Carleton College Top Questions

Ultimate frisbee and Rugby are the two most popular sports, because those are our two champion sports right now. We also have good soccer teams. And a bunch of other teams that are fun to play on or support. I'm on the newspaper, I play women's ice hockey, I am involved in theater, I am also involved with the gender and sexuality center on campus, and me and my roommate have a radio show. I love being involved with very different groups because I get to meet more people. I've met my best friends through different groups on campus. The dating scene is nice. There are a couple fun campus-wide mixers, like "screw date" where your roommate picks a blind date for you. A lot of people meet in classes or groups and start dating. There are a lot of long-term relationships at Carleton, but there are also as many one night stands. Parties happen every Friday and Saturday, and sometimes more. But not everyone parties, and not everyone parties every night. I enjoy quiet nights in with friends as much as loud nights out about campus. If I'm awake on Tuesday, at 2am, me and my roommate would probably be in our room, watching anime with a couple of friends, eating domino's pizza, and claiming that we have, in fact, gotten some work done in the past couple of hours.

Carleton students are usually pretty involved on campus. Most of them are involved in several activities that demonstrate a wide variety of interests. Some popular activities include all levels of ultimate frisbee (Carleton has teams at all levels from nationally competitive to soft-core intramural), Ebony II (a student-run just-for-fun dance group available to anyone), and KRLX (the Carleton radio station--anyone can make their own weekly show). There are tons of other activities to be involved in from Mustache Club to Scrabble in Interesting Places Club. Plus, if you don't find something you want to do, you can start your own group. In addition to regular activities, there are always concerts, movies, and other random events happening to entertain you. Of course, there are always parties on the weekends, if that's what you want to do. There are no frats or sororities so there isn't really a social group you have to belong to in order to be in on the social gatherings. One big Carleton tradition is Heaven and Hell, a dance party held in Evans dorm on two levels so one room is "Heaven" and one is "Hell." Everyone dresses up and gets sorted to one or the other, but you can move between the two freely. If you're not into partying, there isn't pressure to participate and there's plenty of other things going on. It can be inconvenient to get out of Northfield unless you have your own car. There are buses that run a couple times a day but you have to plan ahead of time. Starting this year there is also WeCar, which is a community car you can rent after paying a membership fee, but it's fairly pricey and not usually the most convenient option. Luckily, if you really do need a way to get somewhere, you can usually find someone who's willing to let you borrow their car or drop you off on their way to something else. Plus, you don't usually need to get off-campus... there's so much going on that most people don't have time to think about getting into the cities. There are also activity buses that go a few times a term to plays, movies, and other events happening in the cities, so don't think you'll miss out on those things! It's pretty easy to get your own bus to go to an event, as long as you invite the whole campus. :)

Carleton students are usually pretty involved on campus. Most of them are involved in several activities that demonstrate a wide variety of interests. Some popular activities include all levels of ultimate frisbee (Carleton has teams at all levels from nationally competitive to soft-core intramural), Ebony II (a student-run just-for-fun dance group available to anyone), and KRLX (the Carleton radio station--anyone can make their own weekly show). There are tons of other activities to be involved in from Mustache Club to Scrabble in Interesting Places Club. Plus, if you don't find something you want to do, you can start your own group. In addition to regular activities, there are always concerts, movies, and other random events happening to entertain you. Of course, there are always parties on the weekends, if that's what you want to do. There are no frats or sororities so there isn't really a social group you have to belong to in order to be in on the social gatherings. One big Carleton tradition is Heaven and Hell, a dance party held in Evans dorm on two levels so one room is "Heaven" and one is "Hell." Everyone dresses up and gets sorted to one or the other, but you can move between the two freely. If you're not into partying, there isn't pressure to participate and there's plenty of other things going on. It's not too easy to get out of Northfield unless you have your own car. There are buses that run a couple times a day but you have to plan ahead of time. Starting this year there is also WeCar, which is a community car you can rent after paying a membership fee, but it's fairly pricey and not usually the most convenient option. Luckily, if you really do need a way to get somewhere, you can usually find someone who's willing to let you borrow their car or drop you off on their way to something else.

