Here are some tips for selecting schools, based on an analysis comparing each school to all others across dozens of factors:
Schools Concentrating On Secondary School Teachers
- Focus: For schools with a focus on this career area, look at Southern Connecticut State, Eastern Connecticut State, Western Connecticut State University, and Sacred Heart University.
Fastest Response From Schools
- Request Info: For the fastest information for prospective students, look at the Spotlight schools on this page.
Student Body
- Part-Time: For schools emphasizing part-time studies, consider Eastern Connecticut State, University of Hartford, Western Connecticut State University, and University of Bridgeport.
- Female: For schools particularly welcoming to female students, consider Saint Joseph College.
- Diverse: For a diverse student body, consider University of Bridgeport, Naugatuck Valley Community College, University of Hartford, and UConn.
- Adult Learners: For lots of adult learners, consider Saint Joseph College, Naugatuck Valley Community College, University of Bridgeport, and Southern Connecticut State.
School Setting
- Out of State: For geographic diversity, take note of Fairfield, Connecticut College, Quinnipiac University, and University of Hartford.
- Dorms: For a residential campus environment, take note of Connecticut College, Quinnipiac University, Eastern Connecticut State, and UConn.
Excellence
- SAT: For students with high SAT scores, look at UConn and Fairfield.
- % Accepted: For selective institutions, look at Connecticut College, UConn, Central Connecticut, and University of Bridgeport.
- Class Size: For small class sizes, look at Connecticut College, UConn, Saint Joseph College, and Fairfield.
Student/Alumnus Reviews of Schools for This Career and State
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Central Connecticut State University • New Britain, CT
Studying Biology/Secondary Education (completion in 2008)
• 3/10/2012
"I had a very positive experience there overall. I feel they adequately prepared me for my career and that I would see more of the benefits of this in a different job market."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I already have recommended this school to others. It's a state school that is very conveniently located, and it was a pleasure to attend. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | This was the first public teaching college in the state, so it has a solid reputation. There are other private universities in the area that may be able to compete with it, however. |
| Program Quality | 7 | I really liked the instructors and classes at CCSU. My complaint is with the degree-requirement process and communication between advisor and student. I was not informed until my final semester of student teaching that I only needed one earth science course in order to cross-endorse to teach general science. I was also not informed that I would not graduate with highest honors because I was short 2 credits. I could have fulfilled both of these with one course, had I been informed earlier. |
| Instruction | 8 | What I did not learn was which science concepts were difficult for today's students to understand, and what methods would be best for presenting these. I also did not learn anything about designing my own science curriculum, which I did have to do for my first two years of teaching. |
| How Difficult | 3 | I earned all A's and one A-, but I was also a very hardworking, conscientious student. I was also fortunate to have a rather easygoing student teaching host teacher, who did not require daily, detailed lesson plans to be approved in advance. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | The textbooks were a requirement in most courses, but they were usually very interesting. Being a science major, I had to do a lot of primary source reading from academic periodicals as well. Laboratory classes, of course, used more hands-on methods, as did some of my teacher preparation courses. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 7 | I took all but 3 semesters' worth of classes either during the evenings or online. Unfortunately, none of the teacher preparation courses were available during those times, so I had to quit my other job in order to complete the program. |
| Academic Facilities | 7 | Most of the resources were excellent. The one that I had a problem with was the advisors, because mine left during my junior year. The replacement was the department head, who had no familiarity with me or my work and did not adequately prepare me for graduation. |
| Social Life | I was an adult returning student who lived off campus, so I did not take part in the social events. However, I did see flyers around campus for concerts, comedy clubs and other events. | |
| Placement Services | 9 | I had an excellent experience here. They reviewed my resume and gave me valuable feedback on how I could improve it. They also will do mock interviews, which I may take advantage of in the future. |
| Alumni Network | I am not involved in any alumni activities with my alma mater, so I cannot comment on the quality of it. However, their post-graduation career services have been very useful to me. |
University Of Connecticut • Storrs, CT
Studying Educational Leadership, 6th Year (completion in 2008)
• 4/3/2012
"As a matter of fact, I am SO satisfied with my experience at UConn that I have just applied to the PhD program! My intended area is behavior management. My passion is in working with at-risk teens. I'm still waiting to hear . . . keep your virtual fingers crossed for me. I should know in the next three weeks!"
