<p>Hi everybody. I recently got accepted to Middlebury. As an aspiring english major I checked up their course catalog for english and their course titles seem generic and dull compared to other schools that I got accepted to/applied for. Take Barnard's courses -"Wit and Humor in the Renaissance", "Doubt, Death, and Desire in 17th-century Prose", "House and Home in American Culture", Middlebury's courses seem much more general and unfocused - "Victorian Literature", "Imagining the American West". I may be taking things at a very superficial level here but I am just worried that I am pitching in for the wrong school. Can any Middlebury English major/english major offer me an assessment of the english classes in Middlebury, and if I should attend another school for english? My other admission offers include Fordham and Bryn Mawr. Still waiting for Barnard, New School Eugene Lang, Bard College. Waitlisted at UChicago. I like postmodern literature because it encompasses more complex themes. My favorite authors include Don DeLillo, Chuck Palahniuk, Joan Didion and Bob Hicok.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”</p>
<p>Most if not all top LACs have strong English departments, and Midd certainly is no exception. </p>
<p>As for course names, my personal inclination is to favor those with more traditional names, as opposed to courses with clever or “fluffy” titles. In truth, though, you can tell very little by the name of a course, as so much depends on the prof. Back in the day, I had (not at Midd) a brain-breaking course titled “ShortFiction” and a class called “Anthropological Deconstruction” that was absolute fluff.</p>
<p>I agree with Sun… most LAC, and certainly the ones you mentioned, will have excellent English departments. And regardless of the names, in many cases, you will be reading or rereading a lot of the same classics. I believe what will make your experience different at those schools will be both your professors and your classmates with whom you will have long discussions on the literature you read. Revisit days will be the best way for you to choose where you will be most comfortable and identify the group of students you would like to share your home with for the next four years. Most importantly… congrats on your admissions to what I firmly believe is one of the best if not the best college in the US!!</p>
<p>Thank you! I have no idea what the school bodes for me as I am an international and have virtually never been to the US…I will make that extra stretch to visit in the Easter though! :)</p>
<p>by the way, do you know how intellectual is the atmosphere in middlebury?</p>
<p>Really? Looking at your list, I recommend Midd if you want to live in rural Vermont, and Bard, Barnard, The New School etc if you want a more urban hipster scene, or like to smoke cigarettes in public.
It’s more about the environment. You’ll get a great education in English at most of the schools you list. Some would argue Midd is superior with the Bread loaf institute and from a selectivity standpoint, but you should pick the environment you are more comfortable in at this point.</p>