<p>Hi,</p>
<p>I'm interested in attending Clark-it's one of my top choices. However, a lot of people have said (and I've been told more than once) that the student body is, well, "quirky" and "odd" to say the least...could someone please describe the average student?</p>
<p>Thanks!</p>
<p>i found this too… can someone go into detail about the average clark student? thanks!</p>
<p>buuuuuummmmmmpppppp</p>
<p>This concept of quirkiness is interesting. Clark respects individuality and and says “we do not categorize.” This is made clear at orientation.
Wheaton students have also been described as quirky. I found them to be more mainstream than Clark kids.
I’ve known several Clarkies and would not describe any of them as quirky. In fact, I think of them as fairly genuine kids who are not impressed by superficial stuff like designer labels. I think many kids who go off to college express their individuality and some student bodies have more kids interested in fashion and fancy cars. Clarkies, in my observation, tend to include a mix of socio-economic levels.<br>
S2, who attends Clark, is much more mainstream than I ever expected any child of mine would be. lol His style of dress is fairly preppy. OTOH, he knows the value of a dollar, relies on his merit aid and shops at the Goodwill.
Other schools where S2 was accepted offered more merit aid, but had higher tuitions and more affluent student bodies. He was particularly impressed with the friendliness of the Clark students and professors. Is friendliness quirky?
I suggest that you attend a class and an Accepted Student Day.<br>
Good luck with your quest!</p>
<p>Agree, Merlin. I think the overwhelming attribute that Clark students and staff pride themselves in is friendliness. Even a senior student in the bookstore last spring went on and on about it to my son on Accepted Students Day. My son went and bought the sweatshirt that day, and the bookstore student gave him his first Clarkie welcome. It was great. We were both on Cloud Nine.<br>
The Clark environment allows for quirkiness and differences of opinion. There’s always some ‘awareness’ rally or gig going on. They are a pretty involved student body.
I think there is definitely a mix of cultures, but is refreshing. Cookie cutter colleges are not great, if you don’t fit their mold.</p>
<p>D almost went to Clark (got a better fin. aid offer elsewhere).</p>
<p>There are two kinds of kids at Clark. The first kind is the kid with higher aspirations, but missed getting into NESCAC or ivies, “settled” for Clark, and is now happy how things turned out. The other kind is the kid who realized from the get-go that Clark is a very good, small research university with lots to offer.</p>
<p>We attended a panel discussion that involved both kinds of students–very enlightening.</p>
<p>When we visited Clark, the main thing my D mentioned about why she liked the school was that it seemed friendly, just as capecodlady8 said. She is also the type of person merlin described “genuine kids who are not impressed by superficial stuff like designer labels.” So D had a great overall impression of Clark (except of course, Worcester which I have mentioned before). The one thing that sticks in my mind, though, (and please don’t think this is a slam against the school or students), but it is often described as a great place for “B” students–I think it says that on the CTCL website. There is NOTHING wrong with being a “B” student, but I wonder if an “A” student will feel challenged enough at a school with this reputation. And yes I know Clark professes to have this kind of “think outside the box” theme which is a definite sell for D. D is not a party kid and definitely does not want to go to a school known for that. She’s looking for a rigorous, serious, intellectual environment. Will she find that at Clark?</p>
<p>I think what drew me to apply to Clark is because everybody seems to say it is a school with a friendly, non-superficial student body. I think that’s very important, to be “real” people.</p>
<p>Clark is on my D’s very short list. She visited an acquaintance who’s a freshman there in October, and met a lot of kids and hung out in a couple of dorms, and said she loved the feel of the place, and kids seemed great. </p>
<p>She’s an A/A- student who likes to talk about politics and intellectual things… and also fun but shallow things like American Idol, Skins and Jersey Shore. She got the feeling you’d get both there.</p>
<p>FWIW:
I think there is a range of kids at Clark. Lots of teachers’ kids seem to go there.
The most brilliant high achievers probably choose other schools. </p>
<p>S and his roommate are quite happy with the Clark crowd and the classes.
S’s HS GPA was 3.79–he didn’t work all that hard. He has felt motivated to work harder at Clark and his first semester GPA reflects this. My sense is that the challenge will increase as he takes higher level courses.
Additionally, I’ve overheard some conversations between students that reflected a serious attitude about coursework.</p>
<p>Upstatemom, I would recommend a personalized visit where your daughter can visit a class or two. S did this and was invited to participate in the class discussion and activity. I believe the opportunities are there for those who choose them.</p>
<p>I think Clark is pretty hard. I never worked that hard in high school, but now I have been on the dean’s list the past 3 semesters. It takes a lot of work. Then again I’m a math major, physics minor, and take 5 classes a semester. It is most definitely going to get harder the farther you go.</p>