My son was accepted EA for Fall 2019. What are the best dorms for freshman (most centrally located, convenient, amenities, etc.)? I know students rank their choices of where they want to live. Is there any way to improve chances of getting into the dorm they want? Does committing to UVM earlier make a difference? Do they actually rank dorm choices or learning communities (I noticed each learning community seems to have several dorms in which it’s members are housed)? TIA!
UVM requires all of its 1st year and 2nd year students to live on campus. It is honestly a great opportunity for a lot of students and they end up getting involved and making life long friends. The reality is that the reshall almost doesn’t matter- all the housing is considered a Residential Learning Community- so it is a matter of what your student is interested in. You can learn about the themes here: https://www.uvm.edu/reslife/learning-communities.
I asked and committing earlier to UVM does not make a difference in the housing selection process. I also found this site useful https://www.uvm.edu/reslife/incoming_students and this one https://www.uvm.edu/reslife/getting_housing. Of course, if all else fails, calling Res Life always works for me! I hope your student goes to UVM- it is such a great opportunity! Congrats again!
Wow, thanks for all the info!
Hi there - mom of a current UVM freshman who happened to be snooping on this board. Unfortunately, students cannot pick their dorms but they can pick their Living Learning communities (or they can try as acceptance is not guaranteed) and the L/L communities are assigned to certain dorms, some of which are more desirable than others. The dorm everyone wants to get into is the brand new dorm on Central Campus that houses the Wellness Environment. Because this dorm is so sought after, a lot of kids apply to Wellness and many do not get in. Others do get in but do not get into the CC dorm but instead get housed in another dorm which is supposedly very old and run down. The Wellness Environment is substance free and kids must comply with the rules. Unfortunately, many kids try to get in to this community for the wrong reasons (to live in a nice dorm) and not because of the lifestyle. My son did not request it. The least desirable dorms are on Trinity Campus, which is very far away. The dorms on Redstone campus are also pretty far away, so my son wanted to avoid both of those areas. My son chose a L/L community he had a good chance of getting into with a dorm with a very convenient location. He is in Harris Millis, which is a pretty typical freshman dorm - older, no a/c and not that pretty, but is right next to the gym and has its own cafeteria. My son loves it and has made lots of friends! This was the dorm that kids were housed in for orientation and he was not impressed to say the least and was upset that he would be living there. He ended up loving it!
Thank you, your response really cleared up a lot of questions