Decision Time: Connecticut College or Providence College

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I need some help! I am freaken out and very stressed. I have 48 hours to make a final decision on what college I will attend next year. My number one school was College of Holy Cross. However, Holy Cross only gave me $5,000 Grant and it will cost me $52,000 a year. My parents and I cannot afford $52,000 a year without taking out huge loans ($20,000 a year in loans). I love the school and it's a better school than my other choices. Also, it's better school for Pre-med too. I want to go to Medical school after I graduate college. However, I do not think it's worth $80,000 in debt for undergraduate degree. I am very crushed that I cannot not attend there but it's time to move on. </p>

<p>I live in South Carolina and I could attend Univeristity of South Carolina for only $23,000 a year but the school is over 30,000 students and school is way to big for me. I would get lost in a class of 500 students. Many classes have 100 - 500 kids in a class. That is not for me. </p>

<p>With Holy Cross out of the question. Here is my choices. My two schools I have choose are Connecticutt College and Providence College. The schools and student base are totally different. What I heard is PC students are similar as HC and BC. Connecticutt College student is simliar to Bates or Trinity College. Is this correct?</p>

<p>This is what the schools offered: The cost of the two schools are about the same
1. Providence College, RI: (Accepted to Honors Program): $57.5K - $18,000 (Merit) + $6,600 (Grant)= $32,900
2. Connecticutt College: $60.8K - $26,300 (Grant)= $34,455
**Merit Scholarship are guarantee. Grants are not guarantee every year because our income can change.</p>

<p>Providence College: I know a lot students who do not go (for different reasons) to Boston College or Holy Cross usually go to PC. My reason I am not attending HC is because of money. I do not like to say the word but it's true PC is a safety school for BC and HC. I am ok with that because I did like PC too. I visit HC and PC about four times. I spent a day with student at each school attending their classes. I got good feel about the schools and student base of HC and PC. I loved both schools with HC being my number one school and PC being my number two school. I felt great connection with students at HC and PC. I also met with Chairman of the Biology Departement at Providence College and he spent over two hours with me showing me the school labs and science department. He impressed me and my family the time he spent with us one on one. PC is located in Providence which will give me options to do things on the weekends. Also, I got in the Honors Program at PC and received $18,000 a year in a Merit Scholarship and also receive $6,600 Grant (Total $24,600) a year too. </p>

<p>Connecticutt College: My family and I visit over 20 schools in New England and SC & NC. We visited Connecticutt College last summer and their was no students on campus. I would have to say the campus is beautiful. It look like a small BC with the stone buildings. We did campus tour and I did a interview with a Senior who was going to Med School next year. I had great conversion with him and had good connection with him. CC has a great science department too. I did like the school a lot. However, I did not meet many other students and I did not get feel of the school and student base because it was summer time. Please, could you tell me what the student base is like? I live in South Carolina and I will not be able to visit again. We only had one day to visit CC last summer and I wish I could visted again to get better feel of the student base. </p>

<p>I having being do some research and a lot people are telling me Connecticutt College is better college than Providence College. Is this true? I will hate to turn down Connecticutt College if it's a better school then PC. </p>

<p>I need some major help here.This process is very stressfull. I appreciate everybody opinions. </p>

2

<p>At USC, many of your first year courses might be quite large - depending on your major - but your upper-level classes will be a lot smaller.</p>

<p>With that said, unless your parents expect their income to change a lot from year to year - like if they are self-employed or a lot of their income is from investments - your grants will likely stay relatively stable.</p>

<p>I’m not sure about all LACs, but I was in the honors program at a small top LAC and I didn’t find that it enriched the experience very much. At an LAC, all of the classes are small and they’re all supposed to be rigorous with lots of discussion and writing - so the honors classes at my college weren’t very different from the non-honors classes, and there weren’t a lot of additional offerings or opportunities only open for honors students.</p>

<p>Connecticut College is a higher-ranked/more prestigious college. It’s ranked in the top 50 liberal arts colleges, while Providence College is more ranked as a regional college (at the top of the regional rankings, but still regional as opposed to national). Whether it’s objectively better is up for debate, but I think many people would say that it is. Personally, I would choose Connecticut over Providence College, especially because they look like they are roughly the same cost to your family.</p>

3

<p>That’s really too bad that you didn’t get to visit cc when students were around. Have you checked out the “accepted students” or “class of 2018” Facebook page? Most schools have them and if the page is active it can be a good way to get a feel for, at least, the students in your class.</p>

<p>I think if it were me I would choose CC. </p>

4

<p>staceyneil: I think if it were me I would choose CC.
Please, could you give me more detail why you would pick CC over PC. </p>

<p>I wish that I could visit it again. I will check the facebook page. Thank you</p>

5

<p>Think about some of the difference. For example which size school is preferable (CC is a small LAC while PC is more mid-sized) although you are likely to have small classes in either place? is the idea of attending a Catholic school appealing or important to you? Do you prefer the idea of living n a mid-sized city to a more suburban location? </p>

<p>I don’t know if I"m right, but it sounds to me like you are more comfortable at PC. </p>

