Middlebury College Top Questions

Students come from a wide range of academic and social interests.

Students come from a wide range of academic and social interests.

sadly, students mostly stick to their own kind.

Middlebury students are extremely smart and well-prepared for college, which means they not only excel in the classroom, but also find ways to make a difference outside of the classroom--and even before they graduate.

As I wrote earlier, there are a lot of white kids here. While Middlebury looooves international students, the in-house diversity statistics are pretty dismal. And there are a lot of students from wealthy families. No one flaunts their wealth, but I've experienced some insensitivity -- people not understanding why I can't afford to eat out for dinner, and small things like that which make me feel a little out of place. It shows up in clothes, too. Middlebury athletic sweats are common items, but you don't have to search hard for pearls, cable knit, and pastels. The LGBT scene is a mess, incestuous and gossipy. But it's easy to escape if you're not gay and looking for a date. And the LGBT community is widely accepted. Middlebury's a pretty liberal campus. There's a small conservative presence, but they aren't too vocal about their views, as they're in the minority by a long shot...although the bros aren't above slurs and epithets. Different types of students do interact, although there is self-segregation, particularly regarding international students, who seem only to speak to each other. Middlebury is a cliquey place. Coming from a high school too small to have cliques, playing "name that group" in the dining hall is pretty fun. There's the bros, the bro groupies, the preps, the over-involved overachievers, the coed sports teams, the internationals, the nerds, the outdoorsy kids, the environmentalists, the Febs (it's a cult!), the first-years who haven't made friends outside of their halls, the hipsters, the theater majors, the smokers, the stoners.... The student body essentially splits into two based on dining hall: Ross = standard cafeteria food for standard cafeteria kids; Proctor = healthy, high-quality food with many vegetarian options for healthy, high-quality people who may or may not be vegetarians. You decide.

Mostly, I really like the student body. Overall, MiddKids are exceptionally fun, nice, and cool, not to mention studious. Frustrations -International kids branch out minimally. But they're mostly really nice and interesting, and that's true everywhere, even someplace like Macalester. -Male varsity athletes are too often interested in only (a) themselves, (b) boobs, and (c) keystone. ... But like with international students, that's true everywhere. No getting around it. -Liberal arts colleges can be really difficult places for LGBTQ people, just because there are so few options for relationships. But my queer friends here still like it a lot, and say they're glad they came regardless of any occasional frustrations.

they are bright, open-minded, outdoorsy and fun people that knows to work hard and play hard.

They were always the smartest kids in their classes and now they're all in one room....it can lead to great things and also to a lot of stress.

In most cases, my classmates turned out to be friends for life!

My classmates were smart, independent people who were incredibly passionate about the things they loved most, whether those were sports, extracurricular activities, academics, or all of the above.

Extroverted, slightly obnoxious about their personal views, can be very open-minded but are often too idealistic or naive to see the facts or deal with them well. Either "save-the-world" self-important types or completely self-centered jock types. Can be very "clique"-ish outside of class - it's hard make new friends after your first semester here. Not very practical, academic, don't truly realize how priveleged they are

Very diverse in not just ethnicity and backgrounds but personalities too.

My peers are extremely engaging individuals, each having his/her own interests, extacurriculars, and backgrounds.

Middlebury is filled with lots of interesting, fun, and intelligent people. Sure, there are a few irritating people, but overall everyone is great. It is common for people of all walks of life and interests to hang out. No one is pigeonholed unless they choose to be. I don't think anyone would feel out of place here. It is true that many people are white and from New England, but the admissions department have succeed in bringing people from all over the world. I have friends from Kenya, South Africa, England, Sweden, China, and all over the US.

Students are a mix of internationals and new englanders. These groups should interact more but that is pretty rare. Beyond that there are the hipsters, jocks, and preps and these groups also remain pretty stratified. Everyone is very smart and hard-working.

A closed-minded, boring, lazy person would not fit in at Middlebury. If you're not open to new things, you won't like it here. Also, a person who wants an amazing night life/club scene- don't come to Middlebury obviously. That's not to say we have nothing to do on weekends and nowhere to go out to- it's just that Middlebury is obviously not an urban haven. Kids are very active politically and love to talk about their personal beliefs as well as hear about other peoples'. My favorite thing about Middlebury is absolutely the people. The kids who come here are so much fun, love to try new things, love to learn, and love to talk!

I have so many gay or bisexual friends; people overall don't seem to mind whether people are gay or not. There were some instances of gay hate crimes last year, which were terrible, but overall I'd say that the campus is good. Most people here are rich, you always hear about people being children of CEOs, etc. People here aren't so politically active. I'd say the campus leans democrat and liberal.

The campus is definitely diverse, sometimes even a little too in your face. No one would really feel diverse...I feel like there's enough kinds of people here that everyone could find some niche. Interaction between groups happens, but its limited. I feel like every party I go to is the same 50 people after a while. Middlebury kids are definitely leftist...theres a republican contingent, but a lot of it seems like an attempt at irony.

As a politically active person on campus, I have found a really good group of people (both from the left and from the right) who are willing to engage in open discussion and are open minded. This being said, this is probably not the norm. Many people on campus seem to be fairly apathetic and I sometimes get frustrated with how career oriented some are. But this not all a bad thing, it is good to have a mix of people--this gives Middlebury a certain amount of worldliness. One of the most pleasing things about Middlebury is the amount of International students. They contribute a lot to the community and all have very unique and interesting perspectives. Midd definitely lacks ethnic diversity (read blacks and latinos) but in terms of economic diversity, I honestly don't know. People keep their economic backgrounds quiet. Most of my friends are from Public Schools, but that may just be how I role. Once again, you can find what you want at Midd in terms of the student body.

It is interesting that the student body is homogenous despite the bragging that admissions does regarding how "diverse" Middlebury is. Students who are "from other countries" are mainly ex-patriots whose families have lived abroad. Also, there are not really any overweight students on campus. The student body is extremely active and athletic; most people either work out, run, play a sport, or engage in intramurals.