Dartmouth College or Middlebury College

<p>"When I compared Middlebury's French and Italian departments to those of Barnard and Wellesley, Middlebury's programs didn't look so good."</p>

<p>We found the same when we compared it with Smith's (where my d. is an Italian major.)</p>

<p>Nice to have choices! (they really aren't all that different, are they? He should go where he feels more comfortable, and he'll do well.)</p>

<p>After graduating from Williams, I interviewed for a job with an HR person who had never heard of Williams. I later discovered that I was chosen over several individuals who attended top Ivies and other glam institutions.</p>

<p>Perhaps skills, personality, and a healthy dose of humility are more useful than the Ivy badge???</p>

<p>My vote goes to Dartmouth (of course). Middlebury is a great school, but Dartmouth is better in terms of academic prestige and reputation, while providing a similar social scene. Its also more diverse, better known, and has more success in placing its graduates. </p>

<p>You can;t go wrong with Dartmouth and it also has amazing LAC like qualities like awesome study abroad, sophomore summer, lots of community aspects, a very happy student body, etc. Add a more talented and diverse student body (The Ivy name attracts a broader audience), and I just think Dartmouth is a more eye opening experience.</p>

<p>"Perhaps skills, personality, and a healthy dose of humility are more useful than the Ivy badge???"</p>

<p>I've had the same experience. Perhaps what your story illustrates is that the badge didn't matter at all?</p>

<p>Both would be good experiences, but think Dartmouth would be a more complete, fuller experience. It's not so much just the Ivy name, as it is the Dartmouth name that makes it have such a great following and alumni network. I think Dartmouth is somewhat better for grad school rankings (mainly because it has more accomplished students) and a fair amount better in job placements as I don't get the impression that investment banks and consulting firms recruit at Middlebury nearly to the same extent that they do at Dartmouth. In general, the Dartmouth name is a fair amount more known, which is something to consider. While I don't necessarily agree with the relative placement of every school on the Brody rankings, I think it still gives a pretty good relative comparison of the schools with Dartmouth #5 and Middlebury #33.</p>

<p><a href="http://brody.com/college/resources/college_rankings.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://brody.com/college/resources/college_rankings.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>They seem like such similar schools. I think at that level, the education difference between Midd and Dart is nil. One thing to consider is that Midd kids have the reputation to be more on the preppy side- and a lot tend to come from new england prep schools. Dartmouth is more ethnically and geographically diverse. I thought Mid's campus was nicer, but Dartmouth seems to have a lot more parties and a big greek scene. I'd choose Dartmouth, personally, but I don't think you could go wrong with either.</p>