I have received good financial aid from my top three schools so money isnt an issue at this point. I can only visit two of them
My top three schools are UVM, UMass Amherst, and UConn. Just wondering if anyone can tell me about the atmospheres, and or pros and cons of all these schools, I am a biology major
My son applied to all 3 and we visited all 3. First Uconn is a very nice campus, a bit spread out, but really in the middle of nowhere. There is no real town bordering campus, just a couple of stores, places to eat, etc. Umass looks like a state school, not ugly, but not traditional New England collegiate looking. Umass is in Amherst and has a beautiful Main Street bordering campus that I would consider the traditional “college town” pizzerias, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, etc. it also is part of 5 college consortium with nearby colleges Amherst, Smith, Hampshire and Mount Holyoke that allows you to take courses at those schools. They are all within a few miles and connected by bus system. UVM is a more traditional looking campus, with some very nice architecture, but has a mix of newer buildings as well. It sits atop Burlington, a beautiful small city right on lake Champlain. The city of a burlington has classic New England feel to it, older houses, hip restaurants, coffee houses, etc. Uconn and Umass are both very large with 25,000 plus students, UVM has about 12,000, but the campus is smaller than the 2 others and feels like a medium sized school, which it is. Uconn and Umass are predominately in-state students, while UVM is 70% out of state students. Uconn has large school pride w basketball program, the other 2 a little less so with regards to sports. All have active Greek, but not overwhelming. Both my son and I liked UVM more than the 2 others ( he is attending this fall) as it feels more like a private than public school, was not too big, was in a small city which is safe and has a lot going on socially/culturally ( ok not nyc, but we live near nyc) lake, skiing/outdoor activities and stunning views from campus, not to mention the nicest campus of the 3 in our opinion. Now, academically they are all pretty similar at a generic level. All 3 ranking in bottom 50 of top 100 universities nationally by USWNR…So splitting hairs. I can’t tell you which one has strongest biology program, but I suspect all 3 are solid. I know UVM has very good Bio program and is a very good med school if that is in your future plans. Some will come here and argue this one is better than that one, but all 3 are solid choices, you’d be fine going to any one of them. In short, we both preferred UVM and Umass over Uconn, simply because my son wanted to be in a happening place, and not in an isolated campus, although we both felt Uconn was strongest academically for his major, though not enough to tilt in it’s favor. You have to be happy where you live to do well. I don’t know you or your preferences, but hopefully that gives you an idea of some of the differences. It seems both UVM and Umass are rising faster in rankings in recent years as well…meaning in future years your degree might gain some more cache’
Thank you this was very helpful! I had the same regards about uconn being in the middle of nowhere hopefully when I visit I will get a good feeling from either of the campuses
U bet, good luck!