<p>Any parents out here with CTL experiences (Colleges that change lives)?</p>
<p>Seems like worth considering. Any pointers appreciated. thanks.</p>
<p>Ummmm. . . more often referred to as “CTCL”. This was one of my go-to books for the college search with DS#1. I believe many CC parents are supporters. The website is helpful but I’d really recommend buying the book. <someone will=“” post=“” that=“” of=“” course=“” this=“” is=“” not=“” an=“” exhaustive=“” list=“” “second-tier”=“” lacs=“” do=“” amazing=“” things=“” with=“” their=“” students.=“” still–a=“” fine=“” place=“” to=“” start=“” if=“” that’s=“” the=“” direction=“” you’re=“” thinking.=“”></someone></p>
<p>A better response is to learn about CTL and those which could not fit within the pages because of space restrictions. Read <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/370873-brag-about-your-lesser-known-school.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/370873-brag-about-your-lesser-known-school.html</a></p>
<p>P.S. I’m also sure you’ll get many enthusiastic responses from parents with kids currently enrolled in CTCL or similar schools, but I’d like to hear from parents whose kids are out the other side. Anybody out there with kids who have graduated from one of these?</p>
<p>My stepD graduated from Evergreen many years ago. She transferred there from U of OR, so did not take the freshman/sophomore courses. She’s a very self-directed person, so it was a good place for her and she’s had a successful career (in music production, management). My younger S will be a freshman next year - hope it is as good an experience for him.</p>
<p>I, too, think it is a great starting point to explore good small schools. The book is, as one poster pointed out, not exhaustive, but if you like one particular school description then you can look at other schools where these kids apply. One commonality of the CTCL schools have is that they are all well regarded and deliver a first class education. The differences are the schools themselves, they are not all the “same” and have distinctive personalities and attract distinctive types of kids.</p>
<p>S had a friend who graduated from Whitman but can’t really say she had that much better an education or experiences than S who attended a CSU and had some really great opportunities and profs. Much cheaper for him too. Her brother attended another CTCL and dropped out after 2 years. I don’t think their colleges changed their lives much while S’s really did for him.</p>
<p>Oh yes, thanks for that! I almost felt something was amiss as I was typing it!</p>
<p>I had visited the CTCL website a few months ago and from what I remember most of them are small and not near any major city.</p>
<p>We have lived abroad most of DS’s life and in different cities, hence thought he would not like the rural locations.</p>
<p>Reed seemed to be the best of them all. Son goes to a school of 3500 students hence he may find that a 3000 undergrad to be too small? esp if not near any city.</p>
<p>At this point when we are making a long list - I would have liked to add 1 or 2 colleges from the CTCL list. Son has yet to find a favorite (except Stanford where he went for EPGY summers and just loved it!)</p>
<p>CTCL was our “Bible” during the college search process, beside the specific descriptions of the schools, the book really guided D as to what to look for in a school, what questions to ask, what experiences to look for, etc. She visited seven of the schools, applied to five (plus a couple of other reach schools), got accepted at all five with significant merit aid at each, and is starting at the College of Wooster next month on a full-tuition College Scholar award. I highly recommend the book, even if you are not specifically looking for an LAC.</p>
<p>pixel - definitely check out Rhodes, it is in CTCL and in a major city (Memphis)…</p>
<p>My stepson graduated from Kalamazoo College–which is one of the colleges in CTCL. He had a great experience–got an excellent education and really benefitted from the required (at that time anyway) study overseas (he was in France). Most of the students were from Michigan, but I believe that’s changing and the student body is now somewhat more diverse. My stepson majored in math and ended up in high tech.</p>
<p>I think CTCL is a wonderful guidebook for the search for a collegiate academic community. There are plenty of great schools not in the book as well–but what it does is give you a template for the kinds of school that emphasizes teaching and developing the whole person (in contrast to research and more linear professional development–which only some kids are ready for at 18). </p>
<p>And about the “too small” fear. It can be important to think about “how many friends do you need?” In a class of 300-400 like-minded new students you are likely to find plenty of friends. College is not high school and so the “small” community is quite different in many important ways. I have seen a lot of kids from “small” high schools decide they want a “big” school then be miserable with the scale and anonymity and difficulty finding a circle of friends quickly in the big environment. I just think it is really important to sample schools and communities for fit and feel before rejecting them on a single demographic (eg: too small, too rural, too cold)</p>
