<p>Anybody able to compare these two, especially w/regard to (1) warmth and openness of community and (2) academic quality/intellectual rigor? Thanks!</p>
<p>as the father of 3 (Brown, Williams, and the last at Midd as a feb) and with a friend of each of the last 2 having gone or going to Oberlin I have heard about the 2 schools . the kids at Oberlin liked and like it and did well and is doing well. I guess that I have a northeast bias so Midd would be first. It has to be way nicer than a suburb of Cleveland but that is also a bias laden observation. if the student is a musician as well as a student then O may be better since there is the conservatory influence / presence.
Our son loves Middlebury and is particularly impressed with the interesting students that he has met, the small sizes of the classes and the approachability of the professors who teach the classes. Additionally he tells us that people really only go out on Fri and Sat nights and that on Sunday the library is so full that it is often hard to get a seat just as it is during the week, unlike the situation that many of his friends at uva see where the partying is more extensive. his observation is that the Midd students work very hard.
And the last question, of course, is where is Oberlin's ski slope?</p>
<p>My daughter will be graduating from Middlebury next month, and for her the experience has been exceptional. Probably what has been one of the most prominent pluses, among many, has been the closeness and support of the friendships she has had over the past four years. The social connectedness of the campus, regarding both students and professors is one of Middlbury's greatest strengths. And like scandia said, the students work hard all week and play on the weekend (between their time in the library).</p>
<p>My daughter loved her Middlebury experience. As most Middlebury students, she worked her tail off and sometimes expressed the difficulty of the workload, but always seemed to work through it and get the work done, as most Midd students do. Middlebury allowed her to study abroad, do an internship in New York City and helped her gain confidence in her abilities. It was a positive, intense and deeply satifying experience for her. She graduates Summa Cum Laude, and I'm a proud papa.</p>
<p>Just for the sake of balance, I'll say that all the positive things scandia and barryJ say about Middlebury are (equally?) true of Oberlin.</p>
<p>Except of course for the skiing.</p>
<p>I took my daughter to visit Oberlin and Middlebury; she now is a freshman at Middlebury and I know lots of kids at Oberlin. Both are great choices. Oberlin kids may be slightly more outwardly "activist;" but that's just based on the appearance of the campus--lots of posters etc. It has the music conservatory. Middlebury has: the mountains, the lakes, Bill McKibbon, incredible languages, fine dance program (my daughter's interest), great academics across the board, a ski slope, a writing school (Breadloaf). The kids seem to develop close friendships. They work very hard. Personally, I simply love having a connection to Vermont. It's a very special place--where billboard advertising is banned and p.s. Middlbury college works with local farmers and food produces to buy locally as much as possible. This includes occasional Ben and Jerrys. Maybe Middleb</p>
<p>Interesting about the dance program; D2 did not pick this up in her recent college search; I think she evaluated dance at Oberlin and Middlebury as about the same. She thought some other schools had more than either, and hence preferred: Barnard, Skidmore, Connecticut College, Vassar. Maybe because she wanted lots of ballet? Or maybe she just missed something.</p>
<p>FWIW, "great academics across the board", and "highly regarded writing program" would probably be regarded by most people as strengths of both of these schools, as opposed to clearly differentiating features. Midd is particularly known for languages, but D1's had pretty good experience with two of them at Oberlin as well.</p>
<p>We looked at both dance programs. Dance is VERY subjective. Liked the Oberlin dept. head a lot; also liked the Midd Dance dept. head a lot. I think for this choice, you know all the objective information; your daughter should go where she wants, and not second guess herself! She won't go wrong with either school.
p.s., for my son, a junior in h.s. who is a cellist, Oberlin is The Goal--the perfect conbination of conservatory-not-in-isolation from kids with many other interests.</p>
<p>After reading your posts on the Oberlin site, I just have to add--I think the responses are good-natured attempts to help you and your daughter make a decision in what really is a win-win for her anyway.
I was just telling you about my and my daughter's experience--she goes to Middlebury, so that's what we know about. She didn't even apply to Oberlin although I thought it was great.
What I'm trying to remind you is that each person has her own hopes and needs from a school. You seem to be confusing the issue by over-analyzing our postings. Just relax and go with your/her gut.</p>
<p>For the benefit of others who might be looking into dance programs:</p>
<p>I imagine that there are indeed largely subjective elements, and yet other elements that are actually objective.</p>
<p>For example my daughter screened programs in part based whether they offered high-level courses in ballet, which she says is a foundation discipline underpinning much dance. There were tremendous differences in this regard; some departments offered just modern and no ballet whatsoever.</p>
<p>"I was just telling you about my and my daughter's experience--she goes to Middlebury, so that's what we know about"</p>
<p>"You seem to be confusing the issue ..."</p>
<p>In the context of a thread that is explicitly comparative in nature, by its very title, the citing of something as being particularly wonderful at one school could be interpreted by others as being comparative, whether intended that way or not. In other words it was that which might confuse the issue, if left uncommented upon. I believe I was clarifying this issue, not confusing it. Another prior poster felt similarly motivated within this same thread, for the same reason. Clarifying possible confusion caused by others. Not confusing but correcting possible confusion.</p>
<p>Gut is fine; though too big. Kids are done for now, but don't want others misled.</p>
<p>Regarding "overanalyzing" I believe my analysis in the instant case was quite insightful and actually correct. Others are free to disagree.</p>