Carleton College

About Me

Intro

I know what you're thinking. You've never heard of me, right? I'm tucked away in the wilds of southern Minnesota, surrounded by cows, Lutherans, and the kind of folksy Midwest charm that comes from having a lot of time to think.

I live in a town best known for the one time Jesse James tried to rob a bank there. (By the way, we shot his gang out from under his bushwhacking butt.) Yeah, compared to some of those fancy pants back East, our quiet and distinguished culture doesn't make much waves. It's pretty easy to overlook me out here, and I'm not really one for attention anyway.

But if you look closer, you'll see that I have a lot more going for me than anyone might suspect. For starters, I'm smart as a whip; my student body is among the brightest in the nation and I constantly rank in the Top Ten of that U.S. News & World Report list that everyone makes such a fuss about.

Add that to the kind of irreverence that comes from putting intellectuals out in the middle of nowhere, and you just know my personality is going to pop.

Name

The Knights. Alternately, the Carls, but Knights are cooler. They get swords.

Hometown

Northfield, Minnesota. It's about forty minutes south of the Twin Cities, and as I divulged earlier, Jesse James did indeed try to rob a bank here. The town celebrates it every year with their Defeat of Jesse James Days. On top of that, Northfield also boasts not one but two private colleges: me and my frenemy, St. Olaf, from across the river. (Ole is awesome…nonetheless, I must destroy him in any way I can.)

Birthdate

November 14, 1866

Body Type

Small, but fierce. I top out at about 2,000 undergraduates every year (I don't have a grad department). That helps me keep my class sizes nice and small. Also, this means that quiet students can find their way without being crushed by the lemming stampede that you might find at a bigger school.

Current Living Situation

I love my dorms here, but I also have a few college-owned houses where students can live, too. Only about 10% of my students live in apartments in town. Some of the houses are "shared interest communities," where students can live with those who have the same passions and interests.

This way, we can avoid those awkward situations where the Star Trek fanatic gets bunked up with the NFL nut. "So, you like…food?"

Dorm life is a big part of my lifestyle, especially in the winter where you don't leave your floor for months at a time. Individual floors get quite chummy with each other, to the point of forming intramural sports teams and battling for woofing rights at various collegiate functions.

Relationship Status

St. Olaf is my biggest rival, along with other small schools in the Twin Cities area, like Macalester College and Hamline University. Honestly, though, none of us get that bent out of shape about it…but local football powerhouse, St. John's, sometimes likes to tweak us when they beat us.

We're more in it for the book-learnin', not the game-winnin'; while our Knights fight valiantly and hard, not many of us throw tantrums when we lose.

Politics

We're pretty hippie-dippy, granola-crunching liberal around here. In fact, once upon a time, one of our professors—the late Paul Wellstone—got himself elected U.S. Senator, where he had a record as one of the most left-leaning members of that August body. Don't worry, though…we have our share of right-wingers, too, and while our politics can get feisty, we don't let anyone feel unwelcome.

You should apply to me if...

you're brilliant but you don't quite fit in. I like my students smart, but I also like them marching to the beat of their own drums. If an Island of Misfit Toys sounds like your cup of tea, I'm ready to receive you with open arms.