<p>^ It’s all perspective. I saw what you guys did, for sure. :)</p>
<p>I also liked the ability to create my own major, if I wanted.</p>
<p>And I second (third?) the gratitude for CamelMan. You may have a career as a great college counselor ahead of you. Very thoughtful and constructive observations. And since you’re a Conn student, that speaks very well indeed for the school as a home for intelligent people.</p>
<p>CamelMan21: You completely misinterpreted my sentence. So your suggestion that we “…miscalculated the college…” is way off base. We did no such thing. Our calculations on all of the schools to which he applied were spot on, Conn included. </p>
<p>Your mistake was in reading,</p>
<p>“But I also didn’t encourage him to apply to Conn because we thought it was lacking in academic rigor and he wouldn’t be challenged.”</p>
<p>to mean that we thought Conn DID lack a strong academic environment. The point to the OP was that as parents of a child who applied to Conn, we would not, OF COURSE, support his application if we thought the school lacked strong academics as the OP seems to believe is painfully obvious from a few conversations with current students. </p>
<p>The problems with a forum like this is that tone, intent, and in this case, meaning, are often lost on readers. Read a different way and in the full context of my post, you would have understood my intent. We’re agreeing and you don’t even know it.</p>
<p>“The problems with a forum like this is that tone, intent, and in this case, meaning, are often lost on readers. Read a different way and in the full context of my post, you would have understood my intent. We’re agreeing and you don’t even know it.”
I completely agree. I did not want to sound pompous at all - I think perhaps I was not distinct enough about what I wanted and not careful enough with my words. </p>
<p>I assume their will be ditzy students on every campus, and I want it to be so. I am a ditzy person at times. However, I know when not to be ditzy - for instance, when leading an information session, I would not talk about how Conn was so great that I did not even know what was great about it. And, when guiding a tour, again, not ditzy. The students that should have represented their school did a terrible job. And I suppose a school that does not market itself as intellectual is not a school where I want to go. I accept the fun loving attitude - I just would have expected different attitudes in a admissions session and info session.</p>
<p>“I assume there will be ditzy students on every campus” Just thought I’d add that the ditziest tourguide (a student) we had on our numerous campus visits was at Dartmouth. Bowdoin’s was a close second. You get the point.</p>
<p>Yes, unfortunatey the bad tour guide thing can happen anywhere. For what it’s worth, our guide last Friday at Conn was a great guy, obviously very smart and talented, a double major in music and economics who sings in an acapella group, wants to study abroad in Italy for the opera, and plays on the club Ultimate Frisbee team-- exactly the sort of well-rounded, friendly, smart student my daughter wants to be around.</p>
<p>In terms of the admittance stats, I don’t know if you’re talking about accepted or enrolled students. Wait until the Common Data Sets come out to see if the school has really gotten significantly more competitive.</p>
<p>SDonCC… One of the comments made previously was that CC was looking for “more” applications, not “better” applicants. The admission stats in terms of accepted students proves that theory incorrect. They are getting a very high quality of applications with scores improving significantly year over year.</p>
<p>You are 100% correct in that it will be very interesting to see what the final accepted stats look like. I am guessing the average ACT score as an example will drop by 5-6 points from what was accepted vs enrolled.</p>
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<p>See, before you were talking about students lounging around on the greens, and you called them ditzy. This is very different from a tour-guide perhaps being “bubbly”. And also very different (again) from what I saw. My tour guide kept a fast pace, and hit all the good spots, adding in stories here or there. I don’t know exactly what made <em>yours</em> ditzy though. Mine was an IR major, and was clearly smart. </p>
<p>I also don’t know if you’re talking about admissions officers as well- I know at least one of them likes to make jokes, and is quite bubbly. But she also <em>knows</em> a lot, and is very helpful if and when you ask questions or need help. </p>
<p>I (somewhat) disagree with the camelman- I never got the impression I was buying into anything but an academic experience in the whole marketing process, albiet one where people might venture away from the library sometimes. You seem very set on this having been “ditzy” and bad for you though, and I don’t know what exactly happened, but I assume it was just “one of those days”. I don’t think you’re <em>wrong</em> they probably can be ditzy, I just don’t think the school is unacademic, and not very easy, either.</p>
