Anonymous
04/05/2025 13:20
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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.
I thought test scores were meaningless...
Anonymous
04/05/2025 12:26
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:"Middlebury is very wealthy and the small deficit that they have been carrying has zero impact on their operations. That said it is a good sign that they are moving to address it."
Even if you regard Middlebury's $14.1 million projected deficit for the current year as small, its perennial budget deficits present a major concern, and are uncharacteristic of Middlebury's peers.
That is true but it is also true that Middlebury easily has the resources to handle it. I am glad to see it being addressed (and would like to see them sell/spin out the MIIS) but it isn't anything more than an annoyance at this time. I suspect that they are being more aggressive because they see growing endowment taxes on the horizon which could be a much bigger hit.
Anonymous
04/05/2025 12:21
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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.
Anonymous
04/05/2025 12:10
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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?
Anonymous
04/05/2025 11:34
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
Back to OP question.
All are great schools. My son is junior. Denison, Midd and Davidson are his top 3, in no particular order.
All are great schools. My son is junior. Denison, Midd and Davidson are his top 3, in no particular order.
Anonymous
04/05/2025 11:30
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
"Middlebury is very wealthy and the small deficit that they have been carrying has zero impact on their operations. That said it is a good sign that they are moving to address it."
As an accounting aspect to consider, budget deficits aren't carried. They must be funded annually, such as through borrowing or drawing on the endowment.
As an accounting aspect to consider, budget deficits aren't carried. They must be funded annually, such as through borrowing or drawing on the endowment.
Anonymous
04/05/2025 11:17
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
"Middlebury is very wealthy and the small deficit that they have been carrying has zero impact on their operations. That said it is a good sign that they are moving to address it."
Even if you regard Middlebury's $14.1 million projected deficit for the current year as small, its perennial budget deficits present a major concern, and are uncharacteristic of Middlebury's peers.
Even if you regard Middlebury's $14.1 million projected deficit for the current year as small, its perennial budget deficits present a major concern, and are uncharacteristic of Middlebury's peers.
Anonymous
04/05/2025 11:14
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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.
None of this is true.
Perhaps not. Here's some info.
https://www.middlebury.edu/announcements/announcements/2025/04/budget-our-way-forward
Seems like a reasonable approach to address a budget deficit. Middlebury's former president let things go for far too long. Hopefully the new president, who starts in July, will be more fiscally responsible.
So the initial post about $ was pretty accurate.
No, not at all as it implied financial issues which obviously do not exist.
It also implied that Middlebury could not keep up from a financial perspective which is also false. Middlebury has a pretty wealthy peer group that they measure their endowment against and they sit in the middle. They do not want to sit in the middle, they want to push their endowment over $2B by 2028 (which could now be a challenge) and they have made these changes out of recognition not any need.
Middlebury’s rankings slip is 100% correlated to the social justice changes made to the USNWR ranking rubric and is truly a reflection of the ‘garbage in garbage out’ changes that were made to primarily make public schools look better.
Middlebury is very wealthy and the small deficit that they have been carrying has zero impact on their operations. That said it is a good sign that they are moving to address it.
Good job! You sound like an attorney or board member who's skilled at spinning.
Anonymous
04/05/2025 11:08
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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.
None of this is true.
Perhaps not. Here's some info.
https://www.middlebury.edu/announcements/announcements/2025/04/budget-our-way-forward
Seems like a reasonable approach to address a budget deficit. Middlebury's former president let things go for far too long. Hopefully the new president, who starts in July, will be more fiscally responsible.
So the initial post about $ was pretty accurate.
No, not at all as it implied financial issues which obviously do not exist.
It also implied that Middlebury could not keep up from a financial perspective which is also false. Middlebury has a pretty wealthy peer group that they measure their endowment against and they sit in the middle. They do not want to sit in the middle, they want to push their endowment over $2B by 2028 (which could now be a challenge) and they have made these changes out of recognition not any need.
Middlebury’s rankings slip is 100% correlated to the social justice changes made to the USNWR ranking rubric and is truly a reflection of the ‘garbage in garbage out’ changes that were made to primarily make public schools look better.
Middlebury is very wealthy and the small deficit that they have been carrying has zero impact on their operations. That said it is a good sign that they are moving to address it.
Anonymous
04/05/2025 10:56
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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.
None of this is true.
Perhaps not. Here's some info.
https://www.middlebury.edu/announcements/announcements/2025/04/budget-our-way-forward
Seems like a reasonable approach to address a budget deficit. Middlebury's former president let things go for far too long. Hopefully the new president, who starts in July, will be more fiscally responsible.
So the initial post about $ was pretty accurate.
It's not clear to me how the budget deficit impacted financial aid and other investments. Did Middlebury change its financial aid policy in response to an operating deficit, as Wesleyan did? If so, how? What programs have been cut as a result of the budget deficit?
Anonymous
04/05/2025 10:21
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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.
None of this is true.
Perhaps not. Here's some info.
https://www.middlebury.edu/announcements/announcements/2025/04/budget-our-way-forward
Seems like a reasonable approach to address a budget deficit. Middlebury's former president let things go for far too long. Hopefully the new president, who starts in July, will be more fiscally responsible.
So the initial post about $ was pretty accurate.
Anonymous
04/05/2025 09:44
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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.
None of this is true.
Perhaps not. Here's some info.
https://www.middlebury.edu/announcements/announcements/2025/04/budget-our-way-forward
Seems like a reasonable approach to address a budget deficit. Middlebury's former president let things go for far too long. Hopefully the new president, who starts in July, will be more fiscally responsible.
Anonymous
04/05/2025 08:02
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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.
None of this is true.
Perhaps not. Here's some info.
https://www.middlebury.edu/announcements/announcements/2025/04/budget-our-way-forward
Anonymous
04/04/2025 22:08
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
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.
None of this is true.
Anonymous
04/04/2025 22:05
Subject: Denison vs Wesleyan vs Davidson vs Middlebury
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Doesn’t Denison have by far the strongest endowment out of of these 4?
If I were to guess, perhaps you were thinking of Grinnell?
Yes; thanks.
Grinnell
How does higher endowment per student matters?