Connecticut College

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you would like to read about Connecticut College"s arboretum, a description, as well as national recognition, appears in this site:

https://www.collegerank.net/most-beautiful-college-arboretums/

And this is relevant because…

Because maybe their DD likes arboretums!

Seems pretty obvious, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Connecticut College will be shielded from the massive federal grant cuts underway and continuing into the future so the issue plaguing colleges like the University of Michigan don't affect it. It receives very little funding.

However (and this is a HUGE however):

Applications received and SAT (25%/75%
2021: 7,682 1353-1450
2022: 8,744 1180-1300
2023: 9,397 1170-1370
2024: 7,937 1160-1400

Stagnant or declining applications and declining SAT scores. All competitive or "prestige" colleges have seen huge increases in both.

To be the outlier should question what is different about Conn College compared to what used to be considered its peers? Once your college starts to backslide it is hard to right the ship.

If its perception as just an "average" college which charges $92,000 a year, who will want to pay that premium?

You can’t really draw conclusions from COVID era and so few years. Conn has CDS posted for the past 10 years. In 2016, 2017, they had around 5000-6000 applicants, so overall their applicant numbers have increased pretty significantly over that period.

And one thing about Conn is that it doesn’t really care that much about its selectivity stats. It doesn’t play the games some schools do trying to pump up application numbers with no supplemental essays and no application fees. It doesn’t try to cultivate its selectivity numbers by accepting almost all of its class ED and waitlisting RD applicants and then handpicking them off the WL. It isn’t trying to be something it isn’t.

Finally, it offers significant discounts in the form of merit aid to almost all its students, so full-pay students are paying $55,000 or $60,000 while they would be paying $90,000 at Bates or Colby.

You're just making things up! Applying to Conn is FREE! There are NO supplemental essays. And they will dangle tens of thousands of dollars in "merit" aid to applicants with no financial need. And even with all that, few kids apply and very few say yes when offered admissions.

The conclusion should be that this is a college that should get its butt in gear quickly so it doesn't fall even further behind.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Small, bisected campus, lowest of the NESCAC schools, highest acceptance rate, lowest prestige, lowest bar to being a recruited athlete, 48% of freshmen class drawn from early decision, of which there was a 41% admission rate.

Add to that pathetic yield of 15% even though half the class is drawn from early decision.

SAT
25% is 1160
50% 1280

Absolute trash statistics.

Why do you need to use the word "trash?" Does that make you feel tough. You can cite statistics. You can say that they are weaker than the rest of NESCAC. But completely insulting a school is childish.

No school is "trash." Every kid runs their own race. Different schools are appropriate for different kids. And different families have different circumstances, financially and otherwise.

And I say this knowing that I am almost certain that my spouse and I combined have more Ivy League degrees than you and your spouse. We don't feel the need to be snobs, unless dealing with "trash" like you.

I was just about to write the same thing, thanks for doing it for me spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Small, bisected campus, lowest of the NESCAC schools, highest acceptance rate, lowest prestige, lowest bar to being a recruited athlete, 48% of freshmen class drawn from early decision, of which there was a 41% admission rate.

Add to that pathetic yield of 15% even though half the class is drawn from early decision.

SAT
25% is 1160
50% 1280

Absolute trash statistics.

Liar. Their mid-50 range is 1340-1470.

DP. Based on CC's CDS, those SAT figures are accurate.

25th percentile: 1160
Median: 1280
75th percentile: 1400

66% of enrolled students reported standardized scoring results.

And I should also add, 66 percent of students reporting test scores is actually very high for a TO school. I just glanced at Amherst’s CDS for an example, and its number is lower. This is another way Conn doesn’t care about playing games; I’m betting at some of the other NESCACs they have many of the athletes apply test-optional so they don’t have to have their scores factor into the average.

This is in sharp contrast to Bates, for example, for which the corresponding figure is 20%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Connecticut College will be shielded from the massive federal grant cuts underway and continuing into the future so the issue plaguing colleges like the University of Michigan don't affect it. It receives very little funding.

However (and this is a HUGE however):

Applications received and SAT (25%/75%
2021: 7,682 1353-1450
2022: 8,744 1180-1300
2023: 9,397 1170-1370
2024: 7,937 1160-1400

Stagnant or declining applications and declining SAT scores. All competitive or "prestige" colleges have seen huge increases in both.

To be the outlier should question what is different about Conn College compared to what used to be considered its peers? Once your college starts to backslide it is hard to right the ship.

If its perception as just an "average" college which charges $92,000 a year, who will want to pay that premium?

You can’t really draw conclusions from COVID era and so few years. Conn has CDS posted for the past 10 years. In 2016, 2017, they had around 5000-6000 applicants, so overall their applicant numbers have increased pretty significantly over that period.

