Hello,
As May 1st approaches, I need to make some choices about college. I was accepted to UW with a full scholarship and I was accepted to Middlebury College as a Feb. I would really like some advice about which school I should attend. Middlebury is farther away and more expensive, but I feel it would give me more opportunities after graduation.
My parents said they don’t want me to base my decision on money, but I nonetheless feel it is a factor.
Thanks
Middlebury is a great school. A bit remote for my tastes but superb foreign language courses and an exceptionally strong curriculum overall. UW covers everything or just tuition? Do you plan on attending Law, Medical or an MBA program after undergraduate? If so, folks will care less about where you attended undergraduate and you’ll have more money available for these schools which can easily cost $70K/year. As a doctor or lawyer where you went to law school or medical school will be important. I’m in the same situation as your parents. My D is picking between alternative schools with huge cost differentials. An important consideration is how wealthy your parents really are. If paying $60K/year for Middlebury is going to be a terrible hardship for them that’s one thing. If on the other hand, your family net income is $400K/year not such a hardship
Money aside, pick Middlebury. I have two in NESCAC schools and they are great.
Btw, I mean University of Washington
Thanks for your reply. I am leaning towards Middlebury, but there are some hangups. It’s interesting what you said about graduate school. I am planning on eventually getting an MBA (it would be an absolute dream to go to a school like Tuck or HBS) and I thought applicants from NESCAC schools are looked upon far more favorably than state schoolers. Is this not correct? What are your daughter’s options, if you don’t mind me asking? The scholarship is only for tuition.
The NESCAC schools are viewed better by graduate schools like similar schools that are not NESCAC, Colgate for example or Swarthmore, etc. When people say graduate school admissions are all about GPA it is not true. Not all GPA’s are the same. The quality and rigor of the undergraduate program is very important. One advantage the NESCAC schools have is proximity to the top graduate programs and longstanding relationships.
Middlebury is a very respectable, upper middle class enclave with a huge skiing student body, according to The Preppy Handbook. You must be well off to consider going there. Good for you.
A bit outdated, but an interesting read nonetheless:
http://poetsandquants.com/2011/09/14/top-feeder-colleges-to-dartmouths-tuck-school/
I think you’ll find that most top tier schools in the East are primarily upper middle class and preppy. Middlebury is far from being the worst offender in that regard. You do not “need to be well off” to consider going there. My friend who attends has had a wonderful time and was impressed by a diverse student body and a big international population.
Middlebury has over 50% of its kids receiving financial aid to the tune of 40k avg a year so I would think the student body is diverse and not dominated by rich families.
Thanks, that’s interesting.
I have heard about the preppiness factor at Middlebury. Yesterday I was talking to a recent Midd grad, and she commented that most students there have the same affluent New England background. However, she stressed that Middlebury is doing a lot to improve the diversity of the student body. Honestly, I am not too worried that the school will be too preppy.
New England is that way. That’s the charm. My older boy teased me to no end about my Bean Boots and Fisherman’s sweater until he got accepted to Bates and then couldn’t get a pair of Bean boots fast enough. Southern preppiness is much more obnoxious by the way.
Middlebury remains a major feeder school for Tuck. I recently spoke with a co-worker who attended Tuck. When he found out I had gone to Middlebury he said, "but I thought all Midd grads went on to Tuck.
Grad schools like law, med, and business do pay a lot of attention to grades and scores, but they also look to see where those grades are from. It’s one of the reasons why the top LACs are so highly represented at the top law, med and business schools. I would not have been accepted at the program’s I applied to if my grades had been from somewhere other than Midd.
The preppy stereotype is wildly overblown. If you get a chance go visit. You’ll understand immediately. Not that there’s anything wrong with preppiness.
I had friends who went there and they were both white, rich, skied, and wore lots of LL Bean clothing and raved about the skiing and exclusivity of the school. They adored Lisa Birnbach and said the Preppy Handbook was their bible. I have the book in storage so I can’t confirm whether she mentioned it. You’re definitely upper middle class if you can afford it.
http://zh.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=prep&defid=594911&page=4
Um- does anybody read the Preppy Handbook any more? Both of my friends at Midd said they had never heard of it. Yes, it is expensive, but we have established that the majority of undergrads are receiving substantial fin aid. @SeattleTW, please do OP a favor and stop spreading misinformation based on questionable anecdotal evidence from your friends.
I’ve visited the school and spoke to a lot of former and current students. As I said, I realize Middlebury had a reputation for preppiness, and I am not overly put off by this. Any further insight about these schools would be appreciated.
I’ve skied before. Not my favorite activity, but I get that its a popular hobby at Middle.
What would your net price be to attend each school?
Can your family easily afford the extra expense of Middlebury without borrowing more than the federal student loan limits?
(https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized)
There may be some element of truth to this. However, there is not very much good, hard data to quantify how big a boost you might get just from having “Middlebury” not “University of Washington” on your application. The quality of your internship and job experience might make a bigger difference.Top MBA programs seem to expect most of their applicants to have post-college job experience.
If you went to a private school or upper middle class high school like Woodinville, then you might feel more comfortable at Middlebury.