- For the English school, see Marlborough College
| Marlboro College | |
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| Established | 1946 |
| Type: | Private |
| Endowment: | $30,000,000 (approx. as of 11/14/07) |
| President: | Ellen McCulloch-Lovell |
| Staff: | 41 full-time faculty |
| Students: | 336 |
| Location | Marlboro, VT, USA |
| Campus: | Rural: 360 acres (1.5 km²) |
| Mascot: | The Fighting Dead Tree |
| Website: | http://www.marlboro.edu/ |
Marlboro College is a small alternative liberal-arts college in Marlboro, Vermont, USA.
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History
Marlboro College was founded in 1946 by returning World War II veterans on Potash Hill in Marlboro, Vermont. The school's operation was initially financed using money received from the GI Bill. The campus incorporates the buildings of two old farms that once operated on the college site. Marlboro has grown slowly but steadily since its inception and about 330 students currently attend.
Academics
Marlboro College emphasizes a flexible, personal, and interdisciplinary approach to undergraduate education. Class sizes are small and the student-to-teacher ratio is low (10:1). Students are encouraged to take courses in a wide variety of subjects during their Freshman and Sophomore years. As students matriculate they work more closely with professors and create their own customized tutorial classes to facilitate more advanced and personalized studies. Because of the college's small size most departments are very small, often consisting of only a single professor.
The Clear Writing Requirement
Freshman students usually take one or more classes designed to boost their writing skills to an acceptable undergraduate level. All Freshman must submit 20 pages (5,000 words) of nonfiction writing to the English Committee by the end of their second semester. If the committee decides that a student's writing skills need more work, they recommend a class to help, and the student must prepare another portfolio, at least 10 pages of which must be new, at the end of the next semester for re-evaluation. In the event that a student fails the writing requirement for three consecutive semesters, the school asks them to leave. However, almost all students pass the writing requirement within a few semesters.
The Plan of Concentration
Juniors and Seniors focus on developing a Plan of Concentration, a large self-designed project often involving a special combination of majors and minors. Juniors and Seniors focus on developing independent work and increasingly take personalized tutorial classes (one or two students and the instructor). For most students "The Plan" culminates in a written thesis although art and science students may pursue other projects. However all plans must include a written portion constituting at least twenty percent of the total plan work. In addition, all plans must include an independent project prepared without direct faculty input, also constituting at least twenty percent of the total plan. Plans that consist entirely of academic writing usually range from one hundred to two hundred pages double-spaced. The results of this work are defended in an oral examination before two Marlboro professors, and one outside evaluator who has expertise in the student's field of study but is not connected with the college. The presence of the outside evaluator is meant to ensure that the grading process is fair and objective. The final plan is then put on permanent file as a reference work in the college library.
Community
Because of Marlboro's small size the school tends to emphasize community participation and values. A monthly "town meeting" allows all community members to gather and vote to change the college bylaws. An elected community court dispenses justice when necessary. Different elected committees, consisting of students, faculty and staff, help to hire faculty (or even college presidents) and steer the curriculum, among many other responsibilities. The school maintains very minimal security measures in order to promote attitudes of trust and responsibility on campus. Most buildings are unlocked 24 hours a day. The library is also open all night and uses a self-checkout honor system to keep track of borrowed materials. Because of its isolation Marlboro's social life is largely self contained and centers primarily around small student-organized events or parties. Students are nearly all liberal in their political alignment. Marlboro students are generally not very interested in athletics, although the school does have a few basic sports teams and promotes outdoor nature-oriented sports through its "Outdoor Program." Community life is also shaped heavily by Vermont's long winter, which can faze or annoy some students.
Statistics
- An average of 67% of the school's relatively self-selecting applicant pool is accepted. The middle 50% range of SAT I scores (for 2005) was 1040-1310 out of 1600 possible points.
- 68% of alumni go on to graduate school. [1]
- 49% of alumni contribute money to the college [2]
- Marlboro's World Studies Program has placed students in working internships in some 50 different countries. [3]
- Marlboro College was ranked #2 in the nation by The Princeton Review for "Best Overall Academic Undergraduate Experience," #2 for "Professors Get High Marks," and #5 for "Classroom Discussions Encouraged." [4]
- US News & World Report ranked Marlboro 3rd in "Highest Proportion of Classes under 20 (students)." [5]
Famous professors
- David Mamet once taught at Marlboro.
- Jay Craven teaches film.
- Wyn Cooper taught at Marlboro.
Notable alumni
- Associated Press Special Correspondent Hugh Mulligan
- Portrait photographer Jock Sturges
- Pastor Charles Tigard
- Poet Sophie Cabot Black
- Author Deborah Eisenberg (Left after two years)
- Scientist Robert MacArthur
Famous dropouts
Quotes
- "It takes someone able to go ahead on (his or her) own to handle this kind of freedom. It is the reliance on student initiative that separates Marlboro education from one-on-one elsewhere." - [6] Loren Pope, author of Colleges That Change Lives
- According to the Princeton Review: "Atypical is typical, but not in an obnoxious way," Marlboro students report, pointing out that "we bathe; some girls even shave!" Notes one student, "Sometimes our nonconformity is manifest in our clothes, be it flashy hipness, dirty hippieness, caps with hoods, or just the standard drag-queen apparel." Students are fond of saying that everyone here "is really bright in some way or another." They "often come from alternative educational institutions—Waldorf schools, home schools, and special high schools of different kinds—so they sort of have that ‘I'm not doing it the mainstream way' attitude about them." Most "are quite liberal in their thinking and are encouraged to share their views." Among their ranks are "many bisexual and gay students, but anyone can talk to anyone else. It's very open." Diversity here "is less focused on race than it is on sexuality and socioeconomics, where it truly is diverse. The geography and current demographic seems to be unappealing to some minority groups, which drives the administrators nuts." As one undergrad puts it, "The only segment of student demographics less represented than students of color are students of conformity." [7]
See also
External links
- Marlboro College
- Marlboro College Historical Society
- Marlboro College Graduate Center website
- Colleges That Change Lives - Marlboro College
- Marlboro College is at coordinates Coordinates:
