BC or Middlebury

Reddune
Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:06:46 +0000

Since arcadia addressed some of the misconceptions about Middlebury, I’ll address some of the misconceptions about BC in his hasty post.

''IMHO, the Jesuit element contributes to a more conservative campus community. BC is filled with upper class Catholic school kids from New England.”


Jesuits are the most liberal group of priests within the Catholic Church. There have been a lot talks from the ultra-fundamentalists within the Church to disband the Jesuits because of their outspoken liberalism. Recently, the President of Holy Cross took a lot of heat for allowing a pro-life organization spoke on his campus, but he stuck to his gun. The BC conservative reputation comes mostly from the board of directors. Their orders get filtered down to the rank-and-file administrators so it makes the administrators right-leaning. Jesuits are not ** conservatives **. The first Catholic priest to be a congressman was a Jesuit. He was pro-choice and pro-gay right.
The Catholic part I have no disagreement with, but the “upper-class” part I do (when compared with Middlebury). I don’t think anyone here would disagree with me that by calling someone “upper-class,” it would be safe to assume that they won’t need financial aid (FA). And those who genuinely do need it and receive it do not belong to the “upper-class.”


About 48.00% of Middlebury incoming freshmen apply to FA.
About 53.37% of BC incoming freshmen apply to FA

About 86.00% of those who apply receive FA at Middlebury
About 78.75% of those who apply receive FA at BC

Middlebury’s average indebtedness at graduation: $20,808
BC’s average indebtedness at graduation: $20,350

Conclusion:
BC and Middlebury are hardly a world apart in term of social economic diversity. But I’d like to ask arcadia where does BC hide these “upper class” that you say we are filled of? They must be hiding at Middlebury since 52% of your incoming class and 40% of your school don’t need FA (the links to these info are below).

“Five percent of Middlebury students are from Vermont, and 76% come from outside New England. Eleven percents are international. What percentage of kids at BC are from outside New England? What percent are from MA? You’ll find that Middlebury has a much broader national and international applicant pool than BC.”


I hate to be petty, but Middlebury has 9.8% international and not 11%. Still a lot better than BC, true, but let all try to keep the boosterism down a bit here. You said Middlebury has “a much broader national and international applicant pool than BC.” Really!?. Last year BC had 1621 foreign students applied to BC—larger than the entire student body of Middlebury—and we admitted about 20.6% of them. [p.29, BC fact book]
BC has 287 international undergrads and 480 grads (nothing to write home about) [p.40 fact book]
Middlebury has 260 international undergrads (nothing to brag on an internet forum about) [p. 1 fact book]
Considering there are only 600,000 people in Vermont and 6 million in Massachusetts, I failed to see the relevance of comparing how many local students are attending local colleges. Massachusetts has consistent been ranked among top the states with great education. Is it a surprise that schools around the area have a lot of students from Mass? But since you ask, about 33% of BC students are from New England. But since we are a larger school, we also have more students from the rest the US of A than Middlebury, too.


Middlebury’s top five states:

1. New York

2. Massachusetts

3. Connecticut

4. Vermont

5. California

BC’s top five states

1. Massachusetts

2. New York

3. New Jersey

4. Connecticut

5. California

Middlebury’s top five countries:

1. China

2. Canada

3. India

4. Japan

5. Korea

BC’s top five countries

1. China

2. Korea

3. Canada

4. Australia

5. India

The contrasts are blowing my mind.

Conclusion:
You are an upper-class white school, we’re an upper-class white school. Let’s hug. :D

Sources:
http://www.middlebury.edu/NR/rdonlyres/408241FE-D3C3-4D3A-BEF0-23EEB5E0C5B4/0/FinAid07.pdf
http://www.middlebury.edu/NR/rdonlyres/E6FC68D7-A279-40C0-BD45-4A9FBF3D1CA5/0/Fall2007StudentProfile.pdf
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