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.

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

But it's not shielding Conn. We toured last fall and felt like we wasted most of a day. The campus is faded and the school has zero energy. The admissions stats are abysmal. They will soon be hitting 50% admissions rate. And its endowment is small. There may be other schools under more serious threat, but Conn has a dim future, and doesn't seem to be doing anything to up its game.

I’m sorry that was your impression. We visited Colby on a recent trip, and I got a super-grim vibe, but I’m imaginative enough to see that it might have been the weather or the particular time I was there. Every time I’ve been to Conn, it’s been lively. Unlike many schools I’ve seen, kids actually greet and engage with each other when they pass.

We were at Conn on a beautiful fall weekday. And it was dead.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

People aren’t interested in the nescac colleges because of their affiliation with nescac

Athletes, who make up about 40 percent of the population of most of the schools, absolutely are.

What? No they aren’t. You go to Williams because its got good teams, not because you’re playing against bates. This may be the dumbest assumption I’ve ever heard.

And athletes at Bates and Colby go there because they get to compete against Williams.

Never have heard this from a Nescac athlete and I’m a Bowdoin grad. This is such a parents idea of how students choose schools.

And I’m a parent of a NESCAC athlete, not someone who went to a NESCAC school 25 years ago.

DCUM has a strange obsession with liberal arts colleges dying when it just…isn’t happening for a majority of these colleges. Sure some remote school that no one ever hears of will die, but Conn Coll, really?

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

People aren’t interested in the nescac colleges because of their affiliation with nescac

Athletes, who make up about 40 percent of the population of most of the schools, absolutely are.

What? No they aren’t. You go to Williams because its got good teams, not because you’re playing against bates. This may be the dumbest assumption I’ve ever heard.

And athletes at Bates and Colby go there because they get to compete against Williams.

Never have heard this from a Nescac athlete and I’m a Bowdoin grad. This is such a parents idea of how students choose schools.

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

People aren’t interested in the nescac colleges because of their affiliation with nescac

Athletes, who make up about 40 percent of the population of most of the schools, absolutely are.

What? No they aren’t. You go to Williams because its got good teams, not because you’re playing against bates. This may be the dumbest assumption I’ve ever heard.

And athletes at Bates and Colby go there because they get to compete against Williams.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is getting recruited at a bunch of D3 schools for her sport. One of the ones that is peaked interest is Connecticut College. Does anyone know anything about this college? The coach seems lovely, and I know it’s very expensive but I am hoping they offer a good scholarships and aid. Does anyone know the atmosphere, vibe, etc. Any information would be amazing.

Did you visit? We thought the location was the worst of both worlds. It's stuck on the edge of a depressing city without anything to walk to, but also not near nature either. My urban loving kids rejected it based on location and so did my nature loving kid.

Isn’t it right on the sound?

No. That's a lie. It's not right on the sound. Last fall, our tour guide had us stand on a bench so we could kinda make out that the sound was in it distance somewhere. It's closer to a very industrialized river.

Industrialized? What does that even mean? Sounds like a dam.

The Thames River is very industrialized. It's a wide estuary river for traffic into the deep water ports of New London and Groton, two grubby, dirty little cities that are Conn's closest neighbors. Not really scenic or quaint. Mystic is pretty, but that's a drive. Your kid won't be hanging out in Mystic, or walking along a beach on the sound.

Sounds…fine. What a strange, useless observation.

“Fine” if you like grubby dirty little cities. It’s not useless to observe that the campus is in a very unexciting area.

New London is not as bad as Hartford, but not a selling point either.

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

But it's not shielding Conn. We toured last fall and felt like we wasted most of a day. The campus is faded and the school has zero energy. The admissions stats are abysmal. They will soon be hitting 50% admissions rate. And its endowment is small. There may be other schools under more serious threat, but Conn has a dim future, and doesn't seem to be doing anything to up its game.

I’m sorry that was your impression. We visited Colby on a recent trip, and I got a super-grim vibe, but I’m imaginative enough to see that it might have been the weather or the particular time I was there. Every time I’ve been to Conn, it’s been lively. Unlike many schools I’ve seen, kids actually greet and engage with each other when they pass.

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

People aren’t interested in the nescac colleges because of their affiliation with nescac

Athletes, who make up about 40 percent of the population of most of the schools, absolutely are.

Lackluster sports. And sad facilities.

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

People aren’t interested in the nescac colleges because of their affiliation with nescac

Athletes, who make up about 40 percent of the population of most of the schools, absolutely are.

What? No they aren’t. You go to Williams because its got good teams, not because you’re playing against bates. This may be the dumbest assumption I’ve ever heard.

Anonymous wrote:They offer merit aid so if needed, that will help. One of the few NESCAC schools that does.

All good until the tiny endowment runs dry.

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

People aren’t interested in the nescac colleges because of their affiliation with nescac

Athletes, who make up about 40 percent of the population of most of the schools, absolutely are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter is getting recruited at a bunch of D3 schools for her sport. One of the ones that is peaked interest is Connecticut College. Does anyone know anything about this college? The coach seems lovely, and I know it’s very expensive but I am hoping they offer a good scholarships and aid. Does anyone know the atmosphere, vibe, etc. Any information would be amazing.

Did you visit? We thought the location was the worst of both worlds. It's stuck on the edge of a depressing city without anything to walk to, but also not near nature either. My urban loving kids rejected it based on location and so did my nature loving kid.

Isn’t it right on the sound?

No. That's a lie. It's not right on the sound. Last fall, our tour guide had us stand on a bench so we could kinda make out that the sound was in it distance somewhere. It's closer to a very industrialized river.

Industrialized? What does that even mean? Sounds like a dam.

The Thames River is very industrialized. It's a wide estuary river for traffic into the deep water ports of New London and Groton, two grubby, dirty little cities that are Conn's closest neighbors. Not really scenic or quaint. Mystic is pretty, but that's a drive. Your kid won't be hanging out in Mystic, or walking along a beach on the sound.

Sounds…fine. What a strange, useless observation.

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

But it's not shielding Conn. We toured last fall and felt like we wasted most of a day. The campus is faded and the school has zero energy. The admissions stats are abysmal. They will soon be hitting 50% admissions rate. And its endowment is small. There may be other schools under more serious threat, but Conn has a dim future, and doesn't seem to be doing anything to up its game.

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.

This is a college that's in for some tough sledding when the demographic cliff kicks in.

Location and being in the NESCAC will shield Conn. They distinguish Conn from other schools in the 25-50 ranks. Being in New England is more desirable than PA or upstate NY or the Midwest, and the NESCAC is the most competitive conference in D3. There will always be kids who want to compete at that level but may not have quite the stats for the tippy top schools.

People aren’t interested in the nescac colleges because of their affiliation with nescac