Honors College Welcomes Accepted Students to Campus
Did you want to visit campus this spring, but didn't have a chance to make it? Hear more from a panel of current Honors College students on:
Choosing where to go to college is a big decision. But this spring, Honors College students have been reaching out to accepted students to help them learn more about the University of Vermont, the Honors College, and everything the community and the campus has to offer.
There have been several receptions for students from the incoming class of 2015 who have been invited to join the Honors College. The receptions are a chance for the invited students to ask questions, meet current Honors College professions, and tour University Heights North, the building that will become their home if they decide to join the college.
Accepted students will also have the chance to visit the Honors College during an Accepted Student Visit Day on April 8, 11, 15, 18 and 22. For more information, visit the Admissions website (http://www.uvm.edu/admissions/).
Accepted students have had a plethora of questions related to Honors College classes, dorms, opportunities to study abroad, and other activities on campus. So current students have been on hand to answer questions, give room tours and explain to students how they chose UVM.
"I just came up here with a few of my friends and walked around the campus and downtown. There was just something about the campus and downtown Burlington where, something just felt right, it felt like I was home." Rachel Baccile, a sophomore Economics from Watkins Glen, N.Y. said.
"There's something about the people here," added Emma Costello, a first year student from Sudbury, Mass. "Everyone's really welcoming really friendly, and everyone you meet just wants to talk to you and get to know you."
"I came here for so many reasons," said Sam Kazman, a first year student from Pittsburg, Penn. "First of all, being in Honors College helped a lot because it creates a more focused atmosphere a big university, but there's still other things. There's Division I sports, so the hockey's great, the basketball's great. Then you're in Burlington, which is a decent sized city but you can be in the mountains in half an hour, you can go kayaking on rivers a half an hour away, and there's the lake. And then the people are the deciding factor. They're just so pleasant; they want to get to know you and they want to have a good time."
Current students also talked about the Honors College sophomore seminar courses as well as The Pursuit of Knowledge, the first year course students will be take this fall if they choose to accept the invitation to the college.
"The Honors College class is a lot of reading, but you get used to it," Kazman said about the first year course. "You do have the plenary lecture which is a little more time, but it's all about time management."
"Both of the classes I took for my sophomore seminars were in a write-up in the newspaper about the best classes at UVM," said Baccile. "One of the classes was with Jeff Hughes, and we got to go out in the woods and do journal entries and talk about many philosophical situations. And the one I'm in now is called, 'Ecological Approach to Living Well in Place'. We get to go on a lot of field trips and get to know more about where we're living at UVM and about Burlington as a whole."
Perhaps the best question, and seemingly most pressing question of all, came during a March 21 reception: Just how false is the perception that Honors College students spend all their time studying and don't get to experience the rest of the university?
"So false," said Bridget Meehan, a sophomore studying communications sciences and vocal performances from Burlington, Conn. "That's so false, I promise."
"People in the Honors College are just as socially active as everyone else; they're involved in all kinds of clubs and they like to go out and have fun," Kazman said. "And because the Honors College only requires one class, you can meet other people through the other classes you're taking. So there's really no separation. And the Honors College actually helps you form close friends because you already have a connection, so you're studying with the people who live right next to you as opposed to studying by yourself. It really helps to create a community."
"There's no separation at all," Costello said. "It's only been a positive experience to live here. I think there's every range of people in Honors College as there is throughout the rest of the university. There's not one type of honors kid, just as much as there's not one type of person at UVM."
Nor was there one type of accepted student; their academic interests ranged from history to nursing to engineering to international relations to the environment. And despite their diverse focus, current students assured them that being in the Honors College would enable them to thrive in their chosen disciplines. In fact, they would be able to seek out more academic opportunities that would enable them to push themselves academically and intellectually.
"Right now I'm in a graduate level class about autism assessment and intervention because as a sophomore I emailed and asked if I could take it," Meehan said. "I said 'I'm in the Honors College and I have junior standing. They said that if you have good standing then we want you in this class."
Accepted students will have plenty of time to think about their future classes. In the meantime, they still have to make the decision as to whether they want to accept the Honors College's invitation. So current students assured them that no matter what they chose to do, they would be happy.
"It's a stressful process, but wherever you go, you'll be fine," Costello said of choosing where to go when applying to colleges. "You will find happiness."
See the panel members discuss UVM and the Honors College here.
Last modified March 31 2011 02:11 PM