Loved Middlebury but looking for some more realistic options [mostly A+ with a few A grades]

Chance Me / Match Me!
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  • US citizen
  • Public high school
  • White female

Undecided

GPA, Rank, and Test Scores

  • Unweighted HS GPA: 4.2ish (not weighted but school gives 4.3 for A+, if it helps, an A in two semester-long courses in 9th grade and one A in a yearlong course 10th grade are what’s pulling it down)
  • Class Rank: school doesn’t rank

Coursework
Required core classes for 9th and 10th grade
Scheduled to take 2 APs 11th grade (Chem and Stats)
One dual enrollment English course (received an A) summer before 11th grade

Extracurriculars
(Include leadership, summer activities, competitions, volunteering, and work experience)
Cross country (since 9th grade)- varsity alternate past two years
Nordic skiing (since 9th)- JV 9th, Varsity 10th
Track and field (since 9th)- varsity 9th and 10th
Amnesty International (since 10th)- going to be a leader for 11th
Part of a club that works to unify students with disabilities and those without.
Planning to volunteer with the middle school Nordic ski program this winter.
Part-time summer job since summer before 9th grade (same job for the first 2, different for 3rd year)
Summer training for sports- not sure if this is relevant but it is a solid time consumer (about 12 hours/week running, rollerskiing, and strength training)

I’m pretty comfortable writing so essays should be decent. Good relationship with several teachers so far that I could consider asking for a LOR.

Cost is not an issue.

Schools visited so far:
University of Denver- first tour I’d been on, I liked the size, contained campus, Colorado sunshine and mountains, academics seemed great and I appreciated their emphasis on the “4D experience” (seemed like they were encourage you to become a well rounded person)

Colorado College- I was intrigued by the Block system and by the end of the visit I really thought that was something that could work for me. There was something “off” about the campus that I couldn’t place, but thought I would be able to get over. After taking a month-long summer course that I realized pretty closely replicated their model, I decided that might not work for me after all.

CU Boulder- No official tour because we were there on a Sunday. Absolutely LOVED the city, but the student population was a little intimidating. I’ve also heard it has a bit of a party scene reputation which is really not my thing.

St Lawrence- I really enjoyed this! There was no presentation by an admissions officer like we’d had on other tours, but really liked the overall liberal arts/well rounded feeling. Campus was also great!

Clarkson- Toured this on the same day as SLU. Hated it. Too science/engineery/pigeon holing you into one field. Also not a fan of the campus.

Middlebury- By far my favorite!! Absolutely loved everything about it. Size, location, campus, emphasis on interdisciplinary learning/well rounded education, and enhancing your experience by participating in activities outside of class.

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Skidmore? Dickinson? UVermont? Conn College? Hamilton? Maybe the Maine LACs (Bates, Colby, Bowdoin) as other reaches?

If Middlebury is your absolute top choice and cost is not an issue consider applying ED.

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They are a bit far-flung from each other, but I think you might like Carleton (and visit St. Olaf at the same time, for sure) and Whitman (for a less reachy option).

If you liked Middlebury’s graduate opportunities, you might also look at University of Puget Sound (one off the Colleges that Change Lives list that is not too much a reach).

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Often schools recalc so for example you might be a 4.0 on a 4 point scale.

I don’t see Middlebury and Denver as complementary.

How about Bucknell - maybe too Greek and Denison ? Hendrix, Dickinson and maybe Gettysburg ? Sewanee ?

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If you absolutely loved Middlebury and cost is not a factor, then you really should apply ED. Last year, they took around 70% of their class ED, so the advantage does extend beyond athletes and hooked applicants.

Other schools that have a similar feel might include Hamilton, Amherst, Williams, Carleton, Connecticut College, Grinnell, Haverford, Dickinson, St. Olaf, Rochester, and the Maine LACs. Bates in particular emphasizes community engagement and offers lots of opportunities, so if that’s one thing you liked about Middlebury, then Bates would be worth a look. Look into If you’re open to California schools, check out Pomona, Pitzer. If you’re open to a women’s college, look at Smith, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, and Scripps. Macalester is urban, so it doesn’t have quite the same feel, but it has a very international student body and might appeal to the same kind of applicant who loves Middlebury.

A lot of the schools I’ve suggested are pretty reachy, but some (Dickinson, Mount Holyoke, Bryn Mawr, Scripps, Conn College, Rochester, Macalester, St. Olaf) have somewhat higher acceptance rates and might be good additions to your list if Middlebury doesn’t work out.

