My son is considering Conn College. I’m not sold on it being a great fit for him. We are from CA, he’s a humanities kid, especially literature, history, philosophy. He is also very artistic, which is the only reason Conn College is on our radar at all. He is transgender, super kind, quiet, low key kid, not cliquey and does not like a cliquey environment.
We toured it earlier this year. He really liked it, surprisingly, because it was absolutely dead on campus, and he has mentioned wanting a vibrant campus feel. We toured on a Saturday during the school year and I felt like we were there during a school holiday. We only saw the students who were leading the tours. I’ve read that it can feel a bit like a commuter school b/c so many kids come from within 2 hours of the school, and leave on weekends. Can anyone give any insight into the vibe, energy, and also LGBTQ friendliness?
I can’t speak to the commuter school vibe, but my transgender, artsy son is 100% applying. We toured last month, and he loved it.
Oh this is great to hear! And I think you and I connected on the class of 25 forum too. Are you from the East coast? I’m a little concerned about the preppy factor. My son is the total opposite of that and I wonder if he’ll feel a bit like a fish out of water.
When you toured, how was the energy on campus?
YES! My son is decidedly not preppy (dyed hair, tattoo, and a septum piercing). The energy was sedate but warm and welcoming. Everyone we met was super nice and seemed happy to be there.
My LGBTQ+ S25, not preppy or sporty, theater kid, is also applying. Neither he nor I are completely sold on it—we were there on a beautiful fall day, there was a music festival with food trucks in the arboretum, but there were maybe 20 students attending—but there are not many LACs with merit aid in the northeast, and we know a few quirky artsy kids who are thriving there. If all of our kids end up there, maybe they can find each other.
I thought their career center & the Pathways programs really stood out from the other schools we’ve visited.
Good to hear of kids who are (possibly) similar thriving there! Yes - if any of our kids do decide to go we should at least let each other know to see if they can connect.
Good Luck!
It’s been a few years now since my kid looked (and 4 of his classmates attended), but this is not a commuter school! Freshmen were not allowed to have cars, and almost everyone lives on campus. There was quite a bit going on on campus.
It was considered by most kids to have a very mixed student body – meaning some artsy, some sporty, some preppy, some alt. There are schools where one of those is the dominant culture.
It was always popular at my kid’s school and in particular with the CC staff - several of whom had kids there. I’m assuming you’re applying RD. If you’re accepted and it’s affordable, definitely go to accepted student events to see if it’s for you.
Thank you. This is helpful
Can I add that Saturday mornings are often a weird time to be on campus. At most LACs, there is a lot of social activity Friday night, and that, coupled with the fact that most of these kids have a pretty go-go schedule M-F, often makes sleep a favorite activity on Saturday mornings.
D3 schools often have meets/games on saturdays, so the athletes may wake up long enough to put themselves on buses. It’s not unusual for a couple of teams to be headed to the same away destination, and that can mean many kids not present Saturday morning.
I recall visiting a school in PA (known to be a party school) where we literally saw NOBODY out and about Saturday morning.
I also recall visiting Conn on a Saturday when they had soccer games going on - right in the middleof campus ,–, and it was actually pretty lively.
All to say, any time is a bit hit or miss, but especially Saturdays. The compactness and layout of a campus can also make a difference to how lively it feels. Bigger campuses can feel sleepier just because folks are more spread out.
A few months ago, I hired a recent CC grad and have been thrilled with that decision. The student is sharp, collaborative, hard-working, and just lovely to work with. If he’s typical of the student body, it’s a fantastic school.
Thank you. It’s so interesting how schools feel so very different on tours. Vassar was another school that felt very quiet and it wasn’t a weekend or holiday.
Macalester, on the other hand, was hopping! But we were there longer, for Junior day, so that probably helped.
Yes, and Macalester has a pretty compact footprint.
Really, the difference that makes is incredible! Someone here pointed that out to me when I was trying to figure out why one school felt so quiet when another just down the road with the same # of students had so much energy.
