Middlebury Class of 2025 (ED) Chance

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Hello :slight_smile: I am a Brazilian first-gen female from South Florida attending a large public school (2500 students, about the same size as Middlebury). I am absolutely in love with Middlebury, the location, the size, and what seems to be the environment there. I am highly considering applying there early decision this coming fall, and was curious to know what more knowledgable people thought about my chances of getting in. I know the college admissions process can be quite unpredictable, I am just looking for some thoughts.

GPA: 3.55 UW (I know), 4.5 Weighted. I’ve taken 7 APs to date, and have 2 exams this year.
I got a 5 on AP World, AP Euro, AP Human Geo, and AP Gov and a 4 on AP Lang and am hoping for the same this upcoming month. I’m also in the IB program at my school, so all my classes that aren’t AP are IB. I struggle a bit more in math/science hence the lowish GPA. I’m pretty sure I am not top 10%, but top 15% of my class.

SAT: Took it once in December without studying, got a 1310. 700 reading, 610 math. Was planning on taking it again, but I don’t know if that’s going to be possible with all the cancellations. I’ve been studying and practicing since then, and igf another opportunity arises, I’ll be sure to take it and am aiming in scoring in the mid 1400 range. Also a question here, since Midd is going test-optional is it in my best interest to not submit my score? Or perhaps just the first score? Since I have a low GPA I figured I could try to balance it with a higher SAT, but I don’t know how schools weigh test scores once test optional.

Extracurriculars:

  • 5 years of Varsity Rowing (I’m a coxswain), I was looking to get recruited but recently found out that Middlebury is a club team so they don’t officially recruit. I won the Florida State Championships 3 times, 2nd place at regionals, and went to nationals last year) Nevertheless I would love to cox at Middlebury.
  • Speech and Debate (Public Forum) I'm an avid participant and competitor of my school's debate team and I am historian this year. I am certainly not nationally ranked but I have been top 20 at a couple tournaments, and was top 12 teams in the state. I attend pretty much every tournament I can.

-My partner and I go to the middle school once a week to run the after school Debate Club there, we do drills and games and practice argumentation in hopes that they join in high school. The kids are great and we have a lot of fun doing it.

  • Worked on a political campaign for 2 summers. One for congress and one for re-election to the city commission, neither successful but I learned a lot and did a whole lot of canvassing, phone banking, and event organizing.
  • Attended the Outdoor Academy. Fall semester of my sophomore year I went to a small semester school in NC. No technology, internet, I took classes and got grades but we spent a lot of the time practicing outdoor wilderness skills and hiking, camping, canoeing, and rock climbing. I was elected semester leader. Best time of my life, definitely showed me what living in an intentional community is like and is a big part of why I'd like to go to Middlebury.
  • HIP instructor at my school, I am one of 1700 students in my large county who teaches health lessons to freshman at our school through the organizations curriculum.
  • Trilingual, not sure if this helps with getting in but I speak English, Portuguese and would like to say I am basically fluent in Spanish.

If you are still here after reading all that, thank you! I appreciate all the help.

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I plan on either going ED to Middlebury, Tufts, or BC: not really sure yet. I have very similar stats to you. Good Luck!!!

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@cescamed – the key is “Why Midd?” which helps explain why you should be selected. What is it about the place/programme of study/people that makes you want to spend your ED I shot on Midd? Have you visited? (Obviously not at the moment…) If so, what did you walk away with?

Begin to answer these questions (and at the same time, why Midd is a better fit for you than Williams, Dartmouth, Swarthmore, Amherst etc) and you’ll be well on your way.

Good luck!

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Hi, so, I’m a rising sophomore at Middlebury(majoring in Political Science and minoring in Portuguese), and based on my experience at Middlebury with regard to the students they pick, the fact that you’re trilingual and so active in civic participation will make you a compelling candidate for the adcoms. If you are applying with just the 1310, don’t submit it, but if you get a 1400+, definitely submit.

Also, there’s a Portuguese house event every week and they make Brazilian food, fyi, it’s casadeportugues on insta if you want to look.

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Hi @ContendedPanther! I hope you don’t mind me asking, but I have read pretty much every Middlebury related thread I could find on this website, and you always seem to have very insightful responses.

I submitted my ED Application to Midd yesterday (woo!) and was wondering what information should be relayed in an email to my regional admissions counselor (I already attended a small virtual info session w/ her). Should I tell her that I submitted by ED application and a little bit about why I want to go to Middlebury? Is this deemed appropriate?

Thank you so much!

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Too kind @cescamed !

First, congratulations on getting it in on time; you’d be surprised the number of candidates over the years who miss the deadlines for one reason or another.

Sure, I’d definitely reach out to your regional counsellor to ensure that she knows you’ve got your packet in (she’ll know this anyway), and it can’t hurt to draw her attention to the most pertinent elements of your application.

What you absolutely should do is make sure she knows that you’re keen to have an Alumni Admission Programme (AAP) interview - we try to make sure that this is available to everyone, but the ED cycle is particularly tight in terms of getting the interviews in (I’ve only had to do one this cycle, and it’s already complete with the report back in VT.)

Hope this helps - good luck!

CP