Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a Forbes account? I’m wondering what the latest financial grades are for these colleges.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2025/03/07/forbes-college-financial-grades-2025-americas-strongest-and-weakest-schools/

Davidson: A
Denison: A-
Middlebury: A-
Wesleyan: B+

Note that with decimal point gradations in the original source, Denison places slightly higher than Middlebury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these schools are great, but Davidson is top-ranked. For years, Middlebury coasted on its reputation, but as metrics changed to outcomes, it ranked lower. Also, coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, Middlebury had some financial issues. Subsequently, it couldn’t compete as aggressively with other schools on financial aid and other investments.

Where is Davidson top-ranked from this group?

Davidson is the highest ranked of these four schools on USNWR and WSJ, to name a few. The WSJ ranks Davidson 10 overall amongst both national universities and LACs.

Davidson has worse academic and career outcomes than Middlebury.

Based on what?

Grad school feeder rankings, and the amount of students going into top financial firms.

Makes sense. Quite a few full pay white kids from wealthy families go there.

The previous poster made an assertion and you lapped it up. Where are the facts. Finance jobs in the NE are like hamburger jobs; everyone has one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a Forbes account? I’m wondering what the latest financial grades are for these colleges.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2025/03/07/forbes-college-financial-grades-2025-americas-strongest-and-weakest-schools/

Davidson: A
Denison: A-
Middlebury: A-
Wesleyan: B+

Note that with decimal point gradations in the original source, Denison places slightly higher than Middlebury.

Thanks. Can we agree that none of these colleges are in dire financial straits?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these schools are great, but Davidson is top-ranked. For years, Middlebury coasted on its reputation, but as metrics changed to outcomes, it ranked lower. Also, coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, Middlebury had some financial issues. Subsequently, it couldn’t compete as aggressively with other schools on financial aid and other investments.

Where is Davidson top-ranked from this group?

Davidson is the highest ranked of these four schools on USNWR and WSJ, to name a few. The WSJ ranks Davidson 10 overall amongst both national universities and LACs.

Note that Davidson shares a U.S. News spot with Wesleyan, at #14.

In an example of another ranking, Middlebury places most highly from this group:

https://wallethub.com/edu/e/college-rankings/40750

Also note that Middlebury hasn’t ranked higher than 12 since 1990.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these schools are great, but Davidson is top-ranked. For years, Middlebury coasted on its reputation, but as metrics changed to outcomes, it ranked lower. Also, coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, Middlebury had some financial issues. Subsequently, it couldn’t compete as aggressively with other schools on financial aid and other investments.

Where is Davidson top-ranked from this group?

Davidson is the highest ranked of these four schools on USNWR and WSJ, to name a few. The WSJ ranks Davidson 10 overall amongst both national universities and LACs.

Davidson has worse academic and career outcomes than Middlebury.

Based on what?

Grad school feeder rankings, and the amount of students going into top financial firms.

Makes sense. Quite a few full pay white kids from wealthy families go there.

Davidson is whiter than Middlebury. They give a similar amount of financial aid to students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these schools are great, but Davidson is top-ranked. For years, Middlebury coasted on its reputation, but as metrics changed to outcomes, it ranked lower. Also, coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, Middlebury had some financial issues. Subsequently, it couldn’t compete as aggressively with other schools on financial aid and other investments.

Where is Davidson top-ranked from this group?

Davidson is the highest ranked of these four schools on USNWR and WSJ, to name a few. The WSJ ranks Davidson 10 overall amongst both national universities and LACs.

Note that Davidson shares a U.S. News spot with Wesleyan, at #14.

In an example of another ranking, Middlebury places most highly from this group:

https://wallethub.com/edu/e/college-rankings/40750

Also note that Middlebury hasn’t ranked higher than 12 since 1990.

The average USNWR Rankings from 2000 - 2024 for all of these schools is:

Middilebury: 7
Davidson: 11
Wesleyan: 14
Denison: 38

And the correct answer is that out of the last 35 years Middlebury has only 5 times been ranked outside of the top 10.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone have a Forbes account? I’m wondering what the latest financial grades are for these colleges.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmawhitford/2025/03/07/forbes-college-financial-grades-2025-americas-strongest-and-weakest-schools/

Davidson: A
Denison: A-
Middlebury: A-
Wesleyan: B+

Note that with decimal point gradations in the original source, Denison places slightly higher than Middlebury.

Thanks. Can we agree that none of these colleges are in dire financial straits?

