BC or Middlebury

arcadia
Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:54:09 +0000

I don’t have the time today to address all the points I disagree with. I’ll address a few though.



I mean, seriously, put yourself in the mind of a hip, young professor. Where would you want to live? In rural Vermont where that college is the center of your existence or in the Boston area that has the country’s best public schools for your children, all of the cultural resources of a metropolitan area, and a genuine academic community that extends throughout the city. By virtue of location alone, Boston area colleges get top notch professors.



Professors at Middlebury are top-notch–some of the best in their respective fields. The idea that Vermont’s location would prevent Middlebury from attracting the best professors is simply ridiculous.



With regard to the drinking scene the same applies. At Middlebury (and at many rural, little, schools) the only thing to do is drink. The school may say that they offer other activities, but trust me all the kids do is drink (I have asked many friends who attended the prestigious LACs (Colby, Williams, Amherst, Kenyon, Bates, in particular) and they confirmed this).



Having spent 4 years at Middlebury, and having lived for a time in Boston, I can tell you that kids at Middlebury drink no more than kids at BC. In fact, I’d say that the BC kids spend more of their time drinking. I have no proof of this, but neither does anyone else posting on this thread, so I’ll pass that off as my opinion. As for things to do in Vermont, kids at Middlebury actually get outside and hike, bike, fish, kayak, camp, rock climb, and ski. The college regularly brings in entertainment, excellent speakers, movies, etc. Kids at Middlebury aren’t bored. They embrace their environment. And when they want a taste of city life, Burlington is 45 minutes away, and Montreal is less than 2.5 hours.



[BC] has the Jesuit element, it’s located in Boston, and I just think you’ll find a wider variety of more open-minded and interesting people there. Middlebury attracts a lot of (intelligent) Vermont kids who want to stay in-state and ski a lot, as well as out-of-staters who want to do the same.



IMHO, the Jesuit element contributes to a more conservative campus community. BC is filled with upper class Catholic school kids from New England. I think you’ll find more open-minded and interesting people at Middlebury.

Five percent of Middlebury students are from Vermont, and 76% come from outside New England. Eleven percent 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 think that BC is an excellent school that has a lot to offer. But so is Middlebury. The people on the street who know about Middlebury view it as quite a bit more prestigious than BC. Has everyone heard of Middlebury? No. More people have heard of BC for sure. But those are the same people who think that Penn State is an Ivy League school and that Williams and Amherst are community colleges located somewhere in CT. Those are NOT the people who hire for major corporations or who decide who gets admitted to top grad schools.