Thanks merc81 and retiredfarmer. The Conn College partner program sounds cool, and WPI is another school I am currently looking at. Colby sounds like a good fit for me
While Pomona is a high reach for anybody these days (though you are competitive), Grinnell is not. It is, at most, a low reach/high match for you.
I would put Connecticut College as a match, and Skidmore as high match, even for a person with the OP’s stats, since their acceptance rates are low.
Applying ED to any college would increase the chances, but, for many LACs, the apparent higher acceptance rates for ED applicants are because recruited athletes and legacies usually are applying ED, and they skew they acceptance rates. That being said, ED also demonstrates interest, and increases the attractiveness of high achieving applicants who seem likely to be offered admission in multiple competing colleges.
@Diaz42 - in my opinion, you fit the profile of this type of applicant, and I think that applying ED1 to Midd (or any of the other LACs that you like best) could provide a decent boost for you.
WPI is not in the country! I know, I went there.
The campus is best described as suburban, but is within the city limits of Worcester. It is located in the more beautiful part of town, bur the landscape cannot compete with Middlebury or Colby.
As for flexibility in environmental studies and program design, WPI is difficult to beat. If you are a MASS resident you should also be looking at the environmental program at UMASS Amherst. It is very affordable, well regarded and pretty much in the country… but not the small, country colleges you have on your list.
The WPI program is very different. The average GPA of entering students is 3.89 on an unweighted four point scale To understand the WPI program, you may want to start here: https://www.wpi.edu/academics/undergraduate
Projects and interdisciplinary learning/thinking are at the foundation of every major.
Think carefully about your range of academic majors as WPI is a STEM university.
Middlebury is tops for foreign languages! The best WPI can do for you here is a Mandarin, Spanish or German minor. The minor is traditionally associated with an overseas seven week term with an interactive research project (IQP) or an overseas MQP. You minor in the language before you go. See https://www.wpi.edu/academics/study/foreign-language-minor.
Because of robotics and AI, psychology has developed into a serious major.
Think carefully about the range of your possible majors.
HWS is a safety school for you.
The prevailing wisdom on CC is that students aim too high and should add more safetys. That’s generally sound advice.
But based upon what you have written, and my son’s success in admissions with a similar profile, you may want to add more reaches. If Middlebury is your number one choice regardless of selectivity, then that’s fine. In that case, apply ED there (although you should see if you are a fit politically, as they lean very far left, sometimes to the point of being intolerant).
But if you chose Middlebury because you thought you couldn’t get into more selective schools, I think you are aiming too low.
Dickinson College sounds like a match. Excellent environmental programs. I believe they just attained campus carbon-neutral status. Very good junior year abroad opportunities as well. Around 2300 students in a small city, but around 2 hours to Philadelphia, Baltimore and D.C.
I would like to support @retiredfarmer in his recommendation of Colby and its award winning Environmental Studies program and @lemon drop’s recommendation of Dickinson for anyone interested in environmental studies and sustainability. Together with Middlebury, these 3 are as good as it gets for a small LAC that puts its money where it’s mouth is in creating a campus which models the goals of the green movement.
In addition to achieving carbon neutrality, Dickinson has a dorm called The Tree House, which is a residence hall for students dedicated to reducing their ecological impact. They also have a 50 acre organic farm on campus. You can read about the elements of their campus as “Living Laboratory” on their website.
Another small LAC which is a good match for your interests is Wesleyan University except that it’s not in the small rural remote location of a Middlebury or a Colby. It’s in the small city of Middletown, CT, population just under 50,000. What its location does have going for it is the lower Connecticut River Valley, named by The Nature Conservancy as one of the “50 Last Great Places on Earth” due to its clean water and protections against development. It also has a 20 acre farm on campus, 80% percent of which is a student run organic farm and the other 20% is a solar farm withover 4000 solar panels. The farm itself is recycled from a former prison for adolescent girls. Further, this small university has among its divisions an entire College of the Environment for academic study. It’s commitments is also demonstrated by a dedicated Sustainability Office and a comprehensive Sustainability Action Plan which is currently being implemented and monitored.
What is your budget for college? Have you run the net price calculator at Middlebury? If you need to merit hunt based on your budget, that will impact your list (and categorization) of schools.
If you like Middlebury, I do think you would also like Colby. Colby’s acceptance rate is much lower than Midd’s though (class of 2024: 9.4% for colby, 24% for Midd). Please only look at recent stats when categorizing schools, some posters have posted old data above.
I don’t know all of the issues that have led to Midd’s acceptance rate going from 16% to 24% in one year. Covid-19 certainly is part of the reason, yet none of Midd’s peer schools have had that dramatic a change in acceptance rates this year.
