Chances for admission to Middlebury

Colleges and Universities A-Z Middlebury College
1

<p>Hello! I was wondering if anyone could give me a sense of where I stand right now in terms of my chances for admission to Middlebury. I am currently a junior.</p>

<p>Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Caucasian
School: private, 180 students, rigorous
No GPA or rank, but I am among the top 3 students in my class of 55
Courseload: I have gotten all "As" (no A+ awarded)
APs by the end of my senior year: French Language, US History, Environmental Science, Music Theory, Biology, Calculus, Physics
In my senior year, I hope to conduct two independent studies, in Green Architecture and in Cognition Studies, and Subconsciousness.</p>

<p>SAT: 1910 (Will take the ACT, and hopefully bring this up)</p>

<p>ECs:
Nonacademic in-school:
Founder and editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, (10, 11)
Executive coordinator for the all-school sustainable vegetable garden, (11)
Peer mentoring, French tutor (9, 10, 11)
Peer leader for the Outdoor Education program, (11); led several outdoor trips through Appalachia with 60+ middle school students
High School Forum, elected class representative, (9, 10, 11)
Tenor and piano accompanist, High School chorus, (9, 10, 11)</p>

<p>Interscholastic Sports
Varsity Tennis, No. 3 Singles (9), No.2 Singles (10, 11)</p>

<p>Community Involvement
Chesapeake Bay Foundation, 50+ hours of community service, (9, 10, 11)</p>

<p>Extracurricular Academic Activities
Intensive journalism course, Summer@Brown Pre-college program, (Summer 2010)
Rassias Language Immersion program through Dartmouth College; family stay, intensive French language and literature course (Summer 2009)
Piano student, Peabody Preparatory Institute through John Hopkins University, (5-11)</p>

<p>Employment
Started a photography exhibition business, collect and showcase work from student photographers (10, 11)
Office manager and assistant to the Director of Education at religious school, (8, 9, 10, 11) -- attended the school, had a B'nai mitzvah with my twin brother and was confirmed in May 2010, a culmination ceremony for 12 years of Judaic studies classes every Sunday and Wednesday</p>

<p>Awards:
Very prestigious award from my synagogue for academic and community leadership
Prestigious scholarship for community service and green initiatives
6 achievement awards for piano through Peabody Preparatory Institute</p>

<p>Recs:
I won't read them, but I think they will be excellent. Teachers love my passion for learning, my incredibly strong work ethic, my curious and ambitious nature, and sense of maturity. They also value my leadership in classroom discussion, and engagement and effort to motivate the community to spark others to action.</p>

<p>Essay:
I love to write. It is one of my passions. This will shine through no doubt. As far as topics, not a clue yet...</p>

<p>Interview: I will this year
Visit: I will this year</p>

<p>So what do you think? Middlebury is such a wonderful fit for my interests: LANGUAGE, biology, environmental science, writing, neuroscience, TRAVEL</p>

<p>Thanks!</p>

2

<p>Aside from test scores, you look like a really strong candidate. Try to aim for at least 2050, or–even better–2100 on the SAT.</p>

<p>Even with 1910 though, you certainly stand a chance.</p>

3

<p>you seem like a really great fit.</p>

<p>remember, you can submit three SAT subject tests instead of the SAT reasoning. i’m sure you could already do great on the french and then study for/nail a couple of the others</p>

4

<p>Thanks a lot I V and fisherman93 – yeah for sure, scores do matter and I’m going to take SATs again and cross my fingers with the ACT. Though I kind of have a mantra that I don’t want to go to a school that doesn’t accept me because I didn’t do so hot on a four hour test one Saturday morning…haha I appreciate the feedback! Any other advice in this crazy process?</p>

5

<p>Just to let you know that my son & I looked at Middlebury for him…he is now a h.s. senior. He is also into Languages and travel so we thought Middlebury would be a great match for him. We visited and the camous is lovely. However, I see you are Jewish & so are we. That made a big difference for us. We met the rabbi at Middlebury and ultimately decided that there were too few Jewish kids on campus for him. Also, the student body is small in general. He applied ED to Tufts, was accepted, and is very, very excited! Many of the schools he looked at have large jewish populations except Middlebury. You have to decide for yourself how important that is to you. Social activities, dating, etc.
PS: Essays are the most important component of the application these days as long as you meet the academic requirements too.</p>