<p>It’s all up to you. I’d suggest you look at the history department professors, and see if they are focused in subjects that you’re interested by.</p>
<p>I think Conn really needs to improve its club information. This is where I go to get a feel for the student body, and the first pulldown for “academic / language” shows nothing academic, except an honor society. While my son may end up at Conn, I have to say that the clubs don’t really give me a picture of a good fit for a person who loves to debate and discuss ideas, and appreciates unconventional thinking, but is not involved in the arts. From what I saw, there really is nothing in the club list that speaks to the quirky person and THAT is what I think contributes to the perception of Conn as a less than intellectual school. It’s not just academic pursuits per se, but a way of thinking and being in the world that may be present at Conn, but it doesn’t really show up in the website, IMO.</p>
<p>I am very happy to be convinced otherwise, btw, because my S is accepted and it is still very much under consideration.</p>
<p>At the club listings for Hamilton and Bates, I get a sense that there is much more niche activities and offbeat thinking going on than at Conn. Again, maybe there’s more than meets the eye here at Conn, but if so, it’s not coming across.</p>
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<p>Either we have very different perspectives (possible), or the tours and info sessions we were in were completely different (also possible). My tour guide was relatively specific about what went on on campus, athletics, clubs, and academic programs. The info session and presentation on essays and interviews were light-hearted, but I didn’t find this to be a problem, since the adcom member who presented did give specifics and insight in the application review process.</p>
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<p>I think a lot of it might be that Conn does a lot that isn’t club work- say, volunteering, or activities that are hosted by major departments or academic centers. But yes, updates should be made. I encourage you both to look through the Campus events calendars, both in the next few weeks and in previous weeks/months for the year. <a href=“http://aspen.conncoll.edu/camelweb/ccCal/events/?var1=04/04/10&id3=329495243&var5=none[/url]”>http://aspen.conncoll.edu/camelweb/ccCal/events/?var1=04/04/10&id3=329495243&var5=none</a></p>
<p>If you can visit, that’s what I looked at/for. Not just club activities but lectures/meetings/activities & preformances/department gatherings/etc. For example, the EAS department was advertising Chinese New Year’s coming up- which seemed great to me (I love planning/working at events, and I’m considering being a Chinese major). This week was CISLA’s International Photo contest, the Japanese Consul General’s visit to the college, A lecture on European Immigration, and Hope for Haiti lectures. (I just chose at random what looked like it had “international focuses”.) With IR, CISLA academic center is big, and I imagine they do a lot of things/host events/meet/etc. </p>
<p>I don’t know enough about clubs to say, though. But he could always start his own- its not out of the question.</p>
<p>Thanks all for the positive feedback to my responses. I’m glad they are helpful or at least interesting.</p>
<p>Out of curiosity I checked out the club website and found:</p>
<p>[Connecticut</a> College : Campus Life - Media](<a href=“http://www.conncoll.edu/campuslife/1653.htm]Connecticut”>http://www.conncoll.edu/campuslife/1653.htm)
[Connecticut</a> College : Campus Life - Issue Oriented](<a href=“http://www.conncoll.edu/campuslife/1652.htm]Connecticut”>http://www.conncoll.edu/campuslife/1652.htm)
[Connecticut</a> College : Campus Life - Performing Arts](<a href=“http://www.conncoll.edu/campuslife/1655.htm]Connecticut”>http://www.conncoll.edu/campuslife/1655.htm)
[Connecticut</a> College : Campus Life - Special Interest](<a href=“http://www.conncoll.edu/campuslife/1658.htm]Connecticut”>http://www.conncoll.edu/campuslife/1658.htm)</p>
<p>Many of the “quirky” organizations that are highly visible on campus are listed on the sites above and include:
-Spokespeople: a student-run bicycle co-op that “rents” free bikes and advocates for alternative modes of transportation.
-Spout!: which is the organic gardening club. They have their own sizable plot in North Campus where they grow food that is served in the cafeterias and teach farming methods to other students.
-feminist majority
-human rights now
-renewable energy group: a huge group on campus that has been involved in successful campus greening efforts and run trips to national environmental conferences.
-water action now
-STAND a group for taking action in darfur which hosted a number of guest speakers and lobbied the college to withdraw investments linked to Sudan.
-CChange: a group collecting spare change for charitable causes.
