<p>Hi, I have some questions about UVM: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>How serious are students about academics? Do people ever have intellectual conversations outside of class? Do people participate in class and are they interested in learning? </p></li>
<li><p>I know UVM is not diverse ethnically, but what about other types of diversity? Are the majority of students druggies? lol it is a serious question; it's a stereotype I've heard about UVM, and I'm hoping it's not true..</p></li>
<li><p>I know UVM has grown a lot over the past years and established a reputation as an academically rigorous school, BUT, how true is this, really? Are classes and professors good? Do students party all the time and not care about studying at all? </p></li>
<li><p>How does transferring to the Honors College in sophomore year work? Or can you transfer 2nd semester freshman year?</p></li>
<li><p>What's the deal with the ISSP, IHP, ISEE learning and living communities? Are the students more intellectual/more interested in learning than the rest of the college (with the exception of the honors college maybe)? could you be in ISSP even if you want to be pre-med? </p></li>
<li><p>How supportive is UVM of an interdisciplinary curriculum? I want to be pre-med, but not necessarily a science major, since I have other interests I want to explore as well. Would UVM be supportive of this or think I'm insane? lol</p></li>
<li><p>I know class sizes are large for intro (particularly science classes), but what about upper level science classes, etc? </p></li>
</ol>
<p>I know this is a lot of qs, but thanks so much in advance!</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Depends on the people you talk to. The post-bach students and the premeds are always serious about their grades and academics, but in every class, only about 1/3 of the enrolled students actually show up to lectures. I’ve only take a couple of smaller classes, and no one participated. They aren’t too many people here who are truly interested in learning, learning. The environmental school, however, has more the type of students who have great passion in and out of the classroom. And I’ve yet to hear an intelligent conversation or meet someone who wants to have one…that’s one of the reasons why I’m transferring. </p></li>
<li><p>There’s a lot of people who don’t do drugs…but a huge percentage do. Marijuana is prevalent no matter where you go, and at anytime of day. And the students here LOVE to drink. As far as diversity, in any respect of the word, there is very little. But, in all honesty, if you don’t mind a homogenous body where you could get along with pretty much everyone because they are all ‘chill’, then this is a good place for you.</p></li>
<li><p>As much as a party school that UVM can be, the classes are extremely rigorous. From the atmosphere of the school and the students, you would think that classes and exams would not be anything comparable to a challenge, but that is blatantly false. Class averages hover around the 65-70% range, and there is NO curve. I’m serious. Professors aim for an average around that range. In fact, I have had grades curved DOWN. Very rare grading system, and very difficult to get a good grade. But the professors are good, and they give you information that you need to know.</p></li>
<li><p>I am not sure if you can transfer in your spring semester freshman year, but you can be invited to apply for sophomore year. I was contacted earlier in March saying they wanted me to join the Honors College. I believe you apply and, if accepted, are granted the privilege of living in UHeight-North (the best dorms on campus) and then have access to the honors courses and get first choice for registration. A lot of students opt to not join or leave the HC because of the extra classes or the red tape that can surround the progress of things, such as studying abroad.</p></li>
<li><p>I’m in CALS, so I don’t know anything about the ISSP program. I would recommend contacting someone in charge of that division. Also, premed in simply a path, not a major, so that wouldn’t matter at all.</p></li>
<li><p>Again, I don’t think you understand what ‘premed’ means. Being premed means that you are going to fulfill all of the medical school prerequisite courses. It’s not a major. You can major in anything you want and be premed - you just have to make sure you take the science courses necessary, or do a post-bach.</p></li>
<li><p>Intro classes tend to enroll anywhere from 180-300 students, roughly. But because UVM is so large, the upper level classes still have 60-80 students in them. The smaller classes are found in subject related to history, english, anthro, etc.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>– I hope that answers some of you questions. UVM definitely has a wide spectrum of personalities, and it is a place that you need to LOVE in order to enjoy.</p>
<p>Thank you very much for your honest answers.</p>
<p>I certainly do understand what being pre-med means, however. What I meant by my question was that while pre-med is not a major, at some schools pretty much every pre-med majors in biology, so I was just wondering if that is the case at UVM, and even if it is, if people who are following the pre-med track do tend to take courses in a wide variety of disciplines. I know that I certainly could do this, as pre med is not a major, but I was curious as to whether this was commonly done at UVM.</p>
<p>I’m not is CAS, so I do not have an extreme amount of exposure to the hardcore biology major population, but in my opinion, there is a greater amount of premeds who are NOT bio majors than premeds who are bio majors. I am a Nutrition major and am premed, and one of my best friends here is a Women’s Gender studies major but is also premed. To answer your question, UVM is very supportive of any student who has a premed concentration and is not a bio major. Essentially, as long as you fulfill the premed requirements, exploration of other disciplines is highly encouraged, so no worries about being restricted to science-based classes only.</p>
<p>That’s good to hear, thank you. </p>
<p>Also, can I ask–why exactly are you transferring?</p>
<p>I’m considering transferring to UVM and Cheeky kind of highlighted all the things I was worried about encountering there. Oh well.
If possible, could you could elaborate a little more on the students and agriculture school?</p>