Middlebury College Top Questions

My professors know my name within three days of the first day, and although that may be because of my constant mock crying from the back of the room and their asking if I'm alright, it still boggles the mind to think of such an achievement. With very little effort, I am also able to meet up with these professors outside of class to discuss topics of interest, because in class, great discussion is rare. It happens, but if you want more, there's always someone around to engage you. You learn how to learn here. No matter the professor or the material, you learn to figure out what it means to learn something and how to go about doing that.

The classes are awesome here. Classes are engaging and challenging and push me to do my hardest. I always feel like I'm learning a lot and and generally very close with my professors. The dance department has 10 professors and no more than ten majors so everyone is on a very colloquial first name basis. This makes learning from them much easier and more productive. The only problem with the academics is that no one seems to want to discuss anything outside of the classroom. Almost as intellectual activity has no place in the world outside the classroom.

With the exception of some large introductory lecture classes, professors almost always know your name. I call some of my professors by their first names. Most are very willing to meet outside of class to discuss your work and perhaps even chat - for example, I recently met with my creative writing teacher at the Grille, the school cafe, to have coffee and talk about my short stories. Studying is most definitely a common theme at Middlebury. The workload is, for the most part, very demanding - point in case, I was assigned a 15- to 20-page analytical paper my first semester at Middlebury. Late-night sessions are not uncommon, especially for procrastinators. Of course, one can skim or even disregard assigned reading, but the cumulative load of all classwork still serves to create a sizable amount. The academic requirements are not especially bothersome. For the most part, they're easy to fulfill - many, if not most, can be completed by the end of one's sophomore year without trying.

Despite all the douchebags on campus, and how hard the social life sucks, the academics at Middlebury are truly exceptional. I went to a rigorously intellectual private school in Boston, where 16 year old students read Hobbes, Eliot, Donne, and Hardy. I wanted more than anything to go to a college that lived up to my standards for its academic merit. And Middlebury met those standards. Everyone at Midd works pretty damn hard. There are a couple breezy classes, like "Earthquakes and Volcanoes" or "Physical Reality and Human Thought." But overall, no one's getting off the hook. Most of the classes I've taken require a lot of commitment and hard work. There are high expectations that everyone come to class, and sincerely invest themselves in the curriculum. Merely doing the required work isn't going to get you an A. You have to go the extra mile. My biggest beef with Midd is this: there's an irritating trend where the (usually tenured) professors get by on their personality alone. And the students EAT IT UP. They're like, Oh Professor Quirky McGee is so funny! He told us this story about Middlebury in the '80s, and also this story about his pet turtle, that were SO hilarious, we hardly even mentioned Chaucer once the whole semester! And I'm like, Dude, my parents are paying 40G a year, can we fucking LEARN SOMETHING PLEASE?! My second biggest beef in the academic arena at Middlebury College is the "discussion sections." Every class seems to be based on discussion. Even the big lectures have discussions at the end of the week - a good thing, in this case. But for the smaller classes, which comprise the vast majority of Middlebury's curriculum, discussion is much too highly valued. For example: this past fall semester, I took a class called "History of the Middle East: 1450 - present." Now that's a lot of material to cover in eleven or twelve weeks. This professor, who everyone thinks is the bomb, ran classes like this: she'd say, Okay, it's debate time! Half the class sit on this side of the room - you guys are gonna argue why it's important for women to wear traditional veils. Half the class sit on THIS side, and argue the disadvantages of requiring women to cover themselves in public. We hadn't learned anything about veils, or the legislature surrounding the contentious issue. So the debate was like, one kid with long hair would say, "I think it's unfair to make women wear a veil, because they should be free to dress how they like. I think freedom of expression is really important, like, when my parents told me to cut my hair, I was really offended...." And again, I'm thinking, Why am I listening to 19 year olds airing their pompous and uninformed opinions instead of reading something critical? Are the arbitrary opinions of my fellow students worthy of taking up this amount of class time?

