Middlebury College Top Questions

With regards to academic rigor, this school is not lacking in the slightest.

i really wish that this school had more diversity

Sadly, there are many things I'd change about Middlebury, but I'll start with the broadest: Middlebury tends toward the dull side. I wouldn't call it outright boring, but it just feels a bit too...safe. It feels exactly like what you'd expect when you hear "New England liberal arts college," without much of a unique spin on the concept. There's a general lack of creativity in the way people lead their lives that's depressing to me. Many students seem kind of lulled into a rhythm of J. Crew and Keystone Light and library cubicles. I mean, if there's a theme party, most assume other people will dress up, so it's okay if they're in the minority that doesn't, and then no one has gotten into costume because they all thought the same thing, and then it's just a keg party. Or take environmentalism, supposedly this really vital, unique aspect of the school: actually, it's largely the same people in all the environmental groups. Many students are vaguely conscious about the environment, but it's not something they're concerned with, and if someone throws out a bunch of paper, few students here would move the paper to the recycling bin. The college just plays it all up to attract applicants and donations; the reality is a lot less progressive. No matter its administration's efforts, Middlebury is, in a lot of ways, just like its similarly prestigious competitors in the US News & World Report rankings race. At about 2500 students, Middlebury's size puts it in a weird limbo where there's not really much of a community in the sense of everyone being aware of one another, but you can't escape and live your own, independent life. Still, 2500 is nice because it means there's always someone new to meet, but you recognize a lot of faces. And the Feb program brings in about 90 new kids each February, and these are typically the coolest, most interesting kids on campus. Middlebury, VT is a very small, very quaint town with a low crime rate, lots of great restaurants, and...not much else. There's about five stores on Main Street that sell Vermont-shaped bottles of maple syrup. Exploring the area is rewarding -- hikes, swimming holes, weird antique stores and more abound -- check out the Meat Shack sometime! And, it's beautiful beautiful beautiful here! With the Green Mountains to the east and the Adirondacks to the west, the views are incredible in all four seasons. The campus itself is quite lovely as well -- the matching stone buildings feel very quaint and collegiate, although, unfortunately, for every Chateau there's a Davis Family Library. If pastoral beauty isn't doing it for you, Burlington is just 45 minutes away and is a small metropolis with shopping, food, music, movies, and so on. If you're still not satisfied, Boston and Montreal are popular weekend getaways for the lucky few with cars. When I tell people I go to Middlebury, they usually ask, "Where's that? Is it a good school?" if they don't know it, or if they do, "Oh, that's a great school! What language do you take?" School pride here definitely exists -- many Middlebury students LOVE Middlebury. But it shows up more in their choice of sweatshirts than in the attendance of sports games. Except for Quidditch. Everyone is so proud (!!!) that we invented Muggle Quidditch and that we've never lost a game. This is discussed fairly frequently. The most frequent complaints come from students who are used to warm weather who are enduring January in Vermont.

Middlebury is a great school with excellent academics, athletics, extracurriculars, people, and opportunities. Plain and simple. It has it's pros and cons for each individual, but overall it's a place where you can be happy and where you can succeed. Size: Because Midd is slightly larger than it's fellow liberal arts schools (i.e., 2400 students vs. 1800 or 2000), we have more opportunities and more diversity than our competitors while maintaining the feel of a small college. If you're looking at bigger schools too, consider this: "It's not the size of the boat, it's the motion of the ocean." [Applicable in other contexts as well...] Housing/dorms: about 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of freshman get dorms that are average or below average for a school of Middlebury's caliber. But upperclassmen housing is almost universally. Other buildings; architecture: Sometimes I wish Middlebury was less quaint and more flashy, more often. But the school pulls off the whole "look-at-us-we're-pastoral-and-in-Vermont" thing really well. And Bicentennial Hall, Axinn, and Le Chateau alone are enough to make anyone proud to be a MiddKid. Food: Middlebury meal plan = as much as you want, whenever you want it. And it's really tasty, too. If you have a meal in one of the dining halls here and compare it to that of another college, I can guarantee you'll like Midd's food better.

