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<li>Pomona College $53,110.</li>
</ol>
<p>Nameless college owns several houses and mods with full kitchens and social spaces, plus apartment-style dorms (including two newer dorms composed of solely of such apartments) with full kitchens and common rooms.</p>
<p>Plus, the commons system was revised several years ago so that it now only applies to first and second years, after which housing is an open lottery system. And even in your second year, you can pull a friend into your common if you wish to live with them. For first years, the assignment to commons is hardly arbitrary. It is generally based on first-year seminars, which students themselves select based on interest in the topics, so they end up being housed with at least some students with similar interests, which would not only support socializing but also friendly academic support for the writing-intensive course. :)</p>
<p>ETA: Not to mention the soon-to-arrive solar-powered, net zero, solar decathlon overall 4th place house-turned student housing “self reliance” housing option. How many Named LACs have that for housing?</p>
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<p>No lie… i have followed this since the beginning. So completely cool. The group earned huge kudo’s and did a wonderful thing for LACs everywhere, IMHO. I read where the winner, Maryland, had over 200 students, many of whom were graduate students, and utilized 18 departments. Yes, some of Midd’s group graduated last spring, but for a little school with no engineering dept at all, they did outstanding!!!</p>
<p>Bottom line, when you get to these schools in the 50’s, it’s all about aid packages if you can get it. If you pay full boat, there’s limited choice between the in-state option and and the +50K choice.</p>
<p>And I’ve said it elsewhere, I really think the commons for freshman is a great idea. After that, the school is just not large enough to support the need.</p>
<p>JohnWesley: per your challenge to CrewDad – let’s see what that shooting match you warn against would look like, if for nothing else, for educational purposes.</p>
<p>What would be Wes’ ammunition in such a match? Let’s not forget the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California, not purchased, but acquired (no cost).</p>
<p>Careful Pantherpride, don’t forget, Wes is a UNIVERSITY. ;)</p>
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<p>Here we go again!</p>
<p>I’ll be at Wes Sunday. Should I offer to meet John for a beer summit to negotiate a truce? :)</p>
<p>…which Midd is not aspiring to be…according to its current leadership and its board.</p>
<p>Despite the many programs and awarding of M.A.s in languages and English Literature for 90+ years, there are no graduate students on the Middlebury Vermont campus during the academic year (Sept through May), which is crucial to the students’ experience, as the core mission remains undergraduate education and Middlebury students never compete with graduate students for the faculty’s time/atention or for facilities and campus resources.</p>
<p>So…while Middlebury offers graduate level programs and awards many M.A.s, the focus is now, and will be for the foreseeable future (as claimed at least), on undergraduate education. Yet those other programs expand opportunities for Middlebury’s undergraduate students where it makes sense (like attending the intensive Language Schools in summer before going abroad junior year; doing field work during J-term or summer with Monterey faculty in Africa, Latin American, or Asia; attending the Bread Loaf Writers Conference in the summer as aspiring writers; doing an internship at Monterey’s Center for non-proliferation in California or D.C; or doing project management workshops to prepare for things like Projects for Peace or other international internships).</p>
<p>In this regard, Middlebury is an odd-bird: superb undergraduate liberal arts college with excellent programs either away from the main campus or run only during the summer that serve other student cohorts and a number of Middlebury undergraduates, too. Hard for peers (liberal arts colleges or liberal arts “universities”) to match those educational assets.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.wesleyan.edu/sciences/sciencefacts.html[/url]”>http://www.wesleyan.edu/sciences/sciencefacts.html</a></p>
<p>One thing that Nameless college taught me was to present data in a clear, meaningful way…Something that clearly other institutions have yet to learn. That chart really doesn’t mean anything unless it’s normalized for science faculty numbers. The more professors you have as faculty, the more money you will typically receive. I’m not saying the data isn’t true; I’m just saying that you can’t really draw any conclusions from it. Also, does that include all federal funding (NIH and NSF) or just NSF? Just curious.</p>
<p>^^NIH, NSF and probably some Dept of Agriculture money too.</p>
<p>Before this turns into a fight I’d like to comment
Wesleyan is a fantastic school and in many ways is the equal of and even superior to Middlebury. Johnwesley is just doing what any of us would do if we found ourselves alone in his neighborhood. He’s defending a school of which he’s particularly proud. I’ve read other posts of his and he strikes me as fairly objective if a little biased toward his alma mater - just like most of us.
While we all know there is no finer education to be had anywhere than at Middlebury, everyone at Wesleyan likely feels the same way (as I’m certain they do at Amherst, Bowdoin, Pomona, Swarthmore, and Williams - not to mention HYPS - you know, more expensive schools).</p>
<p>Wesleyan is one of the very best LACs, and, in my view, one of the few dynamic LACs. It is also, like Middlebury (again, in my view), like the little engine that could: compared to its peers, it is not supported by a huge endowment, but it offers as good an education as any peer.</p>
<p>On the “science” front – Midd might be known for languages, international studies, and environmental studies, but the recent Solar Decathlon performance in DC speaks volumes to broad-based education, inclusive of science, students can get at a liberal arts college, no matter what their reputation in science and math (which, at Middlebury, is stronger than is known). Midd was the only liberal arts college to have ever made it into this two-year competition, and it garnered 4th place of the 20 schools selected, all with engineering or architectural schools. See [U.S</a>. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon Home Page](<a href=“http://www.solardecathlon.gov/]U.S”>http://www.solardecathlon.gov/)</p>
<p>And, in keeping with that spirit, I should like to make it clear that I would consider admission to Middlebury a life-changing event for anyone so lucky. Don’t let a little intramural squabbling fool you. One of my favorite classmates works for Middlebury (I won’t say, in what capacity) and I envy them to no end. :D</p>
<p>awww {{{{Group Hug}}}}</p>