<p>I’m going to Beloit in the fall and I hope it changes my life, too!! :)</p>
<p>I’m praying by daughter will consider Beloit, but at this time shes really wanting to go to a school in a major city. I have 18months to change her mind.</p>
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<p>I have friends here in Western MA whose son will start Beloit in the fall. They are a married couple who met at Beloit and are thrilled that their son is going. He, too, was initially wary of heading to a fairly rural college in the Midwest. But he definitely came around and is now excited about it, too. </p>
<p>Many 17/18-year-olds don’t really know what they want. (True of much older folks, too.)</p>
<p>My son is currently attending McDaniel College as a junior. He was a well rounded HS student but had some personal challenges so we thought a CTCL school would, odds on, be one of the better places for him. </p>
<p>Thus far it has been very successful for him. He needed a smaller school yet not the most competitive one. The liberal arts atmosphere at McDaniel without the intense academic pressures of a top tier LA college proved to the best environment for him. My son has experimented with a few subject areas before deciding on psychology as a major. The advising support is fabulous, what he needed over a large university. The freshman and sophomore seminars provided opportunities for interaction and thoughtful exchange among classmates. </p>
<p>In this environment he has outgrown his personal challenges and become a happy as well as thinking person. As noted by others, finding the best college “home” is an individual choice. Which by the way was our #1 criterion - we felt McDaniel was the best fit and where he felt comfortable, and indeed it has been.</p>
<p>I’m a parent and graduate of Ursinus. I don’t think it changed my life, but it certainly enhanced it. I was ahead of Pope. I chose Ursinus because I could see and feel so many of the traits that he discussed when choosing the 40 CTCL schools.</p>
<p>I was before the web explosion. My senior English research project required research at the Library of Congress - truly one of the most exciting academic moments of my life.</p>
<p>I was very involved in the social life of the campus. </p>
<p>I enjoyed my college experiences far more than my HS friends. </p>
<p>I was able to dual major without feeling stress of red-tape to fit all the courses into my schedule. As a matter of fact, all but one of my “sisters” my senior year completed a dual major. </p>
<p>Now that I am doing a nationwide search of colleges with my son, I can say there are other schools I am attracted to, but all have the same traits as Ursinus - Discussion based classes and a strong sense of community. 25 years later, I’d most likely still choose Ursinus.</p>
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<p>Take heart, it can be done; if you’d asked her a year ago, DD would have told you her first choice was UI Chicago. Why? “It’s in Chicago!” After looking at a number of schools, she would up striking it from her list and not even applying there. She’ll be enrolling in August at Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, population ~17K; where I’m confident her life will be changed, even though the school’s not in Pope’s book.</p>
<p>We largely based S1’s college search on CTCL. The book introduced us to so many great schools and helped us look beyond the “name factor” when identifying good fits. We visited 4 CTCL schools in 3 wide-flung states and the welcome each of these schools extended to our family was simply amazing (faculty, students, and admission office). He did overnight visits at 3 of the schools to get a feel for the social and academic env’t and enjoyed them all. He ended up applying to 2 of the schools, in addition to 4 others. Happy to say he went 6-for-6 and will be attending Wheaton (IL). There is a tremendously active Facebook group for the Class of 2016 and he is counting the days to the early orientation trip so he can meet his new buddies in person. We are so excited for him.</p>
<p>I visited Kalamazoo College yesterday. I must say, I was very impressed. I was originally undecided between Beloit College and Kalamazoo College. They are both great CTCL. Anyways, I am so happy I made the decision to go to Kalamazoo College. I visited Beloit and it was quirky, fun, and welcoming but honestly also kind of dirty. There were cigarettes butts everywhere all over campus ( Not sure if that should have played a factor in choosing it or not, I digress) The dorms and other facilities were not in the best of shape. The surrounding town of Beloit was absolutely depressing for me. You’d have to drive several miles into a different city to fine dine, have fun, or shop (unless you like Walmart). Conversely, Beloit has awesome programs, great teachers, and atmosphere which made it hard to refuse.</p>
