I applied to Trinity under the impression that it was the best decision I had ever made.
I have just finished by transfer applications after the experiences I have had during my freshmen year at Trinity.
This post is not by someone who is “uninvolved” or never goes out on the weekends. I am a member of two sports teams, multiple campus organizations and I do go to the local bar and to the frats each weekend.
Trinity has very little to offer. The academics are solid, there is no problem there. The problem is with Trinity’s surrounding area, the culture and the students.
Hartford is not very “dangerous” per say, although a student would be uncomfortable walking through the area around Trinity alone, they are not in danger on campus. However this inability to travel freely limits students to mainly the campus, unless you want to Uber to nearby restaurants and shopping malls. This makes it difficult to walk around freely, or just experience the area you go to college in and really limits the activities you can do besides partying.
The culture here is horrible. The majority of the students come from boarding schools and private schools, and while this is not a bad thing this seems to be the crop of students that were able to slide through high school and rely on their parent’s money to get them into college. There is a SERIOUS lack of motivation, students often skip classes continuously, without thought to their grades, or the fact their parents pay serious money to put them through school. Students I talked to at the beginning of the year who wanted to transfer now are wrapped up in drugs and likely won’t submit any applications since they are too wrapped up in the party culture.
These are not exaggerations - please take this into consideration when applying, the transfer rate is high for a reason.
Your review was exactly why my son decided not to go to Trinity. He’s a smart kid who grew up in public school in California in a friendly culture. We were concerned by the high number students at Trinity from elite East Coast prep schools. Hartford did not sound appealing. Too bad as we had the impression the academics are great.
My son has been thinking of applying to some of the LACs in New England including Trinity and OP’s posting concerns me. I saw several mixed views on Hartford and its security. Is it that bad?
In terms of the school culture, is Trinity similar to Connecticut College in New London, CT?
@jyc1230 The area surrounding Hartford is not very good, it is mostly liquor stores and run down super markets. About 15 minutes away there is a nicer area but it is mostly just shopping malls, there is no college town type feel. Downtown Hartford area is buildings that are used by insurance companies, nothing nice to look at, little culture. The “locals” as they are called do not have a good relationship with Trinity, sometimes ride through campus on bikes harassing kids, girls have been assaulted.
Trinity and Connecticut College are different. Connecticut College is a very beautiful campus, good local area and more of a friendly student body, not as concentrated on elitism and wealth.
@ Tasmania - please share your experiences so we can have another view of Trinity. DS visited but we are on the fence due to some of what we saw and reviews by those of OP. If you’d care to share your experience that can help prospective applicants.
I’ll give my perception as well, although during the time my D was searching I posted about both Trinity and ClarkU and was scolded several times lol. Trinity was my D’s first choice. We visited, the surrounding area was not very nice at all, although we both thought Hartford would offer good opportunities for internships, etc. Because we had just started the process and had a long list of possibilites, we nixed it based on the surrounding neighborhood. We also visited ClarkU and nixed it also due to the surrounding neighborhood. My thoughts were exactly as posted above…I would not want my D leaving campus by herself for any reason. Who wants to live someplace where they can’t even run to the local coffee shop by themselves? It wasn’t until later in the process that I started reading about the accepted student demographics and realized that it wasn’t a good fit socially either (Trinity).