What types of kids are a fit for UVM and in what fields is it academically strong?
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Anonymous
| We’re looking to visit UVM over Spring Break with our DS. Thinking of it as a safety but I don’t have a sense of whether it’s a good fit and worth checking out, or if our time is better spent visiting other options for safeties/likelies. He does like the outdoors so that’s a plus; academic interests are broad right now including economics, neuroscience, and physics. He may want law school eventually. I know UVM is great for environmental studies but is it as good a fit for these other fields? Are there certain personalities that are especially happy there? He is pretty high stats but probably not T10 level. |
Anonymous
| My nephew is an engineer (in state, got into other more competitive schools for CS but opted for electrical engineering). He's doing research on the Mars Rover (paid) and had a very well paid internship with chip manufacturer Global foundries (formerly IBM) last summer and has already been offered this summer but may opt to do something else. Amazing program. People poo-poo UVM but me, dh, BIL, Sis and now nephew are all alums and are doing great. Entrepreneurs, public policy, educators all represented among us. Dad was a prof there. |
Anonymous
| My DS is a UVM freshman - super happy there so far. He’s in the business school and tbh I don’t know too much about other academic areas but we do know a guy from our town who graduated with an engineering degree and is now out west working for some kind of aerospace company and another who graduated with a bio degree now getting a phd at a fairly prestigious Boston area school. It’s (newly) a D1 research school and I think there’s plenty of opportunity for ambitious students even with its reputation for being somewhat laid back. My kid is friendly and easy going, sporty but not necessarily “ outdoorsy” ( that is loves ski/golf/lax/ultimate but zero interest in camping ), seems to have connected with plenty of others with a similar vibe. It’s still early in his time there but so far we’ve been really happy with it from parent perspective. If you have specific questions happy to try and answer them. |
Anonymous
NP Can you share stats of his application? Is business direct admit? How does he feel about the 37 m: 63 f ratio? Would a sporty guy who isn’t interested in fraternities find his people easily? Thanks! |
Anonymous
| OP here and thank you PPs! To the poster whose son is a freshman, I'm so glad to hear he's having a great experience. Mine also isn't interested in fraternities though isn't super sporty either. I'd love to hear more about the social scene. |
Anonymous
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Pp with DS freshman - he did go through rush last semester, got a bid at a the fraternity he liked best, then decided not to do it as he wanted more time to explore college and what it’s all about and not have fraternity life be his whole thing. He may still do winter/spring rush not sure. But from what he has told me his social life has been busy and fun, some friends in Greek life some aren’t, it seems to be a mellow thing there. I think pretty small percent of students are Greek. Definitely possible for a freshman guy to go to frat parties even if not in one which I think is not case everywhere.
Business is direct admit, it’s a different model than a lot of other undergrad business programs (can give more detail if interested) for him it was the best fit. I don’t actually remember his stats but I think his gpa was in the B+/A- range, decent but not highest rigor, SAT low 1300s. He got pretty good presidential award merit aid ( not the highest bracket but enough to make a real difference in cost). Gender ratio - seems like could be great for him at some point! Right now still solid with hs girlfriend so we’ll see. He’s always been a guy with a big pack of guy friends and that has seemed to come together for him nicely in college as well. I do see some parents in the FB group talking about their kid struggling to make social connections (like some do everywhere). Overall the campus seems friendly to me and kids seem glad to be there.its also got a higher percentage of OOS students than in-state, given how relatively remote northern Vermont can feel I appreciate the energy that comes from a student body that comes from all over. |
Anonymous
| DP - question for parents of current or past UVM students - do you have any experience with the honors college ? Do you know what stats would be necessary for honors college? Website says criteria is ‘holistic’. Also, does UVM consider demonstrated interest with an in person visit important ? We have limited resources for visits and are trying to consider how to prioritize in person visits. Thx! |
Anonymous
My understanding is -yes - on demonstrated interest, it is considered (but I can’t tell you how important it is). Remember too that there are multiple ways to show demonstrated interest beyond a visit (webinars, meeting campus rep if they come to high school, etc). Sorry, no info on Honors College |
Anonymous
| My kid (3.9, 1510 SAT) was waitlisted for the honors college last year but then appealed & was offered a seat in March. The LASP program is also a great option (& shares the honors college dorm). |
Anonymous
| OP again, really appreciating all this input! |
Anonymous
NP but business is indeed a direct admit. My kid was admitted (not high on his list but still) and has been getting email from the Grossman School of Business encouraging him to enroll. |
Anonymous
| Interested in this thread. DS got a big scholarship which means zero debt for him, so interest is high. |
Anonymous
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We visited. Pretty campus and the nearby lake is nice. They had a lovely chorus perform for us in the chapel where we all gathered before a tour.
The department presentation was absolutely horrendous. We visited a much smaller school and their presentation was outstanding with a professor who had proof of successful job placements. To belong, it seems important to ski. Student was not seeing how they would fit in there socially or academically, so we passed on it. A student on the quad told us the food is horrible. We were given a pretty bad breakfast on the tour, but they did have good maple syrup. The campus is very white. Not used to that so it felt weird. They do give good merit! |
Anonymous
| Stowe is something like an hour from campus. Burlington reminds me of a small Colorado. People will be outside skating on ponds or riding bikes when it’s 5 degrees out. Good beer and food half a mile walk down the hill. I went to college in the Midwest where the social scene was drinking, eating, and watching sports all winter. I try to help my kid contrast the lifestyle differences between the different colleges she is deciding between. |
Anonymous
One thing to keep in mind is Burlington is pretty hard to get to. Direct flights from National (which I am increasingly wary of using) on American but they are very pricey And it’s a solid 9 to 10-hour drive My kid graduated last year and is living there for one more year, it’s been a good experience, but the travel is an increasing strain |