<p>Kalamazoo college was absolutely beautiful and SO clean. The dorms were great too. Though they don’t have as many programs as Beloit, the support that this school gives to individual students is substantial. Kalamazoo is a small town that does not feel like a small town unlike Beloit. Also, Western Michigan University (major University) is near Kalamazoo which means one has an opportunity to meet more people if the “small college life” becomes annoying.</p>
<p>I believe I would have received a superb education at Beloit or Kalamazoo College–though Kalamazoo appealed to me just a little bit more. Loren Poe’s book did changed my life it made me look at smaller schools in a different, nonjudgmental way. I think I applied to 5+ schools from that book alone!</p>
<p>I was talking today with a church friend who graduated from Lawrence U. approx. 20 years ago, and yes, he said it changed his life and that it took him probably a decade to recognize that. He said the very small classes meant that he couldn’t hide but would have to engage, that having almost all students living on campus made a huge difference in the feeling of community, and that he was really forced to learn how to think critically and to write well. </p>
<p>I think a big part of Pope’s message was to get folks to look at LACs, especially the lesser known ones. DD will be going to one of the <em>Colleges of Distinction</em> which is a similar group of schools that overlaps with <em>Colleges that Change Lives.</em></p>
<p>I attended Reed College, graduating in 1979.<br>
Reed was an extraordinary experience for me. I originally had no intention of going to Reed. I wanted to attend Johns Hopkins or Williams, or another school on the East Coast to study biology/pre-med AND be a long way from home (I was born in Portland, OR). But several family circumstances intervened and I found myself at Reed. </p>
<p>Reed in 1974 was a school in transition. It had virtually no endowment, was completely tuition dependent as a result, and suffered a significant amount of attrition after the Freshman year, in no small part due to an intense workload and a stultifying social environment. Portland in 1974 was not Portland 2012. </p>
<p>My experience was that I had professors in the sciences (thank you Larry Ruben, Will Bloch!) and across the board that set high academic expectations and were there to TEACH. I was a biology major and had opportunities to do cutting edge research in animal physiology and immunology that was stimulating and taxing at the same time. </p>
<p>I was a very “young” 18 year old when I entered Reed, socially and emotionally. I cannot say that i actually enjoyed all aspects of Reed during that time, but I did find amazing friends that I keep to this day and when I reflect on what I learned at Reed and how I came to know myself and be honest with myself, it added up to a remarkable experience. </p>
<p>But most importantly at Reed, I learned to think. The small class sizes and discussion-focused learning environment was something that drew me into conversations and challenged all my personal and intellectual assumptions. It was (and still is) intense. It was certainly the first time in my life i had equally intelligent people work really hard to convince me that I was full of you know what. </p>
<p>After Reed I worked at Intel and then attended Harvard Business School. HBS has a great reputation, but it was a walk in the park academically compared to Reed. Reed really has a great deal to do with who I am today - professionally (a venture capitalist living in Shanghai, China) personally, and reflectively. </p>
<p>So for me, Reed is classic CTCL school. It is not for everyone, but if it is for you, nowhere else will be better.</p>
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<p>This is one of the great things about LACs in general, and yes, Reed is one of the best. Thinking, discussing, challenging – to me, that’s the very definition of education.</p>
<p>That’s outstanding!! ^ Sometimes I regret not applying to Reed…:(</p>
<p>The CTCLs have been prominent in my family. I did not attend one, but my younger brother and sister both attended College of Wooster, in the seventies, before Loren Pope published. I attended a large state flagship in New England. I actually felt jealous when I heard sister and brother describe their experiences. They knew their professors personally. I knew 2-3 profs in my University department, but had nowhere near the support that COW offered my sibs.</p>
<p>Flash forward:
My son attends Clark. My son’s freshman lit class was Baseball in Literature. The teacher, who was also his advisor, took the entire class outside to play baseball. Life changing? Yes, in that it gave my son a sense of community. He plans to take the “free fifth year” option to earn a Masters degree. </p>
<p>Sister’s son attends Knox. Similar experience.