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When you say you’re looking for more realistic options, I’m going to exclude schools with admission rates below 20%. Also, as you’re going into your junior year of high school, this is very early, and many students find that their grades dip during 11th grade, so don’t be surprised if this happens. Also, even if your school doesn’t rank, they should have a profile that will indicate roughly how GPA translates to deciles (i.e. top 5%, 10%, 20%, 30%, etc). Having all A+s and only two “As” is quite rare at most high schools. How common is it at yours?

Despite all of that, it’s good to make sure to focus and explore schools that are likely admits, so I’ll throw out a few names that came to find when reading your description:

St. Olaf (MN): About 3k undergrads and in the same town as Carleton. There’s a policy that lets students take classes at the other university.

Gustavus Adolphus (MN): About 2100 undergrads

UNC-Asheville: About 2900 undergrads at NC’s public liberal arts college and surrounded by gorgeous scenery in the area

A couple other suggestions already mentioned that I think are well worth investigating (among others) are U. of the South (Sewanee) and Whitman.

If I think of any others, I’ll let you know.

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One of the cool things about LACs is you can have a very personal relationship to them, and indeed what you love about your LAC may be different from what a different students loves. The only real problem with this is if you love everything about Middlebury–which is fine!–it is a little challenging to know exactly what others LACs would most likely click with you in the same way.

But you mentioned size, and I do think one thing that stands out about Middlebury a bit is it is pretty big for an LAC. Some people might not care about this, about if you prefer a college pushing toward 3000 students, maybe one more like 2000 or less is at least a less promising alternative. This immediately makes me think of Colgate, another big one and what I think of as a somewhat similar LAC generally (others again may disagree), and Wesleyan (again, maybe not what you are looking for in setting, though).

Interestingly, some of the other bigger LACs are the women’s colleges. Not sure you are interested, but you could look at Wellesley and Smith. A little bit of a compromise would be Vassar, which of course is now co-ed but I wonder if might have somewhat similar appeal for you.

But wait, I am supposed to be giving you more realistic options, so let’s see.

Have you looked at Bucknell? I think some people really like Bucknell, others not so much, but it may be worth exploring.

Skidmore seems like a good suggestion (made by another poster already).

Little bit different approach, but St Olaf? My sense is people who love St Olaf LOVE St Olaf. Minnesota is very outdoorsy, in its way. Different vibe/culture though.

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I was going to recommend St Lawrence and see you’ve already found it! Hobart William Smith is similar.

UVM is much bigger but overlaps on a number of things - from geography to the type of student who likes it.

The Maine LACs will probably feel somewhat similar but won’t be easier to get into. I think Midd shares the most applicants with Colby, but Bates or Bowdoin could both be interesting additions to the list.

Whitman might be worth a look – also very outdoorsy, and that seems to be a common thread.

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For a framework for your search, you might want to look through some peer-school lists. I couldn’t find an official one for Middlebury. Nonetheless, these, for St. Lawrence University and Colorado College, in which Middlebury appears, may offer you ideas for colleges to research further:

https://www.coloradocollege.edu/offices/ipe/peer-institutions.html

https://www.stlawu.edu/offices/institutional-research/peer-groups

As a one, specific suggestion, look into Denison.

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Middlebury College does look like its worth an application, as long as it is likely to be affordable. Bowdoin and Colby College seem similar at least in the sense of being excellent New England LACs in small towns. However, each has an even lower acceptance rate compared to Middlebury. Wellesley College might be another school to consider.

With your stats UVM should be close to a safety, and merit aid is likely. Someone I know who loved MIddlebury went to UVM instead (Middlebury would have been unaffordable for them) and ended up loving UVM. There are plenty of options for skiing not all that far from UVM.

I am amused by your GPA being pulled down by A’s. I know someone who had a similar experience in university. I do not think that I would worry about a few A’s. :wink:

Can you tell us your home state? Do you care about travel time? Anything in the north does run into the potential issue of travel delays in the winter due to snow (although I suppose that I have seen travel delays in the summer in other areas due to storms – “it’s always something”).

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Another vote for Hobart.

As an alum, I wouldn’t say Rochester with 12,000 students (including grad schools) adjacent to a city, is similar to Middlebury , though it may nevertheless be worth looking into . . .

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Middlebury and Colby have been at the top of my son’s college list. He loves both campuses and had great visits at each school.
We recently toured Carleton, Macalester and St. Olaf. He ended up loving St. Olaf. The campus is on a hill a bit away from the town, similar to Colby. Everyone was so welcoming and kind.

