My S24 has narrowed down his college choice to UMich LSA Honors and Middlebury. He wants to study International Relations with a regional focus on the EU and his language focus is German. He wants to dual major in environmental science (with a particular emphasis in alternative energy studies, geology, and mineralogy). He’s done international diplomacy internships and a fellowship with the US Dept of State and successfully competed nationally in ecology events for a top Sci Oly team. He also loves the research he’s done with fresh water sciences throughout high school. He is outgoing, has dozens of international friendships from his various study abroad and cultural exchange opportunities. He thrives when he’s meeting people from around the globe and withers in a “bubble” environment. He was set on UMich until he learned about Middlebury’s Institute in Monterey. He plans to study abroad for at least one year during undergrad and loves both the UMich and Middlebury programs. He likes that with UMich’s LSA Honors he will have a smaller cohort for his core classes and the South Quad dorm, as well as an interesting freshman and sophomore honors curriculum taught by professors vs grad students. However, Middlebury affords more contact with teachers. And he likes the idea of working toward a Master’s Degree at the Middlebury Institute in Monterey. He worries that Middlebury might feel socially claustrophobic which is why he would want to spend a year abroad and a year at the Monterey Institute if he committed to Middlebury. He’s also a centrist, politically speaking, and more interested in community service rather than some of the more fervent political activism he’s seen on campuses lately. He likes hearing from many ideological viewpoints rather than being in intellectual echo chambers. He’s torn between these two amazing schools. Anyone have any advice? His ultimate career path as he sees it now is in environmental law focusing on helping governments and corporations move toward sustainable energy sources and ensuring mining operations for rare earth minerals are conducted safely. He plans to go to law school. Appreciate any insights on the benefits of these two schools for IR, study abroad, environmental studies/science and the relative social culture for a someone like my son.
For your son’s goals and range of interests, Middlebury’s academic programs and study-away opportunities align especially well. I’ll leave it to others to comment on the social aspects of this decision.
Like most rural LACs, Middlebury is a “fit” school. It’s a fantastic school and the program you mentioned sounds great, however, it is remote, small and pretty homogeneous. Academically it sounds like it would be a great match for your son, but socially I’m not sure.
To me it sounds like LSA Honors is perfect.
I am concerned that Middlebury itself seems like actually a poor fit, with only the Monterey Institute study away program providing the appeal. It is a cool program but there are so many different cool study away programs he could do out of LSA Honors as well, including entirely outside the country. And then there is the rest of his time actually at the college, which is going to be the dominant experience by far.
Same thing with a Masters. There are many great places to do an IR Masters if he goes that direction. I would not be comfortable personally with a plan that depended for its value on that specific program being the one he wants in the end.
Middlebury’s academic strengths in environmental studies and languages are likely to be appealing as well.
Based on fhe original post, it appears that the OP’s son, if they were to attend Middlebury, would, in addition to the Monterey program, spend a year out-of-country as well.
I’m sure it would be fine academically, although I think in this case Michigan LSA is even stronger.
My concern, though, is things like, “He is outgoing, has dozens of international friendships from his various study abroad and cultural exchange opportunities. He thrives when he’s meeting people from around the globe and withers in a ‘bubble’ environment.”
Middlebury is a small college in a small town far from a major city. It apparently has something like 60-70 international students per undergraduate class. Michigan in contrast is a large, globally important research university, in a large college town and not far from a major US city, with something like 4700 international students per undergrad class.
Given the comment above, Michigan seems like a much, much better choice to me. Middlebury might work out too anyway, but why take the risk when Michigan is an available option?
So there are a couple distinct things I think the OP might have been talking about. Middlebury the institution has a masters program in Monterey, and that would come after college. Middlebury College also has a study away program at Monterey, with four different programs:
But there are many other programs Middlebury offers for study away, including in many different countries:
The first link explains you can do a whole year in Monterey, or you can split it up with a semester in Monterey and another Study Abroad program, which apparently is a popular option (“Many SAAM students have successfully combined Study Away with a Study Abroad program, spending one semester in Monterey and one semester abroad.”).
All this is fine but then Michigan also has all sorts of Study Abroad options. So while it is neat this is an option at Middlebury, I am again hesitant about allowing what could be as little as a semester in Monterey trump the considerations above which would apply to at least three years.
As to the Masters program, they say you can potentially apply a semester during the college program to their Masters program, which again is cool–if you want to do that Masters program.
But what if you end up wanting to do a Masters somewhere else? Like, I think that is a generally well-regarded Masters program, but I don’t think it is considered on the same level as the Big Three DC schools, Hopkins, the top Ivy+ programs, Tufts, and so on. And I understand a lot of people into IR also choose to do Masters at Oxbridge, LSE, St Andrews, Sciences Po, and so on.
So if the OP’s kid ends up choosing a different graduate program, then this isn’t going to be significant value added.
And what if the kid completely changes their mind about major, career, and so on?
In the end, it is up to the OP’s kid. But I always get really nervous when the kid is choosing a specific program over a college that is generally a better fit. Too often plans change, sometimes radically, and then the value they were hoping to get out of that program is mooted.
Middlebury’s institutional strengths–international studies, languages, and environmental studies, align perfectly with this student’s academic interests. Midd also operates over 90 study abroad programs in 40 countries. If cost isn’t an issue, I’d argue that Middlebury will offer the better combination of an intimate academic environment in Vermont combined with the resources of the global Middlebury constellation of programs. Midd also does very well in elite law school placement. You can always go to a large university for grad school, but you’ll never have another chance to experience a liberal arts college.
