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.