6

<p>P.S. He plays varsity tennis too! :)</p>

7

<p>Oh that’s wonderful. Congratulate him on Tufts! Yeah, I kind of figured that the Jewish population was a bit low – it isn’t VERY important, but definitely noteworthy. Thank you!</p>

8

<p>I disagree about the Jewish population-maybe less observant, but certainly a sizable minority.</p>

9

<p>There are roughly 350 Jewish students at Middlebury (~15% of the student body). At Tufts, approximately 32% of students are Jewish (9th highest percentage in the nation).</p>

10

<p>Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby are also up there on my list… how do I decide?!</p>

11

<p>decide after getting in and visiting. it’s the best way.</p>

12

<p>

</p>

<p>I believe this is the article you’re referring to. It is misleading. <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/09guidance-t.html?_r=1&ref=education&pagewanted=all[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/education/09guidance-t.html?_r=1&ref=education&pagewanted=all&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Core GPA, strength of curriculum and ACT/SAT are weighed more heavily than the essay.</p>

<p>~ paragraph ten.</p>

<p>

.</p>

13

<p>You should also consider Amherst, Williams, and Dartmouth-you need the test scores for any of these schools-you’re fab, but it’s a global market, and you aren’t unique. I mean no disrespect for your series of accomplishments. “Prestigious” awards from local places are very common in applicants of your caliber.
If you plan on performance(piano), Williams may want you more.
I think you should bag the SAT1s and try the SAT2s-as posted, three above 700 will bolster your other accomplishments nicely-say French, US History, and a math or science.
Good Luck!</p>

14

<p>Interesting. Gereral question for all : How can you compare achievements and class rank at a school that is so small with the rest of the world. This must be tough for admissions folks.</p>

<p>As old Baties says everybody applying to schools of this level have “prestigious” awards then they find out there is another level…</p>

<p>Example: 3rd varsity tennis at a school of 180 kids? Not impressive.</p>

<p>As they say: “You are not in Kansas anymore”. </p>

<p>“Prestigious” is winning national or international competitions, setting state records, being the top in your state in something or being a published author, etc. not being playing 3rd tennis.</p>

<p>I have one kid like you who did not get in to Midd (only with much higher SATs)… and one who did - the one who did had one of the above “outlier qualities” going for her that made her unique and therfore sought after by many schools. </p>

<p>You sound like an awesome kid from a wonderful family and I suspect you will have a great life. But unless I missed something I think Midd will be a reach for you.</p>

15

<p>I’m sorry. I’m not quite following why you think I should consider those other schools.</p>

16

<p>Anything is possible. Thanks for your feedback!</p>

17

<p>You look like a strong candidate other than your SAT scores! I recommend the Official SAT Online Course, it helped me get my score up 300 points!</p>

<p>Best of luck on deciding where you want to go and getting accepted! Remember, you can be happy in a lot of places, so don’t make yourself crazy trying to find “the one right fit for you”</p>

18

<p>Bowdoin and Bates are test optional and both great schools. Excepting that they are both in Maine, they are quite similar LACs, a bit smaller than Middlebury but not that different, Bates a bit easier to get into, neither require SATs. My daughter looked at Bowdoin and Middlebury and loved them both. Agree that 1900 SAT is a stretch for Mid but you can put together other aggregations of scores for Middlebury.</p>

19

<p>I hope that I’m not too brash in reviving this post with my own question. What do you think MY chances for Middlebury are? I’m starting my Junior Year.</p>

<p>Freshman GPA: 3.5
Sophomore GPA: 3.7 (3.8w)
Class Rank: 39/497
Junior Course-load:
AP Biology
AP US History
Honors English 11
Honors Algebra II
Spanish III Accelerated
French II Independent Study</p>

<p>I haven’t taken my SAT yet, but my projected scores are (By PSAT):
Verbal: 750
Math: 610
Writing: 730</p>

<p>I also plan to take my SAT Subject tests for Spanish and French. (These are definitely my strongest subjects, A+'s in both at the accelerated level. Looking between 650-800)</p>

<p>ECs:
Varsity Track and Field (10, 11)
Varsity Debate Team (10, 11)
Math Team (11)
FBLA (11)
Volunteer at local cat sanctuary
AFJROTC Drill Team and Flight Commander</p>

20

<p>I forgot to mention.
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: Hispanic
School Size: 1900</p>

<p>Awards:
Military Order of World Wars Award
1st Place Speaker Rhode Island Urban Debate League
1st Place Triple Jump @ State Track Meet</p>