Don't have the time to join a varsity sport but still enjoy competing? Ruty talks about intramural(IM) sports

No frats/sororities is awesome- everyone mostly stays on campus over the weekends, and you can find parties if you want, but there isn't real pressure to do so. Lots of events happen over the weekend on campus, not much in northfield.

I am the treasurer for several different groups on campus. I am most involved with the Carleton Forensics Society, which is a group that participates nationally in parliamentary style debate. With weekly meetings as well as many, many social events, the Carleton debate team is a tight-knit group of friends. I can probably say this holds true to many other groups as well. The dorm life is very social, with many people finding their closest friends on their floor or in the same dormitory their freshman year. This doesn't mean that they don't interact with others, there are many social events that take place between dorms. With a broad range of extracurriculars, students find themselves doing a lot in the Carleton community. There are many different A Capella groups on campus (you can check them out on YouTube if you like), there are many sports events, IM sports, comedy groups, and plays/shows that one can participate in and watch. Probably one of the most popular groups on campus is a group called Ebony II. It is a dance group that everyone (experienced or not) can participate in. Having hundreds of students in its role call, students can dance in many different choreographed dances for the rest of the student body.

The most popular groups on campus are the frisbee teams and the outdoors club. I am the secretary of the outdoors club (CANOE), which offers weekly weekend outing trips to all students. Typical trips are backpacking on the Superior Hiking Trail, canoeing on the Cannon River, etc. Students often leave their doors open. The dating scene is basically nonexistent i.e. consists of the extremes of drunken hookups and long-term relationships. I met my closest friends on my Pre-Frosh canoeing trip/through the outdoors club. 2 a.m. Tuesday: most likely pulling an all-nighter for the five page paper that's due on Wednesday. People usually only party on Friday and Saturday and occasionally on Wednesday (especially in spring).

Crazy weekend and weekday nights. When people aren't studying they are all about going out and having a good time. Carleton has a wet campus so you can drink just about anywhere. Everyone is amazed with how much is allowed at Carleton. This is because with the level of highly intelligent students the school doesn't feel the need to babysit like they do at other schools.

Alright, so it's 2Am on a Tuesday, what am I doing? If it was last year, it probably meant that I was back from a late night at the library (it closes at 1 am) , had meant to go to sleep but was distracted by all the people in the kitchen of my house (in sophmore year I lived in student interest house devoted to student activism) and went to eat chips and hummus with them and discuss classes, friends, relationships, etc. If it was this year I'd probably gotten distracted from sleep by a conversation with my roommate about some strang facet of international news (he loves to find humorous news about obscure parts of the world), talking with the girl across the hall about our Muslims in Modernity reading, or playing guitar hero with my roommate. The campus does have a bit of a work hard party hard atmosphere to it. People generally withhold drinking/partying until the weekends since there's usually too much work before then. Carleton is definitely not a dry campus and while alchohol is the drug of choice, there's a good amount of pot use and a very small harder drug scene as well as a good number of kids who don't drink (I'd say about 10{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} don't drink at all and another 20-30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} only drink very small amounts infrequently). I didn't drink almost all of my freshman year and never had trouble finding things to do. There's a play up almost any weekend, lots of dance parties, student movies, the cookie house (stocked with cookie ingredients to bake your own 24/7), and other happenings. Honestly, I still do a lot of these actvities just with alchohol added. I'd say the basic weekend plan, especially once you've been here a while, is to just hang out with your friends on a weekend, maybe go to a show, throw a party, play some videogames (I'm a big fan of resurrecting old super nintendo games!). Still, there are lots of cool events to look forward to like Spring Concert, mid winter ball, screw your roommate (a giant campus-wide blind date), or the 24 hour show (a play written and rehearsed in 24 hours, then performed). There are of course lots of other traditions and often the best ones are the ones just made up that you get to be in for the first time (like the silent dance party, where everyone downloads the same playlist and dances to it together on the quiet floor of the library). Most trips off campus involve going out for dinner, coffee, or beer though one shouldn't underestimate the fun of doing a road trip to the movie theater a few towns away (you'd be surprised how much more enjoyable a movie is when it takes effort to get to it). The Twin Cities aren't that far away, though it helps to know someone with a car if you want to go. I've really only been up there for school events or as part of a class, though these have allowed me to see some of the great museums and theater in Minneapolis/St. Paul.

