<p>this is what worried me about midd: the fact that it is not very diverse, ethnically. however, the fact that midd places such a huge importance on having a global perspective (all those cultural distribution requirements) and has a higher-than-average presence of international students kind of balanced that out for me. i've been in a very diverse public school district for the past five years, and while i missed the north, i did not necessarily miss the provincial nature of my home town (though in all frankness i at least partially consider this my hometown now).</p>
<p>financial aid also worried me, but that fear turned out to be a little exaggerated. while i'm certainly not getting a free ride, the package i got makes the idea of paying for my college education fairly manageable. also, the people who work in the financial aid office are really nice (as I said, I've been on the phone with them so frequently they really ought to know my voice by now...though they don't or at least pretend not to--perhaps not to embarass me, hehe). they do reconsider aid decisions: if you get a package that seems unreasonable, get in contact with midd as soon as possible and they will help you out as best they can.</p>
<p>i didn't have too many complaints though. i was fairly sure that midd was the place i wanted to be. what would probably be better is if you enumerated what things are important to you in a college-- then a current student or alumni could probably respond to you in detail(and of course i'll try, but i haven't really started yet so i feel a little presumptuous trying to answer those sort of questions).</p>
<p>yes, there are some people in the pool who are crazy amazing, but why do you think midd puts them on their site? because they are standout students! the idea is that if you go to midd, you actually get to meet these people (or others like them), be in their classes, talk to them, see that they are real people as well. i don't think midd is interested in forming an elite society of amazing people...i think it is interested in creating an interesting group of people who are not only eager to learn from their classes, and learn from each other. as long as you have something to add to the mix, you needn't worry too much. </p>
<p>that said, i remember seeing one kid on here from romania who appeared to be one of those amazing people i just mentioned...yet he was waitlisted (and eventually rejected? or perhaps he was just rejected). i don't know why exactly that is, but i guess the only lesson to be drawn from that is to write a damn good essay. more than that, be sincere, show something of yourself...as long as you're fairly articulate, that is what makes a damn good essay. oh, and hey...that kid applied RD. </p>
<p>as for other places i was considering applying: hamilton, swarthmore, wesleyan, oberlin, grinnell, mount holyoke and wellesly. as you can see, it's a rather good stroke that i got in, because i hadn't exactly got my other options figured out yet. rutgers was going to be my safety. </p>
<p>oh, and to go on with the 'tricks up my sleeve' i am not a minority. though i kind of wish i was, if only to help out with that ethnic diversity up there. part of the problem is that middlebury is just not very well known among high school students in public schools. i had to explain to almost all of my friends what it was and where it was...repeatedly. plus, vermont isn't exactly the cultural capital of the world (though it is the capital of ben&jerry's ice cream!).</p>