Hi, if I apply to a school like Middlebury College (Pretty solidly white) how much can that help me? and in what ways?
If your grades and test scores are good, its very helpful. Male or Female?
If you are URM you can apply for Bates Prologue and they pay for the trip. Not sure what Middlebury does.
Earlier you mentioned that you have a 90 average. This is a HUGE millstone around your neck when it comes to applying to very competitive colleges. GPA reigns supreme. Please spk w/your guid counselors on developing a realistic target list of colleges.
Didn’t help my 3 kids much because they relied on their scores and GPA.
Middlebury has spent the last couple decades trying to attract more students of color. They still have work to do, but they’ve been pretty successful. Because it’s such a top school they aren’t as white as they used to be. URMs still have an advantage, but it’s not what it once was.
A total of 8,894 students applied to Middlebury this year and 17% were accepted. 302 were admitted ED and a further 1210 were admitted RD. Once you get your SAT/ACT scores, look at Middlebury’s Common Data set and see how you match up to the competition. They have students coming in next year from 49 states. Probably your best hook would be for your parents to move to North Dakota, the one state they lack. On the other had, they may have half a dozen applications from North Dakotans next year.
And that’s the point. At many LACs, being Hispanic or being male may help a bit. But great grades, excellent test scores, a powerful essay and great teacher rec letters probably count for more at the very top schools.
Where you might get a leg up due to ethnicity & gender would be at some of the great schools in the Midwest and south that are slightly lower on the prestige scale, but have great academics. If you think you’d like Middlebury, also consider Denison, Rhodes, Sewanee, Centre and Earlham, for example.