<p>I'm a prospective female student from California who is considering Connecticut College, and I hoped to get some info from Conn students. Such as:</p>
<p>The gender split is 41 M/ 59 F, I know this is great for the guys, but ladies how did this affect you, were you able to get a date?</p>
<p>there are only 1900 undergrads. How do you like this size? Is it one big happy family, or is there a lot of drama like in high school? My high school has 1400 people and let me tell you I can't stand half of them (the fake blonde, fake nails, OC watching half).</p>
<p>Are the proffessors truely accessable? Do they hold regular office hours? Do they really ask you to their house for dinner or to go out for coffee?</p>
<p>I know that Conn has no greek system, so how are the parties? Is it mostly good clean fun, or is there heavy drinking? Is there booze readily available to underage students?</p>
<p>Conn is located in a suburb, is there stuff to do in New london, or do you travel to the bigger cities? If so, where do you normaly go?</p>
<p>How is the housing? I read that freshman are assigned to doubles/triples/and even quads. Exactly how big are these rooms!? </p>
<p>Of course, how is the college food? How are the meal plans? Are there good restaurants in New London?</p>
<p>I would really like to get a bio degree and pursue med school, do you think Conn is for me? Thanks so much (I know my post is long) !!!</p>
<p>its more like 45% male, 55% female. plus, there are another 600 eligible coast guard cadets right across the street, who come on campus all the time! i never noticed a significant gender difference, except in my psych classes (which is the case at most schools these days).</p>
<ol>
<li><p>size:
its definitely small, but thats what i was looking for in a school. it truly is one big happy family- everyone is so friendly, and there is an amazing sense of community. people always leave their doors open while they are in their room, and at parties, the attitude is the more the merrier! something like 50% of students study abroad for a semester, which helps if you are feeling a little claustrophobic.
also, there is such a wide range of people at conn: you have significant groups of hippies, artists, jocks, preps, nerds, etc, and people are truly integrated in all aspects of campus life.</p></li>
<li><p>professors:
they are amazing. in each department, there is at least one prof that is considered to be one of "the" people in their field. their office doors are always open, regardless of office hours and they truly want to help you.
i know countless profs who have invited students to their home for dinner, which is so cool and something that my friends at huge schools never had the opportunity to do. obviously, there are a few not so great profs, but thats the case everywhere, and its easy to avoid those who you dont get along with.</p></li>
<li><p>partying
conn students work hard and play hard. thursdays and saturdays are the big party nights. conn has a pretty casual attitude towards drinking, and if you are 21, you can take "kegs 101" and be certified to host keg parties in the dorms common rooms. on any given weekend, there are multiple keg parties, and no one really cards. there is a on campus bar that of age students go to, and they are pretty strict with carding. most students do drink, but there are a plethora that dont. there is a substance free living dorm, which is one of the closest communities on campus. there are always theme parties/dances in the college center, which sounds a little like high school, but trust me, its not! they are so fun. i never had a problem getting drinks when i was under 21!</p></li>
</ol>
<p>i'll finish the rest of your questions later, i gotta run!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>New London
New London by itself isnt exactly the most happening college town. there are a bunch of funky shops and bars, but not much else. however, the southeastern part of CT is gorgeous. Conn is 10 minutes from the public beaches, so during the fall and spring conn students flock to the beach. Waterford is the town directy west of new london, and there is a nice mall there, and right across from the mall there is a new very nice outdoor shopping center with things like panera, borders, coldstone, etc. Mystic is 10 minutes east of New London, and is the epitome of a small quaint new england town- there is fun shopping, and really nice restaurants for when your parents come to visit :) as well as really good other restuarants appropriate for a student budget. 25 minutes east of new london are 2 huge outlet malls. 45 minutes to new haven (awesome college town), 45 minutes to providence, 90 minutes to boston, 2 hrs to nyc.
the college knows that new london isnt the most happening place, so the office of student life does an incredible job of providing on campus entertainment- i very rarely felt the need to leave to do something to do!</p></li>
<li><p>Dorms
The dorms are incredible! the rooms are big and spacious, and well kept. i had a double as a freshman, and it could have easily been a triple. there was a quad on my hall, which was absolutely HUGE! the older dorms are actually more popular than the newer dorms because of the character of the former, and are more 'homey' than the new dorms. the newer dorms do have airconditioning and elevators, as well as being bright and clean. there are also specialty housing options- substance free; quiet house; co-op style living, etc.</p></li>
<li><p>Food
I am probably the pickiest eater that i know. i am a very health conscious vegetarian. and i honestly think that the conn food is some of the best college food that ive had. there is one main dining hall which is huge, and always has several different stations available. there are also 4 smaller dining halls on campus, including one that is solely for vegetarian food. there is such a wide variety of food, that you dont really get bored of it like other colleges. for the times that you just need to get off campus, there are awesome cheap places to eat within 15 minutes from campus- italian, mexican, thai, chinese, japanese, seafood, steakhouse, diners, you name it its there.</p></li>
<li><p>Bio
I know a lot of bio majors who were very satisfied with the department-the opportunities to be involved with independent research are endless. many bio majors participate in some of the interdisciplinary programs. here is just a sampling of current research projects <a href="http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/departments/biology/research2.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/departments/biology/research2.html</a>
and
<a href="http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/departments/biology/research1.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.conncoll.edu/academics/departments/biology/research1.html</a></p></li>
</ol>
<p>there are many many recent alumni who are in high quality med schools.</p>
<p>let me know if you have any other questions or want more info on anything i listed!</p>
<p>haha great, happy to help!
