Connecticut College (New London, CT)

Great things to know about Connecticut College

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Connecticut College is a competitive and highly selective small liberal arts college located in New London, CT. The campus has beautiful grounds with a large open green space used for athletic events and general student use. Many of the housing options are located along the green. The college was founded as the first all woman’s college in CT. Although it is now coeducational, the ratio of women to men is about 60:40.

APPLICATION NOTES

• Common Application only

• Application fee: $0

• School report required / transcript

• Counselor recommendation required

• Mid-year grades required

• Final grade report required

• Teacher evaluation: 2 required (0 optional)

• Other evaluations: 0 required (1 optional)

• NO OTHER WRITING SAMPLE REQUIRED OTHER THAN THE PERSONAL STATEMENT

• Test optional (48% of students submitted test scores for class of 2022)

ADMISSION STATISTICS

• GPA

  • 49% of class of 2022 in top 10% of high school class

  • 77% of class of 2023 in top 20% of high school class

• ACT - Class of 2022

  • Mid 50%: 30 - 32

  • 60% had scores of 30 - 36

• SAT - Class of 2022

  • Mid 50%: 1290 - 1430

  • 38% had reading score of 700 - 800

  • 42% had math score of 700 - 800

• ACCEPTANCE RATE

  • Overall: 38%

  • ED: 62% (will include recruited athletes)

  • RD: 33%

  • Waitlist: 4% got off the waitlist for class of 2022

ADMISSION FACTORS

• What CC thinks is very important:

  • Class rigor

  • GPA

• What CC thinks is important:

  • Essay

  • Recommendations

  • Interview

  • Extracurriculars

  • Special Talent

  • Ethnicity

  • Volunteer time

  • Work Experience

• What CC will consider:

  • Test Scores (test optional)

  • First generation

  • Legacy

  • Geographical home residency

  • State residency

  • Religious Commitment

  • Demonstrated Interest (within reason)

FINANCIAL ISSUES

• Evaluations are holistic and admissions are by committee

• #1 priority is academics and then “what can the student bring to the campus”

• CC is need aware, but that doesn’t mean that they only accept full pay students

  • no student that indicates that they are seeking financial aid will be admitted until financial situation is assessed. There is a question in the college section of the Common App for this indication.

  • Class of 2022: 80 students (16%) come from very low-income situation (EFC of $0 - $5000)

  • Class of 2022: 12% awarded federal Pell Grants (Conn College has very high graduation rates for Pell recipients - higher than their overall graduation rate)

  • Class of 2022: 24% offered SUBSIDIZED Stafford Loans

  • Class of 2023: 106 students come from very low-income situations

• Both CSS and FAFSA are required for financial aid assessment (only CSS required for ED1 applicants)

• This is the 3rd year that they are awarding Merit Aid scholarships. This was to boost the middle-class income families. It has been very successful in garnering these students that are caught in the middle of college finances. They are wealthy enough (high enough EFC) to not receive federal scholarships, but they are not wealthy enough to pay private tuition outright.

DEMONSTRATED INTEREST

• Considered within context - CC does not expect an interested student to visit if they live far away or it is a financial hardship.

• Could be a factor if an applicant lives very close and has made no attempt to visit or show interest in attending CC

ATHLETICS

• NCAA Division III - NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference) League

• 39% of the class of 2022 participated in sports as freshmen

• Recruited athlete applications are read before student applies. The vast majority apply ED, and they are basically guaranteed admission based on pre-read. This makes the ED admission rate of 62% look like it is much easier to get into CC by applying ED. This is not the case because the athletes are virtually 100% acceptance. Non-athletes applying ED will not have the same admission rate - it will offset the 100% to end up with the 62%.

• 12 men’s varsity teams

• 14 women’s varsity teams

• Many club sports available as well

HOUSING

• 98% of students live on campus all 4 years

• There are many residential options and specialized living groups.

HONOR CODE:

• CC takes their student run honor code very seriously

• It is unique in that it is upheld and presided over by a student-governed judicial process