<p>I don’t know how long it’s been since jack63 came to Carleton, but things have changed because I have experienced none of what you have mentioned above in my years here and I’ll try to address these things mentioned above as much as possible.</p>
<p>Current student here. Hi and happy Friday! :)</p>
<p>Regarding sciences: Swarthmore students probably assumed you were coming here for the sciences because Carleton is quite science-heavy, abnormally so for a LAC. It doesn’t mean that humanities departments are weak (in fact, the political science and economics departments are gaining a lot of ground with sophomore major declarations a couple of weeks ago) but that a lot of people just happen to declare majors in the sciences (and the science departments are fantastic of course). Biology is the most popular major on campus and Computer Science is catching up quickly. Other popular majors include Chemistry, Math/Stats, and Physics.</p>
<p>Regarding “complacency”: I think it’s rare to find complacent Carleton students and I would argue that Carleton can have a political atmosphere if you’re looking for it – if not, it’s not in your face and you don’t have to deal with it if you don’t want to. “Minnesota nice,” as I have experienced it at Carleton and in Northfield, basically just means that people are genuinely nice. People will be polite, have manners, and will honestly care about how you are (I’m always taken aback when I come here after a break at home – here, people actually care and yes, the cashier will start a conversation with you if you seem like you don’t mind having a conversation). Minnesota nice does NOT mean that people don’t debate here. In fact, people do. A lot in class and quite a bit outside of class too (though this kind of depends on the friends you have). We debate, but being Minnesota nice means realizing that when we disagree, we disagree with an idea and not with the person.</p>
<p>Regarding social issues: I think people at Carleton talk more about social issues more than they talk about political issues (unless it’s an election year) and the great thing about Carleton is that students actually do things about social issues. We have fundraisers, we participate in protests, and we hold campus-wide events that promote awareness of the social issue at hand. This is reflected in the type of Convocation speakers we bring to campus every year (you can see the archives here: <a href=“https://apps.carleton.edu/events/convocations/audio_video/”>https://apps.carleton.edu/events/convocations/audio_video/</a> ).</p>
<p>Hope this helps and happy weekend!</p>