And one thing about Conn is that it doesn’t really care that much about its selectivity stats. It doesn’t play the games some schools do trying to pump up application numbers with no supplemental essays and no application fees. It doesn’t try to cultivate its selectivity numbers by accepting almost all of its class ED and waitlisting RD applicants and then handpicking them off the WL. It isn’t trying to be something it isn’t.

Finally, it offers significant discounts in the form of merit aid to almost all its students, so full-pay students are paying $55,000 or $60,000 while they would be paying $90,000 at Bates or Colby.

You're just making things up! Applying to Conn is FREE! There are NO supplemental essays. And they will dangle tens of thousands of dollars in "merit" aid to applicants with no financial need. And even with all that, few kids apply and very few say yes when offered admissions.

The conclusion should be that this is a college that should get its butt in gear quickly so it doesn't fall even further behind.

Ok, I was wrong about the app fee. It does have a supplemental essay. And I’m struggling to understand why it’s a bad thing that it effectively costs $30,000 less than other SLACs. I get you don’t like Conn. Don’t send your kid there. Conn is doing fine without you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Conn and loved my time there. My DD was admitted there this year with $38k merit. She ended up committing to a different NESCAC school that offers a wider array of creative writing courses. She was impressed with the music and art departments, as well as museum studies certificate programs. If you want a liberal arts college experience, it’s definitely worth checking out. We visited twice in the past year, and all the students we met were friendly and didn’t seem particularly competitive. I think most students tend towards liberal, but it’s not an activist student body, so I think it’s perhaps more ok to be conservative at Conn than at some schools more known for activism. I think there is an active Christian group (although not sure of size). It’s a lovely campus and since it seems to matter to some you can see Long Island Sound on a clear day from Temple Green.

Hamilton? You are free not to respond, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Small, bisected campus, lowest of the NESCAC schools, highest acceptance rate, lowest prestige, lowest bar to being a recruited athlete, 48% of freshmen class drawn from early decision, of which there was a 41% admission rate.

Add to that pathetic yield of 15% even though half the class is drawn from early decision.

SAT
25% is 1160
50% 1280

Absolute trash statistics.

Liar. Their mid-50 range is 1340-1470.

DP. Based on CC's CDS, those SAT figures are accurate.

25th percentile: 1160
Median: 1280
75th percentile: 1400

66% of enrolled students reported standardized scoring results.

And I should also add, 66 percent of students reporting test scores is actually very high for a TO school. I just glanced at Amherst’s CDS for an example, and its number is lower. This is another way Conn doesn’t care about playing games; I’m betting at some of the other NESCACs they have many of the athletes apply test-optional so they don’t have to have their scores factor into the average.

This is in sharp contrast to Bates, for example, for which the corresponding figure is 20%

For Conn, 18% submitted SAT and 8% submitted ACT.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Connecticut College will be shielded from the massive federal grant cuts underway and continuing into the future so the issue plaguing colleges like the University of Michigan don't affect it. It receives very little funding.

However (and this is a HUGE however):

Applications received and SAT (25%/75%
2021: 7,682 1353-1450
2022: 8,744 1180-1300
2023: 9,397 1170-1370
2024: 7,937 1160-1400

Stagnant or declining applications and declining SAT scores. All competitive or "prestige" colleges have seen huge increases in both.

To be the outlier should question what is different about Conn College compared to what used to be considered its peers? Once your college starts to backslide it is hard to right the ship.

If its perception as just an "average" college which charges $92,000 a year, who will want to pay that premium?

You can’t really draw conclusions from COVID era and so few years. Conn has CDS posted for the past 10 years. In 2016, 2017, they had around 5000-6000 applicants, so overall their applicant numbers have increased pretty significantly over that period.

And one thing about Conn is that it doesn’t really care that much about its selectivity stats. It doesn’t play the games some schools do trying to pump up application numbers with no supplemental essays and no application fees. It doesn’t try to cultivate its selectivity numbers by accepting almost all of its class ED and waitlisting RD applicants and then handpicking them off the WL. It isn’t trying to be something it isn’t.

Finally, it offers significant discounts in the form of merit aid to almost all its students, so full-pay students are paying $55,000 or $60,000 while they would be paying $90,000 at Bates or Colby.

You're just making things up! Applying to Conn is FREE! There are NO supplemental essays. And they will dangle tens of thousands of dollars in "merit" aid to applicants with no financial need. And even with all that, few kids apply and very few say yes when offered admissions.

The conclusion should be that this is a college that should get its butt in gear quickly so it doesn't fall even further behind.

Ok, I was wrong about the app fee. It does have a supplemental essay. And I’m struggling to understand why it’s a bad thing that it effectively costs $30,000 less than other SLACs. I get you don’t like Conn. Don’t send your kid there. Conn is doing fine without you.

I'm definitely not sending my kid there. We did a visit, a tour, an interview, meetings with coaches, and practice and dinner with the team. At the end of the day, DD took it off her list.

