Why would you pay full freight to send your kid to Middlebury?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy this is a dumb thread even by DCUM standards. Still, I'll add my two cents.

All of our kids are five years or more out of college. When they were applying most were very good students and we were, to put it mildly, full pay. Yet it never occurred either to them or to us to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a college education. Study after study has shown that the only group of students who does significantly better in life by attending an "elite" college over, say, a state school, are URMs from modest economic backgrounds. Fast forward five or ten years post graduation, for the vast majority of DCUM posters you won't be able to tell which of your kid's friends went to State U a school like Middlebury. It simply doesn't matter. It won't even matter at cocktail parties -- instead of bragging about what school your kid got into, you'll be bragging about their job.

You and your pesky facts. This is the internet, where people just say stuff.

You mean professionally. And you think that’s all college is, professional preparation?

Where's your proof that State U prepares you less than a Middlebury for anything else?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy this is a dumb thread even by DCUM standards. Still, I'll add my two cents.

All of our kids are five years or more out of college. When they were applying most were very good students and we were, to put it mildly, full pay. Yet it never occurred either to them or to us to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a college education. Study after study has shown that the only group of students who does significantly better in life by attending an "elite" college over, say, a state school, are URMs from modest economic backgrounds. Fast forward five or ten years post graduation, for the vast majority of DCUM posters you won't be able to tell which of your kid's friends went to State U a school like Middlebury. It simply doesn't matter. It won't even matter at cocktail parties -- instead of bragging about what school your kid got into, you'll be bragging about their job.

You and your pesky facts. This is the internet, where people just say stuff.

You mean professionally. And you think that’s all college is, professional preparation?

So what is your evidence that a state school grad will lack compare to a Middlebury grad in these other types of preparation?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy this is a dumb thread even by DCUM standards. Still, I'll add my two cents.

All of our kids are five years or more out of college. When they were applying most were very good students and we were, to put it mildly, full pay. Yet it never occurred either to them or to us to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a college education. Study after study has shown that the only group of students who does significantly better in life by attending an "elite" college over, say, a state school, are URMs from modest economic backgrounds. Fast forward five or ten years post graduation, for the vast majority of DCUM posters you won't be able to tell which of your kid's friends went to State U a school like Middlebury. It simply doesn't matter. It won't even matter at cocktail parties -- instead of bragging about what school your kid got into, you'll be bragging about their job.

You and your pesky facts. This is the internet, where people just say stuff.

You mean professionally. And you think that’s all college is, professional preparation?

So what is your evidence that a state school grad will lack compare to a Middlebury grad in these other types of preparation?

Community college is where it’s at.

[Anonymous]

I was the one that said the rep was dry to my DS at the fair after we visited twice on campus. For various reasons she knew my DS's stats (won't get into why). I think it is a reputable school but we are not EDing there anymore.

We did research on law school placement because my DS wants to go to law school. They have good law school placement at top schools (we looked up top law schools and the number of kids from a particular undergrad). However, we will now go back and refresh the research and look at Haverford and Davidson's law school placement.

We expected an enthusiastic reception from the rep. When she did not respond; we assume she viewed DS's candidacy as weak.

My only point here is I think the school has a decent reputation for what we wanted to do and that is why DS was so excited about it. Was our clear clear number 1. Now we are not going for it because we want to ED and be done and don't think that will happen here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the one that said the rep was dry to my DS at the fair after we visited twice on campus. For various reasons she knew my DS's stats (won't get into why). I think it is a reputable school but we are not EDing there anymore.

We did research on law school placement because my DS wants to go to law school. They have good law school placement at top schools (we looked up top law schools and the number of kids from a particular undergrad). However, we will now go back and refresh the research and look at Haverford and Davidson's law school placement.

We expected an enthusiastic reception from the rep. When she did not respond; we assume she viewed DS's candidacy as weak.

My only point here is I think the school has a decent reputation for what we wanted to do and that is why DS was so excited about it. Was our clear clear number 1. Now we are not going for it because we want to ED and be done and don't think that will happen here.

Davidson actually came and recruited at DC's private. When DC got accepted (not in top 10% of the class) the admissions official said "we know how rigorous [name of school] is." Thank goodness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was the one that said the rep was dry to my DS at the fair after we visited twice on campus. For various reasons she knew my DS's stats (won't get into why). I think it is a reputable school but we are not EDing there anymore.

We did research on law school placement because my DS wants to go to law school. They have good law school placement at top schools (we looked up top law schools and the number of kids from a particular undergrad). However, we will now go back and refresh the research and look at Haverford and Davidson's law school placement.

