Middlebury: Too far away??

Is Middlebury in the middle of nowhere? No, the middle of nowhere is about an hour away…

Seriously, Midd is in a beautiful valley in rural Vermont, is an hour from Vermont’s largest town, and it isn’t on an interstate. And to be completely frank, that’s sort of part of the point - get away to a rural residental community and focus intensively on the work in hand, minus many of the distractions that you get in somewhere larger.

I say consistently to candidates that you’ve got to be good with the location, and that location means that Midd genuinely isn’t for everyone - it is isolated, cold in winter, and you’ve got to like it (or at least tolerate it) in the rains of November as well as the mud of March, as well as the spectacular sunshine of May or super-fun snows of January.

At the same time, Midd is also not actually that hard to get to. It is about an hour to BTV, and BTV to Heathrow is typcially 12-13 hours including connections, so it’s not like it’s impossible to get to. Indeed, I’m looking forward to going to teach for a week in January from London. Oh, and AMTRAK should arrive 2019/20 which will provide train service to NYC for the first time since the 1950s, which will be an excellent boost for connectivity.

@teenangstanxious : Middlebury College is in a beautiful location & setting. Although rural, study abroad & an interest in winter sports can make this a wonderful experience.

On my visits, I found everyone to be friendly & welcoming. And outgoing.

My D20 sat in on a Chinese class while visiting and also found the students friendly. And she is not an outgoing type at all, so they reached out to her.

Looks like this is your first and only post. Welcome to CC. I find some of your insights to be quite different from my experience. Midd’s Outing Club is one of the most robust in the nation, with frequent trips to some of the Northeast’s most beautiful spots. Also, the sciences are strong and only getting stronger. Not sure why you think things are falling apart. Curious comment without any additional info to back it up.

If you went to college in NYC it is going to take you just as long to get to the airport as it will from Middlebury to BTV.

My CA son graduated from Middlebury with a degree in neuroscience and had a stellar experience. Be prepared to work hard - really hard - and play hard, mainly via athletics. There are A LOT of athletes on this campus and my son was one of them. He really had an extraordinary 4 years in Vermont and now in med school. If you love the outdoors and are ready to be intellectually on fire, Middlebury might be just what you are looking for. Bigger than Williams which appealed to my son. If you need to be near an urban oasis, Midd will not be for you. Wish you (or yours) a wonderful college experience wherever you land.

How is their California campus at Monterey? Is that a graduate only campus? Could you do a semester there to be close to home?

@airway1 Yes, it’s a graduate only campus - check out its website.

My oldest took the free Middlebury bus to ski at the snow bowl and back in time for afternoon classes twice a week all winter…and joined the sailing club and went sailing for free in the fall. And played intramural soccer and softball…and had faculty notice him and offer him great internships and research opportunities. He made so many friends and got a great job right after graduating. We aren’t rich and he always had to work a few hours a week for book and spending money. My second child, a recruited athlete also enjoyed the stellar academics and the drop dead gorgeous setting. They both try to go back often, 5 and 6 years out. Don’t go if you think you will be homesick, but mine literally never wanted to leave. But there’s absolutely nothing inferior about the experience unless you prefer cities and shopping.

Some kids have no problem going to school far away and even find this to be a positive. For other kids, it’s a bad idea. One of the parameters my own son had when choosing schools to apply to was no more than a 5 hour car ride from home and preferably closer. This won’t be an issue with my daughter when her time comes to look at schools. In short, every kid is different. OP will have to decide for themselves if he/she can handle being so far away from home. However, the fact that he/she has major concerns about the issue might be a sign that it’s better to find someplace closer to home.

On Midd in Monterey, @airway1 it IS possible to do a semester there in your Junior year - a few do it every year.

@“Contented Panther” I stand corrected. I may be PMing you with some other queries on behalf of my D, if you do not mind, and if they do not seem relevant to other people.

Sure @MWolf more than happy to help if I can.

@MWolf my D is a freshman there now. Happy to answer any questions

@“Contented Panther” @swtaffy904 Thank you both!

Thanks, that definitely answered some questions for me too.