<p>yah bantam...i guess they found out abt the small envelop being the acceptance thing.</p>
<p>what can you tell me about the guided studies program?</p>
<p>My d was invited to apply, do you really think she will get in just because she applied?</p>
<p>Her interests lie in history, art/film/photograpy, humanities,classics,communications.........basically undecided still.</p>
<p>If you are in guided studies does that take the place of the freshman seminars? Do you share housing grouped by who is in the program?</p>
<p>Is it much harder as far as workload w/ other classes? It says they are seminar in style? Why do you like the program and what do you dislike?</p>
<p>Are there projects, trips, or research?</p>
<p>We will be attending the admitted students day on Mon 4/10 or maybe tues 4/11.........she is excited to see the school.</p>
<p>What can you tell us about what you like about the school or don't like?</p>
<p>The cave sounds cool....how is the music there? Cinestudio too. Mather Hall?</p>
<p>How are the professors.......take an interest in students? Easy to approach and get to know? Helpful?</p>
<p>Can you give us an idea of what she can expect if she attends ?</p>
<p>Oh, also we were wondering what the area ( Hartford) is like? Have not heard good things.</p>
<p>Shuttle to bus/train? She would want to get to Quinnipiac Univ once in awhile....Hamden.......or to New Haven ? Familiar w/ routes at all?</p>
<p>How much $ do kids spend approx week.........are many kids from families w/ much $?</p>
<p>Sorry...............it's alot of questions..........just curious and happy about the possibility of her going there.</p>
<p>When we visit what should be the one thing not to miss?</p>
<p>Condition of the freshman dorms? Are they freshman only or mixed w/ upperclassmen?</p>
<p>Thanks Bantam</p>
<p>oook, lets see here...
guided studies -- i really like the program, getting in was the reason i picked trin over Colgate and Hamilton really. i got a letter saying i was being considered and then another saying i was accepted, i think thats the normal way it goes, i dont know about an application persay, i didnt have to fill one out. I like the program a lot, the profs are good overall, there are some iffy ones but c'est la vie. if you are really interested in hist, lit, and religion then its a good program. the reason a lot of kids drop it once here is b/c there are a lot of classes and if you want to double major and go abroad for a full year (as I do) its hard to take all 9 classes, it just takes up a lot of time. Or if you are premed its also a rush to fit everything in 4 years. and then there are the people who come here and it isnt what they thought and they realize they have other interests. the classes are harder, i get A's in my non-gstud classes with a lot less work than i put into gstud classes. the profs do seem to grade harder. the papers etc. require much more thought and time. They do replace a seminar, in terms of living you do live with all the kids in your seminar and then 3 or 4 other seminars in your dorm. her roommate isnt def gonna be another gstud but it could be. We had one trip this year, i dont know about past years. mainly the workload consists of writing papers and doing a lot of reading, some smaller quizzes and then on the tests there are usually ID's and essays.
i dont know what to tell you about what she should expect, everyone has a different experience in classes, socially, extracurricularly, i cant really summarize it. Hartford isnt too amazing, the area around the school is not great, downtown hartford isnt bad, there are some nice places to eat and then the Civic Center does get some good bands and such. If she is interested in doing an internship in the government, its like 5 min away which is perfect. West Hartford is really nice, cute little down, lots of good places to eat, not too far away. There is no shuttle to the bus or train but its like a $7/10 min cab ride, via train/bus its easy to get to new haven, boston, NYC, DC, no clue about quinnipiac.
in terms of $$, there are a lot of wealthy kids there but there is also an assortment of kids who arent loaded. in terms of spending money, i basically just use my meal plan and then other money goes to, um, weekend festivities. unless you are going to go shopping a lot at the Westfarms Mall (nice mall, J Crew, Nordstroms, etc...) i dont really know what you would spend a lot of money on... ordering pizza and chinese food?
the VIP days are good, there should be a session with Dean Spencer about guided studies and go to that, its helpful and the Dean is amazinggg. i dont know if you have ever been here, if not take a campus tour. check out the lib, i like it a lot and think its really pretty/comfortable. if you are going to eat on campus, the best food is at the bistro, mather is ok and the cave is ok, where you eat normally usually depends on where you live.