I graduated in 2004 with a psych major and spanish minro, got my masters from an Ivy (and because i was so well prepared from conn, i finished a semester early), and now i work on a psychiatric research study at a highly prestigious research institution. this fall i'll be applying to clinical psych phd programs (which, at 5% acceptance rates, are basically impossible to get into, but conn does a great job of placing students in top grad school programs)</p>
<p>oh cool, i'm planning to do a psych major too! (along with math and econs too, though i'm still trying to figure how to fit so many courses into 4yrs...) </p>
<p>wad was subject was ur masters in? my impression is that there are very few psych master programs, mainly PhD... and PhD Psy seems to be one of the hardest PhD programs to get into... :(</p>
<p>i got my masters in developmental psych because i eventually want to work with adolescent girls.
there are several different subfields of psych that you can get your phd in. clinical is by far the most competitive, with a nationwide average acceptance rate of ~5%. you can also get your phd in the subfields of developmental, cognitive, neuropsych, industrial/organizational, social, school, counseling, forensic, etc.; all of which are much easier to get into than clinical. if you're interested in clinical psych but want to focus primarily on clinical practice (i.e. therapy), the PsyD. degree can serve you just as well as a Ph.D.</p>
<p>youre lucky because conn's psych department is phenomenal, and each professor specializes in a different area, so you will definitely be exposed to many different areas! </p>
<p>and dont worry about all of your interests- conn has a very flexible curriculum, and students are encouraged to tailor it to their individual needs! i think that psych majors require 12 classes, and you normally take 4 a semester, which leaves you 20 extra classes to do whatever you want! minors are super easy (because most require around 5 classes).
enjoy your freshman year, and take courses from as many different departments as possible- not only will it get rid of some of the Gen. Ed. requirements, but it may expose you to an area that you never thought you would be interested in! that is actually how i wound up being a psych major- i fell in love with it after i took a random class!</p>
<p>Thank you Huskem -- what helpful posts!
Husband and son visited recently and liked the campus very much. Both commented that New London was pretty beat, though. Do you feel safe there, or is it the type of town you might want to avoid at night? As you say, nearby Mystic is quite nice.
Also, will add our two cents regarding the student body at CC. We know a couple families whose children attend who can't say enough about the students and faculty in terms of friendliness and support. The school is small, but sounds like it has a really nice mix of students. S. may try to visit for an overnight senior year.</p>
<p>lspf72:
im a very small white girl from the suburbs, and i never ever thought twice about walking alone on campus at night, no matter how late. it is incredibly safe. during the week there are tons of people walking around until midnight or so, and on the weekends, there are tons of people out until 2am or so, as well as constant patrol by both campus safety and student volunteer patrols.
now new london, i wouldnt walk alone at night, but conn is in its own little bubble, and all of my female friends also had no qualms about safety.</p>
<p>haha yup, conn first caught my attention because of its amazing strength in psych. unfortunately i'm wavering a little in my original intention to pursue a Psych PhD and subsequently a research/teaching career in Psych... coz I'm not sure if an academic career is right for me. any suggestions as to what careers a Psych PhD might lead me to?</p>
<p>thanks for link. i'm still not sure whether i'm prepared to embark on the ardous PhD route though, hopefully i sort it out when i'm in college. is it a very bad idea to apply to 2 disparate graduate school programs? Such as Psy PhD and Stats/Actuarial Science masters? </p>
<p>and also, when do we usually know which courses we'll be taking for the next sememster and when will professors release the booklist? i'm from singapore and the books here are way cheaper than those in the college bookstore or amazon... so i can save a great deal if i were to buy my books here. but i'm not sure if the professors will release the booklist in time for me to do that?</p>
<p>you dont register for all of your classes until orientation (i think you get to preregister for one or two this summer?). plus, most people switch classes during the first week or so because they didnt like the course they were in or found something better.
for cheap textbokks, check <a href="http://www.half.com%5B/url%5D">www.half.com</a></p>
<p>unfortunately, many dont release their booklists until classes begin (and even then, they often declare some books optional).
i believe that conn's AP policy is that you can use them for credit (if you get a 4 or 5) for any class that is not in your major, so if psych is your major, you have to take 101. but i would recommend you take 101 regardless, because a lot of the material from the upper classes uses the basics from 101. do you know who is teaching it this semester?
and which prof did you email?
your AP psych book might be the one used in 101, if you are lucky. also, when you find out which classes you will be taking (in general, not just in psych), let me know because i can sell you the books i dont need at an extremely low price!</p>
<p>Hmm perhaps that policy extends to only Psych dept? Coz I'm quite sure Math and Econs don't practise that... (well if they do I'm pretty much screwed since I'm thinking of declaring a triple) But anyway I am quite apprehensive about skipping Psy 101 or 102 anyway coz I didn't take Psych at high school (they don't offer it here) and the flimsy CliffNotes study guide that I'm using will definitely not lay a solid foundation in Psych for me. </p>
<p>I emailed Prof Joan Chrisler, but I don't know who's teaching the course this semester because I won't be matriculating this year anyway... I'll only enter college next year because I'm still serving National Service right now in my home country... :( </p>
<p>And thanks for the offer, I'll love to get the books from you if they're still available next year :p</p>
<p>chrisler isnt the best in answering random emails.
i'd contact the department secretary, nancy macloed (or something like that), shes very nice.
or if you want to speak directly with a prof, contact vyse, devlin, nier, or zakriski- they are all extremely knowlegeable and very helpful!</p>