It seems like everything on campus is essentially run by students. Exclusions would be our football team (which isn't very good) and some of the student plays, which are class-based. Beyond that, I've never seen any staff beyond security overseeing a student event. KRLX radio is ruled over by students, as is the Cave. It's a good feeling. There are no fraternities or sororities on campus. The closest equivalents to a fraternity might be CUT, our frisbee team, or the Singing Knights, our male acapella group. As a result, social groups form very organically. Often they come out of academic departments, dorm floors, interest houses, music groups, sports groups, etc. Drinking is obviously a part of campus life, but a casual one. It is just as easy for non-drinkers to have a good time on campus as drinkers. Weekends go by very quickly.

no frats/sororities. nightlife generally centered around room parties and school-planned activies. SUMO, the student-run movie organization, is great, and there are cutural trips organized to the Twin cities on a fairly regular basis.

There is a lot of drinking at Carleton on weekends and the administration trusts us to be responsible enough that they tend to not crack-down on underage drinking. That being said, I don't drink and I don't feel any pressure to do so. There are numerous theatrical performances and music gigs to attend, as well as impromptu cookie baking and board games in the lounges. There is no Greek system, so open parties are in no way exclusive. Students are welcoming and you can strike up a random conversation at lunch or in the Libe.

There are so many! Lots of singing and comedy groups. Lots of sports. Depending on the dorm most students leave their doors open. Concerts, dances, plays are often sold out. I wish the sporting event attendence was higher though. There is no greek life.

The dating scene at Carleton is unfortunately minimal. I asked a Junior out on a date once and she looked at me like she didn't undeestand what I wanted. You will either have a long-term relationship, a lot of drunken hook-ups, or nothing. There is not a whole lot of middle ground.

I am not sure what groups/organizations/teams are the most popular at Carleton, but I am involved with the Carleton cross-country, indoor-track, and outdoor-track teams, and have played a couple intramural sports. The cross-country and track teams are very competitive, and I spend around 3 hours at practice every day. Many students leave their doors open during the day because theft does not occur very often at all. A lot of people party on the weekend at Carleton, but there are plenty of things to do if you do not want to party (i.e. going to a movie at Sumo, dances, sporting events, etc.), and if you go to a party, you are certainly not required to or pressured to drink, and it is not looked down upon if you choose not to.

Most people that I know at Carleton are extremely busy because (1) there is so much going on and (2) they want to be; they love learning. I enjoy the myriad lectures on campus each week. There is, in fact, a slot in our Friday schedule for "Convocation"; a period where a well-known speaker gives a lecture to the campus community. Even though this is not a required event, many many students come. The Carleton Student Association (CSA) is quite involved in college policy and a large portion of the student body is dedicated to making the college a better place through student government. On the weekends you can do everything from going to a party, playing a game with friends, doing homework, going to a classical music concert, watching a play, etc. etc. If you choose to go to a party, there is little pressure to drink if you don't want to; but if you want to there is ample opportunity.

The dating scene is scarce: All the good guys are usually taken and the rest are nerds.

I think there is plenty of activities for the non-drinkers: Weekend movie showings, plays, concerts, and dances. And plenty of activities for drinkers: by this, I mean there is no shortage of liqour at Carleton College.

Farm House was the shit when I lived there, but in my experience there's a lot of stuff that has a good reputation, like Schiller and the Holloween Concert, but really it's about the shit that goes on in the arb. KRLX, too, and the CLAP.

