Conn College: The Big Picture
Conn college is a pretty awesome school in my opinion. We have a student honor code that is enforced by a student run judiciary board. This means we can schedule our final exams for when we want and professors generally trust their students and treat us like adults. I like being at a small school and knowing most everybody (though if that's not your cup of tea than definitely do not come here). Though you often meet people that you may not have met before, chances are high that you've already seen them before on campus. The school is still lacking a bit in diversity though the adminstration is working on that. Another thing that President Higdon is working on is increasing the school's reputation as not many people know where you're talking about when you say I go to Connecticut College. They mostly ask if that's UConn, which is incredibly annoying. New London and Groton (which is just across the river) get better the more you get used to them though they are still lacking compared to other college towns. Still, there are lots of good restaurants, target/walmart/shoprite for groceries, and some fun stuff like laser tag, bowling, etc. Havin a car or knowing someone with a car definitely helps, though. The administration seems to be doing a pretty good job at this point... The biggest recent controversy here was definitely the Conncoll confessional which was a site where people could post anything anonymously - that got a bit out of hand though it's died down now thank god. School pride is generally pretty high and most people are a fan of the camel mascot including myself :).
Conn College Academic Life
The school is super small and so are classes, which is wonderful. All my teachers know me by name and all of my classes have been under 25 students except chem 101 which had 50... Most of my classes though are 10-15 people. Students are pretty good about getting their work done (though we procrastinate a lot), and participation is pretty high. We could use a little more in the way of intellectual conversations out of class. I don't spend too much time with professors outside of class, though when I have questions they are very approachable. The school can be kind of easy at times but if you're willing to work and pick good classes you can get an excellent education. The library is pretty fun and a big social place, though sometimes it's hard to get work done and it closes at 2am except during finals which sucks. The education is relatively geared towards getting a job (CELS - Career Enhancing Life Skills is a great program), though you will find plenty of dance, art, and english majors that are more geared towards learning than getting a job after school.
Conn College's Student Body
Like I said, the student body is quite wealthy compared to most schools and it is the most expensive in the NESCAC. But, most people are pretty cool and though some may flaunt a bit, they're not too pretentious. Most people where jeans and a polo or sweater. Some girls (and guys) dress up a bit for class though people don't care too much if you don't. I mentioned the school's lack of diversity, which is frustrating. About 90% of the school is from New England. Though there is a small international and african american population, the school does seem kind of segregated. Most minority students sit on one side of the cafateria, relatively normal people sit in the middle, sports teams sit on the other side and the generally more studious crew in the anti social room. This is kind of annoying because I went to a very international school. However, the lack of diversity forces you to look beyond people's appearances and really get to know people on a deeper level, which is totally possible if you're patient. It was kind of hard adjusting at first but once I got to know people better everything was great. I'd say most people are liberal or moderate. Definitely right of Wesleyan but left of Trinity, which is a nice balance in my opinion.
Conn College Student Activities + Social Life
Getting involved definitely helps in terms of making friends. There are quite a few ways to get involved. Sports aren't too too competitive and if you don't make varsity there are lots of club and intramural teams. There is also student government which has quite a bit of say in things, SAC (student activities council), the judicial board, newspaper, investment club, dance club, etc. There's plenty if you are willing to try things out. Students here tend to party quite a bit, especially thursdays and saturdays (people rest on fridays), and the campus is wet. People are pretty good about working during weekdays. I've found that people that do not drink sometimes have a harder time adjusting though there are sub free dorms where everyone is super close. There is no greek life, however, and most parties are centered around kegs in common rooms or private parties. Around midnight people go to the student center (Cro), mingle, and go to a dance (there's one or two almost every weekend). The year culminates with Floralia which is a whole day of live bands, fun games, and intense drinking (campus police is relatively lenient, especially on floralia ... they'll usually tell you to poor your drink though rarely do more then give a slap on the hand). All in all the social life can get a bit monotonous at times and drinking definitely makes it more fun. What's nice though is that whenever you get tired of campus, New York, Boston, and Providence are pretty easy to get to since New London is right on the Amtrak.
Conn College Naked Truth
I think I said pretty much everything I have to say/
