FWIW, my D back in the day chose not to apply to Colby. She ended up attending Bates in Maine. She wasn’t particularly outdoorsy, though many people were, and it wasn’t an issue. Not everyone will be doing winter sports. She applied to Carleton (was waitlisted) because she just really liked the people, who were as you described, and thought the campus and town were lovely. It all had a very nice feel to it. Carleton’s trimester system can feel quite intense to some students and I think it is a factor your child should strongly consider.
Both schools have similar endowments and are well funded. Both have excellent resources. I don’t think Colby has an advantage over Carleton in that regard.
I do think Carleton’s location is good. It’s not far to a major airport and it’s not hard to get into Minneapolis. Colby is rural, though Portland isn’t that far away.
Based on all you have said here, it seems she is more drawn to Carleton. She shouldn’t ignore that in favor of new buildings.
A word on GES… some students really thrive when they start their college experience in a program like this, but others struggle. It can be hard for some to break into friendship groups when coming on campus a semester after others have been there. No doubt though she will make friends while abroad.
Thank you for this message. Our daughter is waiting to hear back from a couple of students about the trimester system. She is a little worried about it but I think she’s thinking that if she’s surrounded by hard-working peers, they’ll all just get through the intensity together?
Carleton wouldn’t have admitted her if they didn’t think she could handle it
I do think kids adjust. Carleton has a very high retention rate, so it can’t be that bad. In fact, Colby’s retention rate is slightly lower, so I think the academic calendar might not be a huge factor in the long run. Both are really great colleges so if she still struggles, maybe she goes with her gut.
Carleton College’s trimester system is similar to that at Dartmouth College as students typically take just 3 courses per term. This allows the student to focus on three subjects/courses rather than 5 in the traditional semester system.
Trimesters are great because there is little to no dead time. Also, courses are just 10 weeks so time with a bad prof can be minimal.
The rumored intensity of the trimester system may come from schools like Northwestern University (quarter system which is same as trimester) where students are expected to take 4 courses per quarter, but many undertake additional work and almost every student is heavily involved in at least one extracurricular.
In my view, the 3 course per term trimester system is the best option offered by US colleges & universities due to ability to focus on just 3 courses and because there is no wasted time.
Maine is not ritzier than the Midwest (or at least the part of Maine where Colby is located – it’s nowhere near Kennebunkport, etc.). Waterville is definitely not ritzy.
You all missed the point which I discussed later - I’m talking about the things kids do - ski, coastal etc. the student body will have more money and more expensive places to spend it.
I have spent a lot of time in Maine, and I’m telling you that most of the state is not ritzy. Tourist areas in Maine (outside of a few areas on the coast, which are not close to Waterville) do not have the same ritzy feel as tourist areas in, say, Colorado. Probably best to leave this be, but comparing Waterville/Northfield to their two closest big cities (Portland/Twin Cities), there’s a lot more to do – and more accessibly, with more variety – via Carleton than via Colby, especially for a student who is not outdoorsy.
Carleton may be her place. Or Colby may be. My kid went to the latter, so here is my 2 cents worth.
A girl from our LPS went to Colby starting in GES and loved it. DS (a BS kid who also attended Colby) met her on campus and made the connection that they were from the same place. He noted that because the GES kids tended to get housing vacated by juniors going abroad for the spring, they tended to end up with better living accommodations than most freshmen.
Yes, Colby has lots of outdoorsy kids. My kid (yes, a skier) became more interested in those activities as the years went by but was never super engaged in that as he was more interested in music. The school offers lots of opportunities for kids to explore these - and no better place than Maine!- , and my sense is that many kids take advantage of these. But many don’t.
As for the BS and preppy crowd – we noticed them at every admitted student day and even tours junior year. Many come from the same towns, played sports together, went to camp together, summer in the same places, or currently go to school together. Although DS went to a BS, he knew nobody. Personally, I attributed the obvious presence of that group to their excitement to see a familiar face in a new environment. My kid’s friends whom I met were mostly from LPS in MA and ME.