We expected an enthusiastic reception from the rep. When she did not respond; we assume she viewed DS's candidacy as weak.

My only point here is I think the school has a decent reputation for what we wanted to do and that is why DS was so excited about it. Was our clear clear number 1. Now we are not going for it because we want to ED and be done and don't think that will happen here.

Davidson actually came and recruited at DC's private. When DC got accepted (not in top 10% of the class) the admissions official said "we know how rigorous [name of school] is." Thank goodness.

Good luck! All fantastic options.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the one that said the rep was dry to my DS at the fair after we visited twice on campus. For various reasons she knew my DS's stats (won't get into why). I think it is a reputable school but we are not EDing there anymore.

We did research on law school placement because my DS wants to go to law school. They have good law school placement at top schools (we looked up top law schools and the number of kids from a particular undergrad). However, we will now go back and refresh the research and look at Haverford and Davidson's law school placement.

We expected an enthusiastic reception from the rep. When she did not respond; we assume she viewed DS's candidacy as weak.

My only point here is I think the school has a decent reputation for what we wanted to do and that is why DS was so excited about it. Was our clear clear number 1. Now we are not going for it because we want to ED and be done and don't think that will happen here.

Pro-tip, you are not applying to colleges. Why is everything "we" in your posts? Are you really doing all of this research and efort for your child? Are you going to write their college papers and give their presentations too?

Maybe there is a clearer picture as to why the Middlebury rep was distant?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was the one that said the rep was dry to my DS at the fair after we visited twice on campus. For various reasons she knew my DS's stats (won't get into why). I think it is a reputable school but we are not EDing there anymore.

We did research on law school placement because my DS wants to go to law school. They have good law school placement at top schools (we looked up top law schools and the number of kids from a particular undergrad). However, we will now go back and refresh the research and look at Haverford and Davidson's law school placement.

We expected an enthusiastic reception from the rep. When she did not respond; we assume she viewed DS's candidacy as weak.

My only point here is I think the school has a decent reputation for what we wanted to do and that is why DS was so excited about it. Was our clear clear number 1. Now we are not going for it because we want to ED and be done and don't think that will happen here.

Pro-tip, you are not applying to colleges. Why is everything "we" in your posts? Are you really doing all of this research and efort for your child? Are you going to write their college papers and give their presentations too?

Maybe there is a clearer picture as to why the Middlebury rep was distant?

Not the poster that said we but may be she is just being supportive and helpful to their kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy this is a dumb thread even by DCUM standards. Still, I'll add my two cents.

All of our kids are five years or more out of college. When they were applying most were very good students and we were, to put it mildly, full pay. Yet it never occurred either to them or to us to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a college education. Study after study has shown that the only group of students who does significantly better in life by attending an "elite" college over, say, a state school, are URMs from modest economic backgrounds. Fast forward five or ten years post graduation, for the vast majority of DCUM posters you won't be able to tell which of your kid's friends went to State U a school like Middlebury. It simply doesn't matter. It won't even matter at cocktail parties -- instead of bragging about what school your kid got into, you'll be bragging about their job.

You and your pesky facts. This is the internet, where people just say stuff.

You mean professionally. And you think that’s all college is, professional preparation?

what are these other types of preparation? and how does a Middlebury education prepare you for them, while a state school does not?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy this is a dumb thread even by DCUM standards. Still, I'll add my two cents.

All of our kids are five years or more out of college. When they were applying most were very good students and we were, to put it mildly, full pay. Yet it never occurred either to them or to us to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a college education. Study after study has shown that the only group of students who does significantly better in life by attending an "elite" college over, say, a state school, are URMs from modest economic backgrounds. Fast forward five or ten years post graduation, for the vast majority of DCUM posters you won't be able to tell which of your kid's friends went to State U a school like Middlebury. It simply doesn't matter. It won't even matter at cocktail parties -- instead of bragging about what school your kid got into, you'll be bragging about their job.

You and your pesky facts. This is the internet, where people just say stuff.

You mean professionally. And you think that’s all college is, professional preparation?

what are these other types of preparation? and how does a Middlebury education prepare you for them, while a state school does not?

Are you suggesting that there isn't a difference between the educational experience at Middlebury vs. some large public state school? If you are then you're delusional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy this is a dumb thread even by DCUM standards. Still, I'll add my two cents.

All of our kids are five years or more out of college. When they were applying most were very good students and we were, to put it mildly, full pay. Yet it never occurred either to them or to us to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a college education. Study after study has shown that the only group of students who does significantly better in life by attending an "elite" college over, say, a state school, are URMs from modest economic backgrounds. Fast forward five or ten years post graduation, for the vast majority of DCUM posters you won't be able to tell which of your kid's friends went to State U a school like Middlebury. It simply doesn't matter. It won't even matter at cocktail parties -- instead of bragging about what school your kid got into, you'll be bragging about their job.

