Sorry guys, but

jnj0925
Sun, 20 Nov 2011 22:19:42 +0000

I posted this at 2015 brown forum, which I thought to be most pertinent, but I reallized that I would never get an answer to my question there… so… I re-post it here… Sorry!



Hi guys

I am a sophomore student at Middlebury College, and I am now posting this thread to be informed of my chance for transferring into Brown.

First of all, as a student who spent more than a full academic year at Middlebury, I heartly feel that the environment that this school provides is not the best fit for me. I am not talking about Middlebury’s isolated georaphical location, with which, I am sure, many people have problem, but I am in terms of its academics.

As a natural science major (physics), I cannot help but feel that Middlebury has much less emphasis on natural sciences than on social sciences and humanities. Well, it’s a LIBERAL ARTS college, yes, but considering what other liberal arts colleges such as Williams and Swarthmore offer, I am FORCED to feel that Middlebury does not have a strong appeal to natural science majors.

Secondly I am one of victims of Middlebury’s damn distribution requirement. Regardless of my will, I had to take classes with sole purpose of fulfilling the requirements in which I see no point. I have not fulfilled them yet, of course, and I really feel that I am wasting my time and energy on something that I NOT AT ALL enjoy and NOT AT ALL important (to me). Yes yes, some folks LOVE to say things like “you have to explore…” “you need to be well-rounded…” Fine. But I have set my interest long before the entrance to college and it still hasn’t been yet change and it never will. As for the well-roundedness, well, let’s say I don’t care much (I am sure that I am more or less rounded…). I enjoy and appreciate literature (things that I described as not at all enjoyable are subjects from different areas), I enjoy art and music, BUT I LOSE ALL THOSE INTERESTS WHEN I DO THEM FOR GRADES. (It’s easy to say “oh just enjoy the class, don’t care about grades.” onyl if you don’t care about grad school which is crucial to people like me. In fact, I feel disgusting when I hear people saying it.) I think the distribution requirement itself is defeating the very spirit of it (that it promotes student to find the interest that they haven’t yet found).

You may ask, why don’t you go to Caltech or MIT or some place else? Well, I would if I could. And in fact, those schools are in my list for transfer.

You may also ask, why Brown then? Well, first, Brown does not have that damn distribution. It has an open curriculum. Second, and this is more of a tricky reason, it[Brown] does not require standardized test scores which I did not need (so I do not have) to apply to Middlebury (I used SAT2’s which I got 800/800/790/800 on Phyiscs, Math Lv.2, Chem, Bio(mol), respectively). I don’t want to retake all those tedious SAT and ACT.

Third is its geographical advantage (although I don’t mind Midd’s location). I live in CT, and I would love to be closer to home…

Too much of an intro, so my stats…

I have so far 3.64 GPA (kinda low… it was most dragged by the DISTRIBUTIONS. Nearly all of my science classes are in A standing…)

I have taken 5 courses in every semester, which is quite rare and hard in Midd… (most of students take 4 courses…)

I have not done much of extra. curr. activities, but I am involved in one or two. (Club sports)

My high school record is somewhat ok… with GPA of 4 (95 in 100 scale).

So… in a nutshell…

Does GPA of 3.64 AT MIDDLEBURY add any weight on decision? That is to say, does the fact that I went to Midd, not schools of lower reputation, help?

Is my chance for the acceptance (fall, as a junior) fine? (I know I did not provide enough info, but I had no more time to spend…)

Thanks.

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