Decision Time: Connecticut College or Providence College

College Search & Selection
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<p>Your dad is right, it’s part of the Little Ivies but that doesn’t mean anything for you specifically.
And it IS a great college. Not just a good-looking campus, but a vibrant one. Less preprofessional than PC. Some preppy kids who love squash and sailing, plus lots of artsy kids who love theater, music (I think music lessons are free? Not sure it’s still the case but it used to), tolerant. Lots of excellent writers. Challenging, for kids who are driven and love lots of things.
The budget/resources are also greater than PC. </p>

<p>Don’t know if that helps.</p>

<p>Don’t base yourself based on what people around you have heard about. I bet few have heard of HarveyMudd (top feeder for Silicon Valley) or Amherst (top LAC in the country) - try it, you’ll see :p.
However, fit is very important.
Clearly, PC seems to “fit” you more - but it’s basically in absentia, in that you don’t have anything at CC to compare PC with.
So, is PC the right fit?
Or is it just the only fit you know?</p>

<p>To get a good idea about CC, go to your town/school library (NOW :stuck_out_tongue: since you don’t have much time…) and read up about it in each of those: Fiske Guide, Insider’s Guide to colleges, Princeton Review’s Best Colleges. The descriptions detail the atmosphere, what the students are like, etc. </p>

<p>Email the admissions office at CC NOW. Tell them you hesitate between CC and another college, could they put you in touch with a current student from your area?</p>

<p>Have you posted on the two college threads?
<a href=“Connecticut College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/connecticut-college/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“Providence College - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/providence-college/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If, after examining all details, PC still is the best fit, then PC - but to avoid any regret make sure you learn as much as you can about CC.</p>

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<p>Do you love PC more and see yourself happier there because you haven’t visited CC when it is in session? </p>

<p>The cost of CC could fluctuate a lot more with CC as that is all FA unlike PC which has that 18k if you keep a 3.25 GPA. </p>

<p>I know CC is more prestigious. I have heard from a couple of parents whose children went there that the academics were very good. . I know PC is a good school. If you want to go to med school you can certainly get in from PC. </p>

<p>I think you should pick the school you feel is right for you. Since you can’t go have another visit at CC I don’t know how you will resolve this. I think you will do well at either school. My question to you is which school would you pick if you never saw a ranking or heard the word prestige? </p>

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<p>This the key right here. It’s not a great situation to be in. If you’d visited CC 4 times you might like it just as much or more.</p>

<p>I think it’s a great idea to call the admissions office at CC right NOW (see if you can speak to a senior rep, maybe the rep for your area?) and explain your situation and the difficulty in decision-making and ask if they can put you in touch with some students. And spend the next few hours researching. Besides books there are also other sites like these: (spaces added so the URLs dont get stripped) college p r o w l e r, u n i g o, and especially students r e v i e w. Just keep in mind some reviews are written by disgruntled people! But I found that the takeaway on the general vibe is often close to what we experienced. It might help.</p>

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<p>Why did you visit PC four times and CC only once? They are pretty close together geographically so I was wondering about that. I agree with the other posters get as much info as you can ON CC since obviously there is no way you can visit it before the deadline. </p>

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<p>Specific to your concerns about what the student body at CC is like, check out the u n i g o page here: <a href=“http://www.u”>http://www.u</a> n i g o.com/colleges/schoolreviewssummary.aspx?collegeId=52 (remove spaces!)
… and compare to the Providence College student reviews.</p>

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<p>The academics of both are similar.</p>

<p>I think of CC as pretty preppy and PC as more varied in its student body. </p>

<p>Also Providence is a really great little city, with a fair amount going on between the different colleges and universities (PC, Brown, RISD), and great food. Plus it’s close to Boston. If it was my kids, they’d choose PC. But you have your own preferences and should decide on if you’d like that sort of setting.</p>

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<p>@momdromme
Is CC preppy like most of the kids are rich and attended boarding schools (high school)? How arsty are the kids their too? I am not arsty person. </p>

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<p>A mix from both - kids who love sailing and kids who love theater, and sometimes they’re the same.
Pretty down to earth, a little funky (not hippie/crunchy though).</p>

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<p>Connecticut College will draw more from around the country, while Providence has more of a regional population. That is something to keep in mind.</p>

<p>Also, PC has a definite Catholic identity. You don’t have to be Catholic, of course, but there will be an influence on the campus culture.</p>

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<p>^OP: investigate to see if it means required religion classes and whether those are doctrine-based or critical thinking + gen ed based, whether philosophy is mandatory, if condoms are sold on campus…
This may or may not matter to you.</p>

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<p>The 3.25 gpa might not be as easy as you think it will be to maintain… sure a lot of people can do it but a lot of people can’t. The grant-based aid is actually the safer all imo. </p>

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<p>@pepper033‌
We did not visit CC as many times as PC and other schools because I never heard of CC until last summer. We already started searching colleges six months before I knew anything about CC. </p>

<p>@MYOS1634:‌ required religion classes and whether those are doctrine-based or critical thinking + gen ed based, whether philosophy is mandatory, if condoms are sold on campus…
This may or may not matter to you. NO, this does not matter to me taking required religion classes. Their is only few required classes to take. </p>

<p>I will be studying Biology so I will be very busy studing in the library. It seems both have good science program. Does anyone know who has a better science program between CC and PC.</p>

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<p>Very different schools. Providence is conservative. Connecticut College used to be a women’s college, so it naturally draws a very liberal crowd. This is sort of important because Conn students can be a little ‘out there’, and you need to know if you’re comfortable with that. </p>

<p>I’ve heard wonderful things about the biology and chemistry programs at Conn Coll. Not much about physics though. </p>

