Environmental Studies at Middlebury

<p>Hi all,
I was just accepted into Middlebury as well as Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale. I have been set on Midd for a long time for the sake of their environmental studies program, which I have heard is exceptional. There are many less tangible attractions for me at Middlebury, like the ability to be near nature and how amazing Vermont is, but suddenly I have a ton of options and I'd really like to weigh them all carefully.</p>

<p>Forgetting financial aid for the moment, I'm wondering if anybody could tell me more about the academic experience, specifically in the environmental studies programs at Middlebury, and how it might compare to the three ivies I'm in at? I've read McKibben's praise for what they do, and I know that grads have gone on to do amazing things with 350.org and whatnot, but it would be really cool to hear about the famed program in detail from someone who has been through it.</p>

<p>Does the Creativity & Innovation or the Center for Social Entrepreneurship influence the academic experience significantly? They seem really appealing.</p>

<p>Thanks for helping!</p>

<p>Hi alaska… first off CONGRATULATIONS… you have great choices. I am a parent of a '15.5 who is going to end up graduating with the '15’s but he is also participating in the 3-2 engineering program at Dartmouth. In addition, my niece and business partner’s daughter attend Yale so I feel qualified to speak on at least 3 of your four options although not specifically about Environmental Studies. I know nothing at all about Brown, so I will make no comments in that regard. Midd students are on spring break right now and even when in session, I venture to say that they’re generally not the type to hang on CC so I’m just not sure how much of an actual student reply you will receive, so here goes my best shot!</p>

<p>Middlebury as an institution has placed great value on Environmentalism, and you will see that throughout the college experience. It has a very granola kind of feel and has worked vigorously to reduce its carbon footprint. Students are engaged in conservation and besides for the programs you mentioned, it’s not uncommon for many students to work ES into their respective majors. While many schools offer ES and many schools offer Bio… Midd offers studies such as biological conservation with professors who share ES and Bio passions such as this guy <a href=“Stephen C. Trombulak's home page | A Middlebury blog”>http://sites.middlebury.edu/trombulak/&lt;/a&gt; . The same goes for most other majors where there will be a way to incorporate cross disciplinary studies. As an example, my son took a course entitled Environmental Literature which was very much a Lit course with poetry etc. but had a distinct reading list related to ES. Now the downside is of course Midd is small and compared to the other schools you have attained admission to, its resources are limited. So when my son tried to develop his own major with Physics and ES (his Midd degree will be in Physics,) he ran into some resistance. The resistance wasn’t an institutional one, but was more a matter of the Professors in his department being stressed by their existing responsibilities and course load. Compare that with his experience at Dartmouth and it is somewhat different. There, he was allowed to take a course that he was missing 2 prerequisites for (after speaking with the prof.) After acing that course, the professor designed a course specifically for him (and now it includes three of his peers) this quarter and Dartmouth provided the funding (over 2K) to build the necessary components to complete his design course. That same professor has agreed to mentor him for his Middlebury thesis on the effects of winglets on wind turbine wings. Suffice it to say, had he not had that Dartmouth prof. encouraging him, and being willing to work with him while at Midd, he would sort of be stuck choosing amongst the offered research interests of the Midd professors. I guess the point is that the larger University here simply had more resources and from an economic standpoint was in a better position to support his interests. Now to work Yale into this equation, their resources exceed that of both Midd and Dartmouth by a long shot. My niece is involved in the aerospace club that builds rockets etc. and their funding from Yale was around 25K! My son was amazed at this, and when I mentioned it to my partner’s daughter (also a Yalie) her reaction was… oh yeah… it’s so easy to get money around here! The big negative to Yale, in my opinion, is that at least in intro level classes, the profs at Yale simply aren’t as engaged with students and a good deal of the learning happens with TA’s (grad students) whose main focus is really not the course their TA’ing, but generally their own research and degree. At both Midd and Dartmouth that simply is not the case. My S has a personal relationship with all of his teachers at those schools. At Midd, all the physics students assemble and work on problem sets in a group atmosphere in the science building (which I hope you get a chance to visit) and are served tea and cookies by the Profs themeselves!</p>

<p>I can’t believe how lengthy this post is, but in the end, I hope you have a chance to visit all four schools and try and see which campus feels right for you. Every student’s experience is different but if ES is your passion, it’s hard to imagine a better place than Midd. Best of luck and again, congratulations!!! Job well done.</p>

