Like any institution, Carleton College has its strength and weaknesses. For my part, I believe the strength of Carleton College is its professors. They are very approachable and always willing to help any student. I have witnessed professors writing strong recommendations for students they hardly know. As for weaknesses, in the past, I believed the school administration was not very sympathetic to low-income students. However, this appears to be changing as Carleton College's New Access Scholarship, which will be implemented during the 2008-2009 school year, will be a major help to low-income students. A continuing weakness of Carleton is a lack of school pride for sporting events. There seems to be a large divide between the student athletes and the rest of the student body. One experience that I will never forget is the Halloween fight over the bust of Friedrich Schiller. At Carleton College, there is an ongoing competition to capture a bust of Schiller. Often, the group that has the bust will bring "Schiller" to special occasions such as the Halloween Concert in 2005. The competition to grab Schiller lead to an all-out tussle (not an excessively violent tussle though) in the street, which was broken up by Northfield police.

One thing that any student interested in Carleton needs to know is that the workload at Carleton College is as great or greater than any institution in the United States. Yet, what I find amazing about Carleton academics are that the students here are not overly competitive. There is very little grade-grubbing. Students don't "freak out" about every paper grade. However, my favorite part of Carleton academics is the openness of Carleton professors. It is not uncommon to have class at a professor's house or to meet their families.

In my personal experience, the Carleton College campus has been very supportive and understanding of religious preference or sexual orientation. I do feel that Carleton College could put more effort into incorporating minorities and low-income students into the rest of the student body. At Carleton, minorities tend to hang out with minorities; and, low-income students hang out with low-income students. The best part of Carleton's study body is their political awareness. Almost everyone votes on election days!

Hands down the most popular activity at Carleton College is Frisbee. As the college president said on my first day at Carleton College, "It is our goal to teach everyone how to toss a Frisbee." For more academic activities, there is a convocation every Friday, where a respected individual gives a speech. Sometime, these individuals are quite notable such as Sally Ride. Another important note on Carleton is that it is tradition-laden. Whether it seniors blowing bubbles from the balcony of the chapel during opening convocation, set-up your roommate night, Midwinter Ball, DVD Fest, Halloween Concert, Midnight breakfast during finals, or Spring Concert, tradition has a large place at Carleton College.

The most common stereotypes about Carleton and Carleton students are that they are unattractive, nerdy, and elitist.

The stereotypes of Carleton students being unattractive and nerdy are overstated and do not accurately reflect Carleton's student body. On the other hand, I would say there is some truth to the elitist stereotype. When my brother was visiting from the University of St. Thomas, several Carleton College students belittled his education.