My son is very interested in Champlain so we hopped on here to find out what we could about admissions, campus life, merit aid, etc. Looks like the last question to be posted was from 2018 and there were no answers for the last several! Also looks as though Nikki - the admissions rep who carried Champlain for years in this forum - has disappeared. Is there anyone still out there who can tell me ANYTHING about Champlain? Due to the pandemic, we haven’t visited - but are hoping to get there in the spring!
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My daughter just started her freshman year there. I can answer what I can!
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Hey, we would like to know all about it (of course) but since we can’t currently visit, anything you can tell us would be helpful! My son is a junior and I have one son at a college (that gives almost NO merit aid) so we’re trying to figure out if we can pull off Champlain. Over the summer, my son discovered it and fell in love with it! He’s done a couple of online things, including an Open House, and it’s impressed us both!
We’re trying to figure out a few important things like (1) is it a big party scene, and/or is there Greek life? (How strong is the peer pressure?) (2) how is the financial aid situation (do they offer a lot of merit aid, or just a little)? (3) is it easy to make friends - which I guess you’ll be learning in the next few weeks! - and how are the professors?
My son is interested in a ton of the majors - probably Professional Writing and Film more than the others. Even if you can’t answer any of our questions, we’d love to hear your take on how its been through the admissions process - even in these crazy times - and how she likes it there! Thanks so much for your help. We are in Maryland and probably won’t get to visit before his senior year…!
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@keerstn I can certainly speak to some of the questions you asked!
- There is no Greek life on campus at all. If this is a main interest to your son, that piece wouldn’t be a good fit. It’s my understanding it’s not a party school. The kids there are very technology driven and a lot of them are gamers. They have a lot of gaming sessions, have Discord servers for each dorm, and so I’m sure parties happen, but I don’t believe it’s at the forefront.
- Financial aid/merit - my DD was offered a very decent merit amount when she rec’d her financial aid package. She also qualified for certain scholarships and if you’d like to discuss that piece further, I can direct message you.
- So, she’s only been there a week and they’re under campus quarantine, but she has made a ton of friends already. She has met people that live in her dorm, they’ve had virtual orientation but have been really good at getting the students together outdoors in masks for socially distant socializing as well. She eats her meals outdoors with a group of people rather than eating in her room alone. I would say that if they’re able to connect and make friends within the first week of being on campus quarantine, it’s probably not too hard to make friends.
She doesn’t start class until Monday the 31st so I can’t speak to how the professors are yet. She’s studying Computer and Digital Forensics and 3 of her course are virtual only (synchronous still with Zoom and actual class meeting times) and 2 of her course will be a flex hybrid with an in-person component once weekly as long as that works out.
One of the main reasons she fell in love with it is that they get to start classes in their majors as freshman. She was also very drawn to what they call their CORE classes as well…not your typical college courses.
Hopefully this has been helpful! I’ll let you know on professors when we get that far. I’d encourage you to do one of their virtual visits as well! Let know if you think of any other questions and I can try to answer!
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This is TREMENDOUSLY helpful - thank you! My son is trying to stay away from places with Greek life and parties - not his scene at all - and you’re right: if they can make friends in the middle of quarantine, it’s a pretty easy place to make friends! I really appreciate your help. Not sure how you can message me, but if you can figure it out feel free! I’d love to know about the financial aid piece, too. My son has already attended their summer open house and LOVED it - Kahoots for everyone! 
@keerstn I sent you a message so we’ll see if that works.
Just saw this. My son is also applying now for Champlain. He was able to see the campus (he did a game camp there summer 2019) and fell in love with it. We are also in Maryland and he has zero interest in a greek life school. It really seems like the perfect fit for him. Hopefully the financials will work out. We will be setting up a zoom with their financial aid office in the coming weeks to talk it through. (They recommended doing this at their recent virtual open house). Here’s hoping both our MD kids end up there next fall. Good luck!
Good luck to your son @Sharane and hopefully it all works out. My daughter is loving freshman year, COVID restrictions and all!
Thanks again! I am so glad she’s still enjoying it - such a tough time to be a freshman! Well, a tough time to be ANYTHING! Glad to hear it’s going so well! My son has been to two open houses and is registered for a third “deep dive” open house in a couple of days. Looking forward to finding out more!
Hello! I know it’s been a while but thought I’d reach out and see if anyone who messaged in here previously had an update about how your kids are doing! We’re on a tour right now… Have seen WPI and RPI, see RIT in a couple days and then onto Burlington to see Champlain, which has been my son’s #1 choice virtually. He’s looking at Game Design/Programming, not into Greek or partying either. Really just wanted to hear any updates you might have!
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My son just visited Champlain this past weekend and fell in love with it. He is interested in the business school and accounting because he likes math. I am wondering if once he gets there, can he explore the cyber security courses? I could really see him liking that. Also, I would like to know if there are any organized social events, as I am afraid he might not get out much.
Any updates?
I can’t tell you much about Champlain except that my friends that have kids that go there are very happy. What I can tell you is that Burlington is the best college town ever. As a UVM alum, I can tell you that living in Burlington is a big part of the college experience.
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I loved Burlington! I can’t really compare it to any other college town I have seen.
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My son graduated Champlain last year and I can attest that the gaming majors (and related) especially are very happy with their choice of Champlain and Burlington. There is a lot of mentoring of students in the industry and those graduates leave to make quite a nice starting salary. Burlington is an amazing college town and kids at Champlain are never at a loss for things to do. There is zero Greek life and limited sports, but that seems to suit the typical Champlain student.
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My daughter is a junior and we are headed to Champlain’s open house on 11/8. She’s interested in either game art or graphic design. Any updates from Champlain families if their students are still happy? She’d need quite a bit of merit to be able attend so I’m worried if she falls in love. It seems I see some folks say very little merit and others say it’s very good. Thanks!
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A friend of mine has a son who is unsure what he wants to major in but is interested in video editing, music. Trying to figure out how that would work at Champlain. Can anyone help? My youngest son considered Champlain (he ended up at Concordia in Montreal) and we really liked it. I think it may be a fit for my son’s friend who is a visual learning