Academics at Middlebury are known to be top notch. Because the classes are usually pretty small, professors are more than willing to you give you personal attention and most, if not all of them come from amazing academic and worldly backgrounds. J-term classes are also a blast because they provide students with the chance to take a month long course on something they have never had the time to take. For example, my last j-term was spent learning how to be a food critic and how to write poetry about food. The last day of class was spent cooking a four course meal at our professor's house where we all sat around the fire and drank wine till midnight. In terms the job application, the liberal arts degree can be tricky. Now that I am out, I do find myself wondering why I didn't learn more about terms like marketing and advertising, but in all, I think that I did gain certain life skills that will stick with me forever.

Best classes include The Mystique of Pride and Prejudice with Mary Ellen Bertolini and Writing for Children and Young Adults with Claudia Cooper. Prof. Collaer is good for Intro Psych. Humbert and Barbaud-McWilliams are both good in the French Dept; the whole Dept. is great. Try to avoid large lectures in the English Dept.; they're just not as fun. Education is definitely for its on sake at Midd. People take a lot of courses out of their major, and careers aren't a huge focus at all. Most students want to learn. And it's hard here. You'll be doing school work most of the time.

Workload is decently tough, readings are often completely unnecessary

I never had a professor who didn't know my name. Its sort of amazing actually. Classes are small, and participation is essentially mandatory if you want to do well. If you dont like class participation, or if that seems like a burden to you, Middlebury might not be the school for you. I frequently stopped by to talk to professors outside of class. I went to their houses, met their children, and enjoy keeping in touch with them.

Classes are extremely varied and professors are mostly brilliant and accessible and understanding. They're rigorous and fair. I never felt my grades were inflated..I got what I deserved. The work ethic I developed at Midd has carried over to my "real world" job. I always preferred seminar-style classes: small, discussion based classes. They were intimate and i learned a lot from my classmates. i also learned a lot from my friends, talking about their classes and papers and theses. Middlebury is about building knowledge, not about getting a job. A well-rounded education. And here i am in a job that happens to be based on exactly what i studied: art history and religion. It's possible for a liberal arts degree to translate into an actual occupation!

Professors are amazing on average. They absolutely know students' names and ask about life in general not just, how's the paper going. I have been to professor's houses, played with their dogs, met their ex-es. Great student-faculty relationships. Students are mainly competitive with themselves, there isn't a cut-throat, ruthless atmosphere, but people clearly push themselves very hard. Many students pull all-nighters. But I can tell you that even playing a college sport and doing a senior thesis, I have never had to pull an all-nighter. So as long as students manage their time well (which may mean working many many hours each day outside of class) they will be ok. The career center is very finance oriented. If you want a job on that track, they are very receptive. They are also pretty good about education jobs. But outside of those, they aren't necessarily a great resource for internships or jobs.

Professors are Middlebury are pretty hit or miss, but I have had a great experience so far. They really make a point to learn your name and even in my biggest lecture classes I'm addressed by name. Students here work really really hard, it's not uncommon for the library to be pretty full on friday and saturday nights, even like the second day of the semester. Professors really pile the work on. Students are competitive but if you dont let it bother you it's not a big deal. The coolest class I took was over j-term and it was a ceramics class, really helped my GPA too! I'm a geography major and I love it. IT's known as being one of the hardest majors on campus but all the professors are amazing, get to you know you and really try to help you learn as much as you can. Once a month we have a geography lunch where students/majors are invited to lunch with the professors to just chat about anything. Middlebury's academic requirements are a little bit over the top as there are quite a few, but I really do especially like the cultures and civilizations requirements as I feel like everyone at middlebury is very well cultured. However, having to do two college writing courses is kind of a pain in the ass.

