Trinity College Top Questions

Great. Most professors are smart. Funnily enough although social justice isn't my major Johnny Williams was my professor at a time. I truly learned so much at Trinity from my language and literature courses to my art and film courses. And you can reach out to your professors. Something I will always value.

Academics are challenging, especially high expectations of writing. Even if its a theatre or calculus course, there will always be a major writing component. While abroad in Paris, which features visiting Trinity professors, we would often take classes out at cafés, jardins, or museums. In my french literature course we had only two students--including myself--which allowed for some exceptional opportunities. For our Diderot lecture, the three of us visited the location where he penned Rameau's Nephew (our assignment for the week). This coming year, I will be writing two thesis for my double-major Theatre & Dance and Film Studies. The former will be concerning the theatrical works of Albert Camus and the latter will be a short film. Needless to say, my year will have plenty of work in store, yet I am well prepared and honestly quite excited to get started.

Every professor will no your name. Often times you will be required to come to every class. You will be given homework, and it will be collected and often graded for correctness. There are many professors that are great, and fun to learn from. There are also professors that are terrible and make easy and potentially interesting subjects dreadful. Students will study all the time. If you don't study all the time, you really can't even do decent. You'll find all types of kids (even the party types) in the library at all times of day and night. Teachers expect students to follow up with reading and be able to discuss them in class. The students, who somewhat resemble machines, seem to only study because that is what they are expected to do. (Not for enjoyment, passion, desire, or even interest). They often do not enjoy what they are studying and are rarely passionate about what they are studying. As soon as a student is out of a classroom and done with their work, it would be rare to see them talking about academia. Students are extremely competitive and it is great that academics are so strongly rooted in the personalities of the student body. (that is one positive quality about the student body) The most unique class I have taken was a music class. When you take a class that seems interesting be warned: You will become an expert on the material you are choosing to study. Which is great if you're taking classes about things you love, as you should. (Unfortunately for me, I now know a lot of obscurities that I sometimes wish I didn't waste my time on. I enjoy Economics and think I will try to major in Econ. I don't spend time with Professors outside of class, but if there is ever a question, an email to a professor will always be responded to promptly. Trinity has great academic requirements. Forcing some basic knowledge of all disciplines of academics helps to change our plain student body into one with some understanding of the world. Because of this, you can take an Econ class, and love it. The next semester you might take a Psychology class and love it even more. This enables exposure to all types of curriculum and allows for students to major in subjects that truly are of interest to them. Education at Trinity is completely geared towards getting a job. The bland-student body is programmed from birth by their white, wealthy, absent parents, that they should get a job on Wall Street upon graduation. (Ironically, this actually is something that interests me) Things that I would change: As a freshmen, you get last picks on classes. Often times you can't even get the class you are looking for. In my case, I couldn't find a 200-level economics course (to continue my pursuit in an economics degree) or a science course (for non-majors, so that I could meet my requirement. But I guess, that is expected, because like everything at Trinity, class selection being no different, is based on a hierarchy.

Professors at Trinity are, for the most part, truly exceptional. They are committed to their classes, and are devoted to their students. Unfortunately, the relationship between professors and students is not reciprocal. Most students, especially in the case of classes that fulfill distribution requirements, are entirely uninterested in their classes, and seem only to be taking them for the sake of actually being able to attend college. There is virtually no intellectual curiosity. Another unfortunate truth is that many students have the attitude that their professors "work for them," and thus do not demonstrate any kind of respect for the professors, particularly in terms of classroom etiquette.

