I applied to UVM, as it was one of two larger, sta...

I applied to UVM, as it was one of two larger, state universities I applied to when I was exploring where to go to college. The other was SUNY Purchase, since I was a resident of both NY and VT. Ultimately, I ended up choosing Hampshire College in Amherst, MA, BUT I did like UVM, the campus itself is pretty and Burlington is a cool large college town (have a hard time considering it a "city"), and I think the Lake Champlain area is one of the prettiest parts of Vermont. I toured the campus, had an admissions interview, spent a weekend there, and sat in on a couple of Friday and Monday classes, which I REALLY enjoyed. UVM's academics seemed fairly solid, and overall I felt at home on the campus.

My only reason for not choosing UVM was because ultimately, I wanted a small, private college campus, rather than a larger public university. I also wanted to be part of Theater and Film programs where the work was more original, student-driven and had less emphasis on faculty directed and produced shows (which was not the case with the UVM mainstage season and Hampshire's Theater & Film programs were completely interdisciplinary and student driven) because there is a major difference.

UVM's Royal Tyler Theater facilities are nice, but they aren't world-class like the UMass Fine Arts Center for example. However, I actually ended up with both experiences anyway in part, because I took classes, used campus resources, did auditions etc...at UMass/Amherst while I was attending Hampshire. UVM has a MUCH prettier campus than UMass, but, I think overall, UMass/Amherst is a more well-renowned university than UVM, comparatively speaking. Overall, the Five Colleges gave me more the undergraduate experience I actually wanted (and it was closer to NYC & Boston which helped my creative work). I will say this: the skiing in northern Vermont close to UVM (Jay, Stowe, Smugglers Notch, Bolton Valley & Mad River Glen) is far better than the skiing that was close to Hampshire (southern Vermont and the Berkshires) but I made do. However, the attractive proposition of being part of UVM's Downhill Racing Ski Team was not lost on me, and had I chosen UVM, I certainly would have done that. However, that is hardly a significant reason solely to choose a college or university. I ended up racing with the UMass/Amherst Ski Team anyway while attending Hampshire, and we'd compete against UVM.