Daughter prefers study-abroad uni to Midd

Irishdoctor
Tue, 25 Mar 2014 02:05:37 +0000

As encouraged by Middlebury our daughter is spending her junior year studying abroad in New Zealand. An English major, she has enjoyed her classes and professors in New Zealand more than those at Middlebury. She has discovered that she can complete her BA by November if she stays, thereby graduating a half a year early and saving quite a bit of money. She would miss spending her senior year with friends at Middlebury, but she has made new friends in New Zealand. Moreover, she has found her Kiwi fellow English majors to be more congenial and less competitive than many of those she encountered at Middlebury. Her grades at both institutions are uniformly excellent. Apart from name recognition and prestige it is hard to see a downside. She wants to return to the southwest to live, and Middlebury doesn’t have much name recognition here. Completing her degree in New Zealand might actually make for an interesting talking point in job interviews. It’s her decision but I’m inclined to agree with it. What do you think?