There is no core curriculum at Trinity. However, we do have distribution requirements, one in each of the following areas: Natural Science, Social Science, Numeric and Symbolic Reasoning, Fine Arts, and Humanities. Most students fulfill these requirements within their first year without even trying. Also, many of requirements for any major satisfy several of those distribution requirements. Additionally, there are several general education requirements: one year of a first year seminar, 2 writing intensive courses, a global engagement requirement, and 2 semesters of a foreign language. Those requirements are also easy to fulfill because most students take those courses anyway. Trinity requires 36 credits (each class equates to approximately one credit) and each major requires about 10-14 credits, which leaves a lot of room to explore, take different electives, or add additional minors or majors. The weight of the workload depends on the student’s choice of classes and major. Typically students take between 4-5 courses a semester for a total of about 9 each year. Most students are taking challenging courses, contributing to the “work hard, play hard” atmosphere at Trinity. The student body is far more cooperative than competitive. Grades are not shared or stressed as the most important part of course. Because of Trinity’s unique first year program, students have an advisor before they even step foot on campus. Their first year seminar instructor also serves as their advisor until they declare a major, which is typically done by the end of the sophomore year. Once you select a major, you may choose any professor in the department as your academic advisor. My experience with my advisors has been very positive. Any professor, whether he/she is your advisor or not, is more than willing to sit with you and plan out your future courses. Students must speak with their advisor before they are permitted to select courses. Course selection is done online, which makes the process much smoother. Each student receives a time slot based on their class year and last name. Additional courses are created or dropped based on the expressed popularity during registration. There is usually a cap to courses to maintain the small classroom environment. If there is a course that is not offered that interests you, most professors will allow you to take the course as an independent study if you ask. Trinity’s extensive opportunities in research set it apart from other liberal arts colleges. I have researched with the math department every semester since my second semester in my first year. The plethora of research opportunities at Trinity enriches the academic experience at Trinity. These opportunities are possible because the faculty is so supportive of its students, and are committed to the growth of their students. Over half of the science majors participate in research at some point, yet research is available in any major. Many students leave Trinity with one or more published articles, having presented several times at science symposiums throughout the country. Besides research, students are often involved in internships throughout the country. Over half of students are involved in an internship for one or more semesters. There are well over 250 established internships in Hartford that students can either participate in, for pay or credit, during the school year or over the summer. The vast alumni network allows for students to have internships throughout the country. Studying abroad is also very popular at Trinity; over half of the students study away. There are two unique features of Trinity’s study abroad program. The first is that students are allowed to study abroad for up to 3 semesters, more than most colleges, and the second is that students’ financial aid packages travel with them, making studying abroad much more affordable. Trinity has two popular satellite campuses, one in Rome and one in Cordoba, Spain. Trinity also has special programs called Global Learning Sites, in which there will always be one faculty member as a contact who sets students up with internships and community service projects of their interest. Faculty members are very accessible. They are required to hold office hours, yet most are available to students for many more hours than that. It is very easy to schedule appointments to meet with them and it is highly encouraged because they are such a valuable resource for students. The degree requirements depend on the degree. A few require general examinations to graduate, yet most do not. In order to receive honors in a major, typically a student must complete a senior thesis or senior seminars, but again this depends on the major.

Many professors here really do care a lot about their students, and if you put in the work and show that you really care about their class, they make it totally worth it. You can learn so much from the faculty here, and the fact that the classes are small make it possible to really get to know them. There is a lot of intellectual dialogue and activity that happens outside the classroom as well, and there are a lot of kids who are interested in learning from each other and expressing their feelings. My favorite thing is that you have so much freedom in picking which courses you want to take. If you don't know what you want to do, or you have many interests, or if you want to explore an area you never got the chance to, you can do that while still successfully completing a major or even two. If you push yourself you can become incredibly well rounded and an interesting person.

all the professors know my name, its a very close knit academic institution. Students work 2 hrs a night at an average. Everyone participates in class. It depends on who you talk to about intellectual conversations. Again it depends on which students you ineract with about being competitive. I do not spend time with professors outside class. Electronic and Computer music is the most unique class I've taken.

extremely rigorous; they work you into the ground, but you're prepared. You will notice your essay writing skills develop in leaps and bounds by the first two months.

they are great, no complain on any of them.. probably just one, but we all know teachers have their way to teach and the world is not perfect

I know all my professors by name. Students study a variety based on their major or grades they wish to achieve. As a chemistry major, I am studying or doing research most of the time. I have presented my research at a national conference. Students are competitive, but not to the point that they don't want success for all their peers. Every student will help one another anytime they ask.