I_need_advice

What are the major differences between these two colleges? I know that they are both located in Northfield.

OleWannabe88

Pretty much the only similarity the two schools have is that they are located in the same town. Many from out of state will visit both as they are so close, but the type of student each school attracts is vastly different.

To put it bluntly, the majority of students at St. Olaf are sheltered white kids from the suburbs, mainly upper-middle class, who are generally fairly liberal by midwestern standards, but are still generally somewhat conservative. About 60% of the students come from the Midwest, whereas at Carleton, around 80% are from out-of-state. Carleton tends to attract more of the "hippie" type crowd. The stereotype is that it's really easy to tell a St. Olaf girl from a Carleton girl based on her fashion style and how blonde she is :-)

The St. Olaf campus is officially "dry" (though we like to call it "damp"), the Carleton campus is not, but the policy at St. Olaf isn't enforced very harshly. It's basically evolved into a policy to keep parties under control and to keep drinking out of the hallways.

Academically, Carleton may be technically stronger, but St. Olaf has gained significant ground in the last few years. Our biology and math departments have started gaining national recognition, and a group of Physics majors recently took first place at the annual Rube Goldberg engineering competition at Purdue (we were the only liberal arts school to ever enter, and it was our first attempt). We also have an incredibly strong music department (ever heard of the St. Olaf Choir).

Both colleges are committed to sustainability-we each have a wind turbine; St. Olaf uses the energy on campus and Carleton sells it to the Excel company. Carleton wants to put in a second one in the near future. Both colleges use the food service provider Bon Appetit, which is committed to getting as many products locally as possible and encouraging sustainability in their cooking.

If you have more specific questions let me know; these are just some broad generalities off the top of my head. Basically, both schools are great, they just generally tend to attract very different types of students.

bingle

A Northfield resident with family that have attended and worked at both says there's less difference between the two colleges and their student bodies than people in either institution like to think

r-crispie

Good summary, OW88. My impression of St Olaf is that it has a high performing fraction in the math and science departments e.g. D's bf has at least one 800 and started in a more prestigious school. Olaf's minor religion related requirements may be a factor for some.

Carleton is generally selective. The personalities, and schedules, of the schools are quite different and don't seem to mix much despite occasional attempts by the colleges themselves.

I had two out of state students with three years overlap between the two colleges, there was little interaction with either of the other's college. They supported each other logistically when the other's college was shutdown for holidays or summer, probably had dinner togther 1-3 times a month, and pooled resources.

Both are good schools dedicated to their students.