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Applying to Connecticut College as an International Student

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 2,000 students, and is lovingly called “Conn.”  Conn is rooted in the , 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 to right a wrong. When a local university barred women from entry, Connecticut College was created to open doors.

What to Do if You’ve Been Waitlisted by Wesleyan 2024

Wesleyan University is a dynamic and diverse college that is predominately undergraduate and is located in Middletown, Connecticut. The campus is stunning, bringing together modern, contemporary, and classical architecture in a way that visually embodies the ideals of the university. They look to the past to inform the present and shape the future, and students at Wesleyan know that they are part of something truly special. Students are encouraged to explore and adventure academically, pulling from diverse disciplines and arenas in a way that is grounded firmly in the liberal arts tradition. The undergraduate college is extremely popular among students looking for an exceptional education in a small school setting, and, in 2022, the acceptance rate was 14.4%.

What to Do if You’ve Been Waitlisted by Williams 2024

Williams is a small private liberal arts college in Massachusetts with a reputation for bringing together students who are both brilliant and who want to impact the world in a positive way. The community has a tight-knit culture, and students both push and support each other towards excellence. The acceptance rate for the last few years has between 8.5% and 10%, making Williams a very selective school.

What to Do if You’ve Been Waitlisted by Bowdoin 2024

Bowdoin is kind of the hipster of the Little Ivies. With their beaches, mountains, food trucks, and L.L. Bean boots (their words, not ours), it has a vibe that’s pretty similar to Dartmouth; but with about a third of the student population. Whether you dream of discussing Nietzsche with friends by the fireplace on a snowy day or hitting the streets to give back to your community, Bowdoin may be the perfect fit if you’re looking for a small, liberal arts college.

How to Get Into Tufts

Tufts is a private research university just outside of Boston. While this blog is part of a series we are doing about getting into the schools of the New England Small Collegiate Athletic Conference (NESCAC), Tufts is kind of an outlier. While they are in the league… they aren’t that small of a school. They have just under 7k undergrads. While the other schools of the NESCAC are liberal arts schools, Tufts is very much a research university. They take a lot of pride in this as well.

 College Athletic Recruiting for Williams

Williams College is a private liberal arts college in Willliamstown, Massachusetts. It’s small, with just over 2,000 undergrads, and it’s in the beautiful – but rural – Berkshires. While technically a college, Williams also has tiny little grad programs for development economics and art history. Williams is also a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and competes in D3 sports with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, and Wesleyan. Approximately 35% of the school competes on a varsity or club team and interestingly enough, they also compete D1 in skiing and squash!

College Athletic Recruiting for Amherst

Putting the small in small liberal arts school, Amherst College is located in, you guessed it, Amherst, Massachusetts. With an undergrad population of less than 2k and a totally open curriculum, Amherst attracts students who want to dive deep into their academic subject of choice. They’re also a very athletic school – and they claim to have the oldest athletics department in the country since they’ve been requiring physical education since 1860. They also played the first college baseball game ever against Williams. Currently, they are part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and compete in D3 sports with Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams. About 35-40% of the student body competes in a varsity sport.

College Athletic Recruiting for Bates

Bates College is a small, private liberal arts college located in Lewiston, Maine. They’re known for killer academics and an incredibly beautiful campus, but they’re also known for their incredibly strong athletic teams. Bates is a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and competes against Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams in NCAA D3 sports. Their teams are some of the best in not only the NESCAC, but among all NCAA D3 teams. They’re producing olympians!!! So, if you’re looking for a liberal arts education and have athletic talent, you might think that your sport could help you get into Bates. Maybe! Keep reading.

College Athletic Recruiting at Hamilton College

Hamilton is a top-tier liberal arts school located in Clinton, NY. With their suburban campus, small size (2,000 undergrads), and selective acceptance rate (11%), this school definitely has a classic liberal arts vibe. Some of their most popular majors include econ, bio, poli sci, and psych and they’re known for ditching the ever-popular core curriculum system and letting students choose almost their entire course selection. They’re also a NESCAC school and over 35% of students participate in sports. Because you are reading this, you probably want to know if getting recruited to Hamilton will help you get in. Maybe? Keep reading.

College Athletic Recruiting for Colby College

Colby College is a private liberal arts college located in Waterville, Maine with about 2,000 students total. Their most popular majors include economics, political science, and psychology, so it’s definitely a liberal arts school. They’re also a pretty athletic school, with 1/3rd of the campus competing in at least one (if not more!) varsity sport. Colby is part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and competes in D3 sports with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams. They’re also part of the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium, which is some weird micro-athletic conference made up of all the maine colleges in Maine. We are so good at puns. Moving on!

College Athletic Recruiting for Tufts

Tufts Univeristy is a private research institution located a hop, skip, and a jump away from Boston. They used to be a small liberal arts school, but decided to start offering PhD’s in the 70s, and now have approximately 7k undergrads and 7k grad students. They’re huge into STEM, with top-notch undergrad and grad programs in chemistry, biology, and biomedical engineering. They also do a lot of crossover programs with the New England Conservatory of Music, MIT, and Harvard. Tufts is part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and competes in D3 sports with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams. Unlike many of their NESCAC cohorts, Tufts isn’t an overwhelmingly athletic school, but it is one of the top athletic programs in D3 sports. Also, their mascot is an elephant named Jumbo. We found this disturbing information about Jumbo’s lore:

College Athletic Recruiting for Wesleyan

Wesleyan University, located in Middletown, Connecticut, is a private liberal arts university with a little bit of a STEM bent. It’s also an incredibly academic school–several studies from 2008 found that undergraduates from Wesleyan were 2nd in the country for pursuing PhDs among all liberal arts schools. It’s also a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and competes in D3 sports with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, and Williams. Approximately 25% of students at Wesleyan play a varsity sport, making it one of the less sporty schools in NESCAC, despite the fact they were an original member of the NCAA.

Sports Recruiting for NESCAC Schools

The New England Small College Athletic Conference is made up of eleven top-tier liberal arts colleges and universities in the US, including Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams. Some of these schools are known as Hidden or Little Ivies, and some are more competitive than others to gain admission to. However, these schools also all have pretty robust athletics departments, even though they’re D3. If you’re interested in attending one of these small liberal arts schools and want to leverage your athletic ability to give your application that push: keep reading. 

College Athletic Recruiting at Bowdoin College

Bowdoin. It’s a top liberal arts school in Brunswick, Maine. Their crest is made up almost entirely of a creepy-looking sun. Their mascot is the polar bear. Last year, their acceptance rate went up .3%, from 8.8% to 9.1%. Basically a cakewalk now. They’re also known for having a pretty sporty campus, with 45% of the student body participating in varsity athletics. If you play a niche sport like women’s ice hockey or nordic skiing, you might want to take your skills to Bowdoin, and you might think your involvement in sport could give you a leg up in the admissions process. Not necessarily, but let’s talk about it.