My brain hurts from Middlebury. I learned so much in and out of class, it's fantastic. The Professors change your life. Period. Yes, they know your name. You are paying 45,000 a year, what do you expect. They know your name by the second class. This school is no joke. Students always raising the bar with each other outside of class. Every class the conversation spills into lunch or dinner, or all night long. As a recent introduction to the American workforce, I can say that Middlebury does not give you the skills for day one, but rather, it gives you the skills to own the place on day two. No, I didn't knwo all the techinical hombo jumbo that is industry specific. But I have the analytical skills so that when somebody says something once, I can figure it out from there.

Professors recognize me way more than I think. Even if they don't remember my name, they'll say hi and be friendly when our paths cross. Least favorite class was Spanish 305 taught by a visiting professor with exceptionally limited creativity and a horribly, horribly american accent. Worst ever, hands down. Best class is harder to pick...maybe Education in America. Yeah, that was a really good one. It was unusual because we did something different almost every class: martial arts as a metaphor for dissent, current events, debates, all kinds. Some students, those lucky bastards, can write papers hours before they're due or sleep in class and ace the exams. But I am not one of those. I can go days without studying, but it catches up. I haven't done the reading for 4 weeks of one class, for example. That's gonna hurt. I usually have one class that is put on the back burner each week, and as long as it's never the same class for too long, it works out. Class participation depends a lot on the professors and how well they interact/allow for student contributions. On their own, students generally jump in. Friends definately do have intellectual conversations outside of class, but that depends on the group/environment. (Weybridge House? Hard to avoid. Hockey game? Not likely.) I'm not competitive, but I know some are. I'm an Art History major, chosen arbitrarily based on the fact that I didn't know what else to do and I think it's a very interdisciplinary field. (It's not just about art and its history, it's about philosophy and sociology and psychology and literature... I love humanities, what can I say.) I don't see my advisor very often, but she's always happy to see me. We don't have a personal relationship, but that doesn't really bother me anymore. Sometimes I worry that I'm unemployable...Middlebury is that liberal-arts-ish. So I'm definately learning a whole lot, and thinking more, and better, and writing and all of that...but I'm probably going to be eating rice for the first 3 or 4 years out of school. Or at least that's how I feel right now because my parents have recently been breathing down my neck about it.

all profs not only know your name, but also know what you do outside of class. my geology prof from freshman year still remembers my name and asks me about theatre three years later. its great. on the same note, it means you can't skip class- they know.

The Best. Top Notch.

Professors definitely know my name! My theatre professors in particular are all now very dear friends. My favorite class would have to be the acting for Film course that I took two years ago and later was a teaching assistant for. It's what I want to do, you know. I started relationships with people who are now some of my closest friends and as a TA I learned how to escape my ego. Some students are frickin studying machines. Some write papers the night before-like me. Midd students DO have intellectual conversations outside of class-some do, anyway. some students are definitely competitive, but not most. Education at Midd is geared toward getting a job if you're an econ major-a good road into Goldman Sachs. Some majors are just learning for learning's sake. Languages and International Politics and Economics cultivate a fairly specific skill set that can be used for international business or political pursuits. The theatre department is filled with creative kids who are intelligent and generally have very good taste and a great eye for what's good and what isn't. Divas are few and far between. We're not a very "theatre kid" theatre department. It's all about producing your own work. get a space, put on a show.

Professors know my name, the curriculum is rigorous but extremely rewarding. Tons of work, but tons of gain. You feel motivated to work here, due to professors, interesting classes, and the fact that everyone else is working. I love spending time with professors outside of class. There are tons of educational possibilities and opportunities here - it depends on whether or not one takes advantage of them.

