push!

Which one is better and which one is more prestigious?

CG1290

I hope that prestige is not a large factor in your decision, but both colleges are fairly equal in prestige. I know students at CMC who turned down Carleton and students at Carleton who turned down CMC. CMC is better for Econ, Govt, and IR, and Carleton is better for liberal arts. However, both are great colleges. The biggest differences between the two are the location/weather and the social environment. Carleton has the reputation of being very liberal, while CMC is socially balanced more or less.

MNKeeper

I can't speak to the individual departments at the colleges, however, I can speak to the overall feel of the campuses. Carleton students seem to be more laid back than people at CMC and definitely more liberal. I also found Carleton students to be really friendly when I visited my friend there.

I should also note that one of my friends at Pomona transferred out of Carleton last year (mostly for financial reasons...overall he liked Carleton, but he also said Carleton has a lack of diversity) and he really dislikes CMC. I'm sure there might be some people who could like both CMC and Carleton, but overall the vastly different feels of each of the campuses makes it more likely that someone would much prefer one over the other.

It's best if you can visit each school while students are around and see which fits you best.

bumblebeebee

Both are great colleges and are about equal in terms of prestige. For Claremont you have other schools surrounding (Pomona, Mudd etc.) so that might be something extra for you to consider. I heard that people at Claremont are really preprofessional and its econ is really top notch. I heard that people at Carleton are extremely friendly. It's also considered as one of the best LACs in Midwest.

Pick your choice. Or on a second thought, why not apply to both?

FauxNom

This is a gross generalization, but for kids from my area, the ones who go to Carleton tend to be very smart ultimate frisbee players who are exploring various intellectual interests, and CMC attracts the debater, politico, overtly ambitious type of high achiever. I think Carleton is more similar to Pomona than it is to CMC. As to which is better, it depends on what you are looking for in a college.

okgal

My d is going to CMC but spent 3 weeks at a summer program at Carleton with kids who were mostly applying there (some are going). She liked it but keep in mind Carleton is in Minnesota in a very small town outside a relatively small city. So if you are looking to be near a thriving urban env, that is a consideration.
Weather of course if a factor and is very different.
The kids are different. I'm not sure about the ultimate frisbee thing, but it attracts a lot of midwest kids and she felt they were very plain (in a good way) and relatively naive in their social experience whereas the CMC students tend to be super involved in stuff and pretty skilled socially. More into sports at CMC I would say. That said, she loved the academics at Carleton (real professors taught the session) thought they were very caring, etc. and felt challenged and engaged.