wingedwolf

Hey guys,

Anyone successfully gain admittance to Marlboro? Tips please!

Thanks! =D

nepop

DD has been at Marlboro for 5 weeks. It is a pretty unique place. Incredible interaction with faculty, all of daughter's classes have less than 10 students. But it is intense--no place to hide, and the reading and writing work load is greater than at your typical LAC. A relatively high number of students decide it is not for them and leave, DD has already seen some go. But a relatively high number of students transfer in after a year or two at another college where they are not satisfied with a lot of memorization and regurgitation. My impression from DD's admission process and from talking to her since she has been there is that Marlboro looks for people that they think are genuinely passionate about learning--can't be there and not be engaged. Essays are critical. Very small, responsive admissions staff, I would suggest reaching out to them to get started.

Mezzo'sMama

My S went there in the 90s and it is a place for passionate thinkers! You can't slack off or cut class- the profs notice you're missing when there are only 5 in your class- and the whole process of learning is " in depth". You'll be responsible for your own destiny and managing your options. The campus is beautiful but remote, the nearest town being Brattleboro, about 10 miles away. Most of the faculty and staff lived on the grounds so you get to know the families as well and see your profs as part of a community rather than as someone who shows up for an hour to pound facts into your head.
Visit, talk to anyone and everyone there- you'll know if it's the right place for you. This is a school who expects a lot from their students in every way but gives them the tools they need to be successful in anything. There's really no other school like it!

nepop

Agree with Mezzo'sMama on all points. After visiting, this was very much the impression we had of the school, and DD's time there has confirmed that impression. DD working unbelievably hard, 5, 6 and 7 hours in the library the norm. She says it is not work, loves it. A school that has to be visited to know whether it is for you. I could see people not even getting out of the car. After DD visited, we could not get her to apply anywhere else. For an intellectualy curious kid who loves to read and write and does not mind "working" hard, I can't imagine a place to get a better education. One of approx. 15 schools Princeton Review gives top academic ranking of 99 to. A hidden gem.

nepop

Went to family day this past weekend. The level of intellectual engagement and rigor is stunning. I would argue that there can't be more than a handful of schools in the country that match it (and I have kids at other schools and attended a few myself). Commitment to teaching from the faculty off the charts. Went to a panel discussion of some students in junior and senior year, their level of thinking and communication is almost impossibly high for people this young, well beyond most adults I come in contact with (I am a practicing lawyer, many of the people I come in contact with are, at least in theory, pretty well educated). Probably more intense than many, or even most, students would want. But, really a unique life changing kind of opportunity for the kid that it is right for.

SnowflakeVT

Interesting sounds college. What are the stats for a typical person?

nepop

I don't think there are typical people at this school, and I am not sure there are stats for the people who go to Marlboro, at least stats that mean what they do at other schools.