<p>According to a letter sent to alumni by the Chair of the Annual Fund Executive Committee, Middlebury achieved 62% alumni participation this year, making them the number one school in the nation for alumni participation.</p>
<p>This is an especially impressive feat considering the current economic times.</p>
<p>no it’s not. middlebury is in the middle of a capital campaign that’s been cranked up to full throttle for several years. The real test is what happens to its giving rate when alum are not being bombarded by class agents every three months. What’s more, the campaign’s been stretched out for some undisclosed number of years – because of the economy – not despite it.</p>
<p>Wesley, let me see if I can paraphrase your argument - being the school with the highest participation rate is not impressive when you ask for donations (like every other school in the country) in the middle of the worst economic times since the Great Depression - yeah, that sounds about right. Good point.</p>
<p>To clarify, I was not bombarded by class agents every three months. I was asked once, however. I decided to make a donation based on the strong feelings I have for my school, not because I felt “bombarded” by the request. </p>
<p>The point is, during these difficult times they still found a higher percentage of alums willing to make donations than any other school in the country. Regardless of your biases, that’s impressive.</p>
<p>nice try. my point is precisely the opposite of what you’ve managed to paraphrase, to wit: not “every other school in the country” is in the middle of a half-billion dollar capital campaign.</p>
<p>I donated, and I wasn’t “bombarded by class agents”</p>
<p>:)</p>
<p>It’s hard to find a school that isn’t gearing up for a capital campaign, in the midst of a capital campaign, or finishing up a capital campaign. A 62 percent alumni giving rate is impressive in any economic climate, let alone the current recession. Way to go Midd!</p>
<p>Wesley, you’re missing the point. Every school asks for donations, but only Midd got 62% to respond positively. I don’t know how to help you understand that any more clearly.</p>
<p>Fine. Here’s a gold star for not calling a capital campaign a capital campaign, not calling February matriculants members of the entering class, and a history of not calling every SAT score an SAT score. Way to go, Midd!</p>
<p>Wesley, curious why you care? Are you a disgruntled Midd grad/student? Not to minimize your right to take a counter point, I’m just wondering why you did.</p>
<p>I think johnwesley went to wesleyan.</p>
<p>Wesley, had I been trying to hide something I wouldn’t have described it as “asking for donations”. I would have used some politically correct term like capital campaign. I described their actions as “asking for donations” in an effort to provide clarity.</p>
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<p>Interesting that you mention that. Are you aware that Middlebury reports the SAT I scores for a greater percentage of matriculating students than Wesleyan does? Last year, Wesleyan reported SAT I scores for 79% of incoming students, while Midd reported scores for 83%.</p>
<p>Every single school that is a non-profit has an annual fund. Now, they might be in the midst of a capital campaign to gear up for some big thing, but even when they are not in a middle of a campaign they ask for contributions to the annual fund. If, over the course of five years, they have a total number goal in mind, that is completely independent of the 62% alumni rate of giving, which is indeed impressive for any school.</p>
<p>What alumni giving rate really means is not the dollar amount (the goal of the capital campaign) but more so the feelings and connections graduates of the college feel towards their school and the confidence they have in the school’s direction. Percentage of people contributing also works positively when looking for grant or other outside money as a way to show outsides what insiders know better.</p>
<p>Participation numbers are very different than the amount of money. While both are important, you only need 1 person to give a million bucks to raise a million bucks, but when the community of the school ALL chips in (or rather over 60% of them do) for the same amount, it reflects a better experience to be had. That well over half of alumni felt a strong enough connection to the school to give back to it? Well done, Midd!</p>
<p>PS… son didn’t submit SAT I or II’s with his application to Middlebury. And if you took the ACT you didn’t have to submit SAT II’s. Doesn’t mean you couldn’t but … he didn’t.</p>
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<p>yes, arcadia. as you well know, Wesleyan gets a great many applicants from outside the New England area, places where the ACT is the preferred standardized aptitude test.</p>
<p>Wesleyan is not SAT-optional in the same sense that schools like Bard, Bennington, Sarah Lawrence, Bowdoin and Middlebury are. However, it will permit an applicant who has sat for the ACT to submit that score in lieu of the SATI and the SATII.</p>
<p>Wesleyan also does not <em>require</em> midwesterners, westerners, southerners, Northern Plains residents nor any other applicant who has sat for the ACT to submit the writing component of that test. It recognizes that the writing component of the ACT is not always given every year nor at every location or section of the country. </p>
<p>However, Wesleyan does <em>recommend</em> that people who – for example, live outside of New England – who choose to take the ACT instead of the SATI and II aptitude tests, take the ACT writing component and submit those scores where they can:
[Wesleyan</a> University : Admission](<a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/planning/new_sat.html]Wesleyan”>http://www.wesleyan.edu/admission/planning/new_sat.html)</p>
<p>JohnWesley,
You still haven’t explained why you’re posting on this thread… just to be negative? I have one son at Midd and another interested in Wesleyan. If you’re trying to promote Wesleyan, you’re not doing them any favors by posting derogatory comments about other schools.</p>
<p>can you be more specific?</p>
<p>Not that either school’s admission requirements seem relative to the conversation of percentage of alumni giving… </p>
<p>Middlebury’s testing requirments are: Candidates must submit standardized tests in at least three areas of study. The requirement may be met by submitting either the ACT; or the SAT I administered on or after March 12, 2005; or three exams in different areas of study from the SAT IIs. </p>
<p>Also… where do you get there is anything optional about submitting standarized testing at Midd? There is nothing optional about submitting SAT’s or ACT’s and there is no mention of the writing component. I suspect that the essay as it pertains to standardized tests is a moot point since a)this is not how anyone should write, nor is it representative of the editing process since there is no ability to edit and B) Middlebury requires a graded analytical essay to be submitted as part of their supplemental application.</p>
<p>I am all for respectful disagreement as nothing is ever clearly black and white, but please check your facts before asserting yourself as a credible voice.</p>
<p>my bad. for some stange reason Middlebury is included in the sidebar to this article:[USATODAY.com</a> - More universities are going SAT-optional](<a href=“http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-04-04-standardized-tests_x.htm]USATODAY.com”>http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2006-04-04-standardized-tests_x.htm)
also, there’s this:
<a href=“http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional/middlebury-college[/url]”>http://www.fairtest.org/university/optional/middlebury-college</a>
also, someone should correct Middlebury’s Wikipedia entry:
<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlebury_College[/url]”>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middlebury_College</a></p>
<p>Middlebury is SAT I optional in the sense that they allow applicants to submit three SAT II subject tests in lieu of the SAT I. As you know, however, when an applicant submits SAT II test scores, the report also includes their SAT I score (assuming they took it). Middlebury reports any SAT I scores that are included in the SAT II reports. So in essense, they report SAT I scores for all applicants who took the SAT I and II, and the ACT scores for those who chose that option.</p>