<p>I do not mean just a superficial level - I understand that the place is freaking cold, lots of cows roaming around. But what about the study body, interaction between races, and the complaints students have (I heard the common system is universally detested)?</p>
<p>I’d like to know this too. It’s easy to glean superficial information about Midd but as an international student who can’t visit, it would be good to get some information about what exactly it’s like attending Midd - academically, socially, artistically, pretty much in every other aspect a Midd student’s life is defined.</p>
<p>im thinking that people are hesitating to respond because they don’t want to be completely honest and discourage incoming students.</p>
<p>Correct me if I’m wrong when I say that Middlebury is made up of several cliques and people usually stay within these cliques. Life is also stressful because of a heavy workload. After a while life seems routine and boring.</p>
<p>Great school though which is what its all about. </p>
<p>Am I right?</p>
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</p>
<p>No, you’re not right. Not everyone has time to respond to general posts like this one. What is school X like? Ask a more specific question and you’ll get a more specific answer. You need to do some research for yourself. Look at college guides. Visit the school and talk to current students. Ask your college counselor to put you in touch with current or former students who are alums of your high school.</p>
<p>Middlebury is an intense academic environment. Be prepared to work hard. But also be prepared to play hard. In general, the kids at Middlebury are passionate about learning, athletic, outdoorsy, interested in environmental issues, and friendly. There are more international students at Middlebury than at most other comparable LACs, so that adds another dimension to the feel of the campus. There are not as many minority students at Middlebury as many would like, but that’s more a result of the college’s location in rural Vermont than anything else. If you took 100 Middlebury students and put them in a room with 100 Williams students, 100 Dartmouth students, and 100 Bowdoin students, I guarantee you’d have a hard time differentiating between any of them. The commons system was put in place to make a rapidly growing school more manageable and intimate. In recent years, students have pushed back, and the administration is listening. The rules for commons housing were recently changed in response to student input.</p>
<p>Like I said—ask a specific question (maybe one at a time) and you’ll be much more likely to get a thoughtful response.</p>
<p>I didn’t respond because I objected to the nature of the question. Middlebury is not the same experience for everyone. I loved Midd and most (if not all) of my friends did too, but we felt that way for several different reasons. For me Midd was a haven of intellectually curious people who impressed me with their abilities (whether, academic, cultural, athletic, etc.). I honestly do not know where people get the impression that Midd is filled with cliques. I had friends from nearly every “group” on campus. Because it’s a small school everyone interacts. I think cliques are more likely to form at a much larger school where it’s easier to isolate yourself. I never felt that life became routine. If it becomes routine you’ve simply given up because there are always opportunities for learning.</p>
<p>Arcadia was pretty much dead on. Not gonna lie… I saw this and just didn’t know how to condense such a broad question into a brief answer.
I’ll try to answer the issues the op brought up.
It’s hard to do justice to the whole student body with just a description. People are different. The stereotypes are as arcadia listed: outdoorsy and environmentally conscious (this is rural VT), athletic and preppy (like most private schools with a sticker price of 50k/yr), and internationally diverse but racially homogeneous (that’s the stereotype, which is obviously based in the truth, but doesn’t capture the full situation).
As for interaction between races… I find that the smaller numbers of minorities compared to larger schools makes students of different backgrounds more likely to mix socially. An example from experience: a Korean girl on my hall knew other Koreans and Korean-Americans around campus, but became friends with all sorts of people because that’s who she was mostly surrounded by on the hall and in her classes.
Complaints…
I’m upset that they’re drastically cutting dining services, seeing as it was a major draw for me as a prospective student. They’re closing Atwater for regular dining next spring (so, 2 dining halls instead of 3) and making the entrees the same at the dining halls (we used to compare menus online and see where we wanted to go). But I guess we’ve gotten spoiled. At least they still support local agriculture (Monument Farms milk, local ice cream, etc.) and buy quality products in general.
