Why do smart people commit four years to living in VT?

Author: Ben Salkowe

Just towards the end of March there is an interesting flip in the dynamic of the admissions process - suddenly the admissions office that prospective students have been courting for the last 10 months makes an about-face and completely devotes itself to courting the chosen ones.

A select portion of the high school seniors who have been holding their breath all year long are now privy to a month of lavish attention.

Over the past weekend several hundred of those admitted students rode into town to check out what Middlebury College has to offer. Spending a night with first-years and sophomores, they toured our facilities, analyzed our classrooms and heard remarks from our President - all enjoyed with their parent's [painfully] close presence all the way.

Now they are crunching numbers and we wanted to see how they do it.

We all wonder in the middle of January why we chose to commit four years of our lives to live in this Siberian-esque state. We at The Campus thought we would take the opportunity to get inside the high school senior's head and see what they are thinking as they check us out.

The Campus interviewed 31 random prospective students for this feature. Amanda Goodwin contributed reporting in the survey.

What makes Middlebury better than the rest?

"Vermont skiing equals good."
- Jeff Gang, Manchester, Mass.

"Kicks Williams' butt."
- Sarah Emmons, Williamstown, Mass.

"The students make Middlebury better than the other schools I have looked at."
- Courtney Douns, Evansville, Ind.