<p>My daughter is a rising Junior at College of Wooster. She has been very happy with her choice. She has gotten to know many of her profs. She just returned from an amazing summer study program the school runs in Siena, Italy. The college is about 1,000 students smaller than her high school, but she has not felt it was too small. It is a great fit for her. We visited many schools, large/small, public/private, near/far before she made her decision. The CTCL book was very helpful in educating all of us.</p>
<p>“Reed seemed to be the best of them all. Son goes to a school of 3500 students hence he may find that a 3000 undergrad to be too small? esp if not near any city.” Reed is in Portland Ore, so it is not isolated like say Whitman. If your S is very smart , loves learning for learning’s sake and has the stats to be competitive for Stanford, Reed as well as U of Chicago might be “matches” for him [students that apply to Chicago also often apply to Reed and VV.]. But do some careful research- both have “core curriculums” and are very rigorous academically. Neither are for the student who wants a “typical” college [ rah rah big sports or lots of frats ]type of experience.</p>
<p>I graduated from a CTCL school that certainly had a temendous impact on my development, so obviously I’m a huge fan of such schools. I encouraged each of my kids to also look at these schools and similar ones. The oldest decided it wasn’t for her and accepted a nice scholarship elsewhere, which I must say, turned out to be perfect for her. However, D2 is at a small LAC similar to a CTCL and is having an incredible experience similar to my own. D3 is still deciding, but definitely has a couple of these schools on her list. </p>
<p>I’d also echo what rhsmom and mmaah mention about school size. D2 had the same concerns coming from a large high school and a major city. However, that tune changed 180 degrees once she got there. Now she says she can’t imagine being at a large university for undergrad. It’s very different from what she expected before having experienced it. It’s true that college communities are not like high school.</p>
<p>Rhodes is in Memphis.</p>
<p>My D went from a high school of over 4000 students to a 2000 student college. To her amazement, she is still meeting new people in her class and she’ll be a senior next year.</p>
<p>How is the financial aid?</p>
<p>We visited 3 of the Midwest CTCL schools: St Olaf, Beloit and Lawrence and felt all 3 were solid academically. DD2 only ended up applying to Lawrence from this list(good science and theatre/also known for having a music conservatory–a good safety for those interested in Oberlin or Macalester, though conservatory would be quite competitive)–accepted with merit money, but chose another school instead. Lawrence also has a surprisingly large number of international students and domestic students who’ve lived abroad.
If OP’s student has stats to consider Stanford as a reach, I’d suggest a look at Macalester which is in the city of St Paul, MN and has a particularly large number of international students (around 13%) as well as US students who’ve lived abroad with their families or as exchange students for a year (again, from the website, around 13%). My DD1 did a Rotary exchange for a year; the next year she was joined at Macalester by a boy from her high school who also did a gap year with Rotary and by the boy (from another state) who replaced her in her Rotary district in South America. Several of her friends have also lived abroad with their parents.</p>
<p>D#1 transferred to Hampshire from a large, top university. She felt the university was too structured and was not challenging enough despite its reputation. She loves, loves, loves Hampshire. She has finished 1 year there and already regrets not going there originally. She is very self directed and designing her own major, being responsible for it, works great for her. She also likes the written evals from professors. She also takes courses within the consortium for regular grades and does very well. She says she can’t possibly take all the courses that she wants to in 3 years. My nephew also attended HC and loved it. She has friends at Goucher and Guilford who also love it. However as others posted, there are numerous smaller LAC’s out there that are wonderful. What I like is that she is allowed to be creative with her programming, is forced to take responsibility for her program (there is no structured coursework laid out for her) and she who was already pretty mature has matured even more. Classes are small and there is a lot of interaction with the profs. Nephew has done very well for himself since graduating. D#2 would hate it. She is going to a smallish university in a large city. Very different kids. 
Which is what makes it fun!</p>