What else?.. A personal complaint of mine is that most of the student body doesn’t interact with the town. I have some personal connections to the town and have been visiting it since I was a child, so I love going to get coffee at Carol’s, creemees (soft-serve for non-Vermonters) at the Middlebury Market and Cafe, and cookies at Otter Creak Bakery. I like walking through town to run errands, browsing the books at the Vermont Bookstore or eating at the Storm Cafe or Noonie’s… But the college almost does too good a job of providing everything we need on campus and so a lot of students rarely venture into town or up to Burlington (an even bigger shame). I’m sure there are more things I could complain about, this is just what comes to mind. And there’s a lot more that I could praise ;)</p>
<p>It is my fault for posing such a broad question - I’ve just read different posts of Middlebury from various sources and some students have quite a negative view towards the cliques at Middlebury… but of course I understand that those might be the extreme cases. Which is why I turn towards you.</p>
<p>I am an international student (specifically Chinese) and am tired of the cliques at my current school. Cliques that form based on racial background, how much you party and so on. What I am looking for in a college is not necessarily a place without cliques (as I know that is impossible), but rather an accepting place which different groups mingle. My pull towards Middlebury is the “friendly students” as described in college guides who are accepting, and the quaint town of Vermont (yum Ben & Jerry’s!). I’ve grown up in one of the most hustling bustling cities in Asia (Hong Kong) and I decided I had enough of it. I do not see the rural town of Vermont as a turn-off, but rather as something I look forward to. </p>
<p>@Klink: Thank you for telling me about the dining services! Though I would not decide on my college based on food alone, it is certainly an important point to consider. Would you say that the quality of food overall has decreased? </p>
<p>My other questions (hopefully specific enough):
Do people tend to “cluster” into their own race groups?
What is your typical day like at Middlebury? Do you ever get bored there?</p>
<p>I would say more that people cluster into their own interest and personality groups, which can sometimes overlap with their race groups. So while you will see members of the same race hanging out quite a bit in groups, it is probably not because they are being isolated by the rest of the campus. If you are athletic and party a lot, you will fit into that ‘group’ or whatever you want to call it regardless of your race. If you study all the time, same thing. People want to hang out with other people who are interested in similar lifestyles and activities.</p>
<p>I personally never get ‘bored’, so to speak–if anything I could use a few more hours in the day to finish everything I’d like to get done. Every once in a while it’s nice to get out of the ‘Middlebury bubble’ and take a trip to Boston or Montreal or New York, but there’s always enough going on to prevent true boredom.</p>
<p>I’ve actually been abroad this entire past year… So most of what I know is secondhand knowledge from friends and from the Middlebury Campus. That said, the actual quality of the food served has always been great (friends who visit from other colleges are always jealous) and I don’t think they’ll let that quality slide. They’re just reducing the quantity/choice in order to cut back on the dining budget, which makes up a fairly large chunk of the operating budget. I guess we’re a little less spoiled now 
On a side note, I’ve loved the experience of living in cities for the past year after growing up in and now going to college in rural VT. I’d imagine it might be nice to have the opposite experience. Just a thought.</p>
<p>“… lots of cows roaming around…”</p>
<p>This is stereotyping at its worst. There are actually very few cows roaming around campus. Most can no longer roam because once they are tipped they can’t get back up. So they don’t roam so much as just lie there, waiting for the trucks from dining services to come.</p>
<p>When we visited, (drove up from Burlington and then drove to visit colgate as well), I never saw even ONE cow (and I was looking). I did see some horses and lots of fields, so maybe the cows were hiding from those who might tip them?</p>
<p>Son has grown up and gone to school in a fairly large city his entire life. His point of view was he will most likely spend his entire life in a city once he begins a career. What better time to slip into the rural. His take, however, was that with such an international component both in students and in academics, that being a small rural campus more or less forces people to come together while the philosophy of the education wouldn’t hem you in. Of course, he’s in incoming freshman so what the heck does he know?</p>
<p>I am at Middlebury now for the summer language program, I am very glad I choose to go to a different school for my undergrad experience. Middlebury is just a very boring school. There is a small town nearby, but nothing much there. Also, it lacks some things, considering its an expensive school. For example, not all the dorms have a laundry room. Also, the bookstore on campus is very small. So if you forgot something or need something you might need to go into town, however, the town is small so you can’t always get what you are looking for. There is a supermarket nearby, but you need a car for this. If you go to Middlebury, I recommend having a car so you can leave and go to Burlington, where all the action is! This is DEF not a school for someone who wants to have a fun college experience…plus I am here in the summer, I bet the winters are 10000 times worse!</p>
<p>Oreogirl, </p>
<p>Did you ever think that perhaps only about half the campus is even in use during the summer language schools and the kinds of people attracted to the language schools might make for a fairly homogenous group of people? I would agree it’s not a big city and that a rural campus is not going to be similar to going to college in a metro area, but I am guessing the atmosphere in the summer is going to be different (and perhaps a lot different) than attending the school fall thru spring. I went to a Large state school for grad school and had to take a summer term or two - it was a completely different place.</p>
