Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 17:08     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Middlebury is no longer a language school. It’s a training group for finance now. Not that there’s anything wrong w that. Recruitment numbers are impressive
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:50     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Then why is Middlebury dropping way down probably more than any other LAC. Is it location, poor management, or as others have suggested cyclical.


fantastic school and big fan of the SLACs, but I think Middlebury may suffer from the widest athlete / non-athlete divide of all SLACs. Meaning if you are a non-athlete I’ve heard it’s tough to find your peeps. Whereas a liberal bastion like Wes readily celebrates the Doonesbury Zonker and poser NYC chic vibes (and sports are more of a counter culture despite sizable number of participants), a school like Middlebury may possibly struggle to find anything a non-athlete can readily identify with in terms of community


What a ridiculous notion. Per the school, 27% of students complete in varsity sports. So that leaves 2,000 non-athletes. For reference, that's the entire student population of the likes of Williams, Amherst, and Bowdoin.
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:38     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:Not a NESCAC fan, but in our full pay town Colby seems more popular than Middlebury for the 2nd tier NESCAC schools. Very seldom see a Bates auto decal-too liberal.


Honestly, these are all strong schools.
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:29     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Not a NESCAC fan, but in our full pay town Colby seems more popular than Middlebury for the 2nd tier NESCAC schools. Very seldom see a Bates auto decal-too liberal.
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:28     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No horse in this race but Middlebury is a top 20 LAC period. Peaked in the preppy handbook days of the 1980s.

Well, if the current U.S. News rankings are the source, I'd say top 21.

Nonetheless, rankings vary depending on the source. This site, for example, places Middlebury ahead of schools such as Grinnell, Wesleyan and Davidson:

https://wallethub.com/edu/e/college-rankings/40750
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:24     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:No horse in this race but Middlebury is a top 20 LAC period. Peaked in the preppy handbook days of the 1980s.

Well, if the current U.S. News rankings are the source, I'd say top 21.
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:21     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:No horse in this race but Middlebury is a top 20 LAC period. Peaked in the preppy handbook days of the 1980s.

Middlebury did not receive a mention in the Preppy Handbook. For those interested, this topic includes information on some of the colleges that were included:

The Official Preppy Handbook, 1980 (Archival Information) https://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/1268464.page

Of the 10 NESCAC LACs, Hamilton, Amherst, Williams, Trinity, Colby, Connecticut College, Bowdoin and Wesleyan were either featured or mentioned in the Preppy Handbook. Only 2 NESCAC LACs did not appear in any context: Middlebury and Bates.
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:21     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Interesting that MIDD had a drop in apps and Colgate also rural tough to get to suffered 3,000 decine in applications.
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:17     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Location is very remote kids like city campuses.
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:09     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:Then why is Middlebury dropping way down probably more than any other LAC. Is it location, poor management, or as others have suggested cyclical.


fantastic school and big fan of the SLACs, but I think Middlebury may suffer from the widest athlete / non-athlete divide of all SLACs. Meaning if you are a non-athlete I’ve heard it’s tough to find your peeps. Whereas a liberal bastion like Wes readily celebrates the Doonesbury Zonker and poser NYC chic vibes (and sports are more of a counter culture despite sizable number of participants), a school like Middlebury may possibly struggle to find anything a non-athlete can readily identify with in terms of community
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:07     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
^agree-large decline from top5 to tie for 19th.

Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 16:01     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Then why is Middlebury dropping way down probably more than any other LAC. Is it location, poor management, or as others have suggested cyclical.



Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 15:47     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:With 2025 US News ranking of 19, MIDD is comparable to Colgate and Richmond. It is not in the same neighborhood of Amherst, Williams and Bowdoin. Colby at 25 is more of a peer. Endowment wise it’s endowment is respectable but pales in comparison to Amherst, Bowdoin, Williams, Wellesley, Smith, Richmond.


Breaking out the quote from previous post.

Middlebury has been ranked in the top 10 LACs in USNews 22 times since 2000, and in the top five 12 times since 2000. Colgate has ranked in the top 10 once. Richmond has never ranked in the top 10, and has only ranked in the top 20 once. Colby has never been in the top 10.

Nice try, though.
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 15:46     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:For some reason Midd is the hardest NESCAC admit for our NJ public high school, both ED and RD. Here are the numbers over the past six years (and I'm sure ED numbers at all schools include recruited athletes):

Midd -- 6 percent total, 23 percent ED
Tufts -- 10 percent total, 39 percent ED
Bowdoin -- 12 percent total, 67 percent ED
Williams -- 12 percent total, 86 percent ED
Amherst -- 13 percent total, 50 percent ED
Wesleyan -- 14 percent total, n/a ED
Colby -- 17 percent total, 100 percent ED
Bates -- 22 percent total, 40 percent ED
Hamilton -- 23 percent total, 100 percent ED
Trinity -- 25 percent total, 50 percent ED
Conn -- 50 percent total, 100 percent ED


V interesting. Great data, ty


+1 Yes great data and thanks. Just goes to show you how you have to check your school’s data because it can vary so much with national rates.


Anyone know what percentage of students at Middlebury come from public high schools? I haven’t been able to find that info.


Most schools don't publish this data anymore. Back in 2016, 52% of Middlebury students came from public high schools.
Anonymous
Post 07/16/2025 15:20     Subject: Applications down at Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:For some reason Midd is the hardest NESCAC admit for our NJ public high school, both ED and RD. Here are the numbers over the past six years (and I'm sure ED numbers at all schools include recruited athletes):

Midd -- 6 percent total, 23 percent ED
Tufts -- 10 percent total, 39 percent ED
Bowdoin -- 12 percent total, 67 percent ED
Williams -- 12 percent total, 86 percent ED
Amherst -- 13 percent total, 50 percent ED
Wesleyan -- 14 percent total, n/a ED
Colby -- 17 percent total, 100 percent ED
Bates -- 22 percent total, 40 percent ED
Hamilton -- 23 percent total, 100 percent ED
Trinity -- 25 percent total, 50 percent ED
Conn -- 50 percent total, 100 percent ED


V interesting. Great data, ty


+1 Yes great data and thanks. Just goes to show you how you have to check your school’s data because it can vary so much with national rates.


Anyone know what percentage of students at Middlebury come from public high schools? I haven’t been able to find that info.