At 24% acceptance rate I would not call that a high reach with your stats. If it looks affordable per the NPC, consider applying ED. Grinnell would not be a high reach either.
Beyond the many good suggestions above, other schools to look at: Bucknell, Colorado College, Washington and Lee, and U Richmond.
I really like Middlebury, but am still exploring if it is the right for me. I am a centrist who leans a little more left (would this bad at Middlebury?). Also, I am mainly only applying to schools that I really want to go to regardless of selectivity (e.g. Clarkson, Dickinson, Whitman etc.) Thanks for the advice though!
My parents have saved up enough for me for both undergrad and grad school. I think Middlebury and Colby are both quite similar. I really like Colorado College and URichmond, but W&L and Bucknell seem a bit too Greek for my liking.
My parents have saved up enough for me for both undergrad and grad school. I think Middlebury and Colby are both quite similar. I really like Colorado College and URichmond, but W&L and Bucknell seem a bit too Greek for my liking.
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Since it looks like you will be full pay are you considering applying ED anywhere (assuming you have a strong front runner by fall?). Or do you prefer comparing FA offers (merit), and not ED anywhere?
IMO being a full pay candidate will be more of an advantage at more schools than usual for school year 2020/21.
Ok here are the list of schools I am looking into. If anyone could give any insights for additions or ways to narrow down the list, that would be great.
Safeties:
Lewis and Clark
Eckerd
Beloit
Clarkson
Knox
Rhodes
Sewanee
University of Oklahoma (has a good geophysics program)
SUNY ESF
Juniata
U of Puget Sound
Low Match:
Whitman
Kenyon
Dickinson
Conn College
Macalester
WPI
High Match:
Skidmore
Colgate
Grinnell
Davidson
Vassar
Low Reach:
Hamilton (more like medium reach)
Middlebury
Haverford
Carleton
Colorado College
Swarthmore
High Reach:
Pomona
Amherst
Williams
Rice
Duke
Northwestern
Bowdoin
Out of Reach:
I’m not sure what to put in this category. I’m also still deciding whether I should apply to LACs or research universities. For example, at Stanford, they offer geophysics, a major that is not available at any LAC. However, on the same hand, LACs give me the ability to explore my diverse interests (I like geology, physics, history and linguistics). In addition, I’m not sure whether I should look into Ivy League schools or not. Some schools that may be out of reach are:
HYPMS
Caltech
Also Millsaps (safety), Southwestern (safety) and UChicago (high reach) as well!
Since it looks like you will be full pay are you considering applying ED anywhere (assuming you have a strong front runner by fall?). Or do you prefer comparing FA offers (merit), and not ED anywhere?
IMO being a full pay candidate will be more of an advantage at more schools than usual for school year 2020/21.
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I’m a indecisive person, so I may end up EAing to multiple schools and then comparing offers later. If I find a top choice, then maybe ED.
You loved Midd and Midd established environmental studies in the lexicon of higher education (first such major). So apply ED to Midd. If you want to consider a LAC outside of the NE, you might consider Rhodes College in Memphis where you might have a shot at a merit scholarship.
Take a look at the following CC threads re Middlebury and freedom of speech.
The first is the aftermath of an attempt by a Middlebury professor to engage in a debate with Charles Murray, author of Coming Apart and The Bell Curve. Many students protested his arrival, which is fine, but it got out of control and the professor who invited Murray was pushed around and ended up in a neck brace. I think there was also a CC discussion when it happened as well, but I can’t find that one.
The second is from 2019, and there may be others as well.
@hebegebe I also found this link as well recently: https://middleburycampus.com/49014/news/vandalism-spikes-as-students-prepare-to-leave-campus/.
Not sure what to think. On one hand, I feel that it is bad to judge an entire college by the acts of a few dumb people and it happens at all colleges. However, reading these articles has soured my experience with Middlebury. The acts of violence at Midd was more than I expected. Does anyone have any suggestions for ways I should shorten my list or any additions/miscategorizations?
" one of the National competitions is a STEM olympiad. Is this considered a hook? "
It’s not a hook but if you’re some kind of medal or finalist, it will really help, especially in stem-based majors and colleges. I would still consider Pomona or Harvey Mudd both in the Claremont consortium and see if they make sense because they’re not rural, but CA is a good state for eco-friendly, climate change, not good for air quality and that’s mainly because of LA, which is where the consortium is near.
Maybe look into St. Olaf. You sound like a good fit and may get some merit aid.
Also Lawrence University in Wisconsin and Earlham as well.