Middlebury College Top Questions

Middlebury's campus is always a hub of activity, but the town of Middlebury does not have much to offer in the way of social activities (bars, pubs, clubs etc.). Most people live on campus all four years, so the campus is where most of the parties you will go to will be. It may seem like a quiet campus, but you can always find fun things to do.

The party scene is actively being revitalized currently by a few concerned students who are trying to turn around what has been a very depressing night life. Public Safety has begun to decrease the frequency with which they break up parties, and the issuing of citations is wholly arbitrary--i have run into campus safety with a drink in my hand many a time and have only received two citations, which have not served to decrease my partying a bit. A party is guaranteed every friday and saturday until about 2 in the morning or later. I have never not been able to go out on a wednesday or thursday if looking for a party. Wednesday=wednesday night beruit, thursday=bar night/keg in Milli. In short the party scene is getting better, bit by bit. It is still a work in progress; ask me again by the time i graduate and i will tell you whether or not it worked.

MCAB is popular because it deals with social events for the school and helping improve the social scene at school. Students leave their doors open and there stuff around campus, even though recent theft has made that less a thing. i think athletic events are pretty popular, but depending on the sport. Guest speakers are sometimes a hit or miss. It is usually based on hype as well. Theater always seems to get a lot of attention. Dating scene is nonexistent. Either you are in a relationship or not seems to be the case on campus these days. I met my closest friends through classes and living in the same dorms with each other. If I am awake at 2am on a tuesday, I am working on homework, which happens a lot. Pe

Events, lectures, etc. are surprisingly well attended. There is little to do off campus if you don't like the outdoors, but I grew up around here so spend what little free time there is outside. If not drinking, that is where my preference for fun lies. People party alot and fairly hard but it is in direct proportion to the amount of time they spend working hard.

What social life?

I think the social life is very centered around weekends and drinking. Kids follow the somewhat cliche pattern of "work hard, party hard."

The soccer team just one the national D3 championship, so they're pretty popular. There's a comedy troop called "Otter Nonsense" comprised of incredibly funny, outgoing, friendly people. The radio station people are also really cool...as long as you don't steal CDs. Dorm doors are almost always unlocked and open often (who's going to be reading this?). Theater shows are almost always sold out. Athletics are not as popular as they could be, but with the rising success of the program, they're gaining prestige. People don't date very much at all, but that doesn't mean that there aren't ubiquitous relationships. If I'm awake at 2, I'm either leaving the grill after some great late night grease or working...or possibly but not probably kind of drunk. There's "Tender" (a fall bash), "Rights of Spring" (a Spring bash), Winter Carnival, 2 or three concerts a year and probably a bunch of other stuff that I'm forgetting. Someone is always partying. There are always parties on Fridays and Sat and usually Thurs if you know where to look. No frats or sororities. If not drinking on a Sat night, there's usually a performance by a student band at the grill. There are Friday movies, and theater productions and some other stuff. Off campus there is a lot of hiking, skiing and good ol' outdoor activities (seriously it's awesome if you're into that kind of stuff - there's even a waterfall for cliff diving).

I love the social life here. There is always something to do whether alcohol related or not.

I do Middlebury college radio and I'm in the imrov group the otter nonsense players. I'm also involved in a social house called The Mill. There are some underground secret societies that are pretty dumb. I live off campus now and its great. Most people have to live in dorms all four years, so they can actually graduate from college without once having taken out their own trash, had to sign a lease, pay rent, or kick a single meal. Now thats just crazy!

I have fun every night of the weekend. No complaints. I'm involved with The Mill, a social house, or co-ed frat, that represents many international, queer, and generally wonderful silly people. We throw awesome costume parties. Dating at Middlebury is kind of lame. It actaully doesn't exist. People don't go on dates. They go over to each other's rooms to "watch movies." You're either married to your significant other, or in something casual. On such a small campus, people tend to avoid serious relationships in order to preserve their individual identity. Once you get involved with someone, it's almost inevitable that people will begin to define you by what they know of your boyfriend/girlfriend. The gay dating scene at Midd, however, is hopping, considering we're living in rural Vermont. I think Midd is remarkably gay-friendly. I've met all my best friends by fluke because we are soul mates.

