UVM vs UMass vs UConn

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I plan to study biology and would also like to continue playing music at some level. UConn seems to have the most prestige which indicates its probably slightly better in academics; however, UVM seems most practical in terms of cost. I also feel like I'd fit in better at UVM as it is my state school.</p>

<p>Estimated cost after financial aid package
UVM: 7K a year (instate tuition)
UMass: 15K a year
UConn: 30K a year</p>

<p>UVM
Pros - Burlington, least expensive, many of my classmates are going, good size
Cons - not very selective/rigorous, seems to be regarded at as a "hippie" school</p>

<p>UMass
Pros - Amherst is pretty cool too and not as far away as Burlington, five college consortium, got into honors college, was provided most aid (they seemed interested in me), good food :)
Cons - big school and big class sizes, party school, unattractive campus, about 80% are from Mass</p>

<p>UConn
Pros - 600+ student activities, lots of school spirit, nice campus, ranked high in academics and high retention rate
Cons - very expensive, Storrs, also mostly instate students (80% are from Conn.)</p>

<p>Any advice that could be helpful would be greatly appreciated. </p>

2

<p>if money is an issue, pick UVM since you seem to like it from your post.</p>

3

<p>UMass Honors would be a good compromise.
What’s your parents’ budget? Can they afford 10k?
Is that amount after or before federal loans?
If your parents would have to borrow, or if you had to borrow more than
the $5,500 federal loans for freshmen, it’s not worth it.
Otherwise, your two real choices would be UMass Honors and UVermont.
There’s no wrong choice there if they’re both affordable, so choose the one
you like best.</p>

4

<p>UVM is a better school than UMass so I’m not sure why you would choose UMass unless you just want to go away to school. Its hard to pass up a 23k difference for UConn.</p>

5

just wondering, which one did you end up choosing and are you happy? (I’m between UVM and Uconn and Fordham U and would like to see where you chose)

6

@Vlklngboy11‌ Umass Amherst is better than UVM in most fields, esp. considering OP is in the honors college. It has done a lot to eliminate the “party school” and “zoomass” vibe. Burlington is better than Amherst, though.

7

@tysonp @Vlklngboy11‌ → I agree with Qwerty, Umass has improved vastly in the past 5 years or so. US News, the largest and most popular college ranking service, ranks UMass Amherst almost ten places higher than UVM.
(Umass #76 http://■■■■■■■.com/82cl5x2) (UVM #85 http://■■■■■■■.com/mr8jpxh)
Additionally, the campus has also gotten better and they have the brand new honors complex as well other buildings in the works. I would think that UMass would be a great compromise since it cost’s only a little more than UVM and it is on the up and up in the rankings while UVM seems to be in purgatory. Lastly the difference between average SAT at UCONN and UMass is only ten points with the newest stats, so I certainly wouldn’t say that UConn’s student body is vastly superior by any means. (1230 vs 1220 M+R)
(UMass honors average SAT is ~1370 M+R)

PS- The campus also has a shrinking party reputation and as long as you stay out of the Southwest dorm area, unless that’s you thing, the campus is surprisingly quiet and peaceful.

PPS- Woops, it seems “mcscoolbeans” comment bumped this somewhat old post… sry!

8

I wouldn’t say UVM is in purgatory, it has been moving up every year in both USNWR and Forbes and on Forbes top 10 rising list and USWNR #14 up and coming. It is in top 50 for starting salaries for ALL schools by business week (#40) and #18 amongst all public schools for placing into the top graduate programs in the country. Clearly not stagnant and odds are your degree will be worth more in the future if the trend continues. Oh, and Burlington is a hell of a nice college town.