<p>I was really excited to visit one of these schools with my S and maybe I didn't pick a suitable one, but now I don't know how many of these I'm going to get him to look at, so I could use some advice on the next one. I had a friend that visited Guilford and she wasn't impressed either. I have another friend whose D went to Juaniata and although daughter liked the school for the academics it was isolated.
We visited Hampshire, which I know tends to get kids who are more free spirits, but my son really stuck out at their big visiting day. It's funny, I always thought he was a bit of a free spirit, but apparently he's rather preppy. Plus, he wasn't impressed with the facilities. He was googling their endowment as we were walking around.
So any suggestions for another one to visit? We are from CT, psych/neuro and/or photography, maybe larger sized is better. I decided we wouldn't look at anything in the NE until the spring, things were just too depressing in Feb. He really wants CA, but there aren't any CTCL schools there. He said he's afraid of the south because he is such a liberal.</p>
<p>Ok, I hope I don’t sound stupid but what does CTCL stand for?</p>
<p>“Colleges that Change Lives,” a great book by Loren Pope that busts myths and focuses on high quality, lesser-known colleges. Ironically the publicity from the book has resulted in many of the schools becoming much more selective.</p>
<p>[Colleges</a> That Change Lives](<a href=“http://www.ctcl.org/]Colleges”>http://www.ctcl.org/)</p>
<p>You might want to check out Ursinus. It is in a suburb of Philadelphia. We personally thought it was too isolated, but the facilities were nice, academics seem good, might appeal to a more preppy student from the NE, probably as liberal as anywhere else in the NE.</p>
<p>I’ve been favorably impressed with Ursinus when visiting with 2 sons who ended up applying there. Out west, I have a good impression of Whitman in Eastern Washington State - visited there with S1 and all 3 of our kids applied there.</p>
<p>We really liked Clark in Worcester MA, and I hear their psych department has a good rep. It’s probably not a long drive for you.</p>
<p>
LOL…this doesn’t sound like Hampshire material.</p>
<p>Our son also decided against Hampshire, which I thought was too bad, because I thought it would be a great fit for him in many ways. But he didn’t like the roll-your-own curriculum or the rural setting. He did end up applying to two CTCL schools, Clark and Goucher. Yes, psych is big at Clark. And I would guess that Goucher might be a great social fit for a “liberal preppie.”</p>
<p>There might be some great schools for him in California, even if they aren’t listed in Colleges That Change Lives. It’s a great book, but it’s just one book, and you shouldn’t use it as your sole guide. If California interests him, tell him to start researching and get back to you with some suggestions and if he can show real interest maybe you could visit.</p>
<p>The problem for many new to the college search is that the amount of available data is overwhelming. The Gatekeepers and CTCL were books recommended by D’s guidance counselor so that was where we started. We visited a CTCL fair. Some schools seemed like good fits, others were not close. Ended up visiting 3 schools: St. Olaf, Wheaton (IL), and Hope College. Two of these hit the mark, one was a no go.</p>
<p>Really, its just one man’s take on a number of schools that most of us (at least on the west coast) would have never have run across.</p>
<p>We are heading to CA in two weeks, D lives in the OC so it’s convenient. Going to visit Chapman, Oxy, Pitzer(reach financialy and academically) & probably USC(reach-reach). I’ve been hearing recently about the University of San Diego - not to be confused with UCSD & SD State. Any others people can think of in the area?
Ursinus is on our radar. The CTCL schools just sounded so great. He is currently at a small school and should be in an environment where all his profs know him and will interact with him.
