I want to be an economics major and i’m hoping to run xc/tf in college. What are the pros and cons of middlebury?
The best thing about Midd is also the worst thing about it: small size = close relationships with profs and classmates but also extreme claustrophobia after a while, compounded by the school’s isolation. You will get an excellent education there but you have to be prepared for the intense intimacy of a small, rural school.
@sheepskin00 middlebury is the largest of my top three schools so i’m not too worried about that. i’ve heard that there’s a lot of elitism and an overwhelming workload- is that true?
Academically:
Middlebury students choose to major in economics in large numbers. You should expect this department to be excellent.
Languages, environmental studies and international studies fields are top-notch and popular. Some fine arts programs, such as those in theatre and dance, also appear to be strong.
Some majors, such as mathematics, are relatively lightly enrolled. Anthropology, combined in a department with sociology, seems to lack a prominent place in the curriculum.
My two sons attended/attend Midd. Both play a Varsity sport both were able to also play intramural sports when not in season. Were able to maintain a high GPA with Econ as their major.
Not elite upbringing, from public New Jersey high schools. Yes, there is a lot of work, but they say it is manageable, and as you know already, with being an athlete, you are very structured with time management and that will continue.
Yes, they have plenty of time to have fun with their friends.
Being an athlete from a top academically rated college is extremely helpful when searching for a job.
Best of luck
@joy12345 Midd does a fairly good job of assembling a diverse student body but there is still a large subset of kids from affluent families. Lots of Midd kids went to prep school. That said, the school doesn’t feel like a diploma mill for trust-fund babies. Even the rich kids are there to work. But you might find that the student body self-segregates along economic lines. The rich kids all seem to find one another. Maybe it’s the smell of Nantucket or Choate clinging to their clothes that gives them away, but they can sniff each other out. If that turns you off, you will have plenty of other social options.
What other schools are you considering?
@sheepskin00 bates colby bowdoin wesleyan rochester and william and mary
@fleishmo6 thank you! my biggest concern is that i will get to middlebury and have to spend all of my time studying instead of enjoying it
@joy12345 All of those schools will have a fair number of prep-school trust-funders mixed in. Rochester and W&M probably less so than the others. Of them all, Midd is most similar to Bowdoin and Colby. In fact, if you took a kid from Midd while he was sleeping and deposited him in a dorm at Bowdoin or Colby, he probably wouldn’t even realize he was at a different school when he woke up.
In any case, they’re all excellent schools. Good luck with your apps.
@sheepskin00 LOL
“All of those schools will have a fair number of prep-school trust-funders mixed in.”
Just for the record, not all prep school kids are wealthy. Prep schools dole out need based aid, too.
@sheepskin00 thank you!!
@doschicos That’s why I appended “trust-funders” and didn’t leave it simply at “prep-school.” Some private schools do an excellent job of bringing lower-income students to campus but no elite prep school I can think of operates on a scholarship-only basis. Midd, Bowdoin, Colby, and other elite LACs are chock-a-block with rich kids who went to prep school, in addition to all the kids of more plebian origin. I meant no disrespect to anyone who needed assistance to attend a private school. In fact, hats off to them for having the drive and talent to secure that opportunity for themselves. I’m no trust-funder myself (my father was an auto mechanic) but I went to college with a lot of them and I can understand the OP’s concern about a campus potentially dominated by them.
@sheepskin00 I am concerned with elitism, but to be honest I’m more worried about the workload. I typically have 3-4 hours of homework each night and am A hard worker but i don’t want to spend the next four years in the library
@joy12345 The amount of work you do in college is up to you, no matter where you go. If you’re not an all-nighter type of student, you don’t need to be. A lot depends on the courses you choose and the major you pick. It also depends on how important a high GPA is to your post-bac plans. If you don’t see yourself going to grad school, you can pretty much go anywhere and just coast through the four years with B’s.
@sheepskin00 great point - thank you!
If you’re looking for diversity go somewhere else.
^Disagree. We visited Middlebury last April and ate in the dining halls twice. What we especially liked about Middlebury’s dining halls, besides the food, was that the students were sitting and talking in diverse groups of friends. At many other schools we visited, there was a mostly black table, a mostly Asian table, lots of white tables… At Middlebury, students who were members of racial/ethnic minority groups were sitting and eating with white kids. We also saw two separate tables each with one apparently biological male dressed as a woman, again interacting happily with peers. It is one thing to have a bunch of different groups represented on campus. What really matters is if students get to benefit from the diversity by really and truly getting to know peers from different backgrounds. At Middlebury, it looks like they do.
Also, Midd does not use a corporate food service. All of the dining halls are run by the college itself with a local workforce.
As far as workload, I don’t think it is going to be any heavier than the other top-notch liberal arts schools you are considering. No cakewall, though. All these schools are for students serious about their academics. I think the degree of difficulty will depend on your time management skills and how well your high school prepared you academically.