Colleges That Change Lives - What Has Your Experience Been?

[Anonymous]

My kid graduated from Denison several years ago and had a wonderful experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I knew some people in my PhD program who went to such colleges. Their lives didn't turn out well, but that was probably more an effect of the PhD program (mine didn't either, and I went to HYP.)

I really struggle with this - how much of our life outcomes can we attribute to the college we attended? Wherever you go, whether it's CTCL or HYP, you get an education for 4 years and receive a degree. But life outcomes depend on so many factors, such as your socio-economic status, character, relationships, LUCK, and whether it's St Olaf, Denison, Yale or Princeton, none of these places can do anything about these factors, none of them can protect you from the ups and downs of life or guarantee success.

You can graduate from Wooster, get lucky with your first job, find a great partner and build a good life or you can graduate from Harvard, be hit with severe mental/health issues and your life could falter. And what does the college you attended have to do with any of that?

[Anonymous]

Every college engages in marketing and, frankly, these schools (at least the ones we've looked into) make a great education available at reasonable prices (via scholarships, merit aid, etc.). And some of them offer great teacher/student ratios and lots of opportunities (research as a freshman) and chances to rise to the top.

Who cares if they market? They all do. That's not a reason to dismiss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I knew some people in my PhD program who went to such colleges. Their lives didn't turn out well, but that was probably more an effect of the PhD program (mine didn't either, and I went to HYP.)

I really struggle with this - how much of our life outcomes can we attribute to the college we attended? Wherever you go, whether it's CTCL or HYP, you get an education for 4 years and receive a degree. But life outcomes depend on so many factors, such as your socio-economic status, character, relationships, LUCK, and whether it's St Olaf, Denison, Yale or Princeton, none of these places can do anything about these factors, none of them can protect you from the ups and downs of life or guarantee success.

You can graduate from Wooster, get lucky with your first job, find a great partner and build a good life or you can graduate from Harvard, be hit with severe mental/health issues and your life could falter. And what does the college you attended have to do with any of that?

In DCUM land everyone takes it as an article if faith that you have to go to a rejective college in order to meet the “right” people and make the “right” connections.

[Anonymous]

I went to one before the marketing - and it definitely COULD have, if I had been open to the experience. It was a great, small school that really did care about its students and academics. I never felt like just a chair or a number.

[Anonymous]

I want to a top 20 university and it changed my life for the worse (fratty and competitive). My kids went to SLACs and are so much better for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are thousands of posts on CTCL, Most people think it's just a clever marketing scheme that the lesser stats SLACs join and then they tour together. I've been to their presentations. The claim is just a marketing title. Each college that pays to belong is different.

Yes, it's marketing. Every communication any college puts out is marketing. Including the oh-so-worshippped USNWR rankings. This raises the profile of this set of schools but more broadly can encourage families to think beyond big state U's and the benefits of a smaller college experience. I don't understand why some people of DCUM get so dang pissed off about that.

I'm not pissed off. I actually don't care. But newbies to college admissions hear it and are moved to ask. IT's only second-rate SLACs. you know that. And they pay big fees to "belong" to that constorium. Parents new to the process need to know that. The title means nothing.

It's a non-profit organization that supports students in their college search. Not exactly what you are implying.

[Anonymous]

You can graduate from Wooster, get lucky with your first job, find a great partner and build a good life or you can graduate from Harvard, be hit with severe mental/health issues and your life could falter. And what does the college you attended have to do with any of that?

Top tier colleges do seem to attract neurotic and anxious strivers, and their anxiety is only increased when they get put into the pressure cooker of an elite college and suddenly discover they are no longer the smartest kid in the classroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are thousands of posts on CTCL, Most people think it's just a clever marketing scheme that the lesser stats SLACs join and then they tour together. I've been to their presentations. The claim is just a marketing title. Each college that pays to belong is different.

Yes, it's marketing. Every communication any college puts out is marketing. Including the oh-so-worshippped USNWR rankings. This raises the profile of this set of schools but more broadly can encourage families to think beyond big state U's and the benefits of a smaller college experience. I don't understand why some people of DCUM get so dang pissed off about that.

I'm not pissed off. I actually don't care. But newbies to college admissions hear it and are moved to ask. IT's only second-rate SLACs. you know that. And they pay big fees to "belong" to that constorium. Parents new to the process need to know that. The title means nothing.

Why do parents "need to know that"?

[Anonymous]

CTCLs may be a boon for a higher stats kid who can only afford a state flagship, but having a learning style and/or disposition better suited to a LAC. Not every family can afford full pay so CTCLs can fill that void.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A friends kid attends Wooster. Doesn’t love it, doesn’t hate it. Very “it’s fine” vibe. they are pretty up front about the fact that she is there because she needs a small school and they made it financially possible. Her sibling attends a different school at about the level of prestige, but not CTCL. They are much more enthusiastic about that school.

I mean, it’s rural Ohio, so I kind of get it (my kid is at Kenyon. The surrounding community has been a culture shock).

So, it's not necessarily that Wooster belongs to the CTCL consortium, but the setting?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid graduated from Denison several years ago and had a wonderful experience.

My DC is at Denison now and is very happy.

[Anonymous]

Didn’t change my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Didn’t change my life.

care to elaborate?

[Anonymous]

There is a poster on DCUM who seems to have a spidey sense for whenever the topic of CTCL is mentioned and they always post about marketing, about how this is a total gimmick, about how everyone would be better off at UVA or similar. They've already posted on this thread. It's tiring and you need to just disregard their bizarre obsession with this. They also claim that "most people" feel the same way that they do, and that there are many people who comment on these threads and their appearance on THIS thread is textbook. Expect them to say that "the CTCL boosters" have found this thread, and to accuse anyone with anything positive to say about any CTCL school as working for the consortium.

I went to Beloit for undergrad and a big 10 state flagship for graduate school and my experience at my undergrad school was largely more positive. But, grad school and undergrad aren't really comparable anyway. I'm glad I attended Beloit, and it was a high quality educational experience. Did it "change my life" in some way that wouldn't have happened if I went to a different school? That's impossible to say -- college itself overlaps with a significant developmental period in a person's life and so I certainly had my life changed during college but I'm sure I would have been fine anywhere. But the nurturing, thoughtful, welcoming community suited me and I thrived because of it.

Generally though like other PPs have said you absolutely need to consider each school separately because they can be very different from each other. Beloit, St. Olaf, and Kalamazoo are all fairly similar but are quite different from Hillsdale and Wheaton, for example.