Middlebury College Visit Report by Keilexandra

Visit Activities:

Information Session: Yes - A special admissions and financial aid info session with breakout groups of ~6 students per admissions officer.

Campus Tour: Yes - Middlebury's campus is attractively uniform with lots of squared white stone buildings. Not too spread out, although pleasantly hilly.

Classroom Visit: Yes - Sat in on 3 classes: Intermediate Chinese with an animated (Caucasian, fluent) professor. Two first-year seminars; surprisingly, I liked cryptology/applied math more than the English/poetry class.

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Campus:

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Passerby on campus didn't smile at me, but anyone I asked for help or was introduced to could not have been friendlier.

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The admissions staff went out of their way to personalize the process, although they were "selling" the school to us prospies so I suppose that's to be expected.

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The campus is lovely and treed; I adore Vermont's starry skies and quaint towns.

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Everything--really, everything--looked like it had been renovated in the past decade. Library was built in 2004 and is impeccably designed.

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About average. Clean and well-lit.

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Small-town Vermont; I felt totally comfortable walking across a large campus at 3AM in the dark. Admittedly the cemetery was rather spooky at 1AM. However, the campus could be better-lit.

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Off-Campus:

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I love the town of Middlebury, but it's only a bit larger than Oberlin, OH or Williamstown, MA--i.e. it exists, but don't expect much in the way of a real "college town."

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Campus Visit Notes for Middlebury College

Visit Description:

I visited campus over the course of 3 days for a special pre-frosh event called Discover Middlebury, an expenses-paid multicultural diversity (including Asians) weekend that admitted ~40% of applicants. We received a ton of personal attention from Admissions, and some "winking" with regard to admissions. Historically I heard that 75% of Discover Midd attendees who apply are admitted.

Most of the student hosts were racially diverse, that I saw, but the panels and admissions events were refreshing in that regular white people also participated. (This is not usually true of diversity open houses / weekends.)

My host, a sophomore, lived in a 3-room 5-person suite: 1 very small single (her room) and 2 average-to-generously-sized doubles, sharing a bathroom. There was no common area other than a square hallway behind a door.

Midd's library was recently built from scratch and as yet unnamed (simply called "Main Library"). The design is quite ingenious, with modern lighting and technology and a curved front; yet there are many study spaces and super-comfy chairs overlooking a gorgeous view. If you can, be sure to stop by the Garden of the Seasons (turn left when leaving through the front entrance) at night and stargaze from the stone benches. As for other study spaces: McCullough Student Center, Axinn Center at Starr Library, Bicentennial Hall are all newly renovated and cozy. Starr Library, in particular, should satisfy those who love to study in "old" libraries. The chapel at night is also extremely quiet and dark and peaceful.

Academics are rigorous; students I talked to were always taking a study break or procrastinating, but they didn't seem unduly stressed out. By chance I ended up hanging out with several prospies who had also been to DiscoSwat (Discover Swarthmore, a similar diversity weekend); all commented on a) how Swat students seemed a lot more stressed, and b) how Midd's food was so much better than Swat's. (I live close to Swarthmore and have visited multiple times; having tried both dining halls extensively, I concur. Proctor/Ross actually have good food, while Sharples is merely tolerable.)

Alcohol is prevalent but at least one student claimed that she didn't feel any pressure to drink and still had fun at parties as a nondrinker (during the student panel). The administration has been proactive about alcohol abuse education; policy is tolerant.

With regard to diversity--the ~60 Discover Midd prospies definitely made the campus more colorful. Most classes are small, <20 students, of whom 2 might be students of color. Anecdotally, I think socioeconomic diversity is more prevalent; and I met a lot of former Discover Middkids, so it's obviously an effective recruitment tool.

Students come from all over the country; there is no ONE type of Midd student, but the predominant style is what I would call "granola prep." North Face and Uggs are not uncommon; some people wear polos and button-downs and fashionable outfits but look very comfortable in them, and they were always VERY friendly.