Connecticut College is a small liberal arts college along the Thames River — in New London, Connecticut, to be clear, not England. The school is home to just under 2,000 students, and is lovingly called “Conn.” Conn is rooted in the liberal arts tradition, but is also committed to preparing students to excel in a constantly changing world. The college has always been at the forefront of change ever since it was founded in 1911 to right a wrong. When a local university barred women from entry, Connecticut College was created to open doors.
Conn has a small but mighty international student community representing more than two dozen countries, and that accounted for about 8% of the student body. The international students on campus have access to the best funded Academic Resource Center in the country, which would give you access to peer tutors, learning specialists, and faculty partnerships.
The college receives more than 9,300 applicants each year for about 550 spots. The acceptance rate is about 38%, which is heavily skewed by high Early Decision I and Early Decision II acceptance rates. The ED acceptance rates are much higher than the regular decision rate. Nearly 50% of the class is filled in the Early Decision rounds, which tells us that they highly prioritize students who prioritize them.
If you want to be one of those students, this post is for you. In this post, we’ll break down everything you need to know about applying to Connecticut College as an international student.
If you’re considering Connecticut College, send us an email. We’re experts in crafting a successful college application experience.
What is Connecticut College looking for in International Students?
Connecticut College is looking for international students who will take advantage of everything they offer while deepening and enriching the community. Below we go through how you can show that you are everything Conn is looking for.
Courses + Grades
When you’re applying to Conn, they are straightforward about what matters most. “The rigor of your high school program is,” they emphasize, “what carries the most weight in the admission process.” They want to see students who push for success even in the subjects you don’t like, and who take the hard courses even when there’s an easier course you could have chosen instead.
Taking the hardest courses you have access to tells Connecticut College two things. First, that you can excel in difficult courses. Basically, that you are smart. The second thing your course selections tells Conn is that you want to challenge yourself.
Beyond that, Conn doesn’t require any particular courses to be considered for admission. However, we do highly recommend taking a full breadth of courses across all core subjects available at your school. If your school doesn’t offer high-level courses in a subject that you are passionate about, especially if that subject is also the subject you want to major in, you should consider summer programs, local university courses, or online classes that deepen your knowledge while illustrating that you’re willing to go outside of what’s ‘normal’ to expand your academic future.
Extracurriculars
What you spend your time on will heavily influence what you write your essays about, so it’s important to do some fun and cool stuff that you care about! We recommend students go deep into one or two things they are really into, but then also go ‘broad’ by exploring things outside of their comfort zone. So, what does this look like in practice?
In practice, you should zoom in on an activity or two that you feel you could reach a leadership position in (or already hold one already), and could ideally receive awards or honors related to. This doesn’t mean everything else needs to go by the wayside — in fact, it shouldn’t, but plan to spend less time on other hobbies to make room for the focus activities that you’ll be highlighting in your application.
Think of this as ‘doing the work before you have to do the work.’ You need to have something to write about that is about what you’ve done, not just about what’s happened to you, and how you spend your time outside of the classroom gives you a lot to write about! You can see this play out in college essays that Conn has shared that helped students gain admission.
Another great place that you’ll be able to feature what you care about both in school and outside of the classroom is the interview. Not every college does interviews these days. Most don’t, actually. But Conn still does and it’s a huge opportunity for you as an international applicant. You need to do an interview if you can schedule one, and should review Conn’s tips for interviews before your conversation. Interview prep is also something that we specialize in.
Standardized Tests
Connecticut College is test optional when it comes to the ACT and SAT, but that isn’t a reason to write them off. Standardized tests can be really useful when you’re applying to a U.S. college as an international student because they serve to underline your academic accomplishments.
Over 60% of accepted and enrolled students for the fall of 2022 submitted test scores, and we recommend that you become part of that pool. When prepping for the SAT, ACT, or both, you should keep the “middle 50%” for Conn in mind. These ranges represent the middle of who is accepted, so you definitely want to be at or above these ranges.
Middle 50% of Standardized Test Scores
SAT (Evidence-Based Reading/Writing): 680-740
SAT (Math): 660-730
ACT: 31-33
Final Thoughts
One last thing we want to emphasize is that Connecticut College really cares if you care. They take demonstrated interest into account in the application process. If you can visit campus, interview on campus or virtually, or visit with an admissions officer when (or if) they travel to your region, that means a lot to them.
Connecticut College really wants to admit students who will say ‘yes’ to them back, so make it clear that you are passionate about the college. Yes, this is true even if it isn’t really your first choice. So, as you’re working on your application, remember to not just stay in your own head. Let Conn know you’re there well in advance of pressing submit by reaching out, attending virtual sessions, and putting your interest in proverbial bold and underlined text.
We help students get into their perfect fit colleges. If you are considering applying to school in the US, get in touch.