University of Vermont Top Questions

If you pop your collar, please don't come here. Please.

I've never had a problem with anyone. An anti-social or extremely introverted person would probably be uncomfortable here but that doesnt mean they shouldnt come because its a great place to break out of your shell and find something you really like. Most kids wear jeans and a hoodie with a northface or winter jacket or shorts and a tshirt when its nice but sweatpants are common too, whatevers comfortable and warm. Most kids here are from New England or New York. Most students seem fairly affluent and are relatively left-thinking

I was an orientation leader, and as a part of our training we were all trained in social justice. I have many friends who are part of a racial minority, and many other friends who identify in the LGBT category. UVM as a whole is shamefully non-diverse when it comes to race. However, we do have a strong LGBT community with some really great people involved and most of the students are allies, which creates a great, open-minded atmosphere. I feel as if non-white students may feel out of place at UVM, just because there is such a lack of diversity on campus. Though this is changing steadily, I still see it as a major problem. People who have conservative political views may also feel terribly out of place here. Though we are renowed for being liberal, many students are surprisingly hostile to anyway who may identify as a republican or conservative. Our College Republicans group disbanded last year due to a lack of funding and interest. Most students wear casual, comfortable clothes to class here. It isn't unusual to see girls in sweatpants and sweatshirts and guys in jean and baseball caps. Especially during the winter, no one puts a lot of effort into their appearance. Unlike high school, tables in a typical dining hall will be a relatively homogenous group of students. There are no obviously smart, nerdy types, or overly-jockish types. Occasionally, you may see a group of girls at a table that are all dressed similarly, trading stories about who got drunker last weekend, or you may see a whole table full of team mates fresh from softball or soccer practice. Other than that, there aren't a lot of obvious cliques. Most people I know have student loans and come from a middle class background. UVM has decent financial aid, though it is not a cheap education by any means. However, I am noticing more and more students from an upper class background, drawn to UVM by it's recent press as a "hot school". My friends and I don't talk much about how much we will earn one day. Mostly we say that we don't need a lot of money to make us happy. We will hopefully get jobs doing what we love--that don't seem like jobs at all. Maybe in the Business or Engineering schools, it is a different mindset, but in A&S, we just go with it.

campus is known to be tolerant to the LGBT set, and in my experience that is true. A prevalent financial background is wealthy kids from new york, new jersey, massachusetts, and connecticut who grew up skiing or hiking a lot and came here, but they're not the preppy types you find at other schools in new england, so the wealthiness isn't really a huge obvious thing. There also are plenty of people, especially native vermonters, who came for the relatively affordable price. students dont seem to fall into obviously stereotyped groups, which is good.

There are still a lot of issues with being a minority at UVM. I feel that the administration is not that diverse and thus they don't understand the needs of what it takes to make an inclusive and diverse community at UVM. Religious students would feel out of place at UVM and some conservative students. Students are very politically aware and active. Most students seem to be involved with at least one club if not 2 or 3. UVM is left. I would say pretty far left. They make moderates look like conservatives.

uvm is a pretty diverse place. maybe not in terms of race, but there are tons of different types of people. many come from the northeast, but that's cool. staying local is a good thing.

Most people from warm places aren't very happy here because it's so cold. The majority of students are pretty well off except those on scholarships or financial aid. The school's pretty homogeneous with there being only a few black or latino people on campus.

UVM tries very hard to be a diverse and accepting environment, but the fact is it isn't perfect. There is barely any racial diversity so that's probably awkward, but I have more experience with the LGBTQA crowd. Going to some of their meetings I hear a lot about various discriminations they have faced on campus. In fact, one girl in my dorm was harassed by her R.A., who tried to give her bibles and tell she was sinful. It got to the point where she had to move to another building. I've lucky enough to not have any issues yet. As for the other stuff, such as financial background, I don't really know. It's not something I really pay attention to, but I don't recall it ever coming up.

There's a pretty wide array of kids here, from granola hippies to pink polo wearing preps. Everybody seems to find there group of friends and interact with everybody else without much trouble. A lot of the students are from New England, mainly New York, Mass, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

UVM is an incredibly accepting place and being a student here has only further opened my eyes to all the different lifestyles that people can have. No student would feel out of place at UVM it is truly a community that cares. Some students get dressed for classes and some students walk in sweats as though they have just woken up, no one really cares one way or the other. Yes definitely my group of friends is made up of a number of different kinds of people and my peripheral friend group is large and non discriminating. Most UVM students are from New England. The financial backgrounds are highly varying. Students at UVM are extremely politically aware compared to other students nation wide. Student are driven to succeed but not necessarily to make as much money as they can. Personally I want to be successful and comfortable later in life but if I am not lavishly rich i wont be disappointed.

More racial diversity would be a huge benefit here in Vermont. Politically conservative students would certainly feel out of place here, most students are from out of state, mostly from New England. Students tend to be politically aware, which is another factor that brought me to UVM. LIke any large public university there are many different types of students, political junkies, students completely immersed in the arts, theatre, students involved in music, activism, hipsters, hippies, as well as jocks and real goons. Greek life is minimal here, which is a great thing. Students are generally free to be who they wish, which is vital for discovering ones self.

For being a "liberal" school, the University doesn't exactly implicate any programs that would attract minority groups. As it stands, the diversity on campus is deplorable. As far as kinds of students, there are always the business majors who talk about earning seven figures, the environmentalists always worrying about their carbon footprints, english majors math majors pre med etc. etc. UVM does a great job of boasting a 35{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} in-state student body, even if 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the rest are from the other New England states and New York. In addition, I've found that most students are left of center, even if they don't know why.

Most students are from the east coast. There isn't much racial diversity, but people are generally very accepting and progressive thinking.

UVM students are generally INCREDIBLY incredibly accepting of diversity. Burlington has a pretty active LGBTQA community, and that is defiantly reflected in the school. UVM is very white. I was not only surprised by how few black people there are here, but indians and asians and hispanics as well. The students here are by no means raciest - they're very accepting of all races, but it is definitely a little weird how many white people there are here. Most UVMers are from the northeast - particularly Vermont plus the New York and Boston metro areas. There's a smattering of students from the Potomac area, and from the midwest. But don't expect many people from the south, southwest, or California (although they do exist). Kids at UVM don't talk about their socioeconomic situation. most students seem to be relatively affluent (everybody has nice, new snowboards/skis and equipment), but there are no super-rich assholes who let everybody know that their parents have money and status, like you'd expect at an ivy-league school.

I don't think that anyone really feels left out at UVM. Like I mentioned, there are so many people that a common-interest is nearly impossible not to be found with someone. As for attire, most wear business-professional to every class, except on casual fridays... yea, right. Really, getting up, rolling over in sweatpants (that say VERMONT on them of course) and throwing on a "University of Vermont" sweatshirt is absolutely normal... and so is wearing a polo with jeans, slacks, w/e. you name it, it's been worn... and we have the "Naked Bike Ride", so yes, the birthday suits have been worn. Surprisingly, (actually not so surprisingly if you follow the VT State Legislature) most students are from out of state. I remember the Provost citing something to the tune of 70{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} out-of-state and 30{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} in-state students for 2011 graduation. Overall, the ratio's about 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} out of state, 40{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} instate: mostly NE, but plenty from the mid-west and California and Oregon as well.

The most accepting student body you'll ever find

Most of the student body is from out of state, which makes UVM a unique state school. The New England states are highly represented, along with New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and Colorado. There are plenty of rich kids that go to UVM, however, financial background is never discussed.