I recently got rejected from almost all of my reach schools so thats fun! I got into UVM, Fordham, Connecticut College, and Bates. I’ve narrowed it down to UVM and Bates and I’m being super indecisive so please help!! I’m going in undecided but I’m interested in chemistry, physics, philosophy, and law and I hope to double major if it’s not too much work.
UVM
Pros
admitted to the honors college with a 20k/year scholarship, could graduate with not much debt
burlington seems like a great location
lots of outdoorsy people/activities, generally a really nice vibe
has band, concert band, pep band, and a climbing team which is rlly important to me
because its bigger, lots of opportunities (majors/programs, classes, clubs, etc.)
Cons
much bigger than most other schools I applied to (~12k vs ~2k) so I’m worried about it having less of a tight knit community or less accessible faculty, also I really wanted small class sizes
haven’t had the chance to visit yet (visiting this weekend) and the campus seems decent but not great
not very prestigious, ik that doesn’t matter but I wanna impress people and get into a good grad school
the school colors are kinda lame
I’ve heard some bad stuff about the school itself like administration, food, academics, etc. just cause its a bigger state school
Bates
Pros
more prestigious
much smaller
average class size is 15 which would be great
lac so less course requirements (I think)
toured and really liked it, the campus is pretty and the people seemed nice
red is my favorite color and the hat they sent me looks good on me lol
i like maine <3
Cons
didn’t receive any aid so I’d pay full price which is expensive
only has jazz band, no concert band and no climbing team as far as I could find (this is a pretty big deal for me)
not a fan of lewiston, its a pretty bad location and there’s not much to do nearby
As a side note, I’m also waitlisted at Vassar, which was one of my top choices. I accepted the spot on the waitlist but I feel like once I hear back from them I’ll already be committed and adjusted to the idea of going to uvm or bates so I’m not sure if I want to put any hope in that even if I do end up getting in.
Personally, I love Bates. And I love the LAC experience. But not everyone feels that way.
Burlington is a great town. Hard to argue that. And there are lots of fun outdoors activities in the area.
I think you really need to think through the environment that would be best for you as a learner. You may have more lecture classes at UVM. There will be grad student TAs. You may have to chase down opportunities that interest you and maybe compete for them. Otoh, UVM, because of its size, offers A LOT!
You might find the overall vibe at Bates to be closer to what you were looking for. And if you prefer Bates, do you prefer it enough to pay so much more for it?
Start with the finances – is full price at Bates (or anywhere else) affordable for your family? When you say you’d be graduating with debt – would your parents have to take private loans to fund your education, would they have to stop contributing to their own retirement funds, or worse, borrow from their retirement funds to pay for your education? If any of those are true, then the full pay status is not really affordable for you, and Vermont would be a great, affordable option. My kid went through athletic recruiting at Bates and we have visited Burlington and know a current Honors student at Vermont, so we have some passing familiarity with both. Burlington is a great town, and the Honors program offers a lot of perks, including, as I understand it, Honors dorms which can create that smaller community feel you are looking for. For grad school, what the student has done to take advantage of opportunities matters much more than the name of the school, so I wouldn’t worry that doors will be closed if you go one route or another. But start with affordability – if both are affordable, without impacting your family’s financial stability, then look at programs, think about what are your “must haves” vs. your “nice to have, but I can live without.” Dig deeper into course offerings, class size, gen ed requirements etc. Two great options, congrats!