You and your pesky facts. This is the internet, where people just say stuff.

You mean professionally. And you think that’s all college is, professional preparation?

what are these other types of preparation? and how does a Middlebury education prepare you for them, while a state school does not?

I’m not the PP but I will attempt to answer this. I am the PP that posted about Wooster and Midd attacking their own tribes whose DD was waitlisted at Midd. So I have one in a flagship and one in Top 50 SLAC. Different kids and different schools. In general I am biased toward the liberal arts because I want my kids to be educated for the sake of being educated. So when I look at the books my son is reading in college and the small discussion based classes I see a model of engaged students and open discussion around a classical education. And that is a great thing for my DS - frankly it truly is a luxury in this life. But he’s also at a small school so he doesn’t have to learn to self advocate or navigate a large organization like my daughter does. Also somewhat ironically because most of the students at her flagship made their decision partly based on financial decisions I actually think the competition is tougher. Some of the students are hungrier and are used to having to fight for what they get.

And I’ve seen it when talking to friends of mine that hire. The students, especially the honors students, from the flagships are usually known to be hard workers that realize they will have to work and fight for their opportunities. They will also lack the quiet confidence that the typical student from Midd possesses because he grew up opportunity rich and has a certain level of comfort knowing that his social network will provide. So the students from Midd come from educated families that maybe discuss how the world economy works over dinner and has the fit and finish of knowing how to behave and engage in social and business functions.

Two different kids, two different experiences, two different set of life expectations. The Midd supporters on this thread understand this difference - heck just attending Midd is social signaling.

So, I see value in both. Frankly I would suggest a SLAC for undergrad and a research university for graduate. But not all young people want the small school experience which was the case with my daughter.

And last in some industries like finance and consulting they are looking for kids from these schools because of the social signaling attendance at schools indicate. Hence the popularity of economics as a major.

Know your kid and do what’s right for them.

And personally I’d pay for a Midd before I’d pay for a Northeastern or NYU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was the one that said the rep was dry to my DS at the fair after we visited twice on campus. For various reasons she knew my DS's stats (won't get into why). I think it is a reputable school but we are not EDing there anymore.

We did research on law school placement because my DS wants to go to law school. They have good law school placement at top schools (we looked up top law schools and the number of kids from a particular undergrad). However, we will now go back and refresh the research and look at Haverford and Davidson's law school placement.

We expected an enthusiastic reception from the rep. When she did not respond; we assume she viewed DS's candidacy as weak.

My only point here is I think the school has a decent reputation for what we wanted to do and that is why DS was so excited about it. Was our clear clear number 1. Now we are not going for it because we want to ED and be done and don't think that will happen here.

Oh, so you think Middlebury is "reputable" and has a "decent" reputation? Candidly, you sound like an imbecile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy this is a dumb thread even by DCUM standards. Still, I'll add my two cents.

All of our kids are five years or more out of college. When they were applying most were very good students and we were, to put it mildly, full pay. Yet it never occurred either to them or to us to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a college education. Study after study has shown that the only group of students who does significantly better in life by attending an "elite" college over, say, a state school, are URMs from modest economic backgrounds. Fast forward five or ten years post graduation, for the vast majority of DCUM posters you won't be able to tell which of your kid's friends went to State U a school like Middlebury. It simply doesn't matter. It won't even matter at cocktail parties -- instead of bragging about what school your kid got into, you'll be bragging about their job.

You and your pesky facts. This is the internet, where people just say stuff.

You mean professionally. And you think that’s all college is, professional preparation?

what are these other types of preparation? and how does a Middlebury education prepare you for them, while a state school does not?

I’m not the PP but I will attempt to answer this. I am the PP that posted about Wooster and Midd attacking their own tribes whose DD was waitlisted at Midd. So I have one in a flagship and one in Top 50 SLAC. Different kids and different schools. In general I am biased toward the liberal arts because I want my kids to be educated for the sake of being educated. So when I look at the books my son is reading in college and the small discussion based classes I see a model of engaged students and open discussion around a classical education. And that is a great thing for my DS - frankly it truly is a luxury in this life. But he’s also at a small school so he doesn’t have to learn to self advocate or navigate a large organization like my daughter does. Also somewhat ironically because most of the students at her flagship made their decision partly based on financial decisions I actually think the competition is tougher. Some of the students are hungrier and are used to having to fight for what they get.

