Interesting Letter from Midd...How They Evaluate Applicants

<p>The intro says they recieved over 6900 applicants yadah yadah yadah</p>

<p>Now the good stuff:</p>

<p>WHAT WE VALUE AND WHY: Admission to Midd is based upon the academica ability and achievement, with great interest also give to community citizenship and leadership or other talents and character. We seek students who will not only perform at a high level in the classroom, but who will also contribute positively to campus life through strenth of character, involvement in co-curricular activities, and commitment to our special institution. Should you be admitted and eventually enroll at Midd, we wish for you a roommate who will care about you as a person and who will reciprocate the friendship you offer. We want you and your neighbors in your residence to be stimulating, thoughtful individuals from a variety of intellectual, geographic, socio-economic, and cultural backgrounds. We hope that you and your classmates will carry discussions beyond the classroom to the residences and dining areas, applying ideas under discussion to you own experiences and opinions in ways that would challenge your thinkind. And we also hope that you would andticipate each day as a new opportunity to learn and grow from your contact with Midd faculty, staff, and students alike. We review each application looking for the personal characteristics that will foster this kind of learning enviorment.</p>

<p>DIVERSITY: Because ideas are always best tested in an atmosphere where many points of view are represented, Midd seeks as broadly representative and diverse a student body as possible. Geographically, our students come from 50 states, the D.O.C., Puerot Rico, and more thatn 75 foreign countries, with international students representing about 10-12% of our total enrollment, an unusually high proportion for smaller LACs. About one-fifth of our undergrads our U.S. students of color. Most, and perhaps even all, of the world's religions are represented, and the political spectrum ranges from left-of-liberal to right-of-conservatie. Admission decisions are made without reference to whether or not a student has applied for Fin Aid, and College policy is to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need through a combination of grants, loans, and work opportunities.</p>

<p>THE EVALUATION PROCESS: Each application is evaluated by a minimum of 2, and as many as 16, admission officers. Because we have many more applicants than we can admit, and because objective data such as GPA, rank in class, etc., tell only part of the story, considerable effort goes into evaluating the courses you've taken, the degree to which you've challenged yourself academically and personally, and the nature and quality of the contributions we think you'd make to Midd. Your essays and letter of rec are extremely helpful in that regard, as are audio and video tapes, art portfolios, or other examples of musical or artistic talent that you may submit. (We frequently forward these items to faculty members in the appropriate areas, who evaluate them and provide us with an assessment.) We also ask that you check with your Guidance Office to make sure that your mid-year grades have been forwarded to us.</p>

<p>A WORD ABOUT TEST SCORES: Becaus we believe that the best admission decisions are based on the evalutaion of a substantial amount of info taken in proper context, Midd asks that each applicant sumit the results of standardizing testing.</p>

<p>You might wonder how your own test scores compare with Midd's norms. Because SAT or ACT averages for those attending a certain college or university are often viewed out-of-context and can take on a life of their own, and because students (and many parents) often assume a student should or should not attend a given college or university simply based on those averages, we believe it is more meaningful and more helpful to descrive the range of scores within which most Midd students fall, rather than test score averages. For instance the middle 50% of our Class of 2012 had SAT I totals between 1940 2190, with 25% of the class scoring below 1940 and 25% scoring above 2190. Because a number of students with scores above 2190 were not offered admission, and some with scores below 1940 were offered admission, it is important to remember that standardized tests are only one of many useful indicators available to admissions staff. Similarly, the mid-50% range for ACT scores was 29-32. While these scores are helpful in our evaluation of certain kinds of aptitudes and accomplishments, they do not address such important factors as intellectual curiousity and commitment, motivation, persistence, leadership, creativity, or the many additional abilities and talent that Midd values in its students. For that reason, there are no minimum or cut-off scores used in our selection process, and every decision is based on a combination of objective and subjective criteria</p>

