WCAX.COM Local Vermont News, Weather and Sports-Middlebury College Professors Get Top Marks
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Middlebury, Vermont - July 29, 2008
Of all the colleges and universities in the country, Middlebury College has the best professors. That's the word from the Princeton Review, which released its annual list of rankings this week.
"They make it fun, you know, and they're really interested in their subjects and enthusiastic about it," says Middlebury junior Mia Lieb-Lappen.
Princeton Review bases its rankings on student surveys.
A group of students we talked to agreed that what makes Middlebury professors stand out is their commitment to students-- not just in the classroom, but beyond.
"I call them all by their first names. I've been to dinner at my advisor's house," says Lieb-Lappen.
"They're not pretentious or intimidating," agrees junior Julia Kim. "They're more on our level and I think they really remember what their college experiences were like and want to kind of draw upon that and make our learning experiences the best they can be."
It seems the students here like more than just who they're learning from but also what they're eating. The review ranks the college as 14th in the category of best campus food.
"I've been to other schools visiting my friends and they have like chicken fingers and pizza and hamburgers and hot dogs always at the dining halls and we don't have that kind of stuff," says Lieb-Lappen.
Students say they appreciate the cultural variety of the food they are served, especially because many of the ingredients are locally grown or produced.
Students also like that they have three dining halls to choose from.
"We can go have lunch at one, dinner at another and then later on in the evening have coffee with friends at yet another dining hall," says junior Tom Brant.
Great professors, great food, and great job placement-- another category where Middlebury ranked 16th. It's no wonder the college is getting more national attention and drawing in a freshman class with nearly 75 percent of students coming from out of state.
Some other local schools also made the Princeton Review lists.
UVM ranks 4th on the Reefer Madness list and 15th for Birkenstock-Wearing, Tree-Hugging, Clove-Smoking Vegetarians. Click here to see all the rankings.
Bianca Slota - WCAX News