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | I have already recommended this program to others! I'm a little disappointed in the number of my friends / colleagues who have decided to pursue UConn though. In Connecticut, there is another program (Sacred Heart University) that makes it much easier to get a 6th year in Educational Leadership. They offer flexible scheduling and far less rigorous coursework. I'm not at all impressed with the program. It actually annoys me that I know people who are very honest about going to Sacred Heart for their 6th year because they have no intention actually being an educational leader, they just want the bump in pay :-(. |
| Program Reputation | 10 | I know the program is nationally ranked now. I also hear from colleagues that they respect the program. Of course, I am very biased! |
| Program Quality | 10 | I completed my 6th year diploma in Educational Leadership in 2008. It was an extremely rigorous program. I liked that I had to work hard to EARN that degree. I didn't simply pay the tuition and float through the coursework. |
| Instruction | 10 | The University of Connecticut Administrator Preparation Program (UCAPP) recruits practitioners (principals, superintendents, education specialists) to teach many of the courses in its program. I found that this kept the curriculum real and applicable instead of just theoretical. The instructors were able to share their specific experiences and explain to us how what we were learning was actually happening in their districts. |
| How Difficult | 9 | I suppose like any program of study, it's as difficult as you make it. You can get by or you can challenge yourself. I think what made this program so difficult was three things: (1) the pace, (2) the expectations of the instructors - they wouldn't accept anything half-done, and (3) expectations of my peers in the program. I would have rated the difficulty at "10" except that I was able to complete the program with good grades and references so it wasn't impossible. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | I think I've probably covered this. All our readings were in research and theory but then discussed or utilized through our internships and with our instructors working in the field. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 3 | I think the rigid schedule was part of the vetting process. Applicants were required to make a serious commitment of their time for the next two years. Hence, if you were only in it to move up the pay scale, there were easier (and less reputable) programs to go through. I was perfectly happy with the schedule because I like structure and I was thrilled with the caliber of my fellow students - they pushed me to do my best. |
| Academic Facilities | 8 | The library and technology component was terrific. I got a real crash course in the latest software and online resources. Awesome! The classroom quality varied as we would change location every few months. Some facilities were great, some were cramped. |
| Social Life | 10 | Uhhh... we were all a little old for "parties" and "school spirit". We were all middle aged folks working full-time AND going to school. Our version involved dinner at a restaurant or more likely, wine and cheese and chocolate at someone's house. We had a FABULOUS time the middle aged way! |
| Placement Services | 5 | Hmmm... most of us were able to move into administrative jobs through the routine process of application and interview. No one at UCAPP pulled strings. But they did teach us to articulate our educational philosophies concisely and they coached us a little bit on interview skills. Another great aspect of the UCAPP program that definitely helped with job placement was the REQUIRED internship component. That lead to strong references for most of us. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | My graduating class was actually a cohort so some of us keep in touch with each other by choice. But I'm not aware of any specific UCAPP alumni association. |
Southern Connecticut State University • New Haven, CT
Studying Exercise Science (completion in 2010)
• 4/7/2012
"I enjoyed myself very much and overall had no major complaints about it. I sometimes wonder if I would of enjoyed going to a bigger school and experiencing that more."
Ratings are on a 1-10 scale
| Characteristic | Rating | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Would Recommend? | yes | We are very well respected in the Exercise Science community and the professors are very well versed. If you are concerned with being prepared for teaching, I can't think of a better place to go to get a great basis of knowledge. |
| Program Reputation | 8 | We have one of the finest P.E. programs in the Northeast and have gotten a lot of national attention. We are on the cutting edge with a lot of our classes and I was very prepared going out into the "real world" after graduating. |
| Program Quality | 5 | A lot of the other P.E./Health teachers at my school do not take P.E. as seriously as I do. They are content with just rolling out the ball and letting the kids fend for themselves rather than actually instructing and teaching life long fitness skills. |
| Instruction | 7 | I am very well versed in my content area and know various ways to present the knowledge in order to get good results from my students. |
| How Difficult | 7 | The course load is surprisingly heavy and contains a lot of science material. Anatomy and Physiology is a hard subject where you need to remember all the bones and organs in the body and their functions. Additionally, Motor learning and some higher level Exercise Science classes require you to really study hard to complete. On the other hand, most of the P.E. classes are about playing sports and learning all the skills and skill cues which is quite enjoyable. |
| Hands-On vs. Bookish | In my program everything was very hands on. We did do some book learning in some of the science classes but in the P.E. classes we were always up and about doing things and learning through first hand knowledge. Most of our learning was kinesthetic. | |
| Schedule Flexibility | 8 | There are a wide variety of class options at my school. I was able to take night and morning classes, summer classes, winter classes and weekend classed during my tenure. |
| Academic Facilities | 6 | They just built a new library during my Senior year so I did not get to benefit from it greatly. However, it is a beautiful library and the campus looks great around it. Professors are very accessible and usually on campus at all different hours so you can always meet up with them. Classrooms are a little on the small side. |
| Social Life | 7 | Parties and social events were great at school. Always was something going on Monday-Thursday. However, during the weekends the campus was pretty much dead and most people went home for the weekend. School Spirit was very low and athletic events barely got attended even though we had good teams. |
| Placement Services | 4 | With my field they really did not give any support with job placement and career services. With other fields like nursing and business they do a great job but for Exercise Science their support was lacking. |
| Alumni Network | 5 | We really don't have a big alumni network at our school. They host one event a year and it just goes along with the homecoming football game, so its nothing special. |
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