Connecticut College is a small liberal arts school in New London, Connecticut. About 1,800 undergraduate students attend the school, and it’s known for having outstanding professors. The student-faculty is 9:1, so you’ll get the chance to get to know them (and even stay in touch with them after graduation, as we wrote about here.) The acceptance rate is around 37%.
If you’re planning on applying to Connecticut College sometime soon, you might feel like you missed something. Surprise! The school has no supplement. We just wanted to get your attention. Let’s discuss!
It is very easy to apply to a college without supplements. It’s a click of a button. What does this mean? If you’re not just applying because it’s simple, and Connecticut College really is your top choice school, you need to get in touch with them. You need to show them that you actually want to attend, tell them why, and prove that you’re not just tossing in an easy application at the last minute because you had a dream that you didn’t get into Vassar.
So what do you do? You’re going to write a “Why Connecticut College” style essay and send it to them via email. This is what we do when working with TKG clients who think they’re pulling a fast one of us when they “fall in love” with a school without supplements.
Here’s are the points you want to hit, but please feel free to spice things up once you have the “hard facts”:
Introduce yourself and explain why you’re writing an email. You might say something like this: My name is _____________, and I’m writing to explain why I want to attend Connecticut College.
Tell them your origin story, which is a story about how your academic interests came to fruition. This story must align with what you plan to study in college, so start by choosing a major. Let’s say you pick English. Think back and look for clues that you were destined to be an English major. Maybe you read books while your siblings played on the family swing set and then got a job at a local library. Or maybe you spend your weekends reading Jane Eyre. Whatever your story is, tell them. Don’t panic if you don’t have everything figured out just yet, you’re going to college to learn and you don’t have to be a pro just yet. But when they read your origin story, they should walk away with an understanding of how your academic passions came to be.
Include, in writing, what you plan to major in. For the example above, that would obviously be English. This should go without saying, but please ensure that your preferred major is available at Connecticut College. You can take a look at their list of programs here.
On the home page of your major, find two upper-level classes that you want to take. You shouldn’t choose introductory level because those are not specific to Conn. College and you’re going for specificity here. It’s very important to explain why you want to take the class. If you leave it at “I’m hoping to take Macroeconomics,” they’re going to wonder why. Never leave them wondering. Write about the classes that you’ve taken so far in high school, the books you read, the internships you’ve had, the conversations that have captivated you, etc. The links should be strong!
Next, find a professor who is doing research in an area that you’re familiar with and hope to pursue in college. Look through all of their biographies. Remember when we said the professors here are great? They want to help you, which is why you should pitch yourself as their research assistant. Explain why you’d be a strong addition to their team by relying on the same tactics you used to explain your interest in the curriculum.
All work and no play is not the move, so you’re now going to find an extracurricular activity you want to pursue or a student group that you’d like to join. Here’s the thing: whatever you write about needs to make sense in the context of the rest of your application. They should look at your activities section and understand immediately why you want to join the group that you choose. If you get in, let your freak flag fly and join any club you want. But for this email, you need to choose something that doesn’t come out of left field.
If there’s anything else that is HIGHLY SPECIFIC to Connecticut College that has lead you to apply, you can include that here as well. But please, don’t write about the weather or the campus. Most colleges are beautiful and weather exists everywhere. You should only include this if you’re absolutely certain that what you’re writing about cannot be found elsewhere.
Now comes the harder part. Look back at everything you have. It probably reads like a Connecticut College brochure, which isn’t good. Your next (and final) job is to turn all of the information above into a story about yourself with details about the school weaved throughout. If Connecticut college is on the left, and you’re on the right, what’s in the middle? That is the goal of your essay.
We usually cap our emails to school around 350-400 words, so you’re going to need to do some editing. It may seem daunting, but check for repeated language and unnecessary information and cut it down until it’s as concise as possible. We recommend calling the school directly and telling them that you’d like to email the admissions office – they’ll be able to confirm the best place to send it. Happy writing and good luck!
Need help writing your college essays? We’ll help you with every step of the process. Get in touch with us here.