University of Vermont Top Questions

Freshman year consists more of hookups and meeting as many people as you can. Sophomore year is when students discover who their true friends are and begin to date more than the previous year. A lot more relationships develop sophomore year. I made my closest friends by living with them in the dorms. By living with people you find similar characteristics with, you learn a lot more about them and form special bonds with them.

I am a writer for one of our school newspapers, The Water Tower. It is an alternative news source and I absoloutely love being a part of it. It makes me feel political and aware though I usually end up writing more from a social, personal aspect. I as also an orientation leader for incoming first years last summer. It was an amazing experience. I made some of my closest friends at UVM over the course of 6 weeks and I felt like I was really part of a great cause of helping people love UVM as much as I do. If I were awake on a 2 am on a Tuesday I would definitely be just hanging out with my roommate, watching TV, and totally just laughing and joking around. I would probably be tired in the morning, but somehow not regret having a silly time really not doing much of anything. Every year UVM has The Naked Bike Ride on the last class day of each semester. Anyone who wants to can participate and there are always a few hundred. Everyone always goes outside to watch, lining the sidewalks, cheering and laughing. It's sort of a weird tradition, but we all love it because it makes UVM unique and funny. People definitely party here, though mostly its on the weekends and not really during the week. It's really something students have to make a choice about. You can take it and party hard every weekend, or you can leave it and party responsibly or not at all. There is a lot of drinking and drugging, just like at every college, but it definitely isn't something every student does. Fraternities and sororities are kind of low-key here. Only 8{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of the student body is part of Greek Life. Unfortunately, Greek life tends to be the butt of a lot of jokes among non-Greek students. It just isn't that popular up here in Vermont.

What did I do last weekend? Well, it was spring break...I was in the good ol' south, volunteering with a school group [another really big part of UVM...volunteering and student activism!] And athletic events? We get roughty, usually intoxicated, and incredibly proud of our Catamounts! Athletic events are by far one of the best parts of UVM.

the ski and snowboard club is enormous. since they instituted the no tolerance policy for drinking on campus kids only pregame in dorms and then go to off-campus houses to party. Kids end up spending a lot of time dealing with small disciplinary infractions that other colleges dont even bother with. at 2 am on a tuesday there are probably kids drinking or smoking somewhere nearby, and even more just watching movies (when its cold), and when its warm outside doing hookah or just hanging out. montreal is a great thing to have close by for a weekend of debauchery. And there are plenty of kids who ski 3 or 4 days a week at the best ski mountains in the east (Jay Peak, Mad River Glen, Sugarbush, Stowe, night skiing at Bolton's park). Frats are not very important, mostly just freshman girls go to those parties, or guys who are rushing.

Men's Hockey and Basketball are quite popular along with the ski and snowboard club. I am involved with UVM Hillel, which is a Jewish organization that is growing rapidly. The number of Jewish students at UVM continues to rise. While Hillel has the students that want to get involved, they don't have the resources need to keep expanding. When RA's don't tell you to close your doors students will leave them open. Students can go out and watch movies with their friends on a Saturday night. Go for long walks or go swing on a playground. I go biking off campus and hiking. I go for long walks and see what is happening on church street.

I'm getting tired of this survey...but there is a ton to do here. it's endless. music, activism, sports, good food (stone soup is the shit). right now students for peace and global justice, star (animal rights), slap, and students against war, vstep (environmental group) are all great groups with many inspired people. im know im missing a bunch too. without these groups im scared to know what the administration would do. i worry the school is getting way to corporate, and there's little connection between their decisions and what the students, faculty and staff want. right now im part of a group called gathering of the minds that is bringing all different campus groups together in a coalition to divest from corporations that go against our values, and also to bring our workers livable wages. gathering of the minds is all about free range debate and collaborative art and music. the group was inspired by open mics at slade hall, which everyone should check out, and also the music festival gathering of the vibes. we saw that people at open mics were singing and reading about social change, and so we decided to make a group that combines activism with art and music. we're doing pretty well now, and will be holding gathering of the minds all summer at vermont roots reggae festival and hopefully at gathering of the vibes. ive been spending way too much time on the computer, like right now. i like to make art and play music

Athletic events are gaining popularity but they still don't dominate campus at all. The social scene is dominated by house parties. It's pretty cold out though so sometimes you don't want to go out, but prefer to stay on campus. It's hard because the UVM police department has totally stepped up their activity since the murder of Michelle Gardiner Quinn last year, so that means it's really hard to drink on campus. I can't wait to be off campus next year.

