<p>Well put, Moda!</p>
<p>I agree with Moda that science is time consuming and that time management is key. The point of my post was that LConflicted’s insinuation that a 3.92 GPA is easy to achieve is just incorrect. A couple of years ago when they used to publish the Scholar list online, about 20% would be on it, and I think it requires a 3.6 ave. for just that one semester. That tells you right there that 3.92 is very much on the upper end. Middlebury is very demanding, but that is what the students want.</p>
<p>Commenting on a couple things above…D spends an average of approx. 20 hours week on homework. Last semester she petitioned (or whatever it’s called) to take a 5th class (which made the semester very intense!!!), putting her average homework time around 25 hours/week. Taking five classes, she was able to complete the semester with 4 As and 1 A-. She is involved in many extra-curricular activities, and time management was/is certainly significant.</p>
<p>She has friends who went from Midd to various grad schools and the comment she has heard is that Midd prepared them very well for what’s ahead. Some say they worked harder at Midd than they are working in grad school. Obviously many variables in play…</p>
<p>As a parent, I am happy to see my kid happy. She enjoys the majority of her classes, homework and reading. She’s told me several times that though she’s had tons of reading, she enjoys it b/c it’s mentally stimulating and she can see how the varoius classes work together to paint a bigger picture.</p>
<p>I guess what the kids need is ‘balance,’ which is much easier said than done. ;)</p>
<p>Wow, I have not visited this forum for a very long time (I started visiting another forum for graduate school) but was looking through the internet trying to find statistics for Middlebury graduates…albeit, in vain.</p>
<p>As a current student, here’s something for the OP (I realize I am bumping this a bit much but I wanted to clarify something). Middlebury, as Modadunn stated, has a lot to do with time-management but all colleges require a well-attuned sense of allotting of the few hours you have left after classes, extracurriculars, and a social life. However, I do not think that Middlebury is more difficult than the Ivy-league colleges (as LConflicted mentioned).</p>
<p>Also an applicant who barely got in (waitlisted first), I imagined for myself a nightmarish experience but it wasn’t the case. Perhaps it was because of my HS experience where (pressured from all my classmates) I took audited classes during my lunch period, had a morning class, and (worshipping the idea that a full resum</p>
<p>Forgive me, moda, but I have to ask. Once your niece “got back into the ‘real world amid all the stupid people’” after graduating from Reed, how has she been doing? Did the fact that she apparently slept thru the courses involving the values of tolerance and cultural diversity hinder her in her quest to rise above?</p>
<p>Bump–Midd ranked #3 most rigorous:
[College</a> Rankings 2011: Most Rigorous - The Daily Beast](<a href=“http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/college-rankings/2011/most-rigorous.html]College”>http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/features/college-rankings/2011/most-rigorous.html)</p>
<p>Once again, I express skepticism that any list without MIT and with Furman in the top ten has any validity whatsoever</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Or Caltech, Cornell, among others. </p>
<p>Happy Holidays!!</p>