<p>My daughter is considering ED because the curriculum is perfect for her. But she is somewhat spooked by a lot of blog and review comments that Middlebury is, to a large extent "white, athletic, somewhat preppy". This is not a question about racial or international diversity, but about diversity of interests and student character. Is there a sub-culture of quirkiness there that might support someone who is frankly a little geeky and interested in art, anime and wildlife? She just spent 4 years in a small private high school that was white, athletic and somewhat preppy, and it was a disaster for her. </p>
<p>My daughter is a freshman at Middlebury and very happy. She trained as a ballerina for years and only gave it up after an injury. She is not preppy and doesn’t know the basics of any sport with the possible exception of muggle quidditch, which was invented at Middlebury. I took her to her first football game ever at Fall Family Weekend, and she later surprised a friend from high school by actually knowing what a ‘punt’ is. Before the game she had never heard the word ‘punt’ used except in describing an Irish coin or a boat (her brother is at Cambridge).</p>
<p>She wants to be a writer and has already written two books out of an anticipated series of four aimed at the teen/tween fantasy fans (no vampires or werewolves). </p>
<p>She spent four years as the only Anglican in an all-girls Catholic high school, so Middlebury is quite a change for her. She has met a lot of interesting people with a variety of interests. Currently she is enjoying ‘swing dancing’.</p>
<p>As for wildlife and ‘wild life’ she avoids the latter and confines her interest in the former to fiction and the campus squirrels and chipmunks. Remember: she was a ballerina–they like nature, they just don’t like it touching them.</p>
<p>I would say your daughter would have no problem finding kindred souls at Middlebury.</p>
<p>My son graduated from a small rural high school. He fit right in a Midd and loved his 4 yrs. there. He is now in his 2nd year of grad. school in the sciences, and felt better prepared than most of his fellow grads. Yes, there are some very rich and even a few ‘preppy’ types but he got along well with everyone at Middlebury. Students at Midd are supportive of each other. For example, when my son presented the oral portion of his senior thesis, about 20 of his friends came to listen to it. I agree that your daughter would have no problem finding friends at Middlebury.</p>
<p>I have 2 sons at Midd. Older one’s favorite occupations as a child were building primitive shelters in the woods and writing sci-fi novels. He has branched out into skiing and writing spy novels.
He played intramural soccer last fall, despite his geekiness, with a bunch of friends from his dorm, who laughed at his ineptness in a way that was not hurtful.</p>
<p>Midd is supportive of all types.You should watch the World Quiddich cup on You-tube if you don’t believe Midd supports eccentricity.</p>
<p>Based on these insights and a lot of other research, she decided that Middlebury clearly has a subculture that would resonate for her. However, she was worried a bit about how large a part of the campus this group is. It did seem like the "quirky culture” was small compared to the "white, athletic, somewhat preppy culture”, and there was not a lot of mixing between the two. So in the end she decided to apply regular schedule and spend some more time investigating. Thanks for all your help!</p>
<p>It really isn’t heavily jock vibe. One of my son’s is a recruited athlete, the other not. They have an overlapping group of friends, and my athlete son has mostly non-athlete friends. He is in an individual sport, so the team isn’t so all-consuming.
Lots of people play intramural sports for fun.</p>
<p>if she wants quirky, Vassar and Bard, Grinnell are schools she might want to investigate.</p>
<p>My son, a hs senior who will be applying regular decision, recently visited with his big sister, a 2010 Midd grad, and surprised me by saying he was intimidated by all the “tall” people (son is 5’7", daughter is 5’1"). I think they got stuck in line behind some Midd athletes at a restaurant.
Daughter managed just fine at Midd amongst the tall people, LOVED the school, found interesting and diverse friends, and got an excellent education.</p>