I am glad that there is a variety of CTCL’s to choose from.</p>
<p>By the way, during a recent tour of CTCL schools, I was told that the organization (Pope has since died) had visited the schools recently and are planning to publish a new edition.</p>
<p>Hubby and I both attended Allegheny. There are many things I loved about the school, but the thing that really affected me was the fact that the professors are so involved with the students. Office hours were extensive and often used to discuss topics well beyond the scope of the class. Thirty years later, we are still in contact with some of our profs. We also formed life long friendships that we both cherish. In many ways, our friends and we “grew up” together.</p>
<p>We learned to think, to analyze, and to make connections between disparate topics. Allegheny requires a senior project from every student, regardless of major. When I had to do a master’s thesis for my M.S., I was much better prepared to do so than any of my classmates who had never had to do major research before. I wouldn’t change my college experience for anything. (And besides, I met a really great guy there, as well 
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<p>I attended Wooster, and yes, it definitely changed my life in some very profound ways. I was an inner city kid that showed only modest promise when I arrived. Fortunately, at Wooster a number of professors took a personal interest in me. More than professors, they were mentors. </p>
<p>Just one example: </p>
<p>When I was too inarticulate to perform Shakespeare at even an elementary level, one professor arranged private sessigot ons for me with the head of Speech Communications. He took his personal time, 6:30 am, three days a week, working with me in his studio. He recorded my speech, trained me on the finer points of tone, sound, intonation, and phonetics. I was fascinated. Not only did this propel me to leading roles on the Shakespearian stage, but I was able to master virtually any dialect for any role, and even earned an income during summer stock teaching others. All this, from a professor with whom I never took a registered class. </p>
<p>That’s just one example. There are plenty more. </p>
<p>Others taught me to think, to write, to aspire to much greater things than I previously thought possible. They could have riduculed me, ignored me, or just left me to struggle as a somewhat helpless case. I really did not have the academic background for a place like Wooster. Instead, they were tough, but always encouraging. They set the bar high and somehow made me believe I could reach it. They helped take a kid who really didn’t know much of anything to become at home with scholarship. I was published before I graduated and earned honors that I grew up thinking were the domain of others - certainly not within reach for a kid like me. </p>
<p>My time at Wooster made me feel smart…confident… capable. And that is the model I used to raise my own kids who are all far more accomplished than I was at their ages. Thus, I would argue the education I received at Wooster probably changed their lives as well.</p>
<p>FLVADAD, that is in inspiring story. I hope that professor (and the others) know how much of a difference that they made.</p>
<p>these storeis are inspiring…</p>
<p>for school beginning this Fall (2012) as a Freshman, our S is choosing between a CTCL (The Evergreen State College and University of Utah (Biomedical engineering @ their Honors College)</p>
<p>He has been offered several opportunities. His Passion is to design/build advanced prosthetics using sensory (neuroprosthetics) and will require advanced degrees in bioengineering.</p>
<p>He has been offered a wonderful opportunity at U of Utah (Honors College, where no class size is greater than 40 students, LAC style group lectures, Think-Tanks, senior thesis w/ an honors degree and it offers a Living/Learning community experience) - he is leaning this direction based upon its highly ranked biomedical engineering program and its specific involvement in neuroprosthetics already.</p>
<p>His other opportunity is to attend the CTCL’s The Evergreen State College One of only 2 public LAC’s on the list) - his experience there will not offer any engineering based opportunity unless he contacts research projects. It will offer a provocative, growth-oriented experience AND we can graduate from there owing about 70k less in loans…</p>
<p>His focus has been SO specific since 7th grade, we are encouraging him but a great education can be had that will require advanced degrees either way - just one of those ways may offer him a more rounded education and save in a BIG chunk of cash that he won’t have to pay out down the road…</p>
<p>we shall find out his final choice soon. </p>
<p>Any opinions? Suggestions?</p>
<p>DS will be attending a CTCL, Wabash. He applied to Lawrence, Hiram and Ohio Wesleyan, all of which gave him great merit aid. Without the CTCL college fair, my DS would not have been as interested in the process.</p>
<p>These schools interest me, but when I look into their location and student body profile, I’m dismayed to see that most of them are mostly white, situated in areas of the country that are very white. I wonder whether Asians, Afr Americans and Latinos would feel comfortable/welcome in most of the schools. Any first hand experiences related to this?</p>