I have 0 clue about Carleton. But Hamilton’s location is fantastic imo. We actually liked it significantly better than most of the SLACs we visited including Williams, Amherst, and Colgate. The college itself is a little isolated, but it is beautiful. You are within 15 minutes of New Hartford, NY (A very nice suburb), and Utica. They are both nice areas with plenty of things to do. To me, Hamilton’s campus was the perfect balance of nature and access. I would describe it as a suburban campus, not rural. When we visited, we stayed around 10 minutes from campus and went out to dinner. There were many dining options, shopping centers, etc.
Hamilton also has the Jitney, which continuously runs from the college to town everyday.
I can confirm this is not a thing at all. The architectural style is different, and light side and dark side are used as shorthand for where buildings are located, and that’s it. Students live wherever they get housing and they take classes where the buildings are.
I can’t speak to Carleton & Northfield: Hamilton students go into Clinton (usually via someone’s car or via jitney) to get groceries and run other errands, but it’s certainly not a destination, and students are generally not walking there - because Hamilton is on a hill and Clinton is on the bottom of the hill. Students do leave campus for events in New Hartford & Utica.
These questions do make me wonder - are you attending accepted student days at each school? These are both great schools, and given that there are some differences - trimester v. semester, midwest v. NY, etc. - this feels like a much, much better way to get a picture than the pieces of information you’re going to get here. (I’m also noting you have only a couple of days left, so that ship may have sailed.)
I assumed, and I’m sorry to hear it. Unfortunately unless you can find a number of people who are deeply familiar with student life at both campuses, I think it’s really hard to know if there is a difference around something like “unified, supportive campus.” You’ll clearly get a great ES education at either and either will open up lots of opportunities for you, whether it’s an academic path or an industry path. Also we’re all assuming the financial situation is approximately the same - certainly if it differs significantly, that should be a factor.
It’s likely going to have to be your gut - but, good news, that’s gotten you pretty far! Good luck.
Carleton abuts the town of Northfield. Students can easily walk into town within 5-10 minutes from campus. The town has a few coffee shops, a few bakeries, an acai shop, restaurants, an independent book store, and cute stores. There is a bus (hourly?) that takes students from campus to the Target, which is about 2-3 miles away. It’s a cute town - I would say the only downside is a dearth of hotel rooms, but that will impact your parents more than you!
Okay, it seems roughly equal numbers of unhappy students are returning to both colleges.
OP, my own child’s perspective: She loved Carleton and its location on the edge of town. She applied. She did not like Hamilton and felt it was too far from the town. She didn’t apply. So, a sample of one and probably not very important.
I suggest you spend a bit more time on each college’s website and socials. Look at Niche to see what students have to say about their college. At this stage, I think you have to go with the school you feel more drawn to because you really can’t go wrong with either. @SaraNT