You'll have to work hard to get in, and work hard when you go; but you'd have to work harder than either not to get a great, rounded and rounding education whilst having a blast doing it. You can see from the pictures that it's physically gorgeous, and the facilities are excellent. If you can at all, do visit it as it is REMOTE. And you need to be okay with that - but the payoffs of the rural location are immediate and immense if you like the outdoors. If you decide to apply, do have an interview- it matters and helps. If you can't get to Midd, the alumni association conducts interviews nationally and internationally - it's only likely to help your application.

I love Middlebury. It was my first choice and I feel so glad/grateful to be here. The size is perfect for someone wanting a close community and lots of interaction with the professors. The town of Middlebury is exactly what you imagine when you think quaint, rural New England. As for the landscape, I believe it is one of the prettiest areas in the country- right now, the trees are gorgeous. It seems to be in vogue to complain about the administration, president, etc, but I have no complaints. I appreciate constructive dissidence, but I think most of it comes from whiny brats.

My school is a little small but people are pretty nice. I think there is too much focus on health (working out) on campus. But I love the way everybody likes to get outside and go hiking or running ect. The amount of homework done is pretty excessive so I think there should be a little more time for life on campus. Then maybe the drinking culture would not be so binge oriented because people would have more time to just hang out. I also wish there was a better dating scene on campus. I love the professors and my friends, however, and I really like going to school at Midd.

I was scared to come to Middlebury because it's so small and so far away from everything. Nobody from my hometown knew where it was or had ever heard of it. But after coming here, the school doesn't feel small in a bad way, and I'm really glad I don't go to a bigger school. There's also so much going on that I don't even have time for, so I'm definitely neer bored.

The school is just a little too small for me, but I still meet people I've never heard of in my class. People do, however, tend to run in the same circles, as everywhere, so I see the same people a lot. People can often be defined by dining hall. that might change next year when Proctor Dining Hall closes for renovation, but here it is anyway. The three dining halls are Proctor(to be moved to Freeman), Ross, and Atwater. Proctor is where all the radio kids hang out in a secluded lounge off the side of the dining hall. vegetarians love proctor for the great salad bar. Proctor also is the only dining hall with panini machines. People who live near proctor eat there, tennis people (close to tennis courts) and everyone great (i am a proctor person). Proctor has a great terrace for warm weather. proctor people tend to be really loyal; last year a girl down the hall sold Save Proctor shirts when they wanted to tear it down. Ross is pretty standard, orange colored food. there's a "mongolian grill" and there's always pizza. people who live in the building eat here and preppy people and people without much personality. atwater is the people who live nearby and the outdoorsy ones and some athletes. by telling someone where you want to eat, you're saying much more. there is also a definite dining culture at middlebury. people take forever to eat. they get a meal, get something else, get dessert, then coffee or tea... When I tell people I go to Middlebury, they say what/ where is that? you'd think being ranked 5th in US ..Report would get some recognition. They only put out the Adirondack chairs when the prospective students come. Students lack much activist spirit. the other day at lunch, i was trying to think of something that would get students to riot and couldn't think of a thing. even if someone got tazered, people would write articles and maybe maybe maybe protest, but no rioting, sadly. I spend most of my time on campus, I'd say between the dining hall, my room, the grille, and the art studio. the tuition is rising tremendously.

I like the size of Middlebury. It's a little small sometimes, but it's nice to walk around and recognize almost everyone you pass. The town is quaint; not bad, but certainly nothing exciting going on. The administration is what really is hurting the campus. As ratings go up, we've adopted more profit-oriented approaches to education that kind of obscures what I came here for. There is a good deal of school pride, mostly because so many kids are varsity athletes. The best thing about Middlebury is the very relaxed, comfortable feel of it. For some reason, I don't know, it just feels right.

Overall, Middlebury is what you make it. You can do pretty much whatever you want here. Some people party four nights a week, some don't at all. Some take advantage of the mountain club, the facilities, office hours and all the other resources we are offered, others don't. I will concede, however, that regardless of what experience you want to have at Middlebury, the academics are pretty demanding. You can chose to slide by with mediocre grades and the like, but if you are the kind of student who can get into Middlebury this will be very unsatisfied both in terms of your GPA but also in terms of waisting money on the potential for a great education. So you can do what you want here within the confines of the demanding (and often rewarding) academics.

I enjoy seeing people I have meet before and being able to smile and wave or strike up converstaion. The campus and student body is very, very amiable and willing to help.