<p>Talk about the uninformed! While the location is the same year round, about 130-140 of the 1300 students on the Middlebury campus this summer are Middlebury undergraduate students, mostly rising jrs preparing to study abroad in language. The remaining come from all walks of life, from government, to journalism, to graduate education, to business.</p>
<p>More important, the students are in the most intensive of programs, with a “no-English” language pledge (which oreogirl14 is violating, it seems), and all things supposed to be in language. These students are among the most interesting; however if one’s language ability is elementary, one would never know due to the language pledge and inability to converse in Englsh.</p>
<p>Because of the location that Oreogirl14 describes, Middlebury students are among the most energetic and engaged, because they rely on eachother and the beautiful surroundings, plus their own ingenuity and imagination for a good time: they don’t rely on the lights of the big city to provide all of their enjoyment. Oreogirl14 is right: it is surely not an environment for everyone, or maybe most, but Middkidds are among the happiest and develop the greatest friendships because they really get to know one another and really rely on eachother for a great time and great education. Many do visit Burlington, Montreal, Boston, and NY during the semester, but the majority of kids enjoy creating their own great time and don’t complain at all about a “small bookstore” or “small town.”</p>
<p>The smallness of Middlebury and Vermont, as the president likes to say to prospective students who visit in the spring, is a huge bonus in that it allows all Middlebury students to make a difference: one can volunteer/work in town, throughout Addison county, and even in the state capital (Montpelier) and affect change and make a difference. A great addition in terms of one’s education one will receive in the classroom.</p>
<p>Where are you going for your undergraduate education, Oreogirl14?</p>
<p>Based on her past posts, Oreoegirl14 went to University of Delaware and has two grown adult children. I’d guess that the average Middlebury undergrad is looking for something a little different than she is.</p>
<p>I think I can add some unique insight to this discussion. I spent two summers on Midd’s campus as a research assistant for my advisor while I was a student there. I wasn’t in the language programs so I had no language pledge to abide by. Oreogirl is partially right, during the summer it can feel a little boring (although presumably less so if you’re in a language program). It feels like a school half the size of the school-year campus. There is little of the intense activity associated with the school year. I remember walking into the library during the summer and feeling like the place was just dead because no one is talking to anyone else. However, oreogirl could not be more wrong about it being worse in the winter. During the school year the campus is a hotbed of activity and student interaction. Additionally, what the president says about the size being a plus is very true. It’s an opportunity to have an impact. As an example, when I interned with a State Senator I felt I was truly able to have some impact simply because the system was so much smaller. However, when I interned with a US Congressman, even though he was a senior Congressman, I felt we had very little impact, simply because the system was so big and complex. Something to keep in mind.</p>
<p>oreogirl has some fine points. although it’s wrong to evaluate midd based on the summer (all my friends say midd is really dismal at that time) the town certainly lacks a lot and there are many aspects of the social life that could be much better - if you’ve lived in a small town for most of your life you wouldn’t feel that but if you’ve grown up and lived in a big city then you sometimes become furious because you cannot go eat in a different place every weekend, or go to a different bar/movie theater, etc. yet again i believe friends make up for this, as i believe it could’ve been much worse if i didn’t have close friends to rely on.</p>
<p>Middlebury is a fine college, beautiful atmosphere, where you can receive an excellent education…it is also in an extremely remote location, very cold, lacks diversity, expensive, very small town, hence does not offer the town college experience, has a variety of cliques that definately remain together - athletic, partying,studious, outdoorsy, etc. and generally there is little crossover. When you visit you will know if this is a place you want to spend four years, basically on campus within a small college on-campus experience…</p>
<p>I’m a Vermont native who grew up in a small town, so let me offer the flip side to the point made by echoes600. I loved going abroad and actually living in urban settings for the first time, but after a while I would start to crave a hike, a natural setting that wasn’t an overcrowded park, and markets that weren’t ridiculously overpriced. I don’t even live in Middlebury, but I’ve gone down there plenty of times this summer–to the farmer’s market, to the long trail (and a few secluded lakes down there), to the Storm Cafe, to go blueberry picking, and to the Field Days last night. I guess my point is that there are trade-offs to living anywhere. In the city, you get diversity and variety, at the cost of pollution (dirt and noise), crowding, higher prices, etc. Back in vt this summer, I’ve been taking advantage as much as possible of the things rural life has to offer (figuring that who knows where I’ll be after I graduate). Don’t bemoan the things that are missing in a small town (I can do the same thing in a city). Just enjoy what Middlebury–town, college, and surrounding area–have to offer.</p>
<p>And if you’re at a loss for what exactly it has to offer, pick up a Seven Days (local independent newspaper with events, food reporting, etc.) and a visitor’s guide and sign up for Zipcars if you don’t have a car.</p>
<p>springisintheair, I have to question whether you’ve actually been to Middlebury. Unless things have changed drastically since I was last there (this past winter), it suggests you’ve just based your judgment on Middlebury stereotypes. One of the most notable things about Middlebury is the great relationship between the town and the college. The lack of diversity is always claimed about Middlebury, but if you actually look at the numbers it’s actually more diverse than most colleges in America. It’s CERTAINLY no more cliquey than other schools, and simply based on size it’s probably LESS cliquey.</p>