<p>THE HUMAN FACTOR: From all that has been said to this point, it should be apparent that each admission decision made at Midd, as at other highly selective colleges, is based on as complete a picture of the applicant possible, but it remains essentially subjective. Because of this, some decisions are difficult to understand. Why did we admit a student ranking #7 in her class while not admitting the #4 student? Why did we take a student with an ACT score of 28 while not taking a classmate with a 32? The answer is that not all of the qualities that we seek and that you possess can be neatly wrapped up and stamped with a number. We seek students who will represent a good fit at midd, just as you seek a college that will be right for you. In your search we hope you've been guided by helpful and important numbers (faculty/ student ratio, library holdings, etc.), but we suspect your ultimate decision will be as subjective as will ours. We promise to be thorough and careful, and we trust that you will be too.</p>

<p>The conclusion just wishes applicants luck and says that if you're not admitted that it doesn't mean that you aren't qualified for Midd and says there are many other great colleges in America.</p>

<p>I never got this letter...
When did you recieve this or when was it postmarked?
Did everyone else get one?</p>

<p>The date on the letter says February 2009. You'll probably get it soon. I live fairly close to Midd so that might be why I got it sooner.</p>

<p>Hmmm. My friend just got one of these the other day, but I haven't and I live just an hour away from her...and we're talking Massachusetts, so decently close to Midd. Ahh, what does this mean??</p>

<p>interesting
I didn't get it, but did anyone else?</p>

<p>Mariposa, do you live in a more rural area? Mail would probably take longer to reach you in a more isolated areas than say if your friend lived close to a city like Worcester or Boston</p>

<p>Son has seen no mail from Middlebury. We live in the midwest, so I imagine if it was mailed last week, we'd get it tomorrow if it is sent to all. Seems like a rather generic letter to only send to a select few. However, I've given up trying to ascertain just what goes into what colleges do. Then again, giving up trying to figure it out doesn't seem to prevent me from obsessing! Then again, with that conclusion, it's almost like a "we're trying to let you down easy; It's not you, it's us" kind of letter. Not sure I'd want to get it!</p>

<p>I was uneasy about it too when I first got it, especially how they particularly seem to emphasize that kids in the top 25% of the score range (which I am in) don't always get in (which I realized but it seems like they're trying to console that particular crowd in this letter). :(</p>

<p>But then again another student from my school is applying and she has almost a perfect score so that's why they're sending me this letter (to tell me why I might get in over her)... ;)</p>

<p>Seeing as how I live in Hawaii, I guess I will have to wait much, much longer if some people in Mass still haven't gotten the letter.</p>

<p>Sounds like it could be the opposite of a "likely" letter designed to let recipients down easy.</p>

<p>Those kinds of letters make me nervous.
But on the other hand, I haven't gotten any mail from the at all, and that seems to me like a worse sign.</p>

<p>Why would a college waste the postage and time to send a discouraging letter? I'm not saying that isn't what they're doing - but if I were in charge of the world (I'm not), I'd let students read my college's 'deny' letter the same day/week that they're opening letters admitting them to other colleges they were interested enough in to apply to. Why add to the stress of March?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Why add to the stress of March?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Because they can? Other than that, I'd have to agree with you.</p>

<p>I am pretty sure everyone will get one eventually. My son got the same type of letter two years ago and he thought the same thing... they were letting him down easy. And then he got in! We were totally surprised. I know it's difficult, but try to relax...</p>

<p>This letter is mailed to all applicants.</p>

<p>Bad news, if you have not received this letter by now, you are NOT going to get accepted to Midd...</p>

<p>Dont panic, I was joking :-)</p>

<p>The fact that they take the time to send this letter to every applicant is really promising. Makes me love Middlebury even more!</p>

<p>I just got mine today - I didn't think it was a let down or a likely (and i fit into that middle 50% range). I think that it's like most mail you receive from colleges around this time - just making sure that you keep them in your thoughts, and will hopefully decide to go there if they accept you.</p>

<p>OK, so the consensus is that this letter isn't the end of the world? Because I just got mine in the mail today, and my parents got something to the same effect...I'd really like to believe that this means that Midd just wants to make everything about their admissions decisions process clear for everyone, not just let a bunch of people down lightly!</p>