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<p>It is good that you checked out the required courses at each school and the requirements to maintain your scholarship. If you have not decided, today you need to think about which school you could transfer into and still afford if you did not like your first choice. Will the PC merit scholarship and need based aid be there for you as a transfer? Does CC award need based aid to transfers? How many transfers do PC and CC accept each year? Thinking about it this way may also help you decide. You have done an excellent job thinking this though so far!</p>

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<p>@International95: This is sort of important because Conn students can be a little ‘out there’.
What do you mean they are little ‘out there’? Are they smart kids but a little weird and different? That is not my cup of tea person that I would hang with if they are. If CC student is the similar to a Bates student then I would not like CC. I got accepted to Bates too but they were little arsty and different for me. I thought the Amherst College student was ok for me too but I got waitlisted. The schools that I really connected with the students was Boston College and Holy Cross. However, I did not receive any scholarship money from those two schools and they are to expensive ($58,000 a year). I would be in to much debt to attend those schools. PC students seemed similar to BC and HC if I am correct. Is CC student similiar to BC or HC student? Please, explain how they are ‘little out there’ because they can make a difference in my decision. </p>

<p>@chemusic
PC Merit Scholarship is a Liberal Arts Honors Program Scholarship. To answer your question I would lose that scholarship if I do not attend there ($72,000 guaranteed money). You cannot receive Merit Scholarship from PC if you tranfer. </p>

<p>CC Need Based Scholarship Grant: I have to check but I think I can receive the need-based scholarship grant if you tranfer because it’s based on your income level. They do not have Merit Scholarships. </p>

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<p>Bates students are artsy? This is news to me. I know a couple a Batesies and all of them are studying science, and they tend to hang out with the science people mostly. Economics is huge at Bates, too. Bates is a balanced school, from what I know. Colleges like Vassar and Sarah Lawrence would be called ‘artsy’, not Bates. In any case, you will find artsy kids at almost every liberal arts college, perhaps except Harvey Mudd, but certainly it’s not a dominant thing at Bates.</p>

<p>In all honesty, I don’t think Bates is as ‘out there’ as Conn Coll, after everything I’ve heard from international students who go to these schools and are not really ‘out there’. It’s good to note that there are way more hipsters at Bates than hippies, and it sounds to me as though you’re a little uncomfortable around hippies and people who are sort of in-your-face (you would find these type of people at Vassar and Swarthmore. The leftist indoctrination at these schools has been on the news in the past years.) Bates draws a much more balanced crowd. Conn Coll, from the students I know, seems to be very liberal and accepting of alternative lifestyles, even though on a first glance, students don’t seem all that much different from those of other schools. A little out there as in, um, I really don’t know how to explain this. </p>

<p>You should really consider Bates. It invests in its students and academics a lot, so despite its endowment size, its programs are world-class. There are few schools out there that require students to write a thesis to receive their undergraduate degree. Where I’m going, Reed, requires one, and so does Bates.</p>

<p>In any case, you will always be able to find the right crowd at Bates/Conn Coll as long as you are tolerant. Academically, I don’t think Providence really compares to Bates, and I personally would give give precedence to the quality of the academics/cost balance over the social life as long as it is tolerable. Bates has something for everybody, that’s for sure.</p>

<p>I am not familiar enough with HC to say anything, and BC isn’t as liberal as Conn Coll.</p>

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<p>Hmmm. If you thought Bates was too artsy, you might not like CC. My daughter felt that the students at Bates and CC were similar ( and in her view, too mainstream and not individual enough for her taste.) </p>

<p>Did you ever read those student reviews I linked for you yesterday? </p>

<p>Let us know what you decide!</p>

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<p>@International 95: Conn Coll, from the students I know, seems to be very liberal and accepting of alternative lifestyles: I do not care that people have different lifestyles but if it’s over top then it could bother me. Also, with only 1,900 students and if large population of the student body have alternative lifesyles then that could be issue with me.
I personally don’t like Bates due to the Maine weather and location. I know Bates is great school but I do not want spend my 4 years in Maine. Therefore, I have to pick between PC or CC.</p>

<p>@staceyneil‌
Yes, I looked at the student reviews and they did help little but it does not give me a taste of who the students are without meeting them in person. Thank you for the information. I have not decided yet but I am leaning towards PC because I feel more comfortable with the student body and my merit scholarship is guaranteed which I do not have at CC. I am not sure the student body at CC is what I am looking for. I know CC is better school but I feel PC might be a better fit for me (Student base). I felt very comfortable with students from Boston College, Holy Cross, and PC. I sounds like that students that attend Boston College, Holy Cross, and PC are different student then Connecticut College student. I am talking about student body and personality. This has nothing to do with those three schools being Catholic Colleges too. I am not Catholic and not very religious either. I want to make that clear. </p>

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<p>Merit scholarships are NEVER “guaranteed” for 4 years. They’re always conditional and the condition is a certain GPA that is reviewed every year. Make sure to check into it. A 3.2 can be reached without too much trouble (although it’s nowhere near as easy as in high school), a 3.5 would make you top of your class: in the first case, your odds of keeping your scholarship are high, in the second case they’re not.
As of now, I’d say Providence sounds like the better fit for you, even if academically Connecticut College is better.</p>

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<p>Upthread she posted it’s a 3.25 requirement that seems reasonable. My son is at a school with a 3.0 and some kids have gone lower but the school doesn’t cut them off right away they get a semester to get it back up-I would feel better about going somewhere with MA than a grant-I do agree a 3.5 would concern me-3.25 is kind of high as well but the OP seems like a very capable young woman.</p>