My point on merit is, yes, it's great to get a discount, but when one's peers aren't doing it in any significant way, if at all-- and when the endowment is fairly small and the physical plant is in need of an upgrade-- it's a signal of trouble.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Small, bisected campus, lowest of the NESCAC schools, highest acceptance rate, lowest prestige, lowest bar to being a recruited athlete, 48% of freshmen class drawn from early decision, of which there was a 41% admission rate.

Add to that pathetic yield of 15% even though half the class is drawn from early decision.

SAT
25% is 1160
50% 1280

Absolute trash statistics.

Liar. Their mid-50 range is 1340-1470.

DP. Based on CC's CDS, those SAT figures are accurate.

25th percentile: 1160
Median: 1280
75th percentile: 1400

66% of enrolled students reported standardized scoring results.

And I should also add, 66 percent of students reporting test scores is actually very high for a TO school. I just glanced at Amherst’s CDS for an example, and its number is lower. This is another way Conn doesn’t care about playing games; I’m betting at some of the other NESCACs they have many of the athletes apply test-optional so they don’t have to have their scores factor into the average.

This is in sharp contrast to Bates, for example, for which the corresponding figure is 20%

For Conn, 18% submitted SAT and 8% submitted ACT.

Have you viewed its CDS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Connecticut College will be shielded from the massive federal grant cuts underway and continuing into the future so the issue plaguing colleges like the University of Michigan don't affect it. It receives very little funding.

However (and this is a HUGE however):

Applications received and SAT (25%/75%
2021: 7,682 1353-1450
2022: 8,744 1180-1300
2023: 9,397 1170-1370
2024: 7,937 1160-1400

Stagnant or declining applications and declining SAT scores. All competitive or "prestige" colleges have seen huge increases in both.

To be the outlier should question what is different about Conn College compared to what used to be considered its peers? Once your college starts to backslide it is hard to right the ship.

If its perception as just an "average" college which charges $92,000 a year, who will want to pay that premium?

You can’t really draw conclusions from COVID era and so few years. Conn has CDS posted for the past 10 years. In 2016, 2017, they had around 5000-6000 applicants, so overall their applicant numbers have increased pretty significantly over that period.

And one thing about Conn is that it doesn’t really care that much about its selectivity stats. It doesn’t play the games some schools do trying to pump up application numbers with no supplemental essays and no application fees. It doesn’t try to cultivate its selectivity numbers by accepting almost all of its class ED and waitlisting RD applicants and then handpicking them off the WL. It isn’t trying to be something it isn’t.

Finally, it offers significant discounts in the form of merit aid to almost all its students, so full-pay students are paying $55,000 or $60,000 while they would be paying $90,000 at Bates or Colby.

You're just making things up! Applying to Conn is FREE! There are NO supplemental essays. And they will dangle tens of thousands of dollars in "merit" aid to applicants with no financial need. And even with all that, few kids apply and very few say yes when offered admissions.

The conclusion should be that this is a college that should get its butt in gear quickly so it doesn't fall even further behind.

Ok, I was wrong about the app fee. It does have a supplemental essay. And I’m struggling to understand why it’s a bad thing that it effectively costs $30,000 less than other SLACs. I get you don’t like Conn. Don’t send your kid there. Conn is doing fine without you.

I'm definitely not sending my kid there. We did a visit, a tour, an interview, meetings with coaches, and practice and dinner with the team. At the end of the day, DD took it off her list.

My point on merit is, yes, it's great to get a discount, but when one's peers aren't doing it in any significant way, if at all-- and when the endowment is fairly small and the physical plant is in need of an upgrade-- it's a signal of trouble.

Cool. I hope your daughter is having or has a great experience at the school she chose, as mine is at Conn.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Connecticut College will be shielded from the massive federal grant cuts underway and continuing into the future so the issue plaguing colleges like the University of Michigan don't affect it. It receives very little funding.

However (and this is a HUGE however):

Applications received and SAT (25%/75%
2021: 7,682 1353-1450
2022: 8,744 1180-1300
2023: 9,397 1170-1370
2024: 7,937 1160-1400

Stagnant or declining applications and declining SAT scores. All competitive or "prestige" colleges have seen huge increases in both.

To be the outlier should question what is different about Conn College compared to what used to be considered its peers? Once your college starts to backslide it is hard to right the ship.

If its perception as just an "average" college which charges $92,000 a year, who will want to pay that premium?

You can’t really draw conclusions from COVID era and so few years. Conn has CDS posted for the past 10 years. In 2016, 2017, they had around 5000-6000 applicants, so overall their applicant numbers have increased pretty significantly over that period.