There is no college town of Middlebury.

I thought a lot about the size of the school when deciding to come here - it's twice the size of my high school and I've found it to be exactly what I wanted in terms of size. It's not so many people that you never see anyone you know on campus, but I find I am still constantly meeting new people either through my classes, extra-curriculars, or at parties. It's the perfect balance of comfort and branching out. This is not to say, however, that there are some awkward coincidences that make you think twice about the size of the school, but I think that that's the price you pay for being able to walk into the dining hall and see 3 or 4 different groups of people you could potentially sit with.

best thing about middlebury? unlimited resources - you dont even know how many there are and you could never take advantage of all of them in 4 years, but you should try. one thing i'd change - make it less about the grade and more about real knowledge so we can have a real community here, not such an extremely competitive atmosphere. Size- we're definitely living in a bubble/fishbowl, but in terms of actual space on campus we cant handle any more students. Not a tight relationship with the town, everyone talks about it but no one does anything about it. The administration blows ass - I'm sorry but they act like they are listening and then ignore everything we say, with the notable exception of the dismissal of the new canadian maple leaf logo, but we had to put up a big fight. Fortunately, they dont control everything on this campus. School pride? For hockey yes, and against Williams in all areas...I suppose we are proud of midd, but we dont go shouting it out to the world. LONG LIVE PROCTOR. BIG PICTURE: midd is very competitive, but can really get you to stretch yourself to your maximum potential. it can be incredibly stressful at time and extremely rewarding at others, just dont take it too seriously and it can be a good experience, otherwise you will just drive yourself nuts.

It's a beautiful campus in Middlebury, VT, a great town, and there's a pretty open relationship between the school and the town. The academics are rigorous but interesting, and the professors go above and beyond.

The best thing about Middlebury is the food. One thing I'd change is the way in which the administration makes decisions. I think the size is just right (for me). People don't normally recognize the name 'Middlebury College,' but that's okay with me. I spend most of my time on campus at the Center For the Arts. College town! I think the Middlebury administraton means well, but is severely misguided. The biggest recent controversy was a student's unexplained disappearance. School pride is lagging. The most unusual thing about Middlebury is the climate. One experience I'll always remember is dressing up in a Beaux-Arts gown and painting the town red on the fifteenth anniversary of the CFA.

Middlebury has too much work and no social life, but you learn a lot!

Middlebury is incredible. Set in the beautiful green mountains (you can see them from everywhere!), it is a beauty to look at. The students are some of the brightest and most interesting I have ever encountered, and that's coming from a person who attended a prestigious prep school where people were, among other things, smart and interesting. Students at Middlebury are really active, which is what I love. Whether it is clubs, theater, athletics, or just taking advantage of lectures and performances, students are always on the run, physically and metaphorically. Its size of 2400 students makes it small enough that you know your professors, enjoy small class sizes, and always see familiar faces, but certainly large enough that something is always going on, and you will meet new people everyday. Upon attending Middlebury, I was pleasantly surprised by the town- initially I thought it was probably a small new england, isolated dumpy town. Not at all- it is quite large actually, with many many excellent restaurants- I come from a metropolitan city and these restaurants certainly compare to and exceed the quality of my city's restaurants. It is a town whose residents include many writers and intellectuals, whose families attend lectures, sporting events, etc. on campus. Set on the scenic Otter Creek, the town offers beautiful views. What else...I love this school so much that it is hard to limit my word count. Certainly it is true that to an extent, the school is preppy- JCrew is very prevalent on campus- but it by no means defines the student body. You won't find everyone fat and in sweats to hide it- Midd kids are fit, probably due to their intense energy and involvement. And best of all, everyone is friendly.

Essentially, Middlebury is an incredibly friendly community of students and faculty who share a common interest in learning and challenging each other. I thought the environmental studies major was exceptional and probably is the best in the country. Since I transferred to Middlebury from Colgate, I can directly compare at least the two colleges. Middlebury students have a much higher sense of ethics due to the honor code, the academics are better and more engaging and there is much more to do socially as Middlebury brings in good culture options and the night life was more fun. Maybe not as hard core or fraternity centered, but more fun. I would agree with other comments that the administration is trying to control the social life through the commons system and I do not like the commons system. However, that shouldn't be enough to keep someone from attending this great college.