<p>Hello, Cottage Spirit. Do you know roughly how many students are in the honors college? And does your son think the classes at UVM have been sufficiently challenging? We had only really considered UVM as a safety school (though DS love to be in Burlington/ski country), but his getting the presidential scholarship and being accepted into the honors college has been making us think it might be worth really considering UVM. I guess I mostly want to know whether he’s going to be with kids who have an intellectual bent and will really challenge him. Thanks so much!</p>
<p>Cottage Spirit: Thanks so much. Your description of the school and Vermont make UVM seem like a great place for my oh-so-laid back son. He needs a break from the intensity of his prep school education, but in an environment that is still intellectually challenging. While UVM was an application on a whim for him, it’s definitely rising in the ranks. Do the kids get out and about at this time of year? Or all they all huddled up inside because of the cold? Also, your hotel suggestions and things to do sound perfect. Biggest downside will be getting there from Texas. </p>
<p>NameTK: I’m sure Cottage Spirit knows better than I, but I think I read that there are about 200 kids per class in the Honors program. The presidential scholarship and honors program made my son start paying real attention also to UVM as an option.</p>
<p>THank you Cottage Spirit, for all the advice!</p>
<p>NameTK, momteacher is right in that there are about 200 freshmen in the honors program.</p>
<p>Honestly, I would have to say I haven’t gotten the impression that UVM is overflowing with kids with an intellectual bent, and I don’t think my son is particularly challenged. A lot probably depends on what your son would be majoring in. At the honors college orientation, many of the kids were interested in pre-med, neuroscience, engineering, etc. My DS is undecided and filling his schedule with mostly philosophy, religion, and music classes. Well, to be fair to him, he did take Calc II and Geology last semester, and he’s taking Evolutionary Biology this semester. I think he’s having fun exploring other areas he didn’t have available to him in high school, and one nice thing about UVM is that they really encourage that. If, however, your son knows from the get-go that he wants pre-med, engineering, or something like that, he’s bound to have a more challenging load than my son has. In his humanities classes, he does have to read and write a fair amount, but I don’t think he has found any of it particularly challenging - which, I think, he’s liking. I’m fine with it too because he’s happy and learning and because there will be time for bigger challenges as he moves to the higher level courses. The honors college also provides special opportunities to students who are interested in them.</p>
<p>momteacher, I don’t think the kids at UVM stay huddled up inside in the winter. They seem to be a pretty outdoorsy and active bunch. DS forgot to bring his snowpants back up with him, and he reminded me again today to send them up to him. Lots of the kids ski and snowboard, and there’s an outing club that I believe operates year-round. DS participated in UVM’s TREK orientation program - lots of options for kids to go up a week early for backpacking, kayaking, canoeing, rock-climbing, etc. It was a riot. A lot of the incoming freshmen participate, and at the kick-off there were all kinds of whooping and hollering and cheering. I laughed because where else are you going to see so many kids that excited about going out in the wilderness with people they don’t know and not showering for a week? (As an aside, DS loved his backpacking trip and thought it really helped him make a smooth transition to college.)</p>
<p>CottageSpirit, Is it required that students in the Honors College live in the Honors College dorm?</p>
<p>No, it’s not required, but I think most choose to. The other obvious on-campus choice would be one of the Living & Learning Communities. I thought that DS might opt for one of the L&L options for next year, but he and a friend put in to stay in the honors college dorm.</p>
<p>My S just got accepted to Honors College and is very happy! Now waiting for FA…</p>
<p>I was re-reading the post - my S is a neuroscience major (Biology department) - I guess he is very fortunate that he got accepted. His stats - 3.4 ( unweighted) takes mostly AP courses, SAT 800R, 690M, 650W, ACT 33
SAT2 -Math 750
A tip that might have helped S to get an invite to Honors college is that after we visited the school - he was very interested in the honors program so he sent an email expressing his interest in UVM and wanted to know if he was being considered for the honors programs. He was put in touch with the Honors College and he wrote to them expressing interest. He also mentioned that we only sent the ACT scores and they suggested he send in his SAT scores which we did. I think that was about 2 weeks ago. I am not sure if it helped but you never know? </p>
<p>Good luck everyone! </p>
<p>Hi to all - I am a current senior at UVM in the Honors College and College of Arts and Sciences. I am an English major with a double minor in Spanish and Art History, and have been in the Honors College since my first semester. I believe there were ~160 students in my HCOL Class of 2014, and that number has dwindled over the course of four years. I am happy to answer any questions regarding the Honors College that any of you may have!</p>
<p>^^^ what other colleges did you consider attending along with UVM and why did you choose UVM? Do you plan to go to grad school? How difficult did you find the honor classes? Do you remain living in the honor dorm all 4 years? </p>
<p>I am sure I will have other questions…</p>
<p>Hi @onlyonemom, I applied to eight colleges – UVM, Dartmouth, BC, UCONN, Providence, Northeastern, St. Michaels, and Notre Dame. When it came down to it, I was choosing between UCONN (in state for me), Northeastern, and UVM. However, if I’m really being honest with myself, I was in love with UVM from the first time I visited Burlington and I’ve loved it more every day since. The people are unbelievable welcoming, friendly and diverse, the academics are challenging and enjoyable, and Burlington itself is the best place in the world to live. It’s beautiful, environmentally friendly, and has a TON to do. </p>
<p>I do not plan to go to grad school, at least for the time being. I currently have an internship with Aetna and work for UVM, and hope to gain full time employment from one of these two sources. </p>
<p>In terms of the Honors College courses, I found them challenging but not discouragingly so. The first two semesters of HCOL requires that each student take the same course (but split into seminar sized questions). It was really great to get the opportunity to be in a 15-20 student classroom immediately, and it was also awesome to know that I had 159 other peers that were studying the same material as I was. The second two semesters I got to choose my courses – I took “French Intellectualism and War” and the “The Environment and Human Health.” Both were absolutely fascinating, eye opening, and yet challenging. As a senior, I am now working on my thesis project.</p>
<p>I am somewhat of a unique case because I did not ever live in the Honors College. I made a personal choice to leave my living situation up to fate, and now live downtown with 8 other seniors that lived in my residential hall our first year here. Our house always has something going on! However, my boyfriend and many of my very close friends lived in the Honors College for their first and second years here at UVM. They absolutely loved it, and to be honest I was a little bit jealous of the fact that they basically lived in hotel rooms! The rooms are beautiful and the classrooms are right in the Residential Hall, so that was also very convenient for them. For example, my boyfriend really enjoyed the fact that his hall was typically much quieter than the other residential halls. He now lives in a house downtown with another Honors College student that he has known since his first year here. However, the Honors College DOES provide HCOL students the opportunity to live in the halls all four years if they so choose, so that is definitely a possibility if that interests you!</p>
<p>Hope that helps!</p>
<p>^^^Jslayton - thanks for the response. I would say that my S, husband and I also fell in love with UVM and now that S has been admitted to the honors program - he is seriously considering attending. However, we are waiting to here about finances - currently UVM is the most expensive school (after FA) he is considering.</p>
<p>Thank you again and best of luck with your future plans.</p>
<p>@onlyonemom, I’m happy to help! Feel free to shoot any other questions my way if needed. Thanks so much and I’m so glad to hear that you all had a positive experience here at UVM.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for your help! My son has chosen UVM Honors college! We bought the sweatshirt yesterday.</p>