fresh dorms are... eh, not too marvelous. a few are really good but then you get really bad housing for the rest of your time at trinity so its better not to have great housing. you get used to it. 2 dorms are "integrated" meaning there is approx an equal # of fresh and upperclassmen. the rest are all fresh but you do have mentors, PRIDE leaders, and RA's on each floor so there are older people around.
lastly, the profs are really nice. there are a few bad seeds but you will get that anywhere really. overall i have really liked my profs thus far and found them very helpful. they will remember your name after the class and say hi to you whenever you see them, including the next semester. i've found them very helpful and very open to meeting with students outside of class, making time outside of office hours if necessary.
hope that helps, enjoy your visit!</p>
<p>thanks for such a thorough response. She is still waiting on her fin aid pkg. Grueling wait. Sure hope Trinity offers her enough to make it possible to attend. We are excited to visit next week</p>
<p>Thanks for your time.</p>
<p>i'm a sophomore graduate of the guided studies program, and bantam is right on the mark. I chose Trinity over hopkins b/c of this program and a nice fin aid package, and haven't regretted the decision since. guided studies is what a liberal arts education is supposed to be. you study the foundations of western society through religion (bible) philosophy (pre socratics onwards) history and literature (almost everything under the sun... reading workload is difficult).<br>
if your daughter has been invited to join, she's been accepted to trinity and to the program, no doubt about it. congrats. the group i moved through guided studies with were all comparable in smarts and motivation to all my friends back home at ivies, if not even more well read and motivated. very good group.
in terms of difficulty juggling gstud w/ the rest of your life, I've managed to pull a 4.0 every semester as an english major while also nailing down a full year abroad in oxford. i'm not sure if it would have been possible without the fantastic network of guided studies.<br>
if your daughter can do this program... SHE SHOULD DO IT!!! it's one of the biggest buried treasures this school has to offer... incredible educational value. i can't stress it enough.
i have a nasty german test to study for, but if you have any questions at all, feel free to pm me.</p>
<p>You sound like you have wonderful work and managed to do it well. You should be proud. </p>
<p>I only have one more question for now, Thankyou.</p>
<p>Can you remember how long it took before the decision letter about guided studies came after the initial invite?</p>
<p>i'm hoping she will hear before the 4/10-11 VIP day. So she can make plans to inquire about it more when we visit then.</p>
<p>Again, I'll eat my hat if she's not admitted. Word among people who've gone through the program is that if you're asked to join, you've already been deemed qualified. There's an informational session, or several, throughout the VIP days. I suggest you go either way. </p>
<p>If memory serves me correctly, however, I do think I heard that I was accepted to the program before I went to the VIP days, so she should hear soon. In the next week.</p>
<p>Ps I left a voice message on Janice M's phone ( can not remember last name @ this moment sorry)she is associated w/ the guided studies program. I asked her when decisions were made but have not heard back from her yet. Is she one of the proffesors? Who are your favorite Professors in guided studies? Maybe we will meet them when we are there. What are you majoring in and what can you tell us about like and dislike s of Trinity? Also is what we are hearing about Hartford being a crummy area ? Are you familiar w/ how to get to New Haven? A Trinity shuttle? Public Bus? Other? she will not have a car.</p>
<p>Ok........I was wrong..........I have more than one question......see...I did not think I did till I started writing........sorry.........hope you don't mind............but I am curious and excited............I'm sure we will understand much more when we visit........I guess I am impatient!</p>
<p>Thanks for your comments and answers</p>
<p>Any other cuurent Trinity students? Would love to hear your thoughts too!</p>
<p>we got the letter today......she is thrilled. They will be having an info session on visit VIP day. Now we are just waitin for the fin aid award to see if our family can afford for her to attend Trinity for 4 years.....I'm prayin!</p>
<p>Thanks for the info and good luck on the rest of your semester w/ finals and papers Bantam and Woland.</p>
<p>bantam and woland, thank you very much for all your information about the guided studies program. When my daughter got the initial letter in early March, we were crossing our fingers that it meant that she was going to be accepted. It took her about 2 seconds before she emailed the dean to express her interest in the program. </p>
