Monday, October 28, 2013

Emilie did ED at Connecticut College - the only school on her list

In October of her senior year, Emilie Stoll applied Early Decision (ED) to Connecticut College (Conn) and became the first Churchill student ever accepted, On December 15 she knew she would be attending her first and only choice, she said in a recent interview.

Emilie first heard about Connecticut College in her junior year at Churchill when she ran into an old dance buddy at the 28 Street subway stop. It turned out that her friend was a freshman at Conn and raved about its dance program and the college in general. Inspired by the conversation, Emilie started researching Conn and discovered a small test-optional liberal arts school that would allow her to combine her love of dance with a strong academic education. After touring the campus twice, doing a lot of leg work including learning about LD support, she decided to apply ED.

The Churchill guidance office offered solid support throughout the process. "Ms. Hugger and Ms. McEntee were great," Emilie says. "They always had such enthusiasm for anything I had to share with them about the school,” she adds.
Taking advantage of the option, Emilie did not send any test scores. She did not want to dedicate too much time to test prep and basically just showed up to take the ACT, on which she says she scored OK.
Once she had decided to apply to Conn, Emilie saw no reason to visit other schools. “I wanted to avoid becoming overwhelmed,” she says.
Emilie in her Conn dorm room.

After she was accepted, Emilie traveled to New London, CT a third time to familiarize herself with more practical Conn aspects including living options. She requested a room at the North Campus, which she preferred due to its proximity to the main dining hall and recent renovations. She and a room-mate share a spacious room with great natural light and cross ventilation. 

The academic transition has been smoother than expected and much is due to Churchill teaching and instilling self-advocacy: “This is such a big one," Emilie says. In addition to asking her professors for assistance when necessary, Emilie takes advantage of French tutoring once a week and considers utilizing the Writing Center.

Emilie plans to major in Dance and English or Dance and Human Development during her time at Conn, and study French in Paris in her junior year.
Even though she has now firmly launched into the college phase of her life, Emilie misses Churchill and still keeps in touch with her school friends and teachers. She plans to attend Alumni Night in January and share her Conn experiences.

About Early Decision (ED): Several colleges offer ED, which is a binding commitment. Students who have been accepted ED have to withdraw all applications to other schools. The advantage with ED is that a larger proportion of the applicants tend to become accepted. Most colleges list data that makes it easy to figure out ED odds. A similar option is Early Action, which is non-binding and gives a piece of mind along the college process to those who are not yet ready to commit to ED.
 

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