Yeah, I don’t think Middlebury is very outdoorsy. Just a bunch of preps (rolls eyes). I mean they’ve only got their own ski area. If there were separate divisions for college skiing, rather than just one, Middlebury would win the National championship every year (not hyperbole). At one time (about a decade ago) the youngest person to climb the highest peak on each continent was a Middlebury grad - and Captain Kangaroo’s grandson. The inventor of GPS was a Midd grad, as was the founder of the land-grant college system. The first environmental studies program (and one of the very best) was created at Middlebury. Yep, just a bunch of preps.
I wasn’t finished:
Adirondack Mountain Sunsets from Middlebury College (RJO’s Views)
http://rjohara.net/varia/middlebury/adirondack-sunsets/
The outdoor environment, particularly mountains and often water, connects to the identity of both of these colleges:
http://www.middlebury.edu/student-life/community-living/activities/mop
i’m guessing that the student populations are similar. if you are interested in seeing economic diversity you can see how many people are getting financial aid, how many people are getting pell grants, how many people are coming from public schools, etc. I think at both you will find sporty and artsy types. if there is any way you can spend the night at each school you can tell how friendly the enviornment is and what the overall vibe is. I have been to both campuses and they are both beautiful places to go to school, but hamilton stole my heart, but that’s a personal thing. overall, i would imagine that both schools have a preponderance of wealthy students from the Northeast and Mid Atlantic
@apple23 LOL touché
@citymama9 actually in Middlebury’s last two classes the most students came from California.
Re #25:
Middlebury News does report, however, that for the class of 2020 the “five states with the most admitted students are, in order, New York, Massachusetts, California, Connecticut and New Jersey.”
For comparison, Hamilton’s Spectator reported that for a recently admitted class ('19) “the most highly represented states [were] New York, Massachusetts, California, New Jersey and Connecticut.”
Thank you! And from any personal experience, do they have different focuses as far as curriculum or teaching styles? And does either one have a greater chance of getting into an ivy grad school? I want to be a lawyer!
The following will give you some indication of which colleges’ students have found success with an application to Yale Law School. Note that both Hamilton and Middlebury were represented in the most recent class:
Entering Class Profile - Yale Law School
https://www.law.yale.edu/admissions/profiles-statistics/entering-class-profile
(Click on “Undergraduate Institutions Represented.”)
With all of the previous questions I asked, can anyone reference them to Bowdoin? I recently got positive feedback from admissions and will be visiting soon! I’d love to hear how they scale up in terms of what I’m looking for!
And also, whether opinion or rank, which school do you think is the “best?”
By opinion and, to a certain extent analysis, Bowdoin is not as strong as Hamilton for writing, not as strong as Middlebury for languages and not as strong strong as either for economics.
(Source for economics comparison: “US Economics Departments,” IDEAS.)
structure (#30): “extent, analysis, . . .”
My S was accepted to all three (Hamilton, Midd and Bowdoin) last spring and we did multiple tours, met students, researched each, etc. I honestly think all three are amazing schools and you can’g go wrong. I would have been happy with him to end up at any of them and in each case there was some regret of what he was missing when he had to pick only one. My advice is not to over-think it with a million pro/cons (and my S tried to do) and if any one of them simply gives you a better vibe because of the campus or area or students you meet or your experience with the potential coach, etc., just go for it.
Since you mentioned outdoors, Bowdoin is famous for it’s student run/owned Outing Club. The College uses the club to produce most of it’s pre-orientation freshman trips (which are mandatory at Bowdoin). The club offers trips pretty much every week, many free (after a one time $50 membership). It owns a cabin, it’s own island, and a ton of equipment for everything from biking to kayaking to skiing to mountain climbing. For those interested in working their way up to leadership in the club, they put you through a professional 300 hour expert survival skills and leadership course. And it has its own awesome building right on campus. All three of these schools have amazing outdoors opportunities, so not taking anything away from the others. It just happens to be something Bowdoin is particularly known for.
Thank you! Can everyone tell me their personal favorite (out of the three) and why it is?
Hamilton’s history of having been formed through the union of two colleges with different characterics and emphases gives the current school diversity, depth and balance – curricular, architectural, spatial, cultural – beyond that which would commonly be found at a small college. If this distinction resonates with you in a meaningful way, then you might find Hamilton to be a very desirable and interesting choice.
That said, all three schools would offer you outstanding opportunities, so you could comfortably choose among them based on your personal considerations.
^ characteristics.
This is more of a question for fun; but which Ivy League would compare to each little ivy?
My guesses were:
Bowdoin = Princeton
Hamilton = Brown
Middlebury = Yale/Dartmoth???
What do you think?
Also I want to be lawyer. Would any of these schools offer more geared skills toward this profession over the others?
The practice of writing across various academic areas would be excellent preparation for any law school. Hamilton is particularly strong with respect to this. Nevertheless, all three would be likely to prepare you well. Go back and review post #10 on this thread to find relevant links.
Noting this is arbitrary and meaningless, and that some of these have a very tenuous comparison, I’ll play…
(And the list of Little Ivies is kind of informal, but I’m using this one, which doesn’t include Hamilton but does include Swarthmore… https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Ivies)
Williams = Harvard
Swarthmore = Yale
Amherst = Princeton
Wesleyan = Brown
Bowdoin = Columbia
Middlebury = Penn
Bates = Dartmouth
Colby = Cornell
The only one above that feel legit are Williams and Wesleyan. Wes is definitely the Brown of the Little Ivies.