Middlebury has a core curriculum every student must satisfy. That said, it's pretty lenient and opens many students up to the opportunity to take a diverse array of classes that they might not have chosen. Taking a foreign language is required as part of the core, and this is a good thing since Middlebury has a world- renowned foreign language program. There's also a new requirement which means you have to take a few classes dealing with outside cultures - European, African Studies, etc - which is probably a good idea. Across the board, Middlebury professors tend to be phenomenal. They make a real effort to learn students' names, and in many cases to stay in touch once the class is over. Throughout my time at Middlebury I've remained in contact with history, English, and theatre professors. My favorite class thus far has been Modern Middle Eastern Politics and Culture, which was taught by a former US diplomat to Egypt (and a contributor to the 9/11 Report.) The professor was extremely knowledgeable, and it was all the more lively because we had both a Palestinian student and an Israeli student as members of our class. (Middlebury has a pretty good international student community, and they contribute a lot to the academic/intellectual atmosphere.) Overall, Middlebury is definitely geared towards learning for its own sake. I'm hearing this sometimes creates some issues upon graduation, however, because liberal-arts minded types are sometimes left wandering and confused. Recently, the environmental studies dept. has helped a lot of students land really interesting, promising post-graduate jobs. A lot of students have found themselves working in environmentally-minded careers.

Do professors know your name? Always. Classes are usually small, and professors make an effort. I also tend to be pretty vocal in class, which probably helps. Tell us about your favorite class. Least favorite? I took a seminar on Nabokov that I adored. The professor was a total Nabokov-o-phile – each class he would bring in some piece of pertinent memorabilia from his collection [Nabokov’s letters, eg]; he had published extensively on Nabokov, etc. He really illuminated the material with this stuff and with supplementary readings from all over the place – from Ovid to Dostoevsky to Poe. He also gave really fun assignments – eg, the option to “mimic” Nabokov in a fictional story instead of writing an analytical paper – but the way they were structured ensured that we still learned from them; they weren’t just throwaways. Least favorite: some of the classes I took to fill requirements. Like “Chaos, Complexity and Self-Organization,” supposedly a physics class for “non-science” students. We read “pop science” books which could have been cool except the professor focused the class on memorizing esoteric and useless details about the people in the books, like where Edward Lorenz went to college. We were later tested on this stuff. But I mean, the subject matter – chaos theory – is interesting… • How many hours per day do you spend working on assignments/studying? Totally depends. I’m also the kind of kid who pulls consecutive all-nighters instead of working per-day throughout the semester. Is class participation common? Yes, definitely. And required for good grades, I think. What’s in your schoolbag right now? Uh…my iPod, a book, keys, my wallet, a duck finger puppet. Do [College] students have intellectual conversations outside of class? Definitely, though they’re frequently stoned while doing so. Are students competitive? I didn’t experience any competition among the people I hung out with. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve learned, or weirdest class you’ve taken? I took “basic energy balancing” to fulfill my gym requirement. We cleansed our auras. Freshman year I took a class called “The Creative Process.” Our teacher was a performance artist who regularly regaled us with stories of his past performances – such as dancing naked in a plexiglass box with a bunch of bees. On one memorable day we were put into pairs, blindfolded, given pencil and paper, and instructed to draw portraits of our partners by feeling their faces. It was a great class. Tell us about your major/ department. The English major is pretty conservative – ie, emphasis on Shakespeare and Milton. But many of the professors are really cool, and there are some more contemporary offerings. It’s pretty easy to get very good grades if you’re a good writer – I felt like I got away with a lot. Like, A’s on multiple papers about Paradise Lost, which I still haven’t read. Do you hang out with professors outside of class? Sometimes. Middlebury doesn’t seem to provide much of a community for young professors…as a result, many of these have (a) hung out with students, and (b) moved on quickly. Does [College] have a core curriculum? How do you feel about it? Too many requirements. I can’t think of a single class I was forced to take outside of my major that I benefited from. I wish I had been free to choose more, and that many of the art classes in particular hadn’t had so many pre-requisites – the only way I could have had time to take them would have been if I was a major, really. Is the education at [College] geared toward getting a job, or learning for its own sake? Learning for its own sake. Do students talk about how much they’ll earn one day? My friends didn’t.