an honest portrait of middlebury, please

whitecadillac · 11-06-2009, 08:35 PM

hi, everyone. i'm a senior right now trying to narrow down my college choices to the ones i really honestly think i could see myself attending.

so while i am interested in middlebury, i was wondering you guys could give me a completely honest portrait of what it's like to be a student there.

maybe you could answer the following questions?

1.) what are the classes like? extremely hard? fairly easy? there's not an open curriculum at middlebury, right?
2.) i want to be a movie editor/producer/filmmaker. i know middlebury is not well-known for film. i am applying to schools known for film (usc, chapman, nyu, etc) but i like middlebury as a school anyway. if i were to go to middlebury instead of a film-centric school, would i pretty much kiss my chances of being a filmmaker goodbye?
3.) i'm a bi guy. is middlebury bi-friendly? are all orientations well-represented at middlebury?
4.) does it get boring at middlebury? i hear that the neighboring city doesn't offer much and that it can boring. true? false?
5.) what do people generally do for fun at middlebury? i'm interested in joining a lot of student clubs. but i don't like drinking or doing drugs. are clubs big ways of socializing? how prevalent is drinking/drugs? are sports HUGE there? cuz i'm only into playing for fun.
6.) how is financial aid? i'd need a ton to go there.
7.) what is the typical middlebury student like?
8.) does the small size ever make it boring/suffocating? like do you know everyone at the school within the first year and never meet anyone new?

and any other info about what it's REALLY like to be at middlebury would be really helpful.

like is there any certain criteria i NEED to fit to be happy at middlebury? (for instance, it's a lot better to be liberal at brown than republican.) does anything like this apply to middlebury? thanks a lot guys!

urbanslaughter · 11-07-2009, 11:13 AM

I'm not a current student, so I'm not sure I can answer all your questions, but in regards to number 2, here's a list of Midd alums in film and theater (taken from Wikipedia)

Television and Film
James Cromwell – Actor noted for his roles in Babe, L.A. Confidential, The Queen, and 24.
Anna Belknap – Actress (CSI: NY)
Vanessa Branch – British actress, model, former Miss Vermont, noted for her role as the woman in the Orbit Gum commercials.
Emily McLaughlin – American soap opera actress.
Rodney Rothman – Writer, Funny Man, author of Early Bird; Film Writer/Producer (Forgetting Sarah Marshall and The Year One) Television writer (Late Show with David Letterman and Undeclared)
Shawn Ryan – creator of the FX television series The Shield and CBS series The Unit.
John Tinker – Executive Producer of Chicago Hope and writer for L.A. Law
Jake Weber – British actor, noted for his role on NBC's Medium.
Julia Whelan – Actress, noted for her role on Once and Again.
[edit]Theater
Eve Ensler – Author, playwright, feminist theorist, and peace activist best known for her play, The Vagina Monologues
Rebecca Gilman – American playwright.
Amanda Plummer – American Tony Award-winning actress.

CrewDad · 11-07-2009, 12:05 PM

Dana Morosini Reeve:

Quote:

She graduated cum laude in English Literature from Middlebury College in Vermont in 1984

Her many singing and acting credits included appearances on television, where she had guest roles on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, soap operas All My Children as Eva Stroupe and Loving, among others. She performed at theatres on Broadway, off-Broadway, and at numerous regional theatres. Reeve also did a long-running commercial for Tide laundry detergent that aired during the 1990s.
In 2000, she co-hosted a live daily talk show for women on the Lifetime Network with Deborah Roberts called Lifetime Live and also wrote a brief column for the defunct AccessLife.com These articles can be found at the Christopher Reeve Homepage.[4] She sang the title song on the soundtrack of the HBO drama, In the Gloaming directed by her husband. Reeve also had another cameo in her husband's movie The Brooke Ellison Story as a teacher.

Dana Reeve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Not directly related to film, but impressive nonetheless.

Andrea Koppel:

Quote:

She attended Stone Ridge and earned a bachelor's degree in political science with a concentration in Chinese language and Asian studies from Middlebury College, and is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
Koppel was a Congressional correspondent for CNN. She served as the network's State Department correspondent from 1998 until March 2006. Koppel joined CNN in 1993 as the network's Tokyo correspondent and in 1995 became CNN's Beijing Bureau Chief.
In February 2008, it was reported that she had joined M+R Strategic Services, a Washington, DC-based public relations firm as chief of its Communications Division.

Andrea Koppel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

CrewDad · 11-07-2009, 12:48 PM

Fwiw, Midd alum I greatly admire: Chris Waddell

Chris' contribution to disabled skiers is unparalleled. http://www.abilityplus.org/

Quote:

In 1988 as a freshman ski racer at Middlebury College Chris broke his back in a freak accident on the hill. Two months later he returned to school and three days short of the accident's one year anniversary he started skiing in a monoski. Less than two years after learning to monoski he was named to the US Disabled Ski Team. Chris remained a member of the Middlebury College Ski Team all four years, and captained the team his senior year.

