<p>My younger daughter is just a rising Sophomore but her CTCL school absolutely changed her life in ways that few other schools could. Both my husband and I are so amazed at just how much she has grown, gained self-confidence and self-esteem, become a leader (which we always knew she had in her), lost most of her shyness, oh and become academic and more self-reliant in dealing with her LD. It is a small, LAC in the middle of nowhere with fantastic professors whose goals are to totally integrate with each student that they work with. Maybe it’s the schools location and philosophy that makes it so unique and perfect for her, I’m sure there are other things also, but we can’t stop raving about this gem of a school and how it’s changed our daughter’s life.</p>
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<p>I disagree with this as a general statement (of course, you may have had an underwhelming personal experience at a CTCL school). One of the features that characterizes the colleges in Loren Pope’s original list is a focus on engaged learning, a collaborative campus culture and opportunities for undergraduate research and other hands-on experiences that are often harder to find in a larger or more cutthroat environment. Engagement is a key factor in happiness and success–in college, the workplace, relationships. Of course, none of us know what would have happened along the road not taken with anything in life.</p>