My other S went to a large Ivy and graduated without one prof ever knowing him- mostly his fault I’m sure. D went to same, but was in a small progam at one of the smaller colleges and did quite well. So we are looking smaller and for merit$$ since we are still paying for D&S.</p>
<p>The thing about CTCL is that he really pays attention to the essential things–relationships, the intellectual and social atmosphere-- things that matter so much more than statistics! It would be so great if there were more books like it, instead of these huge compendiums with very little of substance to say. Some of the CTCL schools don’t seem to live up to what he says (or…said…some time back now)–but others (Clark is one) seem great. I just wish there were more resources like that book.</p>
<p>I agree with Smithie–CTCL is just a book with one person’s opinion. But because of the location of many of the schools, we did look at several on the list. We weren’t impressed with some, and very impressed with others. My S loved the College of Wooster–friendly, decent acacdemics. He also liked Allegheny College–until he found out the amount of snowfall per year. I would say that both of those colleges are middle of the road/to slightly left leaning campuses. We also visited Denison, but my S found it too preppy. Goucher is a wonderful college–fairly liberal and has a fine academic reputation–just too close to home. We also visited Ursinus (my wife was impressed with their approach to core curriculum, but my S and I didn’t see anything that made it stand out) and McDaniel (another one that didn’t speak to our S), and we have friends with kids at St. John’s (MD) (very liberal and academically rigorous, but you have to want this type of education), Guilford (very liberal–we weren’t impress either), Juniata (agree–very isolated–but very friendly and they work hard to provide activities for the students). Sorry if this was too long winded–our S is in the final decision making stages for college and I have been giving a lot of thought to what I learned/remembered from the past year.</p>
<p>I almost forgot that we visited Allegheny as well…took a long time to get there, and it was cold and snowy in mid-April. I don’t really mind snow…just pointing out what I saw. I think they are trying to define and fill a niche as a school where students with more than one interest can thrive–biology and music say, or mathematics and art. The campus was OK–student center was new and large, and one will be seen as a person there, not a number. Only one other family was with us on the tour, and we ran into the college president along the way, and he knew the tour guide’s name (good!). On the whole, though, nothing really stood out, either the facilities or the students we saw.</p>
<p>I think that places like Allegheny, and perhaps other CTCL, are places that “grow on you” - I think it might be hard to choose one without knowing people who go there because they are not selective or (necessarily) full of snazzy facilities, but the students who go there love them and have close interactions with their professors and each other. </p>
<p>Two students my D graduated with in '08 go to Allegheny - a guy and a girl, with VERY different personalities and interests - and they both love it there.</p>
<p>“So we are looking smaller and for merit$$ since we are still paying for D&S.”</p>
<p>Did your S’s PSAT score put him in NMSF range for your state? If so you need to look at this thread
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/national-merit-scholarships/649276-nmf-scholarships-updated-compilation.html</a></p>
<p>go to the end for the most current updated information</p>
<p>Occidental is an interesting school - definitely worth checking out. All in all, here in California it does seem like there’s a dearth of destination worthy LACs, the Claremont consortium aside. University of San Diego is gorgeous but it does have the local rep of a country club with lots of wealthy students. Based on the other schools you mentioned, there’s Lewis and Clark and Willamette in Oregon to check out. We liked the CTCL book; D ended up at Whitman and loves it there.</p>
<p>Alas, no NMSF.<br>
I have discussed St. Johns with him. He is a big reader, always has been. I think it sounds so interesting but obviously you have to be seriously into it.<br>
CC is a fantastic site, but I think we are relying on the CTCL book because there is not much posting on the other smaller schools that could be great. You can’t believe the sites and the brochures!</p>
<p>Both Ursinus and Goucher offer merit $ to applicants in the top portion of their pool. They also both have non-binding EA, which is nice. So it’s quite possible to have a couple acceptances with merit scholarship offers by early February, which makes the waiting for April 1 slightly easier to take.</p>
<p>I’ve visited a few of the CTCL schools and plan to visit a couple more with my youngest son. But,from what I’ve seen, MOST LAC’s have some unique qualities about them. </p>
<p>Arcadia University in Glenside PA has an awesome Study abroad program, Roanoke College in Salem VA has first year students build a Habitat for Humanity House every year, Hartwick College in New York offers three year bachelors degrees. All three of these college have good merit aid and accept B students. I think any of these college compare favorably with the CTCL colleges. </p>
<p>A great book for B students is Finding the College that is Right for you by John Palladino.
[Amazon.com:</a> Finding the College That’s Right for You! (0639785387336): John Palladino: Books](<a href=“http://www.amazon.com/Finding-College-Thats-Right-You/dp/0071423060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268421252&sr=8-1]Amazon.com:”>http://www.amazon.com/Finding-College-Thats-Right-You/dp/0071423060/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268421252&sr=8-1)</p>
<p>but I think we are relying on the CTCL book</p>
<p>that book is over 10 years old and many of the colleges mentioned in it are no longer “undiscovered gems”. So I suggest you don’t rely on only 1 resource. I suggest you repost on the parents forum- asking CC parents for their suggested “Colleges that Change Lives”- [without using the CTGL abbreviation in the title, as it may not ring a bell with some old timers]</p>