Generally, I drink and party from Thursday Night through Monday Night. One thing that I love is Carleton's liberal policy towards drinking. It allows the mentally drained students to have some fun on the weekends.

a fair number of cliques, but also a healthy sense of inter-clique social interaction. people generally have small friend groups, but through clubs and classes and activities you’re always meeting new people. tons of activities.

Some of the best, some of the worst. At times, it can seem as if you are in a really boring small town, as it turns out to be sometimes. Other times it can be really good. The best parties and the most well-attended parties are thrown by upperclassmen, and everyone attends, but there's still a social hierarchy that's dependent on class year.

Pretty good - lenient policies promote good events. An unusually good music scene for rural Minnesota.

Winter sucks for everyone, everyone is really crabby. It's as much as you put into it - you can have an awesome social life, but you can also lock yourself in your room, not meet anybody, and think it's really lame here.

Social life is varied - there's a lot of opportunity to run your own thing. An occasional problem is that everyone is running there own thing, while it may be better if there were fewer activities.

Social life at Carleton is diverse and whatever you want it to be. People support each other's performances and sporting events, they have parties, they play board games, they make cookies, they camp in the arb-- but mostly, people hang out with their friends and do whatever is fun for them. We don't have Greek life, which changes the shape of social life on campus a lot. Carleton students also tend to be extremely active in organizations, clubs and teams. We have lively intramural sports, five frisbee teams, and countless active campus groups. The students do a remarkable job balancing school, social time and extracurriculars without getting totally overburdened.

Possible, and not completely non-existent. You can make fun where you want to. We're not completely devoid of activity.

A lot to do on the weekends. Too much, in fact. A variety of things.

Kind of weak, but it has its great moments

so much fun! The parties are really great and people spend a lot of time outdoors doing fun things like running and playing frisbee and stuff like that. There are not frats/sororities which is nice because then everyone can hang out together and nobody will be excluded. Athletes tend to hang out together a lot because we have a lot in common. People party all the time--Wednesday nights are huge along with the weekends. We have really fun Island parties during the spring term on this island on our lakes on campus.

Frisbee is huge here but other varsity sports receive an equal amount of attention. Most students play a varsity or club sport and almost everyone is involved with an extracurricular. Everyone feels safe enough to leave their doors open (we live in Northfield, come on dude). People hook up all the time, some people date. You meet people in classes, on your floor and through your sports and friendships last a long time. In general, everyone is accepting and open to other people on campus and there are few cliques and exclusive groups. Annual traditions include the Beer-Olympics (a school-sponsored weekend of combined drinking and athletic competitions), Mai-Fette (a weekly Wednesday bonfire party on an island in the lake in the Spring) and the Halloween costume competition. Last weekend I was sober on Friday night since I was playing with a band in the school-wide battle of the bands. On Saturday we went out on the campus to different parties and events. For people who don't drink, every weekend is still packed with events and activities. People aren't pressured to drink if they don't want to.

Carleton students definitely work hard, but we're also known for playing hard. For the most part, Carleton students are pretty responsible anyway, so when it comes to partying most people know how to keep it on a controllable level. That said, we do have a lot of fun, and there is a wide variety of activities to do on any given night of the week, including activities that do not involve alcohol. My friends at other schools always give me a hard time about Carleton's size, and assume that I know everyone on campus, but I honestly meet new people all the time. It can be hard to keep many secrets, but I doubt any community of 1900 people would be much different in that respect.

There are parties Friday and Saturday nights, but other activities are always out there: concerts, plays, comedy shows, etc. Guest speakers every Friday before noon, speaking on various subjects, and numerous speakers at the library every week. Awake at 2am on a Tuesday? You're studying. Probably have a paper due the next day and/or had three or more meetings that day. Each year has a formal dance in the winter and an international festival every spring. Spring concert also. Students are very trustworthy, for the most part; many leave backpacks and laptops unattended for up to an hour in the library and return to find them still there.

There is always something going on. ACT also tries really hard to put things together for students, like going to the Cities and that kind of thing. Other organizations also try to do the same.