Most popular groups etc: Social houses, frisby team, varsity teams, International Students Organization, Riddim. Doors are open depending on the floor or dorm, mostly they are closed tho. Hockey is pretty big here. Guest speakers can draw a huge crowd. Theatre gets pretty good attendance. The dating scene is whatever, most people hook up. I met my closest friends through people I went to highschool with. Awake at 2am on tuesday definitely means studying, or partying. People party pretty hard here. Social houses are pretty influential. There are movies and activities on campus for students who don't drink. I party off campus.

Social life is okay. There are plenty of clubs for people searching for those kinds of things. There are parties every weekend, concerts, and other events. You don't have to drink if you don't want to, which is nice. The dating scene is pretty much dead, at least that's what it seems. It's more about the hook-up. If i'm awake at 2am on Tuesday, i'm getting fucked with work. As far as frats/sororities, they're not here. At least technically not allowed. The social houses are good though.

Theater is way popular here. As are sports. And it will always baffle me how well-attended every show is. For every player and performer, there are five enthusiastic audience members who on a different day are the performers themselves. Everyone goes to their friend's stuff, everyone always has a few extra minutes to stop studying and check out a show or a lecture or a movie or a play. I met my closest friends by living with and near them. It's harder when you're outside that realm.

Work hard play hard is the stupidest mindset ever. And everyone here has it. All anyone does is work their face off all week and then Friday and Saturday they just black out as fast as possible. Instead of just taking the time to hang out on weekdays and pursue other things in their lives besides academics, everyone just works super hard all week and then does all their fun-ing (yeah, I just made fun into a verb) in 48 hours.

Student life at Midd can be idyllic, but also can be boring when stuck indoors with work on a cold, winter day. When not working, students can often be found socializing in the dorm lounges, the Grille, or maybe outside on a nice day. Many complain about the lack of things to do; in truth, the College does offer a multitude of performances, lectures, and events everyday, but the cold weather and work often are detrimental to large attendances. Athletic activity is absolutely popular at Middlebury, with a large number of students participating in sports, working out regularly, or enjoying healthy outdoor pursuits such as hiking, skiing, ultimate frisbee, and perhaps even Quidditch. Other popular organizations include language and cultural clubs, due to the popularity of language study on campus. Furthermore, the International Student Organization as well as many language houses hold dance parties and performances, often to much success. Participation in commons-related activities are also quite popular - including coffeehouses, a capella performances, concerts and dances. Being in the rural countryside with little sense of urban excitement, a good number of students drink. Alcohol is readily available, and many students do "ball out" on weekends.

The social life at Middlebury can at times be incredibly frustrating. Because they are allowing their social house system to disintegrate and are not offering fun (and non-sober) alternatives, the students often find that there is not much to do on the weekends besides hang with small groups of their friends in the dorms. In terms of the theater and music, I have to say that there are always great shows to see and that the theater department does a great job of keeping students interested. The Zoo, which is a student theater, almost always has something going on on the weekends, which gives the artsy folk a nice outlet. The sports scene is also a great one, but sometimes exclusive. When visiting other schools, like Bates, for example, I found myself hanging with athletes and non-athletes at the same party, but such is not the case at Midd. Oftentimes, the sports parties are strictly sports parties and non-athletes are not very welcome.

Radio is super easy to be involved in and very fun, but the organization is very disorganized. Dance is awesome and has every type you could imagine. Riddim is especially impressive in my opinion. The Dance Dept. is very postmodern, so be warned. Please come, we need more dancers. It's very easy to be a tour guide and very fun- not paid. Peer tutors are really helpful and, if you're a good writer, it makes a great job. No Greek life and social houses are relatively low-key. No dating scene really- mostly hook ups. This is true across the nation, though; it's not just us. Friday and Sat. are big party nights, but most students are working hard during the week. There are a LOT of non-drinking events that the school sponsors, and there is no pressure to drink.

Most dorm room doors are left wide open, and they are rarely locked. Thats one of my favorite parts about Vermont in general. There is a real sense of community.

