<p>Visited the school with S yesterday. It is beyond gorgeous. And what the above article states is true. Their physical plant is nothing I experienced in college… far from it. However, that library? It MAKES one want to study. For a thursday night, I dropped my son off and he did his regular homework there and watched the ebb and flow of students. That waterfall? It’s beautiful and there are gathering spaces for students in almost every bldg. The science bld has study “lofts” with their own chalkboards and the way the students seem to use the spaces available to them definitely suggest academics are a priority.</p>
<p>I did meet a senior in a cute little diner in town who was eating with a freshman (some sort of mentoring thing) and he said two things that struck me. 1) my S must have put in a pretty impressive application because he works in admissions and the applications were the strongest he’s seen in the three years as part of the student committee. And 2nd, that Midd is a fantastic school, but that the Midd he experienced will probably not be the same for my S or the current freshman. </p>
<p>I didn’t get many specifics, but combined with the above article, this does worry me. And while not PC… I worry if the goal is to protect financial aid to the detriment of the other things the college brings to campus. 167% increase in financial aid in the last 10 years? That’s huge!! It’s wonderful, but in that same article, it really bothered me to see a family who sadly lost a job or whatever but who had been living well beyond their means even before the job cut with 100K in consumer debt and another 200k in educational debt looking for more aid. It just seems a little irresponsible if your intent was to send your kid to a private college to be living the high life that lead to 100k in debt. Still. the family does net more aid. </p>
<p>So, the financial crisis has them altering/canceling the freshman orientation program (although doesnt necessarily offend me), but if they make huge cuts to the social support/outlets to a school (that is surely in the middle of nowhere) in order to support people with 100K in consumer debt? I am not sure I can support those priorities. This does not refer to the URM first generation college underrepresented faction, etc etc. But based on this article alone, to whom do the most resources go? I don’t know how much I want to spend over 50K to have a completely watered down version of a college experience just so a family who completely lived beyond their means can attend. And I dont intend to sound heartless in the least. I appreciate socioeconomic diversity more than anyone can truly imagine, but it’s a little hard to swallow how much we go without just to make sure our kids have the opportunity and the burden of that being our own that this was the most offensive part of that entire article.</p>
<p>As for the future income stream suggestions… Hey, they’ve got a reputation and a solid in for their specialites. Damn right they should capitalize on it. They should hold environmental symposiums/summer programs as well. They’ve had the major forever, and Colgate is just adding it this year. Know your purpose and use your strengths. It’s classic Leadership 101.</p>
<p>I think we’ll see what kind of response I get tomorrow.</p>