This works both ways, of course. Many graduate programs are very small, involve small classes with close contact with professors, and so on. So you can have both the big university experience in undergrad and then the more intimate academic experience in grad school.
For that matter, I think many undergrad programs start looking like that in the last couple years or so even at large research universities. And then of course something like LSA Honors is designed to stretch that type of experience into the first couple years as well.
But I agree some people find it appealing to go to a college where that is the entire experience, not just an Honors thing. And so if the OP actually wants to go to a small LAC for this reason, and is OK with that LAC being in a small town in a rural area, then Middlebury is a potentially great choice for that sort of experience.
But some kids do not want that, they want a much bigger community. And that is fine too, in which case it seems to me like LSA Honors is the far better choice.
My son would like to do both Middlebury programs: the study abroad and the year in Monterey if it allows him to quickly complete a masters while also completing his bachelors. But he agrees that while the faster track to a masters degree through Midd is quite tempting, he may ultimately decide he wants to pursue another graduate school altogether rather than commit to Midd for both degrees. So that’s a very good point to consider.
Cost isn’t an issue. He’s excited about helping organize UMich’s Science Olympiad program and has made contact with the current UMich student organizers. He’s not interested in fraternities. So not sure if that limits him at UMich. He likes the uMich school spirit and sports. He loved Middlebury when he visited and is very outdoorsy. Loves nature as much as big cities. He makes friends easily and across all types of social circles and cultural backgrounds. He’s not sure he can do more than two years in a small town in Vermont but also doesn’t see himself in a fraternity. No matter where he goes, he wants at least one year living abroad. He has EU citizenship.
At Middlebury, more than 50% of the junior class typically studies abroad–one of the highest study abroad participation rates in the country. Some additional info:
Michigan Honors appears to be the better option for your son especially because his main attraction to the LAC seems to be focused on opportunities to get away from that LAC.
That’s too funny. Yes, I suppose it seems like he’s plotting a potential escape plan if he doesn’t love the rural LAC experience. He may even feel this way about UMich, to a certain extent. Probably why the study abroad programs were such a big factor for him in his college search. He might have to flip a coin at this point. I suspect either school will suit him well and neither will be a perfect fit.
Thank you all for your help in distilling how each school can potentially fit our son’s academic and social needs. Much appreciated.
He was also waitlisted for Georgetown’s SFS program but is debating whether he should even accept a spot on the WL given how few students are taken off the SFS waitlist. He doesn’t want to get his hopes up. The only WL spot he accepted was at UChicago because he likes the city of Chicago, respects the UChicago principles, found the study abroad program to be impressive, can volunteer with the UChicago Sci Oly invite, and he’s intrigued by the core curriculum.
Out of curiosity, has the OP checked out the town of Monterey? Pacific Grove, which is right next door?
D18 attended UMich, which she considers the best 4 years of her life. There’s nothing like, arguably, the greatest rivalry in sports. He will not be disappointed with Ann Arbor.
However, Middlebury is wonderful school too, just different, and I wish the best of luck with your son’s decision.
Yes. He’s familiar with Monterey. He was born in northern CA and we lived there for many years.
To me the difference in academics and graduate and career opportunities between Middlebury and UMich is negligible. Your son would get a wonderful education, enjoy graduate school and career opportunities and be exposed to significant thinkers in his field at either.
I’m a graduate of UMich (back when dinosaurs roamed the earth) and my son is a graduate of Williams which you’re probably aware is quite similar to Middlebury in location, academic rigor and overall culture. Both, I think are examples of the best of the American college experience. But the actual experience at a Big 10 midwestern university with about 50,000+ students and a robust international presence is quite different from the experience at a rural New England college with about 2800 undergraduates.
UMich was the wrong choice for me at that time in my life. I was overwhelmed and unable to take full advantage of what it had to offer. I don’t mean to compare my 17 year old self to your son. He sounds like he’d be up to any challenge! Ultimately I got a solid education and having lived in several US and international cities throughout my career, the UMich name has always been recognized and appreciated.
My son had a terrific experience at his New England LAC and would do it again in a heartbeat. Growing up he’d only ever lived in mega metropolises both in the US and abroad (and he’s back in a city now), but the bucolic natural environment, close knit community and nurturing faculty were huge pluses for him. Although graduate and professional schools recognize the value of a rigorous LAC education, name recognition, especially overseas, doesn’t necessarily follow.
My point is that your son will have to evaluate carefully the cultural and environmental aspects of each as well as the academic opportunities in order decide what’s most important to him in his undergraduate experience.
I second what @arcadia wrote “You can always go to a large university for grad school, but you’ll never have another chance to experience a liberal arts college.” This is what my son did, and his graduate program at a large research university made him value his time at his insular LAC even more.
I would note that the Monterey Institute is open to graduates of any university or college. (In fact none of the students that the Institute features on its website actually attended Middlebury College.) So Monterey would still be available to him if he attends UMich, though it’s unclear if he could start work in a Masters while enrolled at another college. I would also make sure that Middlebury would allow 1.5 or 2 years of study away from the Vermont campus.
Middlebury just made the decision that much harder by sending a thoughtful handwritten note to S24 today, referencing something from his personal essay. Sincere efforts like this from admissions offices humanize the college application process, which, honestly, can be a very dehumanizing experience for students who are being driven to see themselves reduced to stats, accomplishments, and faceless demographics.