Dating scene? None. Parties are fun, often featuring student bands and dj's. I feel like i danced a lot. The college puts a lot of money into fun activities, like winter carnival and spring festivals. Usually these are music and food based. Because there are 2 bars in town, the social life is centered on campus. Not a bad thing though. It's the people who make it, and if you find fun people, you'll have fun no matter what you do. Social houses are diminishing, but the Mill was always the best for the funkiest, funnest, least pretentious parties around. The radio station brings in great indie bands. There's dance and world music at CFA. And the theater department puts on fantastic plays with student actors directors and writers. And let me sing the praises of the student filmmakers!

There is a lot of binge drinking. Most students drink, and drink a lot! An ambulance goes to the hospital probably at least every other weekend because of alcohol. The public safety team is very reasonable and focus on keeping students safe more than just writing citations.

I wish that athletic events were more popular, I wish we all got behind the sports teams. The truth is though, that some of those kids are pricks, so we don't generally like to go support them when they need us. I met all my closest friends in class. What do we do? In the winter we go skiing, fall and spring is hiking. The social life is difficult when you don't have an I.D, but you should learn that alcohol does not equal fun anyway and go take a hike. One of my friends spent a whole semester not drinking to see what would happen. He had the best semester of his life. Every Friday and saturday there are world-class classical music groups, independent films or theatre shows, usually at low or no cost.

Um...I don't know. Riddim is a big hit, I guess. Otters, too. Excuse me, The Otter Nonsense Players. Frisbee. WRMC=the cool kids. I'm into stuff at the Museum (of Art) but it seems to be a pretty private endeavor. That is to say, my friends don't ever see what I do there because we work with local school groups and it's a pretty small number of students that are in the program. I'm really into it, though. There are so many freaking events on this campus that it is absolutely impossible as a human to see them all. That's why when people say there's nothing going on on campus its total baloney. Uh, dating scene? What is "dating scene"? I met my closest friends by living in Battell (=worst/best freshman housing) so proximity certaintly played a part. Oh, and in classes, actually. Or at lunch. I was awake at 2am on Tuesday, for the first time in ages. I was making a birthday card for a pal. And waiting to come down from a Smarties-induced sugar high. Last weekend I was so worn out, that I watched a movie and passed out early. Oh, but Saturday I went to an on-campus concert and partied w/ some friends in their suite. Sometimes I go to parties but I just don't drink. If I don't want to I just don't. Or if the beer is bad. Middlebury is, for some people, very "work hard, play hard" so some kids party allll the time. As in, Wed-Sun. That's rare. More like Thurs-Sat. There are certaintly some bonifide alcoholics who think that it's just what college is supposed to be about. I go to shows in Burlington or even Albany, or I go to friends' houses who happen to live nearby. Otherwise...I stay on campus.

VIVA LA MILL!!!

The student environmental community is powerful on and off campus. Many of us now hold leadership oistions in domestic and international NGOs and institutions.

students in dorms usually leave their doors open. athletics are well attended. Theatre is fairly well supported by the town community and friends of theatre majors. Casual Dating is tricky but I suggest trying it. spend some semesters with a girlfriend or boyfriend and spend some without. Just don't let it hold you back. We get some great guest speakers. Tony Kushner and Robert Putnum were the best while I was there. Bill Clinton was a great graduation speaker. fraternities are almost nonexistent. there are social houses. I never really enjoyed their parties though. except for the MILL. Tuesday night awake at 2am you're either writing a paper or watching a movie with your friends. or some random shenanigans like driving to the 24 hr McDonald's or the Denny's in Burlington. People Party on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday's always been my favorite. There's a nice little music scene. lots of concerts. lots of orchestras, dance shows, sports events. An improve group. Lot's of student produced theatre. You can find stuff to do.

The social scene could be improved upon. I think the school knows this, though. Recently, there was a huge hubbub over one of the most popular alternative “social houses” on campus. A bunch of drugs were found and heads were thrown, and it was a big mess. Things like that happen a lot – where the somewhat conservative administration seems to clash with a burgeoning liberal student body. That’s annoying. I wish sometimes our administration would treat us like the Oberlin/Wesleyan admins seem to treat their students – let them be. Let them be weird and stupid and crazy. It doesn’t seem like that happens often.

