Middlebury, Conn College, Colby

[Anonymous]

Wow. The lack of information re SLACs on this forum never ceases to amaze. Middlebury is a T15 small college. It is a hair below the very best (e.g. Williams). It has a loyal alum base and places many into finance. Having worked and hired in finance myself, I’d be delighted to hire a Midd student just as soon as I’d hire a big state school student as there is nowhere to hide academically at small colleges like Midd. They may well be the best undergrad education there is and I say that as an HYP alum.

For those considering them, Midd is a small beautiful town but if you don’t like to ski or do winter outdoorsy things it may not be for you as it’s small and alternative options more limited.

(For those who care about rankings although great schools, Wake and BC are in the high 20s low 30s.)

Colby is increasingly popular but is not as highly ranked as Midd (top 25). Waterville is not as quaint as VT and a bit more isolated. Some think Colby has gamed some rankings but whatever - it’s a wonderful community and place to go to school. It’s very hard to get in if not applying ED. Nearby Bowdoin is a bit more prestigious and may have hit the sweet spot on location (close to Portland)
.

Conn College is a much easier admit than the other two. The town is rather depressing IMO.
Not sure what vibe is on campus. It still skews pretty heavily female.

Nevertheless, New England LACs can be great places to go to school. They are tight knit communities with personalized educations and loyal alumni networks. It’s just a matter of fit and feel.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow. The lack of information re SLACs on this forum never ceases to amaze. Middlebury is a T15 small college. It is a hair below the very best (e.g. Williams). It has a loyal alum base and places many into finance. Having worked and hired in finance myself, I’d be delighted to hire a Midd student just as soon as I’d hire a big state school student as there is nowhere to hide academically at small colleges like Midd. They may well be the best undergrad education there is and I say that as an HYP alum.

For those considering them, Midd is a small beautiful town but if you don’t like to ski or do winter outdoorsy things it may not be for you as it’s small and alternative options more limited.

(For those who care about rankings although great schools, Wake and BC are in the high 20s low 30s.)

Colby is increasingly popular but is not as highly ranked as Midd (top 25). Waterville is not as quaint as VT and a bit more isolated. Some think Colby has gamed some rankings but whatever - it’s a wonderful community and place to go to school. It’s very hard to get in if not applying ED. Nearby Bowdoin is a bit more prestigious and may have hit the sweet spot on location (close to Portland)
.

Conn College is a much easier admit than the other two. The town is rather depressing IMO.
Not sure what vibe is on campus. It still skews pretty heavily female.

Nevertheless, New England LACs can be great places to go to school. They are tight knit communities with personalized educations and loyal alumni networks. It’s just a matter of fit and feel.

+1 to the above descriptions. Midd is below Amherst/Williams but more prestigious than Conn and Colby and the student body is also probably more diverse. I would also choose Midd’s location over the two other locations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No strivers.

💯

[Anonymous]

Speaking only to Colby….It’s a great school with a close, successful and supportive alumni base. Waterville in accelerating in the right direction, interestingly garnered by Colby’s development of the Lockwood Hotel (interestingly, Colby developed a nice hotel in Waterville with an outstanding restaurant because they thought it would enhance the interest in their school if there were solid accommodations…and they were absolutely correct).

Campus is a B, Waterville is a B+ and rising, college community is a solid A.

[Anonymous]

A lot of Bradford winstonworth’s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Id put Middlebury somewhere between Wake Forest and Boston College. Definitely better than Fordham!

Midd is so far above both Wake and BC, it's laughable.

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Waste of money IMO. Would much rather send my kid to UMD to major in CS/Engineering or do pre-med or finance/accounting than for some liberal arts degree from a no-name LAC. Middlebury doesn't even place that well into finance -- UVA would be much better.

Agreed

+1

These are schools that should be avoided unless you're a 1%er.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Visited Connecticut College and was not impressed. Surrounding town was shabby and scary, campus buildings old and tired looking.

Seriously? The campus buildings are old because most of them are historic and were built in the 20’s and 30’s. The college is across the street from the US Coast Guard Academy. Campus is gorgeous and sits above the town of New London on a hill. Agree about New London, but parts of it are nice down by the water/beaches. Mystic is where most everyone goes to. Transportation is convenient. Amtrak station in town. About 2 hours from NYC and 1.5 hours from Boston.

[Anonymous]

All are great NESCAC LACs. Rankings probably are Midd > Colby > Conn.

Are they worth full pay? If your family makes enough, then sure!

Conn may offer some merit money. Midd and Colby probably will not. Colby, especially so, and the others too, serve lots of private and boarding school kids.

[Anonymous]

Both Middlebury and Colby are amazing and incredibly hard to get into. So many folks here know nothing about LACs. Colby is actually harder to get into than Middlebury. My DS found them to be too remote, but thought they were great schools.

[Anonymous]

We visited all three. Middlebury the most beautiful of all of them, with the most spread out campus. Lots of outdoorsy kids, strong community, terrific liberal arts education, with a path to any career your kid might want (including finance if that’s their jam, wasn’t my kid’s). The world would be wide open, they’d have a great network, and in the meantime, they’d ski.

The others are solid. I’d have been fine with any of them, but Midd was most beautiful, in the best setting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Both Middlebury and Colby are amazing and incredibly hard to get into. So many folks here know nothing about LACs. Colby is actually harder to get into than Middlebury. My DS found them to be too remote, but thought they were great schools.

Appreciate your honesty, but you lost credibility by claiming that "Colby is actually harder to get into than Middlebury".

Colby College plays games regarding admissions. I suspect that one who has offers from both schools would select Middlebury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both Middlebury and Colby are amazing and incredibly hard to get into. So many folks here know nothing about LACs. Colby is actually harder to get into than Middlebury. My DS found them to be too remote, but thought they were great schools.

Appreciate your honesty, but you lost credibility by claiming that "Colby is actually harder to get into than Middlebury".

Colby College plays games regarding admissions. I suspect that one who has offers from both schools would select Middlebury.

https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?q=middlebury&s=all&fv=161086+230959&cp=1&sl=161086+230959

Test scores are about same. Colby has higher rate of test score submission than Middlebury.
I don't see why people say Middlebury is harder to get in.

[Anonymous]

I too am suspicious of the Colby admit rate. I’m a Midd alum with several classmates whose kids recently got into Colby and not Middlebury, even as legacies. I know another kid in class if 22 who ED’d to Midd, got rejected and ended up at Colby. Maybe Colby is just harder to get into if you are not an affluent white kid??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where would Middlebury rank if compared to major Universities?

Better or worse than Wake Forest?

Midd is a bit worse academically but they are vastly different schools. You should not compare them but embrace the differences and decide based on what's most important.