top 5 lists...#1

ok, so here are the best and worst things about middlebury college...in no particular order...

Best things 1. language program is tops......campus has a french 'house' called the chateau for french majors 2. two thirds of students study abroad...language majors are expected to study abroad 3. the student body is especially left-leaning politically........4. students/campus administration is dedicated to recycling......even unsorted trash is sorted after pickup to remove recyclables .....5. students clearly love this place...when we arrived too late for the tour...we kind of hung around reading literature.....and a tour guide who had finished with her group saw us looking forlorn...and offered to take us around herself...she even picked up a family of three she saw looking around on campus.......that kind of hospitality/loyalty is telling of the way students must be treated by staff/faculty/administration

Worst things 1. this college is at best 19 hours from car, and not only is it not near any cut-rate southwest hub, it is at least 45 minutes from any airport in an area where there are no public transportation options.....2. this college is located in an area that still had traces of snow in early april........my child tends to lose things like coats, gloves, etc....he will surely freeze to death......3. security seemed lax.......our guide took us into her dorm and into her room........and there were no locked doors of any kind...no key pads.....no infra-red sensors......no codes.......though there are security guards that know the student body, there seemed to be an openness that appeared too trusting in these troubled times.....4. cell phones are out of range until you get closer to the new york state line.......5. some dorms don't offer upper classman housing, even though students are expected to live in their dorms 4 years.......i may have misunderstood, but that is what i think i heard.......