Outside Magazine asked, "Could [Chris] be the World's Greatest Athlete?", People named him one of "The Fifty Most Beautiful People in the World," and Skiing called him one of "The 25 Greatest Skiers in North America ." He was the first Paralympic finalist for the Sullivan Award, an award given by the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) to the top amateur athlete in the country. In his career Chris has won more Paralympic medals (12) than any male skier in history. He's a World Champion in two vastly different sports (alpine skiing in the winter and track in the summer). In total he's won 13 medals at the Paralympics (12 winter, 1 summer) and nine at the World Championships (6 winter, 3 summer).

It is difficult to choose which was Chris's most impressive season. In 1998 he won a gold and two silvers at the Paralympics in Nagano , Japan and a gold and a bronze at the track World Championships in Birmingham , England . In 1994 he swept all four skiing events at the Paralympics in Lillehammer , Norway and then won a silver medal at the track World Championships in Berlin , Germany .

Credited with revolutionizing the sport of monoskiing Waddell has conducted camps for aspiring disabled skiers throughout the country for the last eleven years.

Prior to the 2002 Winter Games Chris worked closely with the Salt Lake Organizing Committee. Cindy McHale, promotions director for the Paralympics said, "Chris's contract stated that he would be the 'face of the Paralympics'. He was the face, heart and soul. His ability to capture and communicate the Olympic and Paralympic ideals prior to the Games inspired and motivated crowds, resulting in record attendance."

Chris Waddell Information

Quote:

Congratulations to Chris Waddell and the One Revolution Team for a successful summit of Mount Kilimanjaro!

Chris Waddell - One Revolution

urbanslaughter · 11-07-2009, 04:35 PM

I don't want to go off on too much of a tangent here, but I knew Chris at Middlebury and actually stayed at his place in Vail one winter. Aside from being an inspiration and and incredible athlete, he is one of the nicest, most sincere people you'll ever meet.

ghostbuster1 · 11-08-2009, 04:35 PM

I might be able to help with at least some of your questions.

1.) Middlebury has distribution requirements. You have to take a class in 6 of 7 areas, as well as two writing intensive classes and classes in each of four cultural areas. This means that you will have to take a minimum of 6 classes to fulfill these requirements. Like any college, there are some classes that are harder than others. Some classes take a lot of time in class, and others do not. It just depends on how you put your schedule together.

2.) I don't know much about film, but there is a Film and Media Studies major. I'm not sure how many classes there are that are related to filmmaking though. You should take a look at the course catalog and make sure they have courses/a major you're interested in.

3.) I think Midd is bi-friendly. There are definitely various groups on campus. I can't really elaborate much on this though.

4.) If you're looking to do something off campus, there isn't much to do. The town of Middlebury doesn't have anything in terms of nightlife. There are some restaurants and some basic shopping, but not much else. If you're looking for someplace interesting, you would have to drive into Burlington, which is about 40 minutes away. If you don't bring a car, this might be difficult. In terms of campus life, there is always something to do, but sometimes the (good) parties are hard to find. It kind of depends on how you want to spend your weekends. If you want to drink with your friends, that definitely happens. Parties like you would find on a larger campus are harder to find.

5.) There are tons of student organizations, but most people I know are only in a couple. Clubs are definitely a good way to meet people and, depending on what club you join, provide a lot of social opportunities. Drinking is just as big here as on any other college campus. That being said, there are always people who aren't drinking, and there isn't a lot of pressure to drink. There are a lot of athletes here, and I'd say 75% or more of the students I've met played sports in high school. Sports events aren't generally well attended, although I've heard that hockey games are big events. There are intermurals as well.

6.) Honestly, Middlebury doesn't have the best Financial Aid. Still, most people who need financial aid will get some. I wouldn't count on getting too much though. You probably won't get as much here as at other places, but don't decide to apply based on this. Lots of people get enough financial aid.

7.) It's hard to make such a huge generalization! For the most part, everyone is very intelligent. The same people who are out Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights are spending a majority of Sunday getting their work done. Most people seem to be somewhat athletic and fit. Most students are liberal, but there are many conservatives too. Neither side is overly outspoken, at least not that I've noticed.

8.) Sometimes the size of the town makes it hard to find something new to do. Still, most LACs are in smaller towns, so this is the norm. I'm only a couple months in, so I can't comment on whether or not people tend to know everyone by senior year. I'd venture a guess that this isn't the case. At least on my part, I'm still meeting people in my dorm that I've never met before.

TominVT · 11-11-2009, 11:21 AM

ghostbust gave a good summary. The middlebury students will be fine with you being bi. If you leave campus and go into some areas you might encounter people who don't approve. Generally, though, Vermonters are pretty open minded from my experience compared to other rural states.

If you love the outdoors, you will enjoy middlebury. If you are looking for nightclubs you will be miserable.

mythmom · 11-11-2009, 12:01 PM

I don't have a kid at Middlebury so am not invested. I love the town, and I think the school has a palpable energy.

That's an impressive array of graduates.

To the OP: I think Wesleyan comes to mind as the more natural match to the profile you've presented. That doesn't mean that YOU in particular would like Wesleyan better. However, Wesleyan seems to be developing quite a presence in TV and film.

That said, I think any of these schools are excellent and can lead to any career you desire.

I think the most important factor is inspiration. I would be inspired at Middlebury, and I suspect you would too. (No dis to Wes; I'm sure you'd be inspired there, too.)