Tons of clubs, tons of activities, and the school does a great job of encouraging students to get involved. Social life revolves around campus. There is a lot of partying, but there are also people who don't drink/smoke.

On weekend days, Middlebury provides some great entertainment options, including concerts, films and readings from some of the most prominent authors and journalists. The Center for the Arts always has something cool going on, too. On weekend nights, students drink a lot. Seeing as we're in rural Vermont, which has nothing much to do in the way of "nightlife", this makes sense. Students drink and smoke pot in each other's dorm rooms, at big off-campus parties, in "Social Houses" (Middlebury's version of frats/ sororities), and in language houses (French, Spanish, etc.) where theme parties are thrown almost every weekend. When they turn 21 (or not), students can also go into town and drink at any of the three skeezy bars the town offers. None of these bars offers a "club" atmosphere per se, but one of them, Angela's, does have a wicked/awkward karaoke night. Once students are drunk, hooking up is big, but so are typical college "marriages", where couples stay joined at the hip for years on end. Apparently, Middlebury has one of the highest marriage rates for its alums...something like 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}. The students, generally, are ridiculously attractive, fit, and smart. There's a running joke that people have to submit a photo in order to get accepted to Middlebury. In the winter months, it gets cold, so most do choose to sleep with someone else to keep warm. (Zing!)

What are the most popular student groups/organizations/clubs/teams on campus? I think the outdoors club probably has the most members. Aside from the stuff I’m involved with, I don’t really know. Tell us about the campus group you’re involved with. WRMC is the campus radio station, and though it suffers from being associated exclusively with all those things I keep mentioning – hipsters, the Mill, Proctor lounge, alternative kids – it’s a great community. There are always people hanging out in the office [aside from DJs], the concerts are well-attended, and the board members are a close-knit crew. We throw great parties. The programming is generally pretty diverse and cool. Do people in dorms leave their door open? You could. How popular are athletic events at [College]? Concerts? Campus theater? • What’s the dating scene like? • Athletics – not sure. Concerts – usually well-attended and lots o’ dancing. Campus theater – productions often sell out. How did you meet your closest friends? Either on my Freshman hall, or smoking outside Proctor. Is it easy to meet new people? I think so. Regardless of all the judgmental bitching I’ve done about the general student body, people are generally friendly…like, I frequently get to know people who are in my classes who I might not otherwise be friends with. If you’re awake at 2am on a weeknight, what are you doing? Probably working, but possibly partying. Do any big events or traditions happen each year / semester? Sepomana is the one I look forward to most – it’s the biggest annual concert sponsored by WRMC. And How often do people party, and what’s an average party like? Depends on the year [freshman, soph, etc]. People party hard on the weekends and usually on Thursdays, too. J-term is like, all-night every night. The parties I go to are heavy drinking, heavy pot-smoking, silly costumes and face paint, dancing, making out in dark corners, passing out in dark corners, etc. The parties I don’t go to are probably essentially the same, except without the silly costumes. Describe a typical weekend. Party, wake up, go to brunch, discuss last night’s party, do some work or watch a movie or go skiing or something, party, wake up, go to brunch, discuss last night’s party, do some work or watch a movie or go skiing or something. But I mean, that’s my impression of a typical weekend – I did other stuff, too. Like on Saturdays we used to drive out to this newly paved hill and skateboard down it and then tie a tow rope to the back of a car and get towed back up the hill. Or we went hiking or swimming when it was warm. What can you do on a Saturday night that doesn’t involve drinking? Go to a party and not drink? Go to a play or a concert. See a movie. Do any or all of those things in Burlington. How important is fraternity/sorority life to you? To your campus? Tell us more. The social houses aren’t really fraternities or sororities, though some more closely resemble frat life than others – I mean, if you’re looking to get roofied at a toga party, you can always go to ADP. I was a Mill member, which I talked about a bunch already – it was the more alternative social house. My review of the Mill isn’t totally glowing, either, however. There was a LOT of pot being smoked in that house. The Mill as an institution wasn’t totally important to me – it was more a place to hang out with friends than a real frat/sorority club type thing. How often do you go off campus? What do you do? Occasional jaunt to Burlington to go shopping or just get away. A lot of smaller trips to local swimming holes, hiking spots, off-campus houses, etc.