Our S19 has applied to Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin, Hamilton and Midd among other LACs. We’ve only had the chance to visit Bowdoin. He really liked it. I get the feeling that these schools are all more like each other than not. We are curious about Middlebury and how it might be at all different from the rest of the pack. Any thoughts?
Of that list, Midd and Williams are larger schools.
Viewing distributions of chosen majors across colleges can be interesting and, if meaningful criteria can be established, instructive. For example, among the schools mentioned above, Middlebury recently graduated the most economics majors, an intermediate number of classics majors, and the fewest math majors. By looking at majors of particular interest, or perhaps by looking for balance across various majors, some conclusions with respect to academics might become evident.
https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=Middlebury&s=all&id=230959#programs
@merc81 so S19 is pretty undecided but leaning towards physics or math. In general is it a disadvantage to go to a school where those programs are smaller? I’m not sure if size matters as long as there are enough faculty to make the major interesting. Classes for both of these majors are pretty much the same at all of these schools. I understand that a place like Williams is “strong in math” but I’m not sure how much of a difference that would make. And, since he’s undecided, he may end up competing against all of those Econ majors for jobs and, again, I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing. Maybe a strong math major looks better than one of the 120 Econ majors for consulting, etc.
Good point to look at programs overall though. Just hard since he’s undecided and Econ seems to be the number one degree at so many LACs.
I’d say it depends on the field. If a department seems inherently robust (e.g., econ), then beyond a certain point a large number of majors could actually be potentially detrimental as you suggest; for a less popular field such as classics, more indicated majors will in most cases serve as a positive sign; for majors intermediate in popularity, such as math and physics, it would seem sufficient if a college reports figures generally within the range of those of its peers.
We have a friend with a son at Midd and it’s sounds like it hasn’t been easy to get internships. I so wonder if it’s because there are so many of them.
Agree that many of the Nescacs are more similar than different, but a few things that set Midd apart are the language program (arguably one of the best out there), the size of the school (a bit bigger than the typical lac) and the Feb program. The Feb program is what allows the school to have a bigger population. 100 students start in Feb, but instead of being part of the class of 2023, they are part of 2023.5, meaning they graduate 6 months later. This is different than the programs at say, Colby, Hamilton, NEU, NYU, where students go abroad the first semester of freshman year, getting school credit, but graduate with their class. At Midd, it is like there are 8 classes of students.
@wisteria100 I wonder if being a Feb is a problem with certain types of jobs where training programs generally start once a year. Or grad school that also starts in the fall. Seems weird to graduate in February.
@homerdog In which industry/field was he looking for internships?
@MWolf he’s undecided right now but leaning towards majoring in physics or math. Not thinking he’d go to grad school right after undergrad but work a bit. Because he’s so undecided, his internships will play an important role in him deciding his major and path to employment after undergrad.
I just read about the Febs. I know he didn’t check that box on his app and Midd says they choose a certain type of student for those spots. I think he’s a pretty traditional student so I don’t think he’d be offered a Feb spot. He’s not looking to travel before undergrad or do a mission trip. Looks like some kids just work. I don’t know. I just don’t see him accepting a spot anywhere that doesn’t start in the fall. He’s really looking forward to being part of the community in college and starting mid-term has to affect that. Anyway, true that the Feb start is unique to Midd!
Interestingly, Middlebury, with its superb reputation in languages, does not lead the NESCAC LACs by number of foreign language and literature majors (Hamilton does). This might mean that those who pursue languages at Middlebury often take these courses as support for broader career goals or as part of multi-disciplinary majors such as International & Global Studies.
One of the biggest determinants in being selected for Feb is being unhooked. Admissions has stated they rarely choose students of color for the Feb program, and recruited athletes and the kids in the Midd Posse program won’t be Febs either.
@homerdog No arguments about the importance of internships. I would do a wider check of internship opportunities to see whether the problems of Midd students getting internships are general, field-specific, or it’s just your friend’s son. I’m not trashing him, but sometimes even a good candidate in a good market can find themselves in difficult straits through no fault of their own.
Current Midd student here! I can tell you that the physics/math departments here are pretty strong, with math constantly having to open new sections of classes as the major expands. Midd has a very interesting environment social-wise, because it’s a SLAC but there are so many sports teams, so athletes make up about half the campus. This culture takes over for the fact that we have no Greek life here. It’s an interesting mix of the down to earth, “crunchy” people you would expect in Vermont mixed with some of the East Coast old money prep school kids. (I"m from the west coast, so this was an adjustment for me, not sure about your S19!) Honestly there is a place for everyone on this campus, the faculty here are some of the most welcoming and student oriented I have ever met. There’s a reason we have the honor code and it really does work. If your son has more specific questions about Midd, feel free to PM me!
Regarding collegiate honor codes, this New York Times article was written by a Middlebury student, though it touches on other colleges as well: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/education/edlife/the-fading-honor-code.html.
@lenafia: What year are you at Middlebury College ?
@lenafia Besides crunchy Vermonters and snooty East Coasters, you also got some Midwesterners coming your way to beef up their poor showing at Midd (Middlebury is, for some reason, relatively unknown in the Midwest).
Actually, that is an interested regional thing. Few students from my kid’s school apply to Middlebury and other Northeastern SLACs, and their acceptance rates to these are about the national rates or lower. However, many more apply to Carleton, Oberlin, and other Midwestern SLACs, and have much higher acceptance rates than the colleges’ national rates.
It is similar for the Ivies and other top schools in the NE - the application rates from my kid’s school to the Ivies very low, and their acceptance rates are at, or lower, than their reported acceptance rates. For example, over the past three years, only 47 applied to Harvard, and only 3 were accepted (6.3%, no different than the 5.6% nationally). But their application rates and their acceptance rates at UChicago, Northwestern, and ND are far higher. So, over the same three years, 142 applied to UChicago, and, of those, 26 were accepted (18.3%, compared to the national 8.4%).
It seems to me that it is a mixture of the fact that Midwestern Universities and colleges are more familiar with with the high school (though many more are probably familiar with it now, thanks to Starz network, unfortunately, not in a way that will help acceptance rates), and the fact that Midwesterners are more familiar with these schools, and are more likely to apply for ED at places like UChicago than at Harvard.
We are in Chicago and I wouldn’t say Midd in unknown. I know two alums just in our suburban town. Both who had amazing experiences. And the alumnus who just interviewed S19 yesterday saw six other kids. LACs aren’t super popular in general at our high school. The top kids usually want HYPS or elite universities (Duke Vandy NU etc). S19 is into the LAC idea and is glad he’s not competing against all of his friends!!
@MWolf: What does the “S” mean in SLACs ? Selective ? Or ???
@homerdog I guess that “relatively unknown” would be more correct. I’ve met more non-academics in my neck of the woods who haven’t heard about Midd than those who have, whereas most have heard of Carleton and Oberlin.
I think that the preference for universities over LACs is the rule for our High School as well. Only about 10% of the high school’s college-bound students ended up actually attending a LAC, versus about 77% who went to universities. However, they do prefer local top uni’s, such as UChicago, Nothwestern, UMichigan, etc. Where they go seems to be more dependent on cost, though (our suburb is highly educated, but people are not as wealthy as it would seem, based on reputation).
I’m not sure how many students who applied to both LACs and Universities and ended up going to one versus the other, since the high-school only counts application numbers per school.
BTW, I am absolutely certain that my kid will have an amazing time at Midd.
PS. I’m pretty sure you know what suburb I’m from…
@Publisher Yes, the “S” stands for “Selective”. I have seen it used for “Small” as well, but that is not how I used it here.