Who were we? - Carleton College alumni survey looks at how they perceived themselves as college students

American Demographics, Dec, 1997 by Matthew Cravatta

Peoples memories are notoriously poor. When one college class assembled for its 25th reunion, alumni were asked to reconstruct their responses to a survey conducted when they were freshmen. Their recollections fell wide of the mark.

In 1997, David Davis-Van Atta, director of institutional research and analysis at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, readministered the national Freshman American Council on Education Survey to his fellow alumni of the Class of 1972. The respondents answered the questions as middle-aged people. They also indicated how they thought theyd responded as college freshmen in 1968.

Alumni perceived themselves as having been more liberal as freshmen than they actually reported at the time. Nearly 59 percent recalled agreeing that marijuana should be legalized, although only 48 percent said so originally. Half recalled actively participating in a demonstration or protest, but only 20 percent said so in 1968. Forty-five percent of the 1968 respondents thought disadvantaged students should be given preferential treatment, but 25 years later, 78 percent thought they had answered yes to that statement.

Alumni think they were more serious about school than they really were. Thirty-one percent of 1968 freshmen said they used the library frequently, while 81 percent of 1997 alumni recalled thinking they did. They were also likely to overestimate the importance of educational and personal objectives to their teen selves, including being accomplished in the performing arts, obtaining recognition from colleagues, and being an outstanding athlete.

For more information, contact the Office of Institutional Research at Carleton College, One North College Street, Northfield, MN 55057; telephone (507) 646-4284. Matthew Cravatta