Carleton and Macalester: How similar?

Maize_amp_Blue
Mon, 21 Jul 2008 11:28:29 +0000

D just graduated from Carleton. Not intending to be picky, but a quarter system and a trimester system are different in academic focus. Carleton runs on the trimester system, each 10 week class covers a traditional 15 week semester curriculum (one of many explanations for the academic pressure). Students normally take 3 courses each term, the equivalent of 9 semester courses per year, and by Carleton’s calculation, 30 semester credits.

Course Load: Carleton’s academic year is comprised of three 10-week-long terms. Students normally carry 18 credits per term. They may take as few as 12 and, on occasion, as many as 22, or, with special permission, 24, although such heavy course loads are discouraged. Students usually carry three courses each term. The standard course unit is six credits; for purposes of transfer evaluation six credits are comparable to three and one-third semester hours. Although all standard courses carry equal credit, laboratory courses at Carleton are equivalent to those in other colleges that grant five semester hours.

[Carleton College Academic Catalog: Academic Regulations](http://www.carleton.edu/campus/registrar/catalog/AcademicRegulations.html)

ChiSquare (love the sn): You can “buy” something with IB/AP. Carleton grants up to 36 units in AP/IB credits (2/3 of a year).[Carleton College Academic Catalog: Prior Credits](Prior Credits Policy | Academic Catalog | Carleton College)