<p>She received her letter of acceptance into GSP: European Civilization yesterday, and will be going to the VIP day on April 11. We've never seen the school and are very excited that she has been admitted. She needs to decide between Trinity, NYU, Colby and F&M w/scholarship. We have also heard that she has a v. good chance at getting off the waitlist at W&L, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.</p>
<p>My only concern is an opinion piece that I read in the Tripod. The author was lamenting the hit his gpa took because of the GSP. You've probably seen the article.</p>
<p>My daughter is interested in French, and will probably major in it. Woland, you mentioned that you spent a year @ Oxford. Do any students spend a year in France?</p>
<p>The Tripod, and the writers for it, can be a bit hyperbolic at times. The GDST classes are difficult, yes, but in some ways the shift from high school to college, where many people recieve "hits," is mediated by a network of 30 other people taking exactly the same schedule as you.<br>
We recieve three mentors for the entire year to help us with papers and study for tests, as opposed to just one for a semester for people that don't do guided studies.<br>
The classes are as difficult as upper level courses, but arguably, their difficulty is proportional to their worth. They change your worldview. They comprehensively adjust your view of history and of Western civilization. It's something I've carried into other classes outside the program, and the value of such a long term world view has been reflected in the grades I've recieved and the professors I've befriended.
On the whole, I think GPA takes less of a hit in Guided Studies than if you're not in it, but it is a sustained amount of hard work over three semesters, which might leave one with the impression that "if" they had refused it, they would have an easier time maintaining a better GPA.<br>
While probably the case, I think we know that college is worth more than that. In terms of GPA in the program, I've maintained a 4, my three roommates in the program have maintained 3.7, 3.6, and 3.8s. So it's entirely possible to do very well.
A friend on the Tripod staff actually is doing a semester abroad in France right now. She occassionally writes Features articles about her adventures there. Her last name is Izon. A full year is entirely possible.</p>
<p>Woland, you've given us lots of great information - I had no idea about the mentoring aspect of the program. You say just the kind of things I had hoped to hear, that the courses and professors have changed your world view and that you've been able to apply that view to your other studies. I'll have to check out the Tripod for Ms Izon's articles. We're looking forward to seeing the school next week.</p>
<p>Thank you again from both of us, and we wish you the best of luck with the rest of your school year!</p>
<p>I want to say just one additional thing... </p>
<p>I'm not sure if it was you or the other parent who was choosing between a number of other comparable/higher ranked schools. We all struggle with prestige and school quality. College, particulary private colleges, are a huge investment in time and especially money. It's not something to be taken lightly. </p>
<p>Without guided studies, I'm not sure I would have stayed at Trinity. I was planning on transferring after a semester here, but after experiencing the program (which make no mistake about it is an honors program) and talking with friends at ivies and other LACs, I realized just what sort of opportunity Trinity offers you through this. </p>
<p>This college isn't perfect, and this year in particular is a bit rough, but this program, and the connections it fosters between students, faculty, and knowledge itself, prepares any its graduates better than many of the schools my friends are at. If you're on the fence at all about Trinity, as I was, don't hesitate to PM me. I hesitate from selling the school, per se, but not at all from selling this program. It truly is invaluable.</p>
<p>Woland, check your PMs. Thanks!</p>
<p>I also have some questions about the European Civilization Guided Studies Program... I have been debating over whether or not I should do the program because after reading the previous posts I am concerned I will not have enough time to double major and study abroad - two things that I really would like to do in college. Additionally, even though all the literature for the program says that the content of the program does not necessarily carry over into the major you choose, I am nervous that I will be so busy fulfilling my requirements for the program that I will miss out on courses that I may be more interested in. Help!</p>
<p>I was also wondering if students in the Guided Studies program get different/better housing like the Honors Programs at other colleges. Similarly, are Guided Studies students mixed on a floor with freshman who are just doing the seminars?</p>
<p>Finally, I was also wondering what the likelihood of getting your first choice for freshman seminars is. The course selection sheet says to rank them in no particular order, but if there are only two or three seminars you would really be interested in taking, is there be a great possibility that you will be put into a seminar course you really aren't interested in?</p>
<p>Thank you!!</p>