Frisbee is HUGE here, and so is being a democrat. There is a LOT of drinking that goes on here, so much so that you could get blackout drunk every friday and saturday night for a year and never have to pay for alcohol. That being said, you won't be pressured to drink. There is also a vast amount of weed, although that is less visible than the booze, for obvious reasons. But besides drugs, there's tons to do: there are student theatre productions all the time, there's a student-run radio station, there is a huge arboretum to get lost in, they play new movies in the science lecture hall (for free) every weekend, there is live indie music every weekend in the Cave (the student-run concert venue/bar type place), there is a brand new state of the art rec center with a climbing wall, and more clubs and organizations than you can think of. And, at the beginning of every year they have an activity fair and all the organizations have booths to inform the freshman.

There are a bunch of interest related groups and clubs on campus, and they're a great way to meet other people with shared likes. I'm in ebony II, which is a dance group that is mostly jokish dances, and open to absolutely anyone with any level of experience. There is usually good support for atheltic games (although the only actual good team is the Men's Ultimate Frisbee Team, known on campus as CUT). Some fun traditions include Late Night Breakfeast, which is at 11 PM on the night before finals begin, Mai-Fete, which is a party every Wednesday night in the Spring Term on a island on campus. There is no Greek Life, yet there is a bunch of parties going on pretty often.

Most people drink to all hell on the weekends, but are studious during the week. There are lots of activities that people can do and usually people to do them with. In my opinion, there is something for everyone...from partiers to stargazers, to sci-fi lovers. As for the social life...it can be very awkward. And as a very un-awkward person, I have trouble getting to know people in a way that isn't so intrusive. For example, I would consider it totally normal to ask someone I don't know very well, but am interested in getting to know (whether as just a friend, or more) to go get coffee. But I think that most people consider that a date, oo la la. I just think that it's a way to get together and talk in a busy lifestyle. Sometimes it's hard to keep ahold of friends when you don't see them often. So I usually have to make times to meet them and actively pursue the friendship with phone calls amd coffee visits. I met my closest friends on my floor and in my major. However, I do have very good friends from everywhere. It just depends on who you are and how you make friends. As for not drinking, I don't do a lot of it and there are plenty of things to do without it. Or you can just do the drinking things and not drink (like dances), which is usually what I do. Most people don't pressure. On Tuesdays at 2am I am usually doing homework, if I am awake. On a weekend I would probably be watching a movie or out. And I think that's true for most people. I have lots of fun. I do things I want to do and find people who want to do them with me. I love hanging out with friends and talking and walking. I think Carleton is great because it has something to do for each mood I am in.

The social life is good and fluid. The activities could be better organized but the school is working at it and students, being motivated, are always looking to make their activities better run and more fun.

There are a lot of different groups on campus. Because Carleton doesn't have a Greek life, some student groups get their own houses. For example, political activists might choose to live in WHOA, students very involved in the Jewish community can live in Reynolds, gardeners might apply to Farm House, and sci-fi and anime fans can meet up at Benton. Campus is very safe; most people leave doors open and unlocked. Athletics aren't the most popular events, but they still have attendees like the gender-neutral cheerboys. Partying actually varies from term to term. In spring, some people party almost every night, while in winter students tend to huddle in their own dorms. Non-alcoholic evening activities include student and guest concerts, plays, guest speakers, or spending hours talking with your friends at Sweet Lou's Waffle Bar (open until 2 AM) in downtown Northfield.

Lots of activities to get involved with, but do not come here if you are looking for a social scene in college. Parties are terrible and lame. It's nice that there is no greek life, but the party scene just flat out sucks.

There is a very positive and active social atmosphere at Carleton. We do go to a small school, but that just means that you're more likely to want to get to know people, since you're running into them more often.

Dorm life is usually pretty good. Floors are usually pretty tight. Athletic events are not that big unless it is ultimate frisbee. Guest speaker every friday are pretty popular (convocation). A capella and improv. comedy are popular. If I am awake at 2 I am either doing HW or talking to someone on my floor. Big party days are wednesday, friday, and saturday. No frats/dororities. Tons of stuff to do outside of drinking.