<p>Thanks so much for your response! Of course, Yale also has the graduate school in Forest & Environmental Studies so they have some environmental clout as well, but they all really do seem fantastic…
I guess I really do need to take a good visit!</p>

<p>Congratulations on your acceptance!</p>

<p>I’m a current senior at Middlebury and I’m very involved with the Programs for Creativity and Innovation (PCI). While the PCI is distinctly different from the academic experience, it is arguably one of the more defining components of a liberal arts education. </p>

<p>Middlebury has great academics (especially Environmental Science) – but so do Dartmouth, Brown, and Yale. If you work hard and make the most of your classes, your classroom experience will be shockingly similar across institutions. You will read, write, communicate and learn other valuable skills. Yet often times, these classes are not enough to keep hungry minds satisfied. It will be the extracurricular, outside-of-classroom activities that ultimately define your college experience.</p>

<p>Midd’s PCI is exceptional. In my four years, MiddCORE (an intensive business-skills course), the Center for Social Entrepreneurship, TEDxMiddlebury (our TED conference), Midd Entrepreneurs (our entrepreneurship incubator) and many other programs have gained massive popularity within the student body – and rightfully so. Their popularity comes from the freedom and autonomy that they give to students. We have a place to play with ideas and move concepts from idea to execution, whether they are environmentally-focused, arts-focused or business-focused. Simply put, PCI will add to your theoretical classroom experience with practical, real-world experience.</p>

<p>If you have an idea, PCI will be there for you. Connecting you with relevant alumni, providing grant money and helping you with important skills such as public speaking, pitching, and fundraising are a keystone component of working with the PCI. Let the classroom experience help you develop your ideas while the PCI makes those ideas come to reality. If you want to design the next solar energy technology or spearhead a campaign to save water across the United States, PCI’s mission is to see that you and your vision expand and grow.</p>

<p>I cannot say enough positive things about the PCI and the effect it will have on your college education. Happy to discuss further.</p>

<p>I am a professor at Middlebury who is intimately involved with ES, PCI, and our Center for Social Entrepreneurship. I will message ‘alaskagreenie’ - CONGRATULATIONS! - but am proud to echo what ‘willpots’ says above. </p>

<p>One thing I would add about Midd’s ES program: we have increasingly embraced a more global perspective in the program, with new courses like ‘21st Century Global Challenges’ and a new forthcoming course on gender and ES from a global perspective. One of the payoffs to all of this is the composition of our majors (and note that we are the second most popular major at Midd, right behind economics, and we have grown by this measure more than any other program/department over the last decade): more international students and more students from historically underrepresented groups (even, as ‘karatedad notes’, there does remain a granola feel!). We are the oldest ES program in the country; we are very proud of what we do and where we are going, attracting the best of Midd’s students (in our humble opinions!)</p>

<p>Congrats on your acceptance! I’m a current senior feb at Midd who has no idea about the Enviro program because I’m not involved but I’m very involved in the PCI. So, with regards to your question about the PCI, it influences your academic life as little or as much as you want it to. The idea behind it is to allow students to pursue non-academic interests, such as starting a business or taking on an independent art project, but that’s not to say the two don’t overlap. Many of the skills and resources the PCI offers are applicable in the academic realm as well–how to multitask and manage time, how to send professional emails, and, most importantly I believe, offers students a glimpse into post graduate life. If you are able to fundraise, network, and independently start a project or business with the help of PCI staff, you are much more prepared to do those things for an employer or perhaps yourself as the founder of your own business. So, yes, the academic life and PCI life intertwine, and the PCI additionally can enhance a students knowledge gained in the classroom with real-life skills gained outside the classroom. Its a very unique program and I’ve loved everything I’ve done with it!</p>

<p>A lot of Midd ES majors get advanced degrees in environmental management from Duke, Yale, and Michigan (three of the best environmental grad programs). You could always go to Midd for undergrad and Yale for grad school (best of both worlds IMHO). </p>

@alaskagreenie, which college did you end up choosing?

@karatedad You mentioned your son was involved in the 3-2 program at Dartmouth. I am interested in engineering and was considering Middlebury. What does your son think of this program and if he could go back would he have gone to an institution that offered an engineering major/ had an engineering school. Thank you for your time!