al_tassadar

which one would you prefer? I really like both of them and I want to do pre-med. How do they compare in terms of:

pre-med program
student body
campus
location
prestigiousness (not that i care that much)
selectivity

thanks!

world changer

I'd prefer Haverford, personally. Simply because of the more convenient location.

-Both will be fine for pre-med, in terms of academics. Both are prestigious.

-Haverford has a more convenient location. HC is within the Philadelphia metro, not far at all from the city (about 20 minutes). Carelton, on the other hand, is in a small town, about an hour from the city.

-Student bodies are similar, but Carleton is known for being more off-beat and eccentric. Ultimate frisbee is big there, too. Haverford is known for being intellectual, but still very balanced (it's considered the more "normal" school of the two).

-Both are highly selective, but Carleton is slightly more so, I believe.

Good luck!

woohoo!!!!!!

i actually just decided between haverford and carleton!

Ultimatley, i chose haverford...i'm so, so, so excited to go. i'll try to answer your questions and tell you why i chose haverford. (both are, of course, some of the finest LACs in the world.)

--Both Ford and Carleton are very strong in the sciences/premed. At haverford you get a bachelors in science which is cool (not sure if the same is true at carleton.) comparing pre med programs at each of these schools is rather futile-both are strong with very high acceptance rates into med school.

--Haverford is significantly smaller then carleton which means there is more of a "community feel" to the campus. everyone was SO comfortable with eachother. after every conversation that i had on campus, i thought "wow, i could be friends with this person!"

At Carleton, i just didn't click with the students. i think world changer is correct when he says that carleton is "known for being more off-beat and eccentric."

--Haverford's campus felt smaller to me then carleton's. all of the buildings were clustered together and the grass/trees/duck pond surrounded the buildings. It is gorgeous.

Carleton's campus is larger. the buildings are more spread apart. I think the arboretum (sp?) at carleton there is a forest right next to the campus. it is gorgeous too.

--philidelphia>northfield. any day of the week. sorry, in this category carleton is the loser. however, i don't think location should play a huge role in your decision. it is a nice bonus though.

--carleton is probably more well known simply because there are about twice as many carleton alums then hav alums. carleton is bigger then haverford. that said, remember that when your looking for a job, you can probably count on getting interviews and such from bryn mawr and swarthmore alums in addition to haverford people. the tri-co is pretty awesome.

--both are very selective. i think haverford is slightly more selective just because it's on the east coast, i could be wrong.

really think about the Honor Code if you apply to haverford. it is a large part of life on campus. some of the college books i read said people felt suffocated by the honor code. personally i love it.

good luck!

ps: sorry for the spelling and grammatical crap. i've been studying for the ib bio test alllll day.

beanieboo

one of my best friends is just finishing up her frosh year at haverford. she LOVES it. she loves the honor code, the community feel, the lack of real rules, the "nerdy" kids. she says monday-thursday afternoon everyone works their A**ES off. then the weekend its liz a zoo if you wnat it to be, or there are tons of more reserved people who just chill out. i put nerdy in quotations because the school is a lot of smart jocks. dont take jocks the wrong way because i just mean it in the sense that A LOT of people do one or multiple varsity sports. shes varisty bball and lax and the other girl from my HS who went is soccer and lax.

i cant wait to go visit her next year. i stopped by there at the end of march to pick her up for easter and liked the little bit of campus that i saw. definetly the most unique college experiences i have heard from all of my friends. customs week sounds AWESOME. hahah im kind of in love with her school. everyone was like wow, shes so smart why is she going to a school that noones heard of. but thennnn they look it up and are like wow! if i had known about it 2 years ago i probably wouldve applied.

all that being said. you REALLY have to feel comfortable with the honor code.
well this just kind of turned into an endorsement for haverford, sorry! oh and about the city.. she says the only time shes ever been there is to travel to come home. so while its there, theres so much to do on campus that you dont even need it

mcharlesblock

Hi, I live literally a two-minutes walk from Haverford College, and in terms of surrounding area, in my opinion, Haverford wins hands down. Haverford Township itself is really cool, and there are a couple shopping squares with stores and restaurants surrounding Haverford College, not to mention that you're close to Philadelphia.

1190

Both great schools. More similarities than differences in academics, prestige, selectivity. Principal differences are found in campus climate/setting/culture:

1. By standards of LACs, Carleton is sized pretty middle of the pack, Haverford is much smaller. Carleton has a total of 2,005 students enrolled/Haverford 1,168.

2. Haverford's setting is east coast upper middle-class suburban and offers fairly easy access to Philadelphia. Carleton's is historic small town (around 20,000) with Minneapolis and St. Paul about 45 minutes away.

3. Carleton gets the all-important frisbee nod with national championships under their belt and top ten men's and women's rankings yearly.

4. Unlike Haverford, Carleton has a football team, albeit one more likely to win kudos off the gridiron.
https://apps.carleton.edu/athletics/...tory_id=323631
Carleton College: Varsity Athletics: Rushford Flood Recovery Photo Slideshow

The (cough) cheerleading squad (cough) similarly wins top rankings (for creativity, certainly not for synchronized tumbling routines).
http://apps.carleton.edu/voice/PDFSt...&type=features


Pay a visit to both schools. Honestly, nothing you read here (or elsewhere) will come nearly as close to helping you in making a decision.