So if your D feels like she can find her tribe there, odds are excellent she can. By design, the student body is much more diverse in terms of types of kids than it was even a decade ago, when DS started. At the same time, location alone will always make it a magnet for the outdoorsy Maine-loving types, who also tend to be of a certain demographic. It’s hard to say which would be better for her.
Reading this, my guess is she could be happy at either. And neither is a bad option!
Each Carleton course is equivalent to 5 quarter credits (3+1/3 semester credits), so the workload of three courses is 15 credits worth. I.e. students normally take three “larger” courses at a time than at schools where four 4-credit or five 3-credit courses are the usual course load for a quarter or semester.
Whether any given student prefers fewer “larger” courses or more “smaller” courses in the same quarter or semester depends on the student.
Using three 10-week quarters is less common than two 15-week semesters, probably because it means extra administrative overhead of scheduling classes and such. Quarters may have been chosen at some schools with aspirations of year round instruction with an equal length summer quarter.
Yeah, it is worth checking with quarter/trimester institutions what that does to the overall academic calendar. Carleton is sorta typical in that it has a relatively late start–looks like New Students Week this year starts 9/8, classes 9/14. They are then on break from 11/24 to 1/3, which is VERY long. But then after spring break, it is 3/39 to 6/12, which is a very late finish.
I was in a similar situation with a law school on a quarter system, and actually was able to make it work in my favor. But you might sometimes be doing things a little differently from students on a more traditional semester system with associated calendar.
Interesting… getting through three courses in ten weeks sounds intense. Do the classes meet for longer weekly sessions as opposed to classes at schools with semester systems?
For some jobs, the late start isn’t an issue, and the Carleton students can stay through August, when most college students are heading back to campus.
Some internships have strict start dates. Carleton profs are pretty flexible about letting students take finals a week early or sending the final exam to the internship to be proctored there. It does require students to be prepared early for the end of the semester, but they make it work.
Re your question about summer jobs, amongst the many college students I’ve encountered through my work, kids who end college a bit later in the calendar year don’t seem to struggle to find work. In fact, it might be an advantage to start the academic year later because while many students head back to college in mid August, employers love having a few bodies around to handle things through August or even Labor Day weekend. I honestly don’t think the academic year is much of a factor in terms of jobs and internships.
3x5 is 15 credits, which is supposed to be 45 hours per week of work, including both in-class and out-of-class time. 4x4 is 16 credits, which is supposed to be 48 hours per week of work, and 5x3 is 15 credits, which is supposed to be 45 hours per week of work.
3x5 schools include Carleton, Dartmouth, and UC Santa Cruz.
4x4 schools include Colby and a very large percentage of other schools, on both the quarter and semester systems.
Some colleges have courses with varying numbers of credits, although many of these have a majority of courses with a specific credit value. For example, UCLA (on the quarter system) has courses with varying numbers of credits, but 4-credit courses are the most common, so that it mostly resembles a 4x4 school.
Some colleges with varying number of credits courses can be hybrids for some majors. For example, UCB mechanical engineering is like 4x4 in the first two years, but 5x3 in the last two years. UCB is on the semester system and is mostly like 4x4.
My two cents is I think it is mostly a pace issue, rather than a sheer volume issue. This is great for some kids because they can actually get a bit bored sometimes with more drawn out classes, and appreciate two opportunities to change over schedules.
But I think it helps to have strong time management skills, and not be the sort of person who might sometimes get distracted for a while and then plan to catch up later. Of course those are not really the best habits anyway, but they might be a particularly poor fit for a quarter/trimester schedule.
Jan Plan is prettty terrific. There are classes that involve travel. There are also classes that require a lot of collaboration ( jazz improv, theater, a business simulation) when normal schedules would be a challenge. Or ones that just need huge chunks of time at one time. And it’s just a nice way to mix it up.
Thank you all for your advice! Our daughter has decided to attend Carleton. It was not an easy decision— she loved so many things about so many colleges! Thank you again. Your input had a significant impact on our process.