-two literary magazines: cadenza and the sound
-film society which hosts bi-monthly film screenings on friday nights
-MOBROC: one of my favorite groups on campus which has their own “barn” where dozens of bands can practice and where musicians generally hangout and “jam”.
-Group Art Attack!: another great group of theater students who put on off-beat and non-department related productions.
-Coffee Grounds: student-run coffee house
-buddha bar: another student-run coffee house in the art center serving Indian products.</p>
<p>There are also other groups that aren’t directly related to the school that exist in any given year. For example, right now there a club where people wear fake mustaches and tweed, and go for a discussion oriented strolls campus before finishing in a room where they drink brandy–a tongue in cheek organization that speaks to existing quirks.</p>
<p>Also, not listed on the website, every single academic department has a student advisory board which both contribute to the department by helping with aspects like hiring new faculty, but who also run student events in the related field.</p>
<p>I suppose I have a difficult time understanding how Conn’s website in particular, and club websites in general create impressions of the daily goings on of students. Maybe I should take the time to check out the websites of other colleges and seeing for myself, but I don’t really feel like doing that… </p>
<p>After the process of frequenting this board over the course of the last week I am convinced that the college’s public relations efforts need an overhaul.</p>
<p>MOBROC was cool to pass by- the barn always seemed to be full of music on the weekends. It’s in the [What’s</a> Up with the Box, Connecticut College?](<a href=“Home · Connecticut College”>Home · Connecticut College) 10 list. 2 members of: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah went to Conn. Of course, this is “artsy” I guess. </p>
<p>But Camelman is right.</p>
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<p>At other college websites, there’s usually a comprehensive list of clubs, and usually some links to pages that talk about the clubs and when they meet. So Conn could use some improvement in this regard.</p>
<p>It seems like you’re right about their PR efforts. I think the administration may want to do some of these things to help sell Conn better:
Market intellectual academics that can prepare students for the workforce and everyday life and talk about how students there are serious about academics and fun.
Advertise the student advisory boards to show that students have a voice in the college. I didn’t know about that until you posted it. It’s not even in the box of cards info thing they distribute. I found it interesting when I read in an Amherst brochure that the student government decides how to allocate funds to school clubs.</p>
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<p>Conn’s student government does a lot too- but I only knew this from talking to an alum, and the department stuff from visiting. …I’m considering trying to work in Admissions. One of my big ECs was P.R. Specialist for a group, actually. It’d be fun to continue that.</p>
<p>Thanks for so many replies - perhaps I was just unlucky. The admissions talk was very interesting, and the girls’ skits were downright funny. I will reconsider Conn, and I really ought to sit in on a class. I’m glad that not all the students are flippant about school - you Conn students on CC obviously attest to that. Conn College did a bad job marketing itself when I visited - as did Dartmouth. So this has nothing to do with prestige - I just want a very academic environment. When the Dean of Admissions visited my area, I was very enthralled by Conn and still would love to attend that school she described. If I visit my family in Mass this fall, I will revisit Conn, attend a class, etc. before I start my applications.</p>
<p>I stand by my original comment about the clubs, and I already had seen what you listed, but these are arts clubs and causes that students rally around that are no different than you find on any campus. It’s just shocking that there is no debate or model UN, and I still don’t see things that leap out as showing kids with unusual interests beyond the arts. I know that a current student doesn’t, and shouldn’t, have the time or inclination to peruse other schools’ websites, but as a parent of a prospective student, I do. </p>
<p>CamelMan, I absolutely appreciate all the time and thoughtful comments you have put here, and you are a stellar representation of the student body. If the students are as articulate and insightful as you, then Conn really must be a wonderful place. There is no doubt that my S would find plenty to keep him busy and have a very interesting college experience.</p>
<p>Okay, here I am again. In the Princeton Review, I found a quote from a student at Grinnell (also a school my S is considering, but distance is a negative) that describes exactly what kind of college experience we are looking for:
“When you sit in a class with a diverse group of students who are all passionate about different things, it leads to some of the most interesting and intense discussions possible. Because I am surrounded by a group of highly intelligent, motivated, and inquisitive peers, I am constantly challenged to examine topics from different perspective. This constant thinking outside of the box is a primary aspect of a liberal arts education.”</p>