Hellooo my people. Decided to start the thread since decisions are like 5 days away.
2 Likes
you can share your stats, ECs and anything in general
GL to all
Good luck everyone! My portal updated and says my decision will be available online at February 6th at 8 AM, Iâm assuming this is EST? From what Iâve seen the ED 2 acceptance rate is about 30% in years past, which is lower than ED 1, but Iâm assuming thereâs a lot less athletes in this pool. Again, best of luck everybody!
Good Luck everyone! Can I ask - my daughter had just been offered an interview for Midd this week (RD)
Did anybody do this and have advice? She was hoping to get an athletic hook but it didnât happen this year due to covid complications but she thought sheâd apply anyway⌠though its a bit of a long shot
Iâd be grateful for your advice.
@Contented_Panther may be able to help with this.
@outofmydepth with thanks to @MWolf, here are my observations based on what I said to another candidate earlier in this cycle:
Iâve been doing these interviews for 25 years now, and I did five interviews in this RD round, and three in the ED I round, as well as talking with another ED 1 candidate who was successful this year. So, this is all anecdotal, but I hope it will be of some help to everyone.
First, the interviews matter in the sense that they are the best opportunity for candidates to be something other than words and numbers on a screen/page. Make sure you know where your application is strong and weak, making sure that you can accentuate the strengths and address the weaknesses (e.g., âI had typhoid in my sophomore year and missed three months of classes, which obvously affected my grades; I learned X, Y and Z from this (pretty bad) experienceâ <â not a real example but not far off some Iâve seen). Think about what you wished youâd said in the application but didnât or things that youâve learned since sending it in.
This also means that Iâm not very interested in standardised test scores as they are correlated mostly with the amount of prep done and consequently with SES; this is why some elite private schools (e.g., Miss Porterâs in Farmington CT) are acutally getting rid of them. I suppose I am interested in AP scores or IB scores which reflect actual levels of attainment, but the reality is that these interviews are qualitative/impressionistic.
Why? The vast majority of our applicants would be able to get through Midd and get a decent degree - the 11,908 who applied this year is a highly self-selecting group. I would guess that no more than 10-15% of my interviewees over the years wouldnât have been able to do the work; happily for all concerned, I canât recall a single of those getting in.
So, what I want to get a feel of is:
-
How much intellectual curiosity does the applicant have? What will get them out of bed to an 8am lecture on a cold wet November morning when the sensible choice is to hide under a duvet? Are you reading widely in you potential major? Are you going to be challenging (in a good way) and memorable for the faculty? How are you going to be remembered five years after you graduate? Are you going to be remembered five years after you graduate?
-
How does the applicant think? How do they unpack questiosn that theyâve not considered before? Based on their broad major choice, are they able to have a sensible conversation at a level that youâd get from reading a major newspaper or The Economist, etc? Are they thinking laterally - e.g., I had a candidate last year who is now a first year who was interested in life sciences, and we explored how different ethical calls could reflect particular societies (she is East Asian but was living in the West)? She thought about the question and convincingly compared and contrasted the systems and their strengths and weaknesses - unsurprisingly, it was easy to give her a very positive recommendation.
-
How much does the applicant actually know about Midd? Have they visited it? Are they comfortable with being in the middle of nowhere with 2500 of their closest friends? A surprising number of applicants appear to apply based on Middâs ranking and havenât really thought through what being in the 05753 zip code actually means in practice. E.g., whilst the town of Middlebury is lovely, itâs either very close or miles away depending on your mood. The reality is that in a circle 500 yards from the top of Old Chapel you could have everything youâd ever want or need and the incentives to leave the bubble in non-Covid times can be small, and as a result the bubble itself is tiny.
The issue here is one of fit - Middkids are mostly mad keen about being Middkids and being able to cope in a small Vermont town where the nearest (pretty average) mall is an hour away, and the nearest proper city is in another country (though Montreal is great) is very important. Everyone loses if Midd admits a student who hates it and transfers - bad for them, bad for Midd, bad for the student we rejected to accept someone who wasnât the right fit. I appreciate that visiting has been very hard with COVID, but as an applicant you should be able to get across that youâre keen, diligent, and can hack the isolation - and, ideally, flourish in it.
- If the vast majority of the applicants could do the work and graduate, why have you chosen Midd and not Williams/Amherst/Welsley/Bates/Colby etc? For RD applicants, the obvious question is why didnât you apply to Midd ED1 or ED2? Itâs not an enthusiasm test per se, (I applied RD and got in) but if you go in with the whole âMidd is amazing and I canât imagine ever wanting to go anywhere elseâ approach in RD, the obvious question is âWell why didnât you apply ED1, then?â Itâs not rocket science, but you need your enthusiasm to be credible.
Ultimately, the whole process comes down to why should Midd chose you over another very well-qualified applicant? This is really for the applicant to address - why is Midd the right choice for her/him/they? Have they flicked through the course catalog in their potential major(s)? Have they engaged with any of the faculty in their particular area of interest? Personally, Iâve found these are useful areas to probe about how seriously the applicant is actually taking Midd - actions really do speak louder than words.