Frisbee. Frisbee. Frisbee. Dorm life depends a lot of what door, and what floor your own. Some are known for being anti-social, others for partying, and others for everyone being friendly. People party/drink more then I thought they would. Afterall, Carleton is a very academic place. In a dorm there will be a party on your floor or the floor below on Friday and Saturday night. People also go out on Wednesday, depending on what their scene is. Certain sports are associating with drinking a lot, and hold progressives and parties more then other people. There is not greek life at Carleton, which I think is great. Last weekend I went to an Asian Fusion Concert at one of the halls on campus with my boyfriend, talked for a long time with a friend, chatted on the phone with my mom, played a game of intramural volleyball and did homework for multiple hours.

People party often, but it is the same thing all the time. Being part of a sports team can make all the difference. If you have a group, you are much better off.

Most Carleton social events take place on campus, primarily because Northfield is a small town with not that much to do except go to the bars or pubs. The parties are fun here, with the large parties mostly restricted to freshmen and sophomores. Upperclassmen usually have smaller parties of their own, where they don't have to deal with the younger kids. Both of these types of parties are extremely fun here, but I personally like to host smaller get togethers with close friends and acquaintances. My friends come from very different places and situations, but we all mesh extremely well together. I think that's because we're naturally outgoing and will talk to anyone. That's the way you have to be at Carleton or else I think you are going to have less fun. I always leave my door open during the day, so people can come and go as they please. I think that other people do too, at least during fall term, so they can get to know one another. When I am awake at 2 am on a Tuesday, there is a 90{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} chance I'm doing homework. There is so much work and so many other things to do that it is virtually impossible to do your homework during the day.

When students are home, their doors are open. That gives the general effect of Carleton. AS a subfree student, I find many opportunities that don't involve drinking. There are guest performers almost weekly and even if nothing planned is going on on campus, I still hang out with friends on weekends and we make our own dance parties or have movie marathons. There are no frats here, so everyone mixes more often, and this really influences the environment of the college. There isn't the same steriotype that comes with frats.

While there are usually parties sprinkled across campus, my friends and I find substance-free ways to entertain ourselves. Walks into town, movie nights, XBox games, laser tag, scavenger hunts, and a multitude of other options can be found with creativity and investigation.

Athletic events don't get nearly enough recognition on this campus, so if you go out for a sport, don't expect a huge crowd. For freshman, floor life is really important, and most of your friends in the next few years will probably be people that you met because you lived on their floor freshman year. There is no Greek system, which I think is a major plus for the school. The dating scene sort of sucks. There will be a few people who get a significant other in the first week of school and stay together forever, but the rest will realize how small of a pond Carleton is, and how inept at dating we all are. People here party a lot, but there is a surprisingly lack of pressure to. I have friends who never drink, but they feel comfortable going to a party with alcohol, because people accept that some people are dry.

We have alot of different clubs. We also have interest houses that have a lot of activity at them. Examples are the language house, farm house, scifi house. We have several theaters. We have a small theater that does student run activities.

Social life during the weekends is generally tame, if you ignore Wasted Wednesdays, Thirsty Thursdays, etc. The library is probably the place to be weeknights, to study, if you like studying. Friday and Saturday nights are another story, and there's always somewhere to go and get tanked, and even if no one really likes you, you can find a party. A lot of these parties devolve into skeez, however, and so dorm room parties with friends are usually more fun (although they also end up splitting as everyone wants to go to larger dance parties or whatnot). If you don't drink, you aren't entirely SOL, but you can do the "sub-free" activities, which are somewhat childish; go to parties and not drink, where you'll be bored and leave; or just do homework or watch a movie, which would be the best option. As far as dating goes, good luck: Carleton has a remarkable number of "socially disadvantaged peoples" who don't really know how that works. Expect to hook up with aggressive freshman and creepy upperclassmen, but not to date. A wise man once told me: "There is no dating at Carleton: everyone just hooks up until eventually they are married."