6

<p>Catholic Appealing or important: Not really. It does sway me either way. I am not conservative or liberal. Attending catholic school or not has nothing to do with my decision. I think that mid-size city is little better because I will have more things to do. However, it’s in my consideration on picking a school but not the main decision maker.</p>

<p>Only why I am more confortable with PC because I visited the schools 4 times by tours, talking to professors, interview, and “shadow” a student for one day by attending classes with them. Therefore, I really got a good taste who the students are. I felt very comfortable and felt a good connection with the students at the school. I like the school a lot.</p>

<p>However, I only visit Connecticutt College 1 time with campus tour and interview. The school and campus was beautiful. Their was only one other campus in my opinion that was better and that was Boston College. I did like the school but the school was not in session. I did not see or meet the student body. I never visit the school when it was in session or all the students there. The students were on summer break. I wish that I found out about CC when I started my college search so I could spend a day in the classroom with students and see if the student body is good fit for me. I did not know anything about Connecticutt College until late in my search for colleges. </p>

<p>You are right I do feel more confortable with PC because I visit the school 4 times and CC only 1 time. I was supposed fly up to the Northeast to visit HC, PC, CC one more time in April but I had my prom one weekend and got sick with flu another weekend and my trip got to the northeast got canceled. Now it’s way to late. </p>

<p>My Dad and other people are telling me to attend CC because they say it’s a better school then PC and I will have better opportunity to get in Medical school. If CC is way better college than PC then I might be giving up the opportunity to attend there. I am very torn right now. The problem is I am not sure what kind of kids my age go CC. I think they are different group of kids that attend Connecticutt College then Holy Cross, Boston College, and Providence College or maybe they are not any different. I am not sure. It really comes down what kind of culture and student body does CC have. </p>

7

<p>@Southerngirl1 My opinion is totally unfounded and uneducated, really! I only said that because, living in New England, CC has a better reputation than PC. I think juillet said it well, that CC is more prestigious and PC is considered more of a regional school.</p>

<p>That said, I visited CC with my D a year ago and she crossed it off her list. I’m sure it didn’t help that it was snowing and bitingly cold, and that the dorm room our guide showed us was in the basement… but it didn’t wow my D. However- she’s quite different than you seem (very artsy, very liberal). She felt the student body was a little too preppy for her taste, and little too much like her New England high school. She was looking for more diversity and more passion and intellectual engagement, and while she liked a lot of things about the school, she didn’t feel at home there. But that’s NOT a blanket judgement, it just wasn’t a good fit for her.</p>

<p>We never visited Providence College, so I have no direct experience to share about that.</p>

<p>You’re in a tough situation and I don’t envy you having to make this decision. Is there absolutely no way you can take a quick visit up there tomorrow??? Good luck!</p>

8

<p>I would have to fly up there. I live in South Carolina. I would have to ask my parents how much it cost to fly there on on a last minute flight. I bet it would be expensive for me and my mom to fly up there on a last minute basis.</p>

9

<p>@Stancyneil
Cost to much money. It will cost my parents $1,600 for two flight tickets for one day visit. Not going happen. I have to make decision by this Thursday. I am very confused and stressed out on this process. I want to make sure I am making the right decision. </p>

10

<p>Sometimes you can get a little bit of a feel for the student body of school just by looking at videos, posted by the college or the students on the school website or on youtube.</p>

11

<p>You can get to med school from any college. My doctors went to Rutgers, Boston University, and St. Mike’s (VT). I have friends who are doctors and went to St. Joe’s and Villanova. I know others who have gone to Penn, Fairfield, Ursinus, and LaSalle.</p>

<p>Is CC a better school academically than PC? Sure. How much better? I don’t know. There is no question that they accept students with higher level of academic achievement. Of course, your comfort level with PC can help you academically. But again, you can get to med school from any school. </p>

12

<p>Don’t be stressed out–it is now time to make your decision and the stress will be over. Everyone has to pick a college with imperfect information. You will just have to do what everyone else is doing right now and take the plunge. There isn’t a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ decision, there is only the one you make and you will then go to that college and take every advantage. If you want to go with your best instincts then do it. You seem to prefer one where you have a higher comfort level because you’d been there more. Your fixation on HC isn’t helping–stop talking about it already, that ship has sailed. Me, I’d pick Connecticut College, but just because I’ve heard more about it and know a happy alum with fond feelings of her college. If you are undecided, why not go for the one that people seem to agree is a bit better academically?</p>

13

<p>Today - please take time to go through the course catalogs and see exactly which courses you will be taking at each school. I believe PC has an extensive set of distribution core requirements and required classes - perhaps encompassing at least a year. I don’t know what is required at CC. You may enjoy the required classes at PC or you might prefer more flexibility in choosing your classes. It depends on what you are looking for in your undergraduate education. Also, PC has D1 sports so there is more of an emphasis on sports there - ‘go Friar’s’. However, several D3 teams at CC are also excellent in their sports. S1 did not like the D1 sports environment and the extensive distribution requirements at PC even though he thought the people there were very friendly. He chose an LAC with stronger academics and D3 sports and not many distribution requirements so he could double major easier. These factors may or may not matter to you but they are worth thinking about. I hope this helps.</p>

