(11/19/20 10:52am)
Middlebury College welcomed 602 first-year students this fall, with 553 on campus and 49 studying remotely. This is a slight decrease from the initial 640 reported in May, as students decided to take gap years or defer until February. While some students may change their plans, the college anticipates a larger Feb class than the average of 100 students, although the final number won’t be known until January.
Students were required to give an update on their enrollment intentions for the spring by Nov. 10.
With an acceptance rate of 24%, the college saw a significant uptick in the number of students admitted this year compared to the previous admissions cycle, which had the lowest rate in recent years at 15.8%. The yield for the Class of 2024 and 2024.5 fell by about 9% from last year to 32%. This was impacted both by the Covid-19 pandemic and by the increase in students who requested a gap year.
Among those that matriculated this fall, 30% of the class are students of color, compared to 27% of the Class of 2023 and 2023.5 — an 11% increase. The college enrolled its largest class of students eligible for a Pell Grant — those who demonstrate exceptional financial needs — with 18.9% of all students receiving the grant, compared to 15% last year.
This “demonstrates success in our work in increasing the socioeconomic diversity of the class,” Dean of Admissions Nicole Curvin said.
Many students decided to defer enrollment and join the Class of 2025. Sixty students opted to take a gap year and join Middlebury in fall 2021 — a much higher number than the average gap year approvals of 30–35 each year, according to Curvin.
“[International students] faced added challenges with enrolling at Middlebury including travel, health and visa restrictions,” Curvin said. The number of incoming international students, which averaged around 11% of students, fell below previous years, comprising only 9% of the fall 2020 incoming class. Curvin expects more international students to join Middlebury in the Feb class and for fall 2021.
(09/24/20 9:58am)
With many colleges and universities now off limits to visitors, prospective students for the classes of 2025 and 2025.5 are navigating new ways to explore college campuses. Middlebury’s phase-based reopening plan will not allow for any admissions visits or tours on campus until Phase Three — at the earliest. In the meantime, the Admissions Office is providing alternative ways for high school students to learn about Middlebury and get a feel for the college.
“The admissions office is working to meet students where they currently are, and because we’re not offering on-campus opportunities, that means we’re doing a whole host of virtual and remote experiences for students so that they can connect with faculty, staff and students,” Dean of Admissions Nicole Curvin said.
In a normal year, Curvin travels to high schools to engage with students. But this isn’t a normal year, and Curvin, along with other members of the admissions office, will not be leaving the Middlebury area.
However, without travel, admissions officers and student employees have been hard at work for months to build a virtual Middlebury for prospective students to explore.
“The pandemic, and not being able to travel as we usually do in the fall, has pushed us to do some things that we probably could’ve and should’ve been doing for a long time,” Director of Admissions Sam Prouty said.
In place of a typical map with street names and labelled buildings, the admissions website now features an interactive campus map depicting the lush greenery of Vermont and the infrastructure on campus.
In addition to this new way to “tour” Middlebury’s campus, a panel of students and faculty meet weekly to offer prospective students a taste of the programs available at the college. These webinars are recorded, making them available to students across different time zones.
“We’re certainly seeing a lot of good engagement with our webinars,” Curvin said.
Current students still play an active part of the admissions process. Senior Admissions Fellows, a group of senior students who conduct information sessions and assist with admissions programming, serve as “the main conduit between the admissions office and the public,” according to Prouty. These students offer prospective students personal insight into their own lives at Middlebury.
“It’s been incredible to see that, because we’re online, it’s a more equal playing field. You don’t need to book a flight or have a parent travel to Middlebury, Vermont with you,” Senior Admissions Fellow Julia Sinton ’20.5 said. “That eliminates the time and cost it would take to come visit in a normal year.”
Senior Admissions Fellows reflect on and talk about their experiences with future applicants and their families during virtual information sessions. These programs allow for international students, many of whom cannot visit campus even during a normal year, to view campus from the same lens as other prospective students.
“I think that will actually allow us to reach potentially even more students than we have traditionally, because now if you can’t get to Middlebury or we can’t get to you, we have a whole lot of programming that in the past has been sparse.” Prouty said.