I hope this helps. So: be enthusiastic, well informed and clear about âwhy Middâ and youâll have done everything you can to advance your application. And being on time helps, too.
CP
6 Likes
I canât thank you enough for sharing your wisdom so honestly and generously. I suspect that this is actually great advice and insight for all college interviewsâŚbarring the bit about the splendid isolation of Midd.
Delighted it is helpful, @outofmydepth - best of luck to your daughter.
CP
My portal updated again and it has âOn your application, your answered that you want Middlebury to use your standardized test scores during our application review process.â statement on the very beginning.
I have a question. Do you believe being an international applicant puts you at a disadvantage in Middlebury? (like other schools)
@Juzi101 - what sort of disadvantage do you percieve international students to be under? I was an international student, as it happens.
Well the acceptance rate by itself is much lower for us in most if not all colleges which is one indicator that we are in some sort of disadvantage. To make it clear, I guess financial need( not need-blind for us) and our educational system kinda are what puts us at a disadvantage.
I must confess that I donât see the educational disadvantage here in western Europe - if anything IB or British A-levels result in credits being applied that often equate to sophomore standing. It is clearly different for students without access to these qualifications or their equivalent, but Middlebury or anyone else demanding western matriculation level qualifications is hardly discrimination, because they canât reasonably be expected to fix the high school system of [insert country of concern].
On the financial aid side, it is true that Middlebury is not need blind internationally, but Iâve not seen them reject candidates on that basis - indeed, quite the reverse, my experience has been that if an applicant makes the grade to get an offer, the offer will be made and the financial aid decisions have been handled separately.
In the cases Iâve been directly involved with it sometimes it has worked out well, but it hasnât always had a happy ending - I was very sad we lost an exceptional candidate to a lower-ranked NLAC a few years back because the family here couldnât make the numbers work, and the less-selective institution were able to find more money.
But as international students we also need to be realistic: financial aid is a zero-sum game, and every dollar in assistance to an international student is a dollar not available to an American student. As weâre talking about an American institution here, it seems to me to be entirely reasonable that they financially favour US applicants. Remember, in the limiting case, international students asking for a full ride are in effect asking for a tax-free gift of more than $300k USD, and with travel home, weâre more expensive than even domestic students who need a full ride.
Iâm always amazed by how few internationals who need aid actually seem to appreciate the scale of the request theyâre making - and only twice in 25 years have international candidates made it clear that they will make sure that they donate at least that much back when theyâre able to pave the way for someone else. (One is a current student and the other has recently graduated.) Top tip: recognise what youâre asking for and make a good-faith committment to pay for it when youâre able - itâs all about paying it forward, and like Issac Newton, recognising that we stand on the shoulders of giants.
Does that help?
CP
5 Likes
Thank you!! The educational system at my country is drastically different from yours and a college representative at a fair actually told me directly that it might be a problem. You are right, it is not fair but lemme see how far my luck takes me against all the odds.
I recognize that we are asking for too much but I canât ask my parents to pay money they donât have; I really need college education but my country is currently not stable enough to provide us that. If I possibly get accepted though, I will take note of what you said though and pay it forward. Thank you again.
1 Like
I am an international student who needs aid. Midd is my dream school. I regret not applying ed1. Well one day to go, I guess,
It would be nice if someone can chance me. I applied ed2 to midd. @Contented_Panther if your free.
Demo:- Indian International student who needs aid.
STATS:
9-93
10 (ICSE) - 95
11- 75( grade deflation, counselor mentioned that I am top 2-3%)
12 predicted cbse- 96
Couldnât take sat. Dad is a dentist who volunteered for covid ward.
Awards-2 state elocution award. Fiitjee scholarship. Best student 10.
EC
*Unspoken Words founder- organization that educates people about sexual abuse and LGBTQ. Over 8 seminars. 1000 students reached.
*Interact club President- a lot of community service hours. Organized Mega medical camp (250 underprivileged), Kerala relief fund( food for 1 week for 300M), covid virtual counsel.
*Made over 2000 hand sanitizer and distributed it to old age home and transgender community.
*Upkey business management internship.
*Debate club president
*Student council- All three years( 12th covid hit).was health minister, chieftain and class prefect.
⢠soccer captain. Won some best player awards( state). All three years( 12th covid hit). ¡ Alison microeconomics and macroeconomics diploma. Earned certificate.
Cancelled due to covid- Sashas research on waste management
Selected to global peace summit, turkey to represent unspoken words. Couldnât attend due to covid and price.
Essay-nice. many liked it.
Great LORs, highlighted all my activities. I have great relationship with my teachers.
Major economics
EFC-7000
Hello fellow intâl applicant, I am no expert but you have a great profile. Wish you the best of luck!!
Thank you. All the best to you too!
Do you guys know any tricks to know decision early?