Even the location of dining halls can impact this. Dining halls that are in residential buildings/quads and further from academic buildings create more “contained” foot traffic, and maybe in a part of campus you won’t visit. And even more so if the weather is bad!
Higher density often just feels different.
Also, visiting during mid-terms or pre finals will feel different. While I am a huge fan of visiting to get a feel for a school, I am also quite aware of how much serendipity is involved in that. Weather, exams, tour guide, etc.
My quiet, quirky, artsy child is thriving at Conn. From what I’ve observed on my visits, the “preppy” reputation is a bit outdated. Also, she has found Conn to be very LGBTQ-friendly. My son is also trans and plans to apply, and I am super comfortable with him doing so. Feel free to message me with any questions!
Thank you so much! I might reach out to you soon.
Glad your child is thriving there.
My info is as old as the hills, as I am now a parent of a high school senior, but I went to a large diverse public high school in Los Angeles and then to Conn College as a freshman, and I was unhappy with the culture. It felt sporty and preppy and very very white. My roommate was black and I believe the stress she endured in being a BIPOC in both the classroom and the residential space was an added burden. The world of LGBTQ was very different then of course. It was quite binary and very few students were out.
I was totally happy with the academics. Wonderful professors, small classes, and I quickly began babysitting for one of them, which gave me a sense of family. By the end of the first semester, I had applied to transfer to Barnard where I was happy for the rest of my college years. My conclusion is that those little Northeastern schools tend to skew artsy or sporty and you should know which would make you happiest.
Maybe relevant, maybe not: My son [not LGBTQA+) went to Conn (class of 2007) and very much enjoyed it. It’s definitely NOT a commuter school. He also got significant help from the professors in his major, who were able to guide him to certain relevant summer jobs. A few years later he was able to rely on some of those profs for letters of recommendation for grad school. He made some lifelong friends there and continues to feel quite positive about his time there.
I have a feeling it might have changed a bit. It has a reputation for being very artsy, with a great art department. I think this probably attracts a creative mix of kids, probably more lgbtq kids as a result. It seems as if it has a mix of arts and sporty kids from what I gather. I’m just hoping the preppy side isn’t a big part of the vibe.
My kid is a first-year and loving it. Definitely not a commuter school. I will say that there is a high percentage of athletes (including my kid and one of his roommates), but the non-athletes seem to skew toward the artsy/etc., so I think your kiddo will feel at home. And FWIW, one of my son’s roommates is neither an athlete nor an artsy person, and he seems to have found his place as well. It’s not really a “preppy” place at this point, from what I can see. Athletic doesn’t equal preppy. No one is walking around in khakis, I assure you.
Please oh please do not make a college decision based on who is wearing khakis or the “wrong” fleece vest. Help your kids understand that whatever taxonomy existed in middle school and HS, is NOT reality in college.
There are groomed and manicured women in the robotics lab who are every bit the math geek as the guy on the project team who is wearing flipflops and grungy army surplus pants There are black clad “goths” who are first chair violinists, and someone who looks just like them who is on the diving team. There is a kid in khaki pants who is the campus rabble rouser working hard with the administration and the food services team to eliminate single use plastics from the dining halls, and a social justice warrior helping a member of the janitorial staff trying to get political refugee status (spouse was murdered by the ruling party) who is wearing a Lily Pulitzer dress with Tory Burch ballet flats.
These posts make me sad. If I’d chosen my college, my friends, or my spouse based on what they wore my life would be greatly inferior to what it is right now. Everyone wants to “fit” in college- but PLEASE evaluate “fit” on shared values, common interests and activities, passions and motivations, not on what someone is wearing.
Kids from low income families often end up wearing whatever the local food pantry/clothing drive is distributing the day they show up. Grungy t-shirts or beautiful preppy blazers or sweat pants from Costco or Timberland jackets. They don’t have the luxury of tailoring their “look” to their identity. They need shoes and coats and pants like everyone else- but they don’t get to curate how they present.
Help your kids understand this.
Thank you for this! Super helpful.