Apparently we get a lot of thefts on campus. It's generally a good idea to lock your door.

Dorms are okay to live in the first two years (there's a residency requirement before you can move off campus). It's fun to live with a bunch of kids but of course it sucks dealing with RA's for two years. People usually drink thursday-saturday and if you really want to find someone to drink with on one of the other of those days you probably can. Frats and sororities aren't that big, and most of the parties are house parties down town. The bars downtown are also pretty fun. The music scene is really good in Burlington, so if you want something else to do on the weekends you can definitely find a good show at one of the many venues around town.

The most popular organization of campus is the ski and snowboard club. Im involved with the Ski and Snowboard club, the international careers club, and im a manager of the ski and snowboard club. Athletic events vary in popularity with basketball and hockey being the most popular. Students often leave their doors open or unlocked in the dorms so people can come and do. The dating scene is good everyone is looking to meet new people. I met my closest friends in my dorm last year and this year. Im usually hanging out with friends watching TV or Movies at 2am or on some occasions im studying at that hour. Marti Gras of the North happens each year and it is an amazing experience every year. Frats and Sororities are not very important on campus. Last weekend I went to two seperate parties at two seperate houses and hung out with some friends and drank some beers.

lots of different activities. Most of my closest friends I met during my freshman year in my dorm, as well as students from class. There are always new people to meet, which is what I like about the size of UVM, you always see someone you know, this is also the case downtown. Some people party a lot while others spend much of their time studying, all depends on what you make of it.

Drinking is a very large part of the social scene here. If there's an activity to do on a saturday night that doesn't involve drinking, it might be being the designated driver. One of the only traditions UVM has is the sacred Naked Bike-ride, that takes place rain or shine, blizzard or no blizzard, every semester before final exams. That event is always good fun.

The most popular groups are the environmental and music groups which is understandable because they are the 2 things that most people enjoy here. I am usually doing things i shouldnt be doing at 2 am on tuesday. The naked bike race is the biggest tradition at uvm. I went to Okemo last weekend. You can go and chill at a friends and be social. I go backpacking when i am off campus or go and hang out with friends downtown at their houses.

I have always felt that I have had a rich social life at UVM. I have experienced almost all of the social groups, a direct result of the fact that at UVM there's a sense that all are welcome and there is definitely no divide among the classes. I can honestly say that there's a scene for everyone. While greek life here is under 20{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} it is still a strong presence, but definitely not one that dominates. Being a D-1 school is great. I remember coming my freshman year and getting caught up in the excitement of the sports events. Hockey games are always a great time where one can't help but get pulled into the enthusiasm and the school spirit is palpable. Living in the dorms is a really fun experience. It's not a prison by any means and yes there are those people who leave their doors open but it's not expected that all do. There are still those people who live in the dorms but never interact with their floor.

Many of the club sports teams are very popular. There are so many groups that it's impossible to name all of them... or even the 'popular' ones. The hockey games are great. We have a students section that sells out 750+ tickets in 24 hours (the tickets are actually free for students). As for dating, I have a girlfriend, but many of my friends have met people here that are really good friends, or hook-ups at parties. There's definitely something for everyone's taste here. I met my closest friends on another program that I did pre-fall term called TREK. It doesn't stand for anything, but it's a program that has many sub-programs such as biking, hiking, canoeing, rock climbing, community service, leadership, camping, etc. So I met my closest friends on the Leadership Trek. If you get a chance to sign up for one (do it early... they fill up wicked quickly), DO IT! The Naked Bike Ride is the only tradition that I know of so far... but I'm sure there are lots more that I just haven't learned yet. As for Greek Life and partying: if you want to party, you can party. Greek houses usually have something going on Thursday (occasionally), Friday, and Saturday nights. But, there are also soooo many other things to do, such as go to concerts, go down-town and hang-out, watch movies in CC Theater, etc. Last weekend, I volunteered at the hospital and rescue. As for off-campus, I don't have very much spare time, but when I go off-campus, I usually get necessities like clothes (there's a mall on Church Street), and get flowers for Valentine's Day... On a Saturday night there are usually concerts, quiet places to do homework... or pretend to do homework and really just watch movies with friends w/ Dominoe's on the way. The Front Desks also provide games, movies, pool tables, ping-pong paddles, etc. and there's a full kitchen in some of the buildings so you can cook something if you want.

Clubs, bars and free events! UVM has it all!

The Greek life at UVM is pretty small, and not that exciting.