<p>My D was offered a spot off the waitlist much to her surprise. She had finally convinced herself that she was going elsewhere. Since she did not get to attend the admitted students day she was not given info that may help in her decision. She visited last summer and honestly, she liked Midd but has since not thought about it much because she was W/L. </p>
<p>Her profile: She wants to major in Bio/possibly pre-med but wants to explore geology/marine/environmental science. She enjoys outdoor activities e.g. ski, snowboard, kayaking, any watersport. She is a 3 season varsity athlete and had entertained the idea of DIII sport but decided not to try to be recruited for her own reason. She needs to keep physically active so when applying to schools the outdoor clubs and sports activities where important and she didn't want to be in a competitive academic environment although she has aways been able to obtain top grades and balance her challenging schoolwork with her outside interests. She is not interested in the party scene but would like to know more about social events hosted by the college and finding like-minded kids to hang out with. She usually collapses around 11pm!</p>
<p>Her questions:</p>
<p>Academic: Are professors available for extra help if needed? Are core requirements flexible? Language requirement? Biology professors, premed advising adequate or great! It seems research opportunities are available.</p>
<p>Social: Is there apartment style living for upper classmen? I think she can explore the website for this. What is orientation like for the freshman? </p>
<p>Endowment: Will cuts affect students in any significant way?</p>
<p>Sorry for the questions but she is under pressure now to decide. She will try to re-visit this weekend but our schedules are tight and she was not given the luxury of a month to decide and focused so much on the other schools that were so kind to offer admission in the first place! Although she is grateful to come off two waitlists yesterday, she was starting to accept another school and is in a daze. </p>
<p>Any information for anyone who is a student or a parent or anyone who went to admitted student day and their impressions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>Midd grad here-</p>
<p>To answer your D’s questions, the professors are extremely available for extra help. All have several hours of office hours each week, and I never encountered a professor who wasn’t more than willing to set up a meeting outside of those office hours. Just send an email asking to meet with them, and you’re all set. I assume by core requirements, you mean distribution requirements, and those are flexible to a degree. There are 8 academic distributions, 7 of which you need to complete. Languages are a part of those, so if your D doesn’t want to take a language (though I would strongly encourage it…and study abroad, even as a bio major…maybe moreso as a bio/pre-med major). You can pick which of the 8 distributions you choose not to fulfill. Additionally, there are 4 cultural requirements, all of which must be completed and a writing requirement. These are all pretty easy to complete, as there are many many courses for each every semester. It’s not difficult to find a class that is interesting and at the same time fulfills one or more distribution. Biology professors are great, at least on the molecular end, which is where I have experience. Pre-med advising is also very good. There are people whose job it is to help with applications and interview prep, etc. Research opportunities are also plentiful.</p>
<p>There is apartment style living for upper classmen. Many dorms have suites that have a kitchen and private bathroom. Orientation is fun. It’s nice because all freshmen do it at the same time, so you get to meet your classmates. There are lots of activities, and it happens right before the semester starts, so you get to become acquainted with the campus before the upper classmen arrive. </p>
<p>Budget cuts are bound to affect students; I think that’s inevitable. What I will say is that the administration is committed to having it affect students as little as possible. I think that Midd is really trying to make cuts where, overall, it will have the smallest effect on student life. In my experience, Midd really listens to its students and cares a lot about their quality of life, and they want to maintain that. I hope that this was helpful. I loved Midd, so I wish your D the best of luck making this decision. It’s a tough one!</p>
<p>My S came off the wait list last year-congrats, so stressful! My second S is going this fall as well-ED acceptance.
Second S is planning bio/premed . Older Bro is econ/poli sci.
Midd S LOVES Midd-not on a team, but has been running most days, skiing, rides his bike, and enjoys the beautiful views and outdoor recreational at hand. He hasn’t needed extra help, but has had dinner at prof’s house, getting plenty of input.Finds the classes interesting, and the workload manageable.
He says that one thing about Midd is that there is partying but less total abandon than at other colleges he has spent time at, and that people don’t trash their entire weekend.
Good luck and congrats!</p>
<p>Forgot to mention the no party thing: I am in no way shape or form a big partier, and there are many at Midd who share this with me. It’s not hard to find something to do on weekends or a group of people who also just want to stay in and watch a movie or something like that. The school brings lots of concerts to campus, and there are often plays or something of the like. There’s also a social house dedicated to non-drinking/drugs, and they often put on get-togethers or parties that don’t have any of that stuff involved.</p>
<p>Thanks for all of the responses. It sounds like Middlebury would be a nice fit for her. It has been a very long, stressful admissions process this year (5 waitlists). I am not sure I’d recommend this waitlist thing to anyone! But she is handling it well and is really thinking about everything and what really is important to her. Will keep you posted. Any impressions and experiences are helpful.</p>
<p>I hope she picks Midd. I loved it! Middlebury has plenty of people who loved it. It receives a higher percentage of alumni participation than any other school in the country.</p>
<p>When I say participation, I mean donations.</p>
<p>purplegirl I think most of your questions have been well addressed. Just wanted to mention a bit about my D’s experience at admitted student day. She was wary of Midd because of concern for the drinking at a rural LAC and she was pleasantly surprised to be put with a host who does not drink at all and believes the “partying” stories are exaggerated. The host claimed it is very easy to find things to do outside of parties. My D found all types of kids on admitted student day - she found Middlebury to be much more diverse in terms of the types of students than she had imagined. </p>
<p>The admitted students received nice booklets with snippets about Midd from different perspectives. One was from an administrator who specifically mentioned the large number of free scheduled activities on every night of the week that provide great alternatives to drinking. My D noticed the activities as well and it was one of the points that convinced her to choose Midd. </p>
<p>I think you know about the reputation of Environmental Studies and the new science center, right? My impression is that science is actually very strong at Middlebury - many people are not aware of this because of the school’s strong reputation in other areas. Anyway, good luck to your D.</p>