<p>I also didn’t get the email… weird. Can someone post it here? I AM curious as to what the admissions process is/was, regardless of its relevance at this point :).</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If it is the same letter/email that they sent out last year then it won’t tell you anything. Many qualified applicants, difficult to choose, blah, blah, blah.</p>
<p>That’s basically it, yeah.</p>
<p>"To: All Applicants to Middlebury for the Class of 2014</p>
<p>From: Robert S. Clagett, Dean of Admissions</p>
<p>Date: March, 2010</p>
<p>I am writing to give you a progress report on your application to Middlebury. Our students are the lifeblood of this institution, and we are flattered that nearly 8000 of you have chosen to apply this year. We know how slowly time can pass for you during this period in which we learn more about you. With that in mind, I want to share some information about the admission process itself and about how your application is being evaluated at Middlebury.</p>
<p>What we value and why: Admission to Middlebury is based upon academic ability and achievement, with great interest also given to community citizenship and leadership or other talents and character. We seek students who will not only perform at a high level in the classroom, but who will also contribute positively to campus life through strength of character, involvement in co-curricular activities, and commitment to our special institution. Should you be admitted and eventually enroll at Middlebury, we wish for you a roommate who will care about you as a person and who will reciprocate the friendship you offer. We want you and your neighbors in your residence to be stimulating, thoughtful individuals from a variety of intellectual, geographic, socio-economic, and cultural backgrounds. We hope that you and your classmates will carry discussions beyond the classroom to the residences and dining areas, applying ideas under discussion to your own experiences and opinions in ways that would challenge your thinking. And we also hope that you would anticipate each day as a new opportunity to learn and grow from your contact with Middlebury faculty, staff, and students alike. We review each application looking for the personal characteristics that will foster this kind of learning environment.</p>
<p>Diversity: Because ideas are always best tested in an atmosphere where many points of view are represented, Middlebury seeks as broadly representative and diverse a student body as possible. Geographically, our students come from 50 states, the District of Columbia , Puerto Rico , and more than 75 foreign countries, with international students representing about 10-12% of our total enrollment, an unusually high proportion for smaller liberal arts colleges. About one-fifth of our undergraduates are U. S. students of color. Most, and perhaps even all, of the world’s religions are represented, and the political spectrum ranges from left-of-liberal to right-of-conservative.</p>
<p>The evaluation process: Each application is evaluated by a minimum of two, and as many as sixteen, admissions officers. Because we have many more applicants than we can admit, and because objective data such as GPA, rank in class, etc., tell only part of the story, considerable effort goes into evaluating the courses you’ve taken, the degree to which you’ve challenged yourself academically and personally, and the nature and quality of the contributions we think you’d make to Middlebury. Your essays and letters of recommendation are extremely helpful in that regard, as are audio and video tapes, art portfolios, or other examples of musical or artistic talent that you may submit. (We frequently forward these items to faculty members in the appropriate areas, who evaluate them and provide us with an assessment.) We also ask that you check with your Guidance Office to make sure that your mid-year grades have been forwarded to us.</p>
<p>A word about test scores: Because we believe that the best admission decisions are based on the evaluation of a substantial amount of information taken in the proper context, Middlebury asks that each applicant submit the results of standardized testing.</p>
<p>You might wonder how your own test scores compare with Middlebury’s norms. Because SAT or ACT averages for those attending a certain college or university are often viewed out-of-context and can take on a life of their own, and because students (and many parents) often assume a student should or should not attend a given college or university simply based on those averages, we believe it is more meaningful and more helpful to describe the range of scores within which most Middlebury students fall, rather than test score averages. For instance, the middle 50% of our Class of 2013 had SAT I totals between 1930 and 2210, with 25% of the class scoring below 1930 and 25% scoring above 2210. Because a number of students with scores above 2210 were not offered admission, and some with scores below 1930 were offered admission, it is important to remember that standardized tests are only one of many useful indicators available to the admissions staff. Similarly, the mid-50% range for ACT scores was 30-33. While these scores are helpful in our evaluation of certain kinds of aptitudes and accomplishments, they do not address such important factors as intellectual curiosity and commitment, motivation, persistence, leadership, creativity, or the many additional abilities and talents that Middlebury values in its students. For that reason, there are no minimum or cut-off scores used in our selection process, and every decision is based on a combination of objective and subjective criteria.</p>
<p>The Human Factor: From all that has been said to this point, it should be apparent that each admission decision made at Middlebury, as at other highly selective colleges, is based on as complete a picture of the applicant as possible, but it remains essentially subjective. Because of this, some decisions are difficult to understand. Why did we admit a student ranking #7 in her class while not admitting the #4 student? Why did we take a student with an ACT score of 28 while not taking a classmate with a 32? The answer is that not all of the qualities that we seek and that you possess can be neatly wrapped up and stamped with a number. We seek students who will represent a good fit at Middlebury, just as you seek a college that will be right for you. In your search, we hope you’ve been guided by helpful and important numbers (faculty/student ratio, library holdings, etc.), but we suspect your ultimate decision will be as subjective as will ours. We promise to be thorough and careful, and we trust that you will be, too.</p>
<p>We are all too aware of the significance that can be attached to our admissions decisions, and that is why we take our job so seriously. At the same time, we hope that you understand that we have far more highly qualified applicants than we can admit, and seldom can a decision not to admit a student be taken as an indication that we don’t think that he or she has the potential to be academically successful at Middlebury. One of the wonderful aspects of American higher education, however, is that there are so many excellent institutions that almost everyone finds a college or university where he or she will thrive.</p>
