I visited the campus twice. I was intrigued by the appearance of Schiller. I also visited an excellent math class, where I learned Gaussian elimination, and an excellent English class, where we discussed the plot structure of short stories. I stopped random students on the sidewalk and asked them how they liked Carleton. They all professed extreme love for their school and told me how happy they were, and they were extremely friendly.

I visited the campus twice, once in the Winter and once in the Spring for accepted students week. Since I was a football player, it was easy for me to meet other people and I enjoyed both my stays very much.

I visited on a COLD day in mid-April my junior year. Throughout the tour I was thinking how cold and miserable it was, but when I got in the car to go back to the airport that day, I realized what a great place I had visited.

My overnight stay on campus is what sealed the deal for me. I visited in January of February of my Junior year in high school, and I remember it was -17° with a -35° windchill on my tour (I was wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and a stocking hat). I spent two nights with soccer players and attended various classes and I was content. I thought, "Hey, if I'm this happy to be here and it's almost 'To Build A Fire' cold, this must be a really great place." And that was that.

I visited the campus twice and stayed overnight once. I stayed on a Sunday night, and I definitely got a taste of a typical day in the life of a Carleton student. My host, Dana, had to meet with a group to study for a Bio test. Meanwhile, her roommate spent several hours working on an English paper that she couldn't get just quite right. At the same time, several of their floormates watched a movie while finishing homework in the lounge. I didn't know it at the time, but this was exactly how most Sunday nights at Carleton would be for me.

My first visit was not an accurate picture of the college—I was just in town to see St. Olaf, and drove by Carleton and only really saw Musser. But I came back after applying to both schools (my college counselor convinced me that Carleton was a great fit for me) and stayed overnight at both places ... and that changed everything! The students at Carleton were lively and involved and fun-loving and creative. They also were really genuine and wanted to get to know me even though I was just a prospie. No other school that I visited really cared that I was there.