And one thing about Conn is that it doesn’t really care that much about its selectivity stats. It doesn’t play the games some schools do trying to pump up application numbers with no supplemental essays and no application fees. It doesn’t try to cultivate its selectivity numbers by accepting almost all of its class ED and waitlisting RD applicants and then handpicking them off the WL. It isn’t trying to be something it isn’t.

Finally, it offers significant discounts in the form of merit aid to almost all its students, so full-pay students are paying $55,000 or $60,000 while they would be paying $90,000 at Bates or Colby.

You're just making things up! Applying to Conn is FREE! There are NO supplemental essays. And they will dangle tens of thousands of dollars in "merit" aid to applicants with no financial need. And even with all that, few kids apply and very few say yes when offered admissions.

The conclusion should be that this is a college that should get its butt in gear quickly so it doesn't fall even further behind.

Ok, I was wrong about the app fee. It does have a supplemental essay. And I’m struggling to understand why it’s a bad thing that it effectively costs $30,000 less than other SLACs. I get you don’t like Conn. Don’t send your kid there. Conn is doing fine without you.

I'm definitely not sending my kid there. We did a visit, a tour, an interview, meetings with coaches, and practice and dinner with the team. At the end of the day, DD took it off her list.

My point on merit is, yes, it's great to get a discount, but when one's peers aren't doing it in any significant way, if at all-- and when the endowment is fairly small and the physical plant is in need of an upgrade-- it's a signal of trouble.

I guess I should add that I don't get any pleasure out of pointing out these problems with Conn. We looked forward to our visit and had high hopes for it. But it seems like a school that is just phoning it in. It's not an alive, dynamic place like so many of the other SLACs we visited in NE and NY state.

And I believe that parents looking at colleges should know that. That's an important value of DCUM. And if Conn doesn't like it, then it should figure out how to improve, and do a lot of catching up. But for now, my advice is to look at so many of the much better options you have for SLACs at this price point and this ranking/reputation. For example, for this tuition and acceptance rate, Trinity, Dickinson, MHC, Union, and several Midwestern colleges are all far better colleges and will provide a far better experience for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Small, bisected campus, lowest of the NESCAC schools, highest acceptance rate, lowest prestige, lowest bar to being a recruited athlete, 48% of freshmen class drawn from early decision, of which there was a 41% admission rate.

Add to that pathetic yield of 15% even though half the class is drawn from early decision.

SAT
25% is 1160
50% 1280

Absolute trash statistics.

Why do you need to use the word "trash?" Does that make you feel tough. You can cite statistics. You can say that they are weaker than the rest of NESCAC. But completely insulting a school is childish.

No school is "trash." Every kid runs their own race. Different schools are appropriate for different kids. And different families have different circumstances, financially and otherwise.

And I say this knowing that I am almost certain that my spouse and I combined have more Ivy League degrees than you and your spouse. We don't feel the need to be snobs, unless dealing with "trash" like you.

Exactly! And the second you use words like “trash,” I immediately dismiss your opinion. You’re not converting anyone’s opinions with those posts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I’m the OP. My daughter is a great student (3.95 weighted) but isn’t overly academic and isn’t looking for anything too competitive. We are conservative which I’m worried about if she goes to a liberal arts college - not bc we don’t love and accept the ideas and beliefs of others - but bc others might not love and accept our ideas.
Honestly my daughter wants to run, make great friends, not party and get a degree but certainly doesn’t need an ivy… maybe we are the minority here, but we are okay with average for college!! We are coming from a small private school so size isn’t a huge issue. I was more looking for campus life, happiness of students, is there any Christian organizations, etc.
and this is my first time posting so if there was a similar post, it was not me. Thanks for any more info. I really appreciate it.

LMAO. If she doesn't want to drink like a fish (or more accurately, if you don't want her to drink like a fish), then stay away from Conn. Makor drinking school.

When my DD was looking at colleges, there were complaints on UNIGO from current students saying all there was to do on the weekend was get drunk, and go to a mixer followed by random hookups.

The town is sketchy but does have an Amtrak station, which is convenient.

We thought that the other applicants looked very preppy (in almost an affected way).

[Anonymous]

Terrible location, mediocre academics, blah campus. A safety school for full pay rich white kids who went to prep schools on the 95 corridor. I can’t imagine picking conn over any other nescac. I’d lump conn with Ithaca. Only go if you want a SLAC with some respectable name recognition. Playing a sport will help make it a less miserable experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Terrible location, mediocre academics, blah campus. A safety school for full pay rich white kids who went to prep schools on the 95 corridor. I can’t imagine picking conn over any other nescac. I’d lump conn with Ithaca. Only go if you want a SLAC with some respectable name recognition. Playing a sport will help make it a less miserable experience.

The student makeup is as follows:
451 students total
287 white students
164 non-white with 15 Asian students

For comparison
Amherst
480 students total
180 white
220 non-white with 98 Asian students

Trinity College
579 students total
367 white
212 non-white with 27 Asian students