Carleton College Top Questions

Very accurate

To some extent. I think everyone at Carleton has some of these aspects within them, but they don't necessarily dominate their persona.

a) True, the majority are unattractive. That's not to say there are zero hot girls, but seeing one is definitely a high point during the day. On the plus side though, there are no dumb-sluts or bimbos here--or the toolbags that come with them. b) The majority are really weird (and not in the funny quirky way; just really really strange). But these students live in the substance-free floors. Never sign up for a sub-free floor...biggest mistake you will ever make! The rest of the people are really smart and laid-back.

Girls are not that attractive, some people are pretty socially awkward, but fun loving and happy. People work hard during the week and have fun on weekends. The campus is fairly green/hippy, but not radical. Kida are definitely quirky.

Not everyone plays frisbee, but most people do or have at some point. I would disagree with the ugly stereotype, but not with the quirky one. I would say that most people at Carleton our nerdy, but each in their own way. For example, for one person stromatolites will make them jump up and down while for another person it will be romantic poetry or gender relations in the US.

See above box.

I would say that it is true for maybe half of the student body, but people come into their own here and really start to become unique, interesting people. Even if someone is too awkward to carry on a normal conversation freshman year, by senior year they probably will be fine.

There's been a big resurgence of J Crew-style kids, for better or worse. The quirky thing still holds true to an extent, but Carleton's a lot more preppy than it presents itself. It probably has something to do with the fact that it's become more need-aware recently.

The frisbee one is.

Yes, although the 'quirky' gets played up a bit much

While not all students here are gorgeous, they are certainly not a pack of ugly people at a liberal arts college. The Bubble is somewhat present, but this could be attributed to the discouragement of personal vehicles as well as the heavy workload that occupies a great amount of free time.

The incoming students every year get better and better looking, so they are working on the unattractive bit. While some athletics are downright horrible, you get that in all division three schools. We do really well in some areas, like tennis, golf, and cross country. As for partying...well, we do study hard, but we party on the weekdays sometimes too.

Yes but not for everyone, there are a wide range of people here but if you like slightly nerdy crazy people this is definitely a good place to come.

Quite.

Absolutely.

Yes to all the above except hippie, which isn't really true. Minnesota-nice takes some growing into, but it ends up infecting everyone sooner or later (though it does blend interestingly with more east-coast sarcasm).

YES. Carleton is very true to all of it's stereotypes. We are weirdos, and very awkward - but in an awkward intelligent kind of way. Apparently we were voted the ugliest campus by Playboy... I would say this is only sort of true... but I may also be wearing what have come to be known as the "Carleton goggles". Meaning that everyone here seems attractive by comparison to everyone else here... And yes, a lot of us do marry each other.

Generally; we have 1.9 frisbees per student, we are definitely nerdy, and we don't have much time to make ourselves look good

No. There are plenty of hot girls and guys on campus (as if that's hella important), but very few students are solely devoted to work, although most have a strong work ethic. Everyone is very sociable and I believe that the last two stereotypes (fun + easygoing) are basically true.

People are generally pretty intelligent here - a lot of people aren't that "quirky" though

Some people are quirky some of the time, but others would never refer to themselves as quirky. Every student is unique, though.

as stereotypes go, for the general population, yes, but when you look at individuals, not a lot of the time

Yes on all accounts. Dead on.

yes, very much so.

no because everyone looks pretty normal but of course they're outliers in either direction-really attractive or unattractive.

The Carleton norm isn't far from the American one; students should be as many of the following as possible to be valid: heterosexual, male, white, upper middle class or wealthier and (at this College) atheist. Some students are 'quirky' - others are really bothered by the label of 'absurd' that the school seems to have to apply to pluralism in the student body. Certainly, many more students than I would have imagined have social and communication difficulties - calling these students 'quirky' instead of 'nerds' is an attempt to politely mask their (at times) bizarre behavior. Carleton students are not intellectually curious - they are interested in finding better rhetoric to support the ideas they will not challenge. Confrontation of this close-mindedness rarely occurs in the classroom, and is almost impossible to ensure occurs outside of the curriculum. Most Carleton students consider themselves liberal but do not investigate the privilege and elitism that come with said label. Most students consider themselves very accepting of others, though there are unspoken rules as to what cannot be accepted and what must/should be 'tolerated.'

