dilemmas

Colleges and Universities A-Z Middlebury College
1

<p>I just got the acceptance letter from middlebury yesterday, by all means, i should be really happy about it but unfortunately, it's not quite straight forward.</p>

<p>I'm an international student from Burma whose in Scotland right now attending an engineering course at a university. How I got here was that last year, although I wanted to go to a LAC in the states, i didn't apply to any schools in america. Instead, my high school was very british-orientated and had good links with universities in the UK and so they managed to get me a scholarship in the university I'm currently in. The bad news was that I didn't have a choice of what subject to do, it was either I did engineering or I couldn't get the scholarship. I basically hated it as I was interested in all sorts of subjects and the current ciriculum that I am doing is extremely narrow and rigid but I didn't have a choice, it was either I grit my teeth and go to the UK or stay in Burma and do nothing for at least a year.</p>

<p>And so I got to the UK. But somehow I thought I'd still try a shot at applying to the US (which was where I originally wanted to go to) and so I applied last year to a bunch of LACs, middlebury was more or less my top choice. I never expected that I would get in though, it seemed like just a far off dream.</p>

<p>As the year dragged on, my lack of interest in the subject was really starting to show and my grades deteriorated. I don't know, it seemed like for the past few months, the zeal for learning that I've had for as long as I can remember seemed to be just dying away, all I did was the bare minimum just enough to plod along in the course.</p>

<p>And then yesterday, i got the acceptance from middlebury, I really couldn't believe it, I was really happy for like three minutes untill I saw the conditions for securing the acceptance: "Complete satisfactorily the school year now in progress. Any deterioration of your academic work will be cause for the Admissions Comittee to review its decision, and may lead to the revocation of our offer for admission."</p>

<p>I don't know, I've come this far and now everything's going to be gone because I slipped for the last few months of my life. For the last 24 hours, I've been feeling really depressed, I'm scared that I'm going to have to let go of probably the best chance I've gotten in my entire life.</p>

<p>Is there anything I can do?</p>

2

<p>have you graduated from the Burmese equivalent of high school, or are you finishing off your requirements in Scotland? In other words, are the classes that you're taking now sort of above and beyond your secondary school education, or is it just to earn some college credit?</p>

3

<p>Did you apply as a transfer student or as a freshman? If you applied as a freshman, no worries. If you applied as a transfer student, contact the admissions office and explain what you posted above - hopefully they'll understand...</p>

<p>Best of luck.</p>

4

<p>wow, thanks for the replies guys.</p>

<p>i'm applying as a freshman.</p>

<p>and i think i won't be transferring any credits from my scottish uni to midd, except maybe the maths and physics i did here, it's second year level so it's like basic multivariable calculus and intermediate electromagnetism and stuff but i can do them again at midd if i need to. </p>

<p>yeah, so all the classes i'm doing here are all beyond secondary school, unless if i want advanced standing at middlebury.</p>

<p>wow, so it's not that worrying.</p>

5

<p>I don't think you should transfer ANY credits. If they don't see your records, they won't say/question anything about them...</p>

6

<p>Wow - that was my 100th post... :o)</p>

7

<p>lol. yeah, you shouldn't be in trouble if this is all extra-- they can't really penalize you for not doing well in something extra, can they?</p>

<p>as for me, i REALLY NEED TO GET MY ACT TOGETHER IN CALCULUS. argh. and so, like the reasonable person i am i am wasting my time here instead of doing my homework (don't you hate it when you understand the subject, but your teacher insists on babying you by counting homework grades, consequently ruining your average because you can't stand to do any more math than is absolutely necessary? i know i do...)</p>

8

<p>fats, don't you tell them that you were studying at college in the UK! You're done with school in burma, and you've been travelling for an year in europe or whatever ;) </p>

<p>I believe most colleges expect transfers if the stduent's already in college - even intls. What did you convey in your application?</p>

<p>I don't see what's the problem tho - they say in the acceptance letter they expect satisfactory performance, but that doesn't apply to you because you're done with school and they've seen all the results they had to see for that.</p>

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<p>astrix: I did tell them i was in university in scotland. And in the awards section of the application I wrote I got a scholarship here as well. And for the middlebury graded essay I submitted one that I wrote this year because I couldn't find any of my old essays from high school anymore (I cleared my hard drive before I came to the UK).</p>

<p>I dunno, should I ask the admissions department about the whole thing or wait untill they ask for something?</p>

<p>jesamemucho: yeah, homeworks are the bane of my existence. especially if you're not interested in the subject. homeworks are the primary reason my grades are crap this year, all my final exams were good.</p>

10

<p>ahh... so they were aware of it. well - i guess contacting them would be best, in that case? or waiting it out? haha... i'm not helping you, but i'm sure things will work out for you, don't worry about it!</p>

11

<p>I would call the admissions office and ask them if there's anything you can do-just explain that the only reason you went there is so that you could continue with school, you hate it and that's the reason why your grades are dropping. I'm sure they'll understand, especially if you tell them how much you want to go to Middlebury. Just tell them what you told us.</p>

<p>AHHH CALCULUS SUCKS!!!! I hate calculus....jesamemucho, are you in AB or BC?</p>

12

<p>AB, thank god, i would never ever consider doubling up in math (which is what you would have had to do here). my teacher hates me! she berates me on a daily basis, and it's beginning to be for really random things: </p>

<p>the other day, we were supposed to be working in pairs. everyone else had paired up, so george and melissa invited me to join their group. at the end my teacher went around checking on us</p>

<p>ms shranz: are you working by yourself jessamy?
me: no...george and melissa invited me to join them, so i did.
ms schranz: i said pairs, jessamy. it's not that hard. two people. a pair.
me: i know, but...
ms schranz (gesturing to the group of guys on the other side of me): what about one of them?
me: what? they're working together. there are four of them.
ms schranz: pairs. groups of two.
me: yes, four, two groups of two!
ms schranz: (sighs with disgust, walking away) honestly, jessamy...</p>

<p>meanwhile i count everyone in the class and find that there are twenty five students present, therefore making it IMPOSSIBLE for me to have been part of a pair. tell me that's not ridiculous.</p>

13

<p>That sucks. I'd be like, you're a math teacher, dividing by two shouldn't be difficult. BC sucks, but I dunno. Calculus in general sucks. I don't really care though.</p>

<p>I forget, are you for sure attending Middlebury or still considering?</p>

14

<p>I am DEFINITELY going to Midd. You?</p>

15

<p>yeah, i would imagine having to go to classes for maths and doing homework and everything else on a daily basis would totally suck. i taught myself most of the calculus i know after about the 10th grade so i got to work at my own pace and it was quite cool, this year i went to maths class like 4 times, hehe.</p>

<p>calculus on the whole quite cool, once you get past the mundane parts like all the integration techniques.</p>

<p>and thanks guys, i'm definitely sure i'll be coming to middlebury this fall. i'll tell them about my condition.</p>

16

<p>That's cool. I'm still deciding between Midd and Carleton, but I'm really leaning towards Midd.</p>

17

<p>Come To Midd!!</p>

18

<p>haha, I really want to, but I don't want to write off Carleton just yet....although I really think I'll end up at Midd. I can think of drawbacks with Carleton, I can't with Midd</p>

19

<p>lol-- not trying to put on any pressure, just express my enthusiasm for the idea of you coming to midd, since you seem cool/nice and i'd like to meet you in person. :)</p>

20

<p>likewise! everyone on this forum seems really cool-except at orientation, everyone's going to have to introduce themselves with screen names</p>