<p>I hope that the preceding comments are useful to you as you imagine the inner workings of a college admissions office, and that they may also help you to place in context the decisions that will be communicated to all of our applicants by early April. Meanwhile, please accept our best wishes for the balance of your academic year, and for all that 2010 may bring."</p>
<p>(Sorry, that was long)</p>
<p>(I’ve got to say, the phrase “commitment to our special institution” made me laugh just a little bit)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>This was my favorite paragraph and the one to truly remember when the shoe is on the other foot, so to speak. Don’t go by rankings or what USnews has to say. I honestly think there was something really intangible about what tipped Midd to the yes column out of the 3 finalists in son’s decision. He couldn’t articulate it exactly and could easily contradict himself equally, but he is, as they say, a pretty happy camper at Midd.</p>
<p>Although I too had to laugh a little on the committed statement. After all, committed to an institution is not all it’s cracked up to be. :)</p>
<p>We received this letter a year ago right before the offer for my daughter to be placed on the waitlist. A few months later we received a postcard saying that the class was full. But what I really remember is the letter.</p>
<p>Modadumm – It’s easy to appreciate a letter/email like this when your son was accepted but for the kids who really wanted to go to Middlebury and didn’t get in this letter is ill considered. For instance, the part about them being flattered about my daughter having shown interest in Middlebury? Oh please, that is just insincere flowery prose that is hard to stomach once the rejection or decision to be waitlisted is received.</p>
<p>I don’t think they should send something like this. Just tell us the decision. We knew going in that we might get rejected. It will hurt and while that might not be Middlebury’s fault the pain is coming from their decision. But that was a gamble we took going in so we don’t blame Middlebury but they should quit acting like there is anything they can say that will soften the blow.</p>
<p>Got the same message, and today very pleased to find a letter from Robert Clagett telling me that I got in and I will be receiving an acceptance package on the 27th -anyone else get something like this? Even had a handwritten note at the bottom.</p>
<p>Awesome, sounds like the early writes went out! Congrats, soon you’ll be at “Club Midd”!</p>
<p>Good point, Pea… but please try to consider that when that letter arrived at our home, my son had no early action or rolling decisions in hand (he only applied RD). He really had no “first” love (since he had been rejected outright by his ED school) and while I might have appreciated the letter “better” after he was accepted, I did appreciate it in the moment as well because it gave us perspective - in that moment. The truth is, son was very much “in the ballpark” of stats and other stuff for Midd, but at a certain level, there is a degree of crap shoot going on and you cannot take it personally. I had the mantra that really what we wanted was to see son have a choice when it came to college and believe me, a week before decisions came out (much like OldBatesieDoc experienced with her son), there was nothing to say he was getting in anywhere! But you can’t let one school rejection or waitlist define you. In fact, no failures can define you and this is just a passing moment that usually all works out in the end.</p>
<p>And too, I think Midd should be flattered by who applies and that they’ve created a product that draws so many applications. Just because the news isn’t what you wanted in the end, it doesn’t mean the message of how many great schools there are out there should go unheard. The question is… Is you d happy where she landed this year?</p>
<p>Wise words, Modadunn, and yes, my daughter is way happy where she ended up.</p>
<p>It is SO painful to experience the wait list stuff, and there is just no help for it.</p>
<p>There are SO many bright and highly qualified kids, and we really have taught them they can achieve anything they try for, this is for many the first reality check.</p>
<p>My S cried many bitter tears all April-why did he bother getting such good grades, study so hard,etc etc.( He didn’t complain about his ECs, because he did those for love.) He couldn’t even bear to go in to school that first week in April, with most of his friends celebrating. I wanted to personally assassinate the Princeton interviewer who told him “A student like you will have your choice, here’s why you should go to Princeton…” and the Harvard interviewer who called me personally afterward to congratulate me for raising such a great kid…As you know, Princeton rejected him and H kept him on the wait list til July.It was hard to watch, and we also felt partly responsible.</p>
<p>So now he’s a grateful Feb at Midd, and he’s really a better person for it.But it was awful…And it is where my somewhat pessimistic advise comes from.</p>
<p>So again, I hope you all get nice fat envelopes, and your choice of your best picks. But Midd, like any other college, is trying hard to do a difficult job.</p>
<p>I had not seen thus letter until now. I couldn’t imagine what a cold letter it must have been, but having seen it . . . I hope not all applicants to this year’s class are as cynical as many of those posting here. Yes the application process is difficult, stressful and often painful, but I’m glad to see Middlebury is making an effort to put this process into perspective.</p>
<p>Attempting to put it into perspective is quite nice of them, yes. But stress is running so high for many of us right now that we’re drawn to assume the worst from this e-mail. :/</p>
<p><em>sigh</em></p>
<p>I wish it would just be next Sunday already so I could just know.</p>
<p>Yep… I remember it well Phanatic. just keep breathing. Let’s just say that the last week of March is the absolute longest. But if you on break, please use this time to your advantage and just breath. Believe me when I say, April will fly by…</p>
<p>Did we ever get a ruling on this? That is, did everyone get this email? Now that the decisions are in… My D was waitlisted so the email seems ominous in retrospect! Lol</p>
<p>what about accepted students? Did u get this email too?</p>
<p>Son got the email and was accepted. I think everyone got it, or at least was supposed to get it.</p>
<p>I got it and was accepted.</p>
<p>My Daughter also got it and was accepted. I got a similar email sent to parents of applicants. I did not view either email as ominous.</p>
<p>I did not view it as ominous either. I just wanted to confirm for posterity’s sake that it meant nothing! Everyone got it. I’m sure next year a whole new class of anxious kids and parents will be over-anaylizing it, but they can come here and see that it meant nothing.</p>
<p>Congrats to all accepted!</p>