Champlain, University of Vermont, and Middlebury

Lisa Bleich

Champlain and University of Vermont

Burlington is the quintessential college town, with 5 colleges within a 2 mile radius, a thriving downtown within walking distance to UVM and Champlain College, a large outside community with access to snowboarding, hiking, jobs, and internships, all with a beautiful view of Lake Champlain.   Both Champlain College and UVM are dry campuses, but the thriving music/bar scene provides ample opportunity for an active social life for those students 21 and over.

Parties also abound off campus.   The vibe of the town of Burlington is relaxed, “chill”, somewhat hippie, and somewhat sloppy.  We saw many strange looking people along Church Street from an older hippie sporting rainbow colored pants and a mask tooling around on his bicycle protesting something, (We weren’t sure of exactly what though.) to numerous street performers playing every odd instrument one could imagine.  We also saw many great musicians, so it’s hard to say if this was just for the summer crowd or indicative of the sort of people who live in Burlington year round.

Champlain College and UVM are within walking distance of each other, so the town of Burlington services both student populations equally well.

Champlain College

Champlain is a small, hand’s on college with particular strengths in Communications and Creative Media and Information Technology and Science.  It offers some very interesting majors such as Game Design and Computer and Digital Forensics.  Students get great internships with game design companies in Montreal as well as with companies in mobile technology.  Champlain also has a school of Business and a School of Education and Human Studies.  Business students tend to pursue entrepreneurial ventures or work for small businesses in the area.

…Full report on Champlain College….

University of Vermont 

UVM is located in the heart of Burlington, Vermont.  The campus is lined with red brick buildings all in a row.  When approaching the campus from College Ave. it is very pretty with a large, grassy area across the street.  This area was given to the college as a land grant and will not be developed.

When walking the campus, the buildings seem less connected because a road runs through the central area of the campus with the buildings on one side in a row and the grassy area across the street.  There is a new, state-of-the-art student center.  The medical school and nursing building also connect with the campus on the other side of the student center.  Biking seems to be one of the main ways to get around campus with bike racks peppered throughout.  Although in the dead of winter, it’s unclear how handy a bike would be.

…Full report on University of Vermont….

Middlebury

Middlebury is a highly select liberal arts college with approximately 2,450 students on campus during the year and another 400 student studying abroad. Middlebury prides itself on its global awareness, close-knit community, strong faculty-student interaction, and environmental initiatives.  The student body is roughly split down the middle between public and private school students with about 20% students of color.

The campus is lined with beautiful, grey stone buildings, expansive lawns, a golf course and state of the art athletic facilities.  It is set in a picturesque, quaint Vermont town about 45 minutes from Burlington, VT and 30 minutes from a local ski/snowboarding mountain.

Middlebury has a Two plus One calendar term with two full semesters and a month-long J term where students take one class in depth during January.  This gives students an opportunity to explore a variety of subjects and experiences.  For example, several dance and performing arts troupes travel abroad to perform during the J term.

…Full report on Middlebury College…