They want everyone to move on to the best grad schools or into the best jobs (and that school has MAJOR connections with MAJOR players in the world-o-jobs). They do everything they can to HELP you succeed. It isn’t you against the school (a description I have heard for EVERY IVY and most major schools). It is you and THEM working together to better yourself.

By Bigbigboy (Bigbigboy) on Sunday, April 13, 2003 - 11:09 am: Edit

to Heartbroken,
Do u really get a full ride scholarship to IWU?
Cuz on their website, they say the best financial aid for international student are 2 full tuition awards. I am really confused here. Can u psot your stats here?

By Heartbroken (Heartbroken) on Sunday, April 13, 2003 - 09:56 pm: Edit

thanks for your inputs gianscolere and cscourneen.

bigbigboy - well only two applicants every year are eligible for the full 29K award and i was one of winners. i don't know if i shoudl tell you this since it would pretty much give away my identity but ok here's details. basically their tuition is 29,000 per year and initially their basic offer was 19,000 but i also earned the presidents scholarship award which is worth $10,000 and only given to two entering international students every year. this award is only awarded to international students and not domestic students so only two students per year are eligible for this award. this in addition to my basic aid package mustered just enough for the full 29k and actually gave me some money left over for whatever i wanted. i really love illinois-weslyan for their persistance as well their interest in me (3 express-urgent air-mails in two weeks). it was a hard decision to pass up that excellent institution. had carleton not admitted me, i would have taken IWU over any canadian university.

By Bigbigboy (Bigbigboy) on Monday, April 14, 2003 - 07:22 am: Edit

Thank you for your information. Well, so u decide to go to Carleton after all. Do you receive any financial aid there? thank you very much.

By Lindsay (Lindsay) on Tuesday, April 15, 2003 - 01:30 pm: Edit

Cscourneen, I have been accepted to Carleton but I just visited 3 classes there and wasn't impressed at all. I love everything else about it, but academics are the most important to me. Please convice me to go there!

By Outsideinsider (Outsideinsider) on Monday, December 29, 2003 - 11:45 pm: Edit

Anyone reading this thread should be aware that two very different schools are being discussed. Heartbroken is writing about Carleton University, which is in Canada. Most of the other posters are writing about Carleton College which is located in southern Minnesota.