It is such an interesting choice at this point!
As a parent who now will say things like, “You are choosing a school, so you should probably choose based on which college is the best at being a school,” I have a real bias in favor of LACs generally, and then academicky LACs like Carleton even more so.
But then I remember, wait, you kids are in fact choosing the whole college experience, with academics being part of it, but not all of it.
And then I do think some kids just have a greater comfort level with a better-known university. Not entirely irrationally, like I think a lot of otherwise fairly sophisticated working professionals have very little familiarity with LACs. I think the top LACs and their graduates know how to get around that issue, but the factual premise is not inaccurate.
In that sense, it is actually a testament to what they have to offer that an LAC like Carleton, which my S24 literally had no idea existed when we started, and none of his close friends even applied to, could actually make his final two. And then I know from our visit that there are some kids who are just thrilled and will in fact make Carleton their choice. So they don’t really need all these kids to think that way, just enough.
Anyway, kinda rambling, but this does feel familiar to me. And I truly believe he can’t make a wrong decision.