<p>To my way of thinking, choosing a college to inculcate “values, character, leadership, ethics” would leave one with a very narrow range of schools perhaps consisting of the military academies and colleges with very strong religious affliliations. Fine institutions if that is what you want out of higher education. But I think those personality traits are much more likely to have been formed in the home environment before DS or DD heads off to college as a legal adult at age 18. I looked up the definition of “Minnesota nice” on wikipedia the other day, and think it has relevance to what one hears publicly pronounced at Carleton (and is one of the reasons S2 chose the school). Here’s what wikipedia says:</p>
<p>Minnesota nice is the stereotypical behavior of people born and raised in Minnesota to be courteous, reserved, and mild-mannered. The cultural characteristics of Minnesota nice include a polite friendliness, an aversion to confrontation, a tendency toward understatement, a disinclination to make a fuss or stand out, emotional restraint, and self-deprecation.</p>