Baseball & Books - Middlebury or Haverford?

<p>My son has narrowed his choices to Middlebury and Haverford. He's both a fully engaged student and devoted baseball player and is hoping to find the best of both worlds. At the moment his academic interests lean heavily toward international relations, political science and history. Thoughts anyone?</p>

<p>the simple answer is that pa has lousy roads and middlebury is in beautiful vt.
my other 2 children have gone to brown ( girl , waterpolo) and Williams ( boy , soccer) our third is going to middlebury and truly would never have considereed haverford. fortune did not smile on him for b or w but midd is a fine fine school witha far better reputation and a far prettier and more interesting campus . I am sorry but philly is just not that big a draw.quebecis really not that far andwith all the french that is spoken is truly a foreign country nearby.</p>

<p>"far better reputation and a far prettier and more interesting campus"</p>

<p>ha ha ha... i just flip for flip comments.</p>

<p>It is interesting that my daughter, who is considering Haverford, was not interested in Middlebury because of the "campus isolation." There is much to be said of Haverford's beautiful campus and proximity to a major city. Nonetheless, they are both highly rated and excellent schools. I do know a fair amount about baseball at Haverford. It is taken fairly seriously in the context of a rigorous academic environment. The team traveled to Arizona this past March for spring training and is having a competitive season. You won't go wrong at either school.</p>

<p>consider the proximity to the city...would being nearer/farther away from the city help his career?</p>

<p>Craigs 2020 - I appreciate your response particularly about Haverford baseball. When my son visited he was quite impressed with the baseball program - very much liked the coach and the players he met. While baseball has been an important part of his life for many years, he is also looking for a rigorous, deep and participatory academic experience. It's important to him to be part of a team that is not exclusive - where players have a close bond but fully interact with lots of non-baseball people and activities as well. He seemed to see that balance at Haverford.
While he was definitely impressed with Middlebury, both the facilities and the students he met, and thought Vermont was lovely, he just seemed to connect in a more personal way with his experience at Haverford. Certainly spending time with the coach and being hosted by several baseball players (he met the coach but no players at Middlebury) was very helpful in forging that sense of connection. He seems to be leaning very heavily toward Haverford and I think it would be an excellent fit for him.</p>