<p>I want to go to graduate school after getting my bachelor's at a LAC like Midd...do a lot of Midd grads go to grad school? Is there a specific percentage? I know the rate of students who go to grad school within 5 years of graduating probably isn't as high as Swarthmore, Amherst, Oberlin, Carleton, Wesleyan, etc. --should I let this factor influence my decision?</p>
<p>Why wouldn’t it be as high as those other schools? They are peer schools.</p>
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<p>At the schools you mention, graduates are more likely to pursue doctoral degrees. That says nothing about the number who go on to earn professional degrees (e.g., law, business, etc.). Midd is very well represented among top law, business, and medical schools.</p>
<p>My S is taking a year to work (do research etc) before applying to med school. Of his 6 best friends: two already are employed upon graduation (hired post summer internships), one is going directly to law school, one has been granted interviews at 4 or 5 med schools and two are doing similar to him.</p>
<p>Obviously this is a very small sampling, but for me it proves that 1) kids are motivated and 2) the support these kids get for internships and post grad plans is pretty impressive.</p>
<p>And one last thing just as a tip… while it is true that some kids have their plans completely mapped out in HS, I think there is a lot of benefit to letting life unfold a little bit and be in a place where that’s not only allowed, but strongly encouraged. I am incredibly proud of the education my son has received at Midd and comparatively speaking his peers seem to be in a much more positive position than some of my other friends’ kids.</p>
<p>Of my close friends, I can only think of two who, upon graduation, either did not go or did not have plans to go to grad school. Many went on to earn professional degrees, but there were also those who earned Doctorates and Masters degrees. I think it’s not only pretty common to do so, but unusual not to do so. More importantly, almost everyone who went on to grad school went to top schools. One of the valuable aspects of a Middlebury education is that it’s well-respected when applying to grad schools and helps quite a bit with admissions. Among my friends I can think of three of us who earned grad degrees from Ivy League Universities, and the rest of us were in top-ten programs. I’m sure, for the most part, that the same can be said of most top LACs however.</p>
<p>I’m also a little confused when you say, “Swarthmore, Amherst, Oberlin, Carleton, Wesleyan, etc.” I can think of almost no instance where one of the next schools in that list - the “etc” - wouldn’t be Middlebury.</p>
<p>I guess I was looking at a list of PhD-producing schools. I have another question (which relates): How intellectually curious/interested in learning are Midd students?</p>