14

<p>Congratulations on all acceptances, they are all great LACs.
So far, with the information you have provided, all-round, it seems that both schools will prepare you well for medical school, but the environment are both different. In addition, CC does have a higher prestige than PC and ranked higher than PC. CC is sometimes compared to the kinds of HOLY-CROSS both academically and otherwise, however, its location is not as vibrant as PC.
One of the major advantages of going to PC is the likely-hood of enjoying the great facilities of BROWN, and their pre-med resources - even that, is not a guarantee that you will get into BROWN school of medicine. In addition, the honor programs in LACs does not really gives you an edge over other students on campus. Its a small campus, and most students will have several opportunities to do what the honors program offers anyway,…so although it will look good on your transcripts upon graduation, that alone should not be a deciding factor.
So CC makes sense here.
Best of luck to you.</p>

15

<p>^^excellent suggestion and often overlooked points</p>

16

<p>Both schools offer excellent education; seem very different in spirit. I have a freshman at PC; has had an incredible year; excellent academic experience; amazing community; wonderful friends, busy social life, taking advantage of the city of Providence; fun basketball and hockey games; beautiful campus with new buildings and updates; professors who really relate well to students and will spend a lot of extra time with them on individual basis; has taken the train to Boston a few times; couldn’t be happier. </p>

17

<p>I just thought of another factor in your decision process. In addition to checking our the course requirements at both schools as I suggested previously, make sure that you know and understand what GPA requirements are needed to ‘keep’ your merit scholarships. There may not be any but be sure to understand and ‘buy into’ the deal if there are minimum GPA requirements to renew your scholarships. Both really are great schools but you need to understand what is required when you get there.</p>

18

<p>I know both schools CC because I know a couple of kids that went there and PC because I grew up across the street from it and my sister graduated from there and several family members worked there.</p>

<p>This is why I hate rankings. You seem to want to go to PC but the ranking is holding you back. I look at the two offers and CC is all grant aid which is variable and PC is mostly merit which is guaranteed under what conditions- a certain GPA? I would suggest you go to PC-if you hate it (which I doubt you will based on everything you are saying) you can transfer-to CC or some other college. If you go to CC and hate it and want to transfer you can do that as well-but that 18,000 MA is going to be hard to get anywhere as a transfer. I think it makes more sense financially to start at PC.</p>

<p>The kids at CC loved it-the kids I know who go to PC love it as well. Providence is a nice little city to live in and be a student in.</p>

<p>PC has a fine reputation around here and I have had two great doctors in my life-one who did undergrad at Wellesley and one at PC. It’s hard to decide and not factor in rankings and prestige but really I don’t see CC as heads and shoulders above PC-the kids I am talking about were all very bright kids who went to both schools and I know the faculty at PC is very good.</p>

<p>It is a big decision but you are the one going to school-it seems clear to me reading this you want PC-good luck!</p>

19

<p>@Pepper03‌
You are correct! I am holding back because of prestige and ranking of CC is better school than PC. Also, my Dad is pushing me to attend CC because he thinks CC is ten times better school than Providence. My Dad got that information by researching online and talking to people. My Dad thinks that I would be giving up a huge opportunity to attend a great LAC school. he told me it’s one of the “little” Ivy schools. </p>

<p>It’s kind of funny but nobody in the southeast I talk to ever heard of CC. Some heard of PC (not many)…maybe because of D1 sports like basketball. </p>

<p>However, I love PC student base, culture, and the atmosphere of the school. I visited the school four times last year. I attend some classes, went to lunch, and hang with PC current students. I got a good feel about the school and the student base. </p>

<p>The problem is that I only visited CC in the summer and never seen the student base, culture, and the atmosphere of the school. I would say the school campus is gorgeous. I would love to see the school live in action. The school could be awesome but I am little nervous picking a school that I never seen the students or talk to them. I think it’s a big risk. Do you agree?</p>

<p>However, at the same time if I do not pick CC then I might be giving up opportunity to attend a better and more prestige college what my Dad and almost everyone on College Confidential tells me. I know CC is rank higher and acceptance rate is better at CC vs. PC. I am still little nervous picking CC when I only visit the school once. My gut tells me to pick PC because I love everything about it but my brain is telling me to pick the more prestige and better school which is CC. </p>

<p>I have to make a decision by tomorrow. I wish that I lived closer to the school and visited CC one more time during their school session. I would love to attend some classes for one day to get a good feel for the school and students. I would love to see the school live in action. However, my time has run out and I have to pick a school by tomorrow.</p>

20

<p>@chemusic‌
I only have to keep a 3.25 GPA to keep my Merit Scholarship at PC. That is not that hard! My Merit Schlarship is guaranteed for four years ($72,000 total). My Grants are not guarantee and right now both PC and CC grants are estimated Grants. My parents income does go up and down because my dad is in sales. </p>