Connecticut College News

Each year, more and more students are applying to Connecticut College. This is particularly true for transfer students, who, more than ever, are leaving their previous college or university to join our New London campus. "These are students who have their own particular ideas of what kind of college is right for them," said Jessica Ricker, Associate Director of Admission. "Often, they choose a college for its size, its curriculum, its location, but there are one or two aspects that they overlook. These factors can be important enough for a student to decide to leave their school." Ricker, who oversaw all of the transfer applications for the winter of 2009, was pleased to find that an unusually high number of students applied for admission this semester. While Connecticut College usually sees about 40 transfer applications in a semester, this semester there were 65, a number that reflects growing interest in the college. Many of these students were wooed over from other small, liberal-arts colleges of the northeast. This begs the question: what is so appealing about Conn that makes students pack up their bags and hop on the next train to New London? On the whole, these students have found that the compassionate student body, the social and academic honor code and the variety of on-campus clubs and organizations are among what makes Connecticut College stand out among small liberal arts colleges of the northeast. "There´s much less of a rock-throwing culture at here," says one freshman who recently transferred into Connecticut College. "Students are more accepting of people´s political and personal differences at Conn than they are at many other NESCAC schools that I´ve seen." A recent study posed by the Admission Office indicates that most transfer students know that they want to leave their school in the first semester of freshman year. This accounts for the fact that transfer applicants are predominantly second-semester freshman. It also helps explain why applications increased over fifty percent in the winter semester from the fall semester. Once applications are in, the amount of students that are admitted is based on the availability of rooms, as well as the projected size of the class. Usually, a Connecticut College class contains between 450 to 485 students, a number that the Admission Office strives to maintain. "Normally we´re only able to admit ten or so transfer students," said Ricker. "This semester we found nineteen available spots, so were able to cater a bit to the rising number of applications." Students and faculty alike are happy to welcome these fresh faces to campus, for they remind us that Connecticut College still may have that New England charm that brought us all here in the first place.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Amy Martin, 860-439-2526, a.martin@conncoll.edu or Deborah MacDonnell (860) 439-2504, dmacdonn@conncoll.edu