And I’ve seen it when talking to friends of mine that hire. The students, especially the honors students, from the flagships are usually known to be hard workers that realize they will have to work and fight for their opportunities. They will also lack the quiet confidence that the typical student from Midd possesses because he grew up opportunity rich and has a certain level of comfort knowing that his social network will provide. So the students from Midd come from educated families that maybe discuss how the world economy works over dinner and has the fit and finish of knowing how to behave and engage in social and business functions.

Two different kids, two different experiences, two different set of life expectations. The Midd supporters on this thread understand this difference - heck just attending Midd is social signaling.

So, I see value in both. Frankly I would suggest a SLAC for undergrad and a research university for graduate. But not all young people want the small school experience which was the case with my daughter.

And last in some industries like finance and consulting they are looking for kids from these schools because of the social signaling attendance at schools indicate. Hence the popularity of economics as a major.

Know your kid and do what’s right for them.

And personally I’d pay for a Midd before I’d pay for a Northeastern or NYU.

I agree with this generally (I'm not insisting on a good ROI or that the school be "worth it" in the sense of a high salary), but econ majors at the LACs are just as much "gunners" as they are at the state schools. No different really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Boy this is a dumb thread even by DCUM standards. Still, I'll add my two cents.

All of our kids are five years or more out of college. When they were applying most were very good students and we were, to put it mildly, full pay. Yet it never occurred either to them or to us to pay ridiculous amounts of money for a college education. Study after study has shown that the only group of students who does significantly better in life by attending an "elite" college over, say, a state school, are URMs from modest economic backgrounds. Fast forward five or ten years post graduation, for the vast majority of DCUM posters you won't be able to tell which of your kid's friends went to State U a school like Middlebury. It simply doesn't matter. It won't even matter at cocktail parties -- instead of bragging about what school your kid got into, you'll be bragging about their job.

You and your pesky facts. This is the internet, where people just say stuff.

You mean professionally. And you think that’s all college is, professional preparation?

what are these other types of preparation? and how does a Middlebury education prepare you for them, while a state school does not?

I’m not the PP but I will attempt to answer this. I am the PP that posted about Wooster and Midd attacking their own tribes whose DD was waitlisted at Midd. So I have one in a flagship and one in Top 50 SLAC. Different kids and different schools. In general I am biased toward the liberal arts because I want my kids to be educated for the sake of being educated. So when I look at the books my son is reading in college and the small discussion based classes I see a model of engaged students and open discussion around a classical education. And that is a great thing for my DS - frankly it truly is a luxury in this life. But he’s also at a small school so he doesn’t have to learn to self advocate or navigate a large organization like my daughter does. Also somewhat ironically because most of the students at her flagship made their decision partly based on financial decisions I actually think the competition is tougher. Some of the students are hungrier and are used to having to fight for what they get.

And I’ve seen it when talking to friends of mine that hire. The students, especially the honors students, from the flagships are usually known to be hard workers that realize they will have to work and fight for their opportunities. They will also lack the quiet confidence that the typical student from Midd possesses because he grew up opportunity rich and has a certain level of comfort knowing that his social network will provide. So the students from Midd come from educated families that maybe discuss how the world economy works over dinner and has the fit and finish of knowing how to behave and engage in social and business functions.

Two different kids, two different experiences, two different set of life expectations. The Midd supporters on this thread understand this difference - heck just attending Midd is social signaling.

So, I see value in both. Frankly I would suggest a SLAC for undergrad and a research university for graduate. But not all young people want the small school experience which was the case with my daughter.

And last in some industries like finance and consulting they are looking for kids from these schools because of the social signaling attendance at schools indicate. Hence the popularity of economics as a major.

Know your kid and do what’s right for them.

And personally I’d pay for a Midd before I’d pay for a Northeastern or NYU.

I guess it just all depends on what you value. If you want your kid to be around other wealthy kids who grow up in homes and have upbringings that are very similar to their own - and sounds like you definitely do - then Middlebury or another similar school that draws heavily from a wealthy coastal crowd is your place. Some people put a lot of value on that, and that's fine. For me, though, I think there's far more value in diversity and learning from others life experiences who are different than yours. My kid is at a small liberal arts college in the Midwest ranked in a different tier and I like that she has friends who grew up on farms, the children of blue collar workers who are the first in their family to attend college, who grew up in tough inner city environments, etc. I believe this diversity of viewpoints and life experiences will make her a far more compassionate and well-rounded individual than going to a school primarily of young adults who grew up with household incomes of $300k+ in Chevy Chase et al. and who know how to schmooze at a cocktail party. Meh.

[Anonymous]

Middlebury students come from about 70 countries.