 He was student at the University of Illinois in 1907-1908, and at the University of Chicago in 1908-1909, and obtained his BA from the University of New Mexico in 1911 and from Oxford University in 1914 on a Rhodes Scholarship.From 1914 to 1916 he was graduate student at the Columbia University.Karsten started his career as Newspaper Reporter and Publicity Agent in New York City in 1916.