<p>So, when I was at Midd the woman conducting the info session said, "God help any white female prospective English major applying to Midd" meaning that as they have so many applicants by that description, any they admit better have very impressive resumes. So, if I'm applying as a science major, (which Midd is not known for), will that help me out?</p>
<p>That kind of statement seems like it encourages students to try to game the system by putting down a more obscure major on the application that the school isn't going to hold them to.</p>
<p>I am a white female prospective English (or some other form of humanities) major FROM MASSACHUSETTS applying to Middlebury, and my credentials definitely aren't THAT incredible. I probably should have seen this coming. Grrrr. </p>
<p>Awesome...that's just awesome. </p>
<p>Oh, well, it's not like I expected to get in, anyway. :(</p>
<p>^Have you already sent in your app? It may not be too late. And don't get too discouraged, you may still get in.</p>
<p>Nope, my app is not even close to being done. I don't know. Do you think I should put a different interest in there, or just Undecided or something? I feel like I have a fairly diverse set of interests, it's just that I love English and humanities the most (although this year I'm taking AP Calc and AP Physics), which sucks, since I don't want to be dishonest and be like, "yeah, I want to be a math major" or anything like that. </p>
<p>I'll probably just write down English. That's honest, even if it'll probably dramatically lower my chances. Sigh. I hate college applications sometimes.</p>
<p>colinization, I just realized I didn't actually answer your own question. Too busy freaking out over my own position, sorry about that. ;) </p>
<p>Based on the fact that Middlebury seems to want to grow out of being The Strong Languages School, your interests in science are probably favorable.</p>
<p>^Thanks. But seriously, though, if you have something else you're good at, apply as that major, (provided it is a less common one.) For example, I'm applying to JHU as a math major, even though I'll be pre-med. They simply get too many science majors, (especially BME.)</p>
<br>
<blockquote> <p>So, when I was at Midd the woman conducting the info session said, "God help any white female prospective English major applying to Midd" ...</p> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>That sounds like a very unprofessional thing for an admissions rep to say. Was it a student who said it?</p>
<p>While it probably could have been said differently/more "gently", I think the message was pretty clear from the Admissions Office: They get a TON of applications from just the kind of students described and therefore, the competition is very tough indeed. With an overall acceptance rate of 17 % last year, what do you think the acceptance rate was for the particular type of students described above?? And if you add "from the tri-state area", it gets even more difficult.</p>
<p>My D was accepted to Middlebury last year and is the epitome of the description above. We were thrilled with her acceptance, though, ultimately, she chose another school that was a better "fit" for her location-wise, size-wise and for her extra curricular interests.</p>
<p>Midd is a great place for the right person. Be yourself in your app, don't try to "game" the system and let the chips fall where they may!</p>
<p>Good Luck to all!</p>
<p>yeah, I was really surprised that she was that blunt. No, she wasn't a student, either.</p>
<p>I've heard that about so many schools. I think a way to help (and this helped my D) is to scout out an area in the Humanities you are really interested in. If you have a background in Latin you might say, "I am interested in Classics and English." Classics departments are notoriously under subscribed.</p>
<p>My daughter thought she wanted Medieval and Renaissance studies and even contacted the prof teaching the most Shakespeare courses indicating her knowledge of his subject. I think it really helped because he wrote back to her with advice.</p>
<p>In the end she did get into her #1 school with the "worst" demographic (we're from LI). She did not end up as a Medieval and Renaissance studies major, but not because she was scamming. She just found something else that fit her better. It turned out to be another small department, American Studies. Again, her new major would help an application more than "English", which is an enormous department at her school.</p>
<p>Hope this helps a bit.</p>