Experience with Middlebury College?

[Anonymous]

My DS is considering it, but it's pretty far from where we live (Southwest) so we won't be able to visit in person, so he's looking at videos and online info.

Anyone have direct experiences or have a DC attend? Thoughts? Things we should know? His major would most likely be Poli Sci or Global History.

[Anonymous]

no one?

[Anonymous]

Patience, grasshopper.

My experience is a mix of kids of Wall Street types from Darien, Bronxville, Summit, etc. combined with a FGUMs to add diversity. Very good school. Great if you like to ski. Good outcomes professionally if you network with your classmates with important parents.

[Anonymous]

Middlebury the town is a classic New England small town. There are a few stores and restaurants, but not a lot.

The campus is nice. The dorm I was in was nice. It had several common spaces inside, including one with a piano. They have some people tunnels between some of the buildings, which can be handy when it is cold and damp outside.

I only was there for language school one summer. The summer language school is world class. Middlebury is strong in languages, international relations, and related topics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Patience, grasshopper.

My experience is a mix of kids of Wall Street types from Darien, Bronxville, Summit, etc. combined with a FGUMs to add diversity. Very good school. Great if you like to ski. Good outcomes professionally if you network with your classmates with important parents.

What is FGUMs?

[Anonymous]

Middlebury is a great school with a beautiful campus. They've had some financial issues over the last few years (mainly fueled by deficits from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California), but endowments is healthy $1.5B and they've raised $550M in their current capital campaign. New president starts July 1. Heavy on ED these days.

[Anonymous]

Great for rich white kids to escape for four years and get their humanities degree before selling out to jobs to stay upper middle class. A lot of ivy rejects or hesitant to apply to ivy so ED. Probably the best maintained top liberal arts college campus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middlebury is a great school with a beautiful campus. They've had some financial issues over the last few years (mainly fueled by deficits from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in California), but endowments is healthy $1.5B and they've raised $550M in their current capital campaign. New president starts July 1. Heavy on ED these days.

I’d be nervous about the president change

[Anonymous]

I really liked Middlebury when I visited with my kid. Beautiful campus, great place for someone who wants to take a foreign language, enjoys winter sports and doesn’t mind the rural location. The rural location was a turn off for my kid.

[Anonymous]

Isolated

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Patience, grasshopper.

My experience is a mix of kids of Wall Street types from Darien, Bronxville, Summit, etc. combined with a FGUMs to add diversity. Very good school. Great if you like to ski. Good outcomes professionally if you network with your classmates with important parents.

What is FGUMs?

NP: I’m guessing first generation under-represented minorities. They take a bunch of kids from the various inner city minority programs.

[Anonymous]

I went to Middlebury -- though to be fair, it was 20+ years ago. I'm from a big city and initally felt like a fish out of water when I got there. But in very short order, I found my friend, many of whom are still my best friends -- we have reunions just for the six of us every few years. I loved it so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I really liked Middlebury when I visited with my kid. Beautiful campus, great place for someone who wants to take a foreign language, enjoys winter sports and doesn’t mind the rural location. The rural location was a turn off for my kid.

I went to college there...at the beginning of the century though. I loved my time there in numerous ways.

Perhaps things have changed, but as I understood it at the time, the summer language institute is outstanding. The college's language departments are fine, but not what give Middlebury its language reputation.

[Anonymous]

Middlebury was seen as having better foreign language departments and IR-type courses than Williams many years ago, but that may have changed?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Middlebury was seen as having better foreign language departments and IR-type courses than Williams many years ago, but that may have changed?

It is still true but foreign language is a lot less popular than it used to be. Many departments closing at the top schools across the country-especially in Russia/Eastern Europe and even German programs are running thin on students. Italian has been wiped from Williams.