100%

[Anonymous]

My kid didn’t want to apply to Middlebury after visiting — too remote and cold. Loved Davidson and Wesleyan. Did not look at Denison yet. Ratings aside, Davidson had the best overall presentation and offerings during our visit. Maybe folks should actually visit instead of sitting in their living rooms and opining on the merits of each based on wallethub rankings that no one cares about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid didn’t want to apply to Middlebury after visiting — too remote and cold. Loved Davidson and Wesleyan. Did not look at Denison yet. Ratings aside, Davidson had the best overall presentation and offerings during our visit. Maybe folks should actually visit instead of sitting in their living rooms and opining on the merits of each based on wallethub rankings that no one cares about.

This would have been a fine contribution if you hadn't concluded by criticizing the contributions of others.

[Anonymous]

What’s tiring is the poster who relentlessly pushes Middlebury and bashes Davidson. It reeks of the old and tired bias that no Southern school can be any good while every NE school is a winner. The facts suggest that all these schools are great, but maybe, just maybe, Middlebury is slipping a bit and Davidson is gaining momentum. Let’s be open to new possibilities.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these schools are great, but Davidson is top-ranked. For years, Middlebury coasted on its reputation, but as metrics changed to outcomes, it ranked lower. Also, coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, Middlebury had some financial issues. Subsequently, it couldn’t compete as aggressively with other schools on financial aid and other investments.

Where is Davidson top-ranked from this group?

If you use SAT medians as a proxy Davidson is in the middle with Wesleyan

Middelbury 1500 median
Wesleyan 1430 median
Davidson 1430 median
Denison 1370 median

Middlebury is a clear step above the others but they are all great schools and I would choose solely based on fit unless you were looking for Wall Street where Midd is one of the strongest SLACs probably second to Williams and closing.

Worth noting that Wesleyan requires all enrolling students to submit their scores, even if they applied TO, and all of that data is included in their CDS. Not sure that’s true of any of the other schools, so this isn’t necessarily apples to apples.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these schools are great, but Davidson is top-ranked. For years, Middlebury coasted on its reputation, but as metrics changed to outcomes, it ranked lower. Also, coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, Middlebury had some financial issues. Subsequently, it couldn’t compete as aggressively with other schools on financial aid and other investments.

Where is Davidson top-ranked from this group?

Davidson is the highest ranked of these four schools on USNWR and WSJ, to name a few. The WSJ ranks Davidson 10 overall amongst both national universities and LACs.

Davidson has worse academic and career outcomes than Middlebury.

Based on what?

Grad school feeder rankings, and the amount of students going into top financial firms.

Makes sense. Quite a few full pay white kids from wealthy families go there.

The previous poster made an assertion and you lapped it up. Where are the facts. Finance jobs in the NE are like hamburger jobs; everyone has one.

What I said remains true

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What’s tiring is the poster who relentlessly pushes Middlebury and bashes Davidson. It reeks of the old and tired bias that no Southern school can be any good while every NE school is a winner. The facts suggest that all these schools are great, but maybe, just maybe, Middlebury is slipping a bit and Davidson is gaining momentum. Let’s be open to new possibilities.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these schools are great, but Davidson is top-ranked. For years, Middlebury coasted on its reputation, but as metrics changed to outcomes, it ranked lower. Also, coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, Middlebury had some financial issues. Subsequently, it couldn’t compete as aggressively with other schools on financial aid and other investments.

Where is Davidson top-ranked from this group?

Davidson is the highest ranked of these four schools on USNWR and WSJ, to name a few. The WSJ ranks Davidson 10 overall amongst both national universities and LACs.

Davidson has worse academic and career outcomes than Middlebury.

Based on what?

Grad school feeder rankings, and the amount of students going into top financial firms.

Makes sense. Quite a few full pay white kids from wealthy families go there.

Davidson is whiter than Middlebury. They give a similar amount of financial aid to students.

Davidson has a need blind admissions process, and it is not "whiter."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:All these schools are great, but Davidson is top-ranked. For years, Middlebury coasted on its reputation, but as metrics changed to outcomes, it ranked lower. Also, coming out of the Great Financial Crisis, Middlebury had some financial issues. Subsequently, it couldn’t compete as aggressively with other schools on financial aid and other investments.

Where is Davidson top-ranked from this group?

If you use SAT medians as a proxy Davidson is in the middle with Wesleyan

Middelbury 1500 median
Wesleyan 1430 median
Davidson 1430 median
Denison 1370 median

Middlebury is a clear step above the others but they are all great schools and I would choose solely based on fit unless you were looking for Wall Street where Midd is one of the strongest SLACs probably second to Williams and closing.

Worth noting that Wesleyan requires all enrolling students to submit their scores, even if they applied TO, and all of that data is included in their CDS. Not sure that’s true of any of the other schools, so this isn’t necessarily apples to apples.

Wes has the highest submission percentage, about 20% more than the other si you include the ACT kids. I'm not sure how much that skews the data but not too much I suspect. All of these schools are excellent and I do not believe that there is a significant difference between the srudent body at any of these schools.