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I know several people have mentioned St. Olaf - but without specifics that might help you decide to check it out. I think that you should give it a hard look, and please don’t dismiss it b/c of Minnesota :slight_smile:

Size is similar to Middlebury. It is a large LAC.
It has a simply gorgeous campus, set up on a hill.
Its women’s nordic ski team just won a national championship; skiing is surprisingly good nearby. Seems to be an active student body.
The community at St. Olaf was unsurpassed by any school that I looked at with my two children. I will always think of it as the “school that got away.”
Academics are sneaky good. High percentage of grads go on to get their PhD’s. (12th most PhDs of LACs, in raw numbers).
Severely under-rated b/c of midwest location, but alums and students are fiercely loyal and rave about their experience. Take a look at the student ratings in Princeton Review - #5 classroom experience, and top 20 rankings for food, labs, career services, friendly students, financial aid, town/gown…
Very global focus - a national leader in study abroad among LAC’s , with 13th highest percentage of students who study abroad (slightly ahead of Middlebury), long history of international students on campus.
Student body is very civic-minded/justice oriented. Had highest percentage of students vote in the last election of any college in the US.
My kids were initially worried about church affiliation, but large and vocal non-religious community on campus, and the affiliated church is super-liberal.

And its admission rate is MUCH more reasonable than Middlebury. And even though you’re wiling to be full pay, St. Olaf also has a strong merit-based scholarship program.

Hope you check it out. I say all of this not having attended, or having any connection to the school.

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Our private HS has the same sort of system, although A+s are not necessarily common enough that anyone people will have mostly A+s. But some kids will have all As and A+s, or maybe like one A-. And so at the very top of the class, the distinctions are going to be something like 4.19 versus 4.16, where the difference is the number of A+s.

The question is then whether any college actually cares, or do they more or less just treat those all the same. I really don’t know, because our HS does not publish rankings or such. And you would need quite a bit of data to figure out if a 4.19 versus a 4.16 made a difference, or if it was differences in other stuff that top students also tend to have, including course rigor differences.

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I agree, but I will note that among our students who are willing to cross-shop universities and LACs, Rochester is often on their list. It is really more in the same rough size category as, say, Brown, but if you are the sort of person who might apply to both Brown and some LACs as reaches, then you might also apply to Rochester (if that makes sense).

Same deal with William & Mary.

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Wow, thank you so much for all of this! I’m from the east coast but have family in MN, so it doesn’t feel super random to me. I’d done some reading about their nordic team a couple of weeks ago and determined it’s probably out of reach for me, but it seems like that kind of success would suggest they have available resources nearby that would allow me to continue skiing recreationally (maybe even start a club?!). I’m not religious, so it’s good to know about the affiliation because I was a bit worried about that. Does anyone know anything about the dry campus policy and how well it works? Partying is really not my thing at all, so I was wondering if that attracts similarly-minded students? Or does it just result in people going to really intense alcohol that can be hidden easier?

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You are just beginning your junior year in high school, right? My suggestion…absolutely research options. But also concentrate on continuing to have the fine academic record you already have.

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Whoops! I forgot to mention that I’ve also toured UVM. I thought the academics seemed great, but I live in Vermont, about 20 minutes away from Burlington (and am there ALL the time), so it just felt a little too close to me. I almost never go to Middlebury, so the 40-ish minute drive still felt like a whole new place.
Travel time isn’t a huge factor for me if it feels like the right school. I’m not really considering any southern schools because of the weather and would prefer four seasons if possible.

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I’ve looked into the University of Rochester a bit and thought the cluster system seems really cool! What I’ve appreciated about my tours at LACs is the well-rounded/interdisciplinary curriculum that doesn’t direct you into one specific field from the very beginning. I really enjoy learning about all sorts of different subjects, so the idea of applying to a specific science college and doing nothing but science for 4 years really doesn’t appeal to me. Even if it’s not officially a LAC, would it be fair to say that Rochester shares some of the same ideas around encouraging you to become a well rounded person?

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Oops, sorry about the lack of specifics! These are some of the things I really, really liked about Middlebury:

  • Academics: core requirements push you outside your comfort zone and let you study diverse subjects instead of being directed down one path
  • Emphasis on club/community engagement and learning outside the classroom
  • Setting: I’m from Vermont and have a HUGE appreciation for the state. The campus was beautiful, and the access to outdoor resources seemed great. After the tour, I went on a run on the TAM, which was definitely a big plus, and I’ve skied at Rikert a bunch.
  • Food: Tour guide seemed to like it? I’m vegetarian and it sounded like they have some good options. Definitely not a dealbreaker, but someplace with a reputation for good food is a bonus :slight_smile:
    -Overall outdoorsy/nice kid feeling

I don’t really think a womens college is something I’d be seriously considering, but thanks for the suggestions! What about Vassar would make it a compromise?

I have family in MN but haven’t spent a lot of time there. What do you mean by “different vibe/culture”?

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