For the most part, I feel this portrayal is accurate. The school is challenging, and I feel that sometimes there is pressure to never leave the library. Groups don't interact quite as well as the administration would have us believe they do, but that's not to say they don't interact; they do. Overcoming roles that have been built throughout one's life is hard. Carleton helps break these boundaries down, but absolute success I feel is impossible. The students are quirky, and intelligent, for sure. Some did want to go to an ivy, but there's no one I know who is resentful about not. Most feel Carleton was the best decision of their lives.

Well, the "ugly, but smart" thing is fairly true. Have you SEEN those Olie biddies?!

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.

The (non-stereo)typical Carleton student: 1. Does not give a damn what he or she looks like unless there is the possibility of impressing the opposite sex - what circumstances this includes depends on the person. For some people this is all day, every day; for others, Sayles dances; and some people really just don't care, ever. 2. Uh, yep. 3. Will surprise you with intelligence, talents and experiences you never knew they had. After knowing someone for months, you might discover that they took 12 APs (and passed them all), or taught English in China every summer since 9th grade, or spent a year in Israel before coming to college. It's easy to forget how amazing your fellow students really are.

I think every Carleton student has a little bit of nerd in them. In some it's big and some it's small, but everyone at Carleton likes to learn to some degree. Maybe not every subject or all the time, but there is a passion for knowledge, so in that way we are nerds. But in general there are students that meet every stereotype, some that meet some, and some that defy all of them. Everyone is unique and you can't classify everyone together.

As a generalization, yes (besides the ugly stereotype- i think there are many naturally attractive people here who just don't care to put on layers of makeup etc.!). I think you do run into many studious intellectuals and environmentalists etc. but there's a definite danger in labeling everyone as that way! You still find very different groups of people, some more "academic" or "stylish" or "sporty" than others. Although there's a certain amount of truth in our stereotypes, it's really not fair to put a label to the entire student body. Besides, I take no shame in those stereotypes- Carleton is comprised of many bright and "liberal" students and I'm proud to be apart of that.

yes on everything except rich

To a certain extent, yes. Everyone at Carleton seems to have something that makes them unique but I don't think the students get enough credit for attractiveness. With that said, its still pretty bad. The majority of students are very nice but I have been noticing an increasing number of people with rude tenancies.

As far as Carleton itself, it is an amazing school with helpful people. I find that a lot of people are down to earth and comfortable with themselves. Some focus too much on grades, but many people try to be well-rounded as well. Like anywhere, you can find people you find to be annoying also.

Sort of. Carleton is for the most part a harmonious, accepting community - which is wonderful - but it has conflicts and social divisions like any place else, some starker than others.

pretty much.

To some extent, yes. I would say that just about every student here is smart and almost all are hardworking, but I would disagree with some of the other stereotypes I listed. I think Carleton students put less stress on physical appearance than students do at other places, so it's not necessarily that we're not attractive- more just that we are more real, or don't try as hard. There is definitely a large liberal population here, and many, many students are involved in some kind of progressive social movement. Carleton students do drink a lot on weekends, but we tend to be responsible and maintain our limits (most of the time).

Somewhat, a lot of students are too busy and stressed to dress up everyday. We like to wear sweats around, as everyone is open to what we wear. Carleton is very open minded.

I would say that Carleton student is most definitely involved. Everyone I know is in some club, in a performance or advocating some point of view through a publication. In general Carleton students are very cooperative in terms of academics. People really aren't concerned about how they are doing in reference to their classmates. The campus leans to left, with a large emphasis on sustainability issues, however conservatives and moderates though they are not many are not afraid to voice their views as well. As far as being socially awkward I don't think this is necessarily true. I think all college students are a little awkward. Also I do not think Carleton students are notably less attractive than the boarder college student population. I think it is fair to saw that we are less concerned with looks, meaning people don't try very hard, but that doesn't mean Carleton students are literally less attractive.