Carleton College vs Occidental College

Carleton College and Occidental College, both esteemed liberal arts institutions, offer distinct educational experiences. Carleton, nestled in Northfield, Minnesota, boasts a highly selective admissions process with an acceptance rate of 18.5%, while Occidental, located in Los Angeles, California, maintains a slightly higher acceptance rate of 33.6%. Carleton's student body is predominantly White (68%) and Asian (14%), while Occidental's student body is more diverse, with a larger Hispanic population (29%) and a significant number of international students (13%). Both colleges offer a wide range of academic programs, with popular majors at Carleton including Economics, Biology, and English, and popular majors at Occidental including Psychology, Economics, and Politics. With graduation rates of 89% and 84% respectively, both institutions ensure that their students are well-prepared for their post-graduate endeavors. Explore the detailed comparison table below to discover more about these two exceptional colleges and determine which

	Carleton College	Occidental College
Overview
Location	Northfield, Minnesota	Los Angeles, California
Campus setting	Town: Distant	City: Large
College type	4 year	4 year
Control/business model	Private (Non Profit)	Private (Non Profit)
Calendar system	Trimester	Semester
Degrees offered	Undergraduate	Undergraduate and Graduate
Students retention rate	95.0%	92.0%
Common app member	Yes	Yes
Religious affiliation

Admission
Acceptance rate	17.5%	38.2%
Application fees		Undergraduate: $70 Graduate: $60
SAT range	1408 - 1550	1340 - 1490
ACT range	31 - 35	30 - 33
Students submitting SAT score	35.0%	29.0%
Students submitting ACT score	34.0%	22.0%
Total number of applicants	7,915	6,495
Total number of admissions given out	1,389	2,484
Admitted students who chose to enroll	555	535
Yield rate	40.0%	21.5%
Test scores (SAT/ACT)	N/A	N/A
High school GPA	Not required	Not required
Recommendation letters	Required	Required
High school transcript	Not required	Not required
English proficiency test (e.g. TOEFL)	Required	Required

Tuition and Fees
Sticker price	$78,315	$77,878
Average net price	$31,718	$43,047
Tuition	$59,850	$57,830
Room & board	Room/dormitory: $8,115 Meal plan: $7,260	Room/dormitory: $9,512 Meal plan: $8,090
Available payment plans	Tuition payment plan	Prepaid tuition plan Tuition payment plan

Financial Aid
Students receiving financial aid (Grants & scholarships)	65.0% Average amount $45,715	100.0% Average amount $29,715
Students receiving federal student loan	45.0% Average amount $3,914	31.0% Average amount $4,603
Students taking out private loans	2.0% Average amount $14,334	17.0% Average amount $6,554

Students and Campus
Undergraduate students	2,044 Men 48.7% Women 51.3%	1,964 Men 42.1% Women 57.9%
Graduate students	N/A	N/A
Racial/ethnic diversity	Moderate	Moderate
Out-of-state students	81.5%	62.5%
International students	10.2%	6.3%
Campus local/setting	Town: Distant	City: Large
Dormitory capacity	1,854	1,650
First year students are required to live on campus?	Yes	Yes
Top 5 states where most U.S. students come from	Minnesota California Illinois New York Texas	California Washington New York Illinois Mississippi

Academics
Popular study areas	Physical Science Social Sciences Ethnic Studies Mathematics and Statistics Visual & Performing Arts	Social Sciences Biological and Biomedical Sciences Physical Science Multidisciplinary Studies Visual & Performing Arts
Students to faculty ratio	8:1	9:1
Institutional accreditation	Higher Learning Commission	Western Association of Schools and Colleges Senior Colleges and University Commission

Outcome
Graduation rate	91.4%	82.9%
Dropout rate	8.3%	4.1%
Transferred out	N/A	12.6%
Alumni salary by major (Top 10)	Computer Science (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $76,876 Year 2: $76,460 Year 3: $101,936 Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $60,032 Year 2: N/A Year 3: $66,207 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $28,526 Year 2: $23,034 Year 3: $30,071 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,669 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A English Language and Literature, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $27,425 Year 2: $22,329 Year 3: N/A Mathematics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,952 Year 2: $37,568 Year 3: N/A Chemistry (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $30,227 Year 2: $36,141 Year 3: N/A Geological and Earth Sciences/Geosciences (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $20,625 Year 2: N/A Year 3: N/A Physics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $42,774 Year 3: N/A Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $31,301 Year 2: $33,719 Year 3: N/A	Economics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $46,544 Year 2: $55,078 Year 3: $63,231 Political Science and Government (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $42,360 Year 2: $37,779 Year 3: $49,843 International Relations and National Security Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $38,329 Year 2: $36,132 Year 3: $45,083 Natural Resources Conservation and Research (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $29,948 Year 2: $37,208 Year 3: $43,488 Cultural Studies/Critical Theory and Analysis (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: N/A Year 3: $33,877 Fine and Studio Arts (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $25,967 Year 3: $31,152 Biology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,035 Year 2: $26,933 Year 3: $31,095 Psychology, General (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $25,916 Year 2: $30,047 Year 3: $30,729 Area Studies (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: N/A Year 2: $39,369 Year 3: N/A Romance Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics (Bachelor's Degrees) Year 1: $15,793 Year 2: $35,060 Year 3: N/A

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Carleton College vs Occidental College

Carleton College

Occidental College

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Outcome

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