Burlington, VT - college visit ?'s

Parent Cafe
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<p>I’m planning to visit Champlain College and perhaps UVT in Burlington, VT with my Junior son over his Spring Break at the end of March. I say perhaps UVT because we live in a state with a good state school system so I don’t see the point in paying out-of-state tuition for about the same education. For some reason we keep getting mail from them, so if nothing else, we’ll swing by the campus and do a quick look-see. Champlain has the game design major my son is interested in.</p>

<p>We won’t have time to see much besides the college but would welcome any suggestions about a place to stay that is not too expensive but clean, quiet and close to Champlain. We’ll have lunch on campus but would welcome a resturant suggestion for dinner. I think it will be just my two oldest kids and they might be interested in night skiing if the ski places are still open. I know in our area, they usually close in Mid-march. Anything else that’s a must see or do in this area?</p>

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<p>kathie - I visited UVT on my spring break college tour with my daughter last April. It is a very nice campus, but, as you say, is much more expensive than the PA state schools. In my daughter’s case, she did not want to apply to Penn State because of its size, so we were looking for a smaller school which could be considered a safety/match for her. It was snowing pretty hard during our tour. Burlington is a very nice city and it is fun to walk through the pedestrian area which has many shops and restaurants. I know this is an obvious suggestion, but I used AAA books to find reasonably priced motels near all of the colleges we visited. It is pretty easy to find the type of motel you describe in AAA books. Good luck with your trip.</p>

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<p>kathiep, sorry I can’t help, it’s been too many years since I’ve been in Burlington but you might try sending soozievt a PM. She’s lived in Vermont for years and I’m sure she’d be a good source of information for you. :)</p>

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<p>My mom and sister just left (40 minutes ago) for Burlington. They will spend the weekend at UVM and Clark. I’ll give you some details when they get back on Sunday.</p>

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<p>Yemaya, Thanks, looking forward to fresh news. alwaysamom, Sent Sue an e-mail but figure the title will pull her in anyway! Hellllloooooo Soozie - Are you here yet??</p>

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<p>Kathie…I don’t always remember to read the CAFE…have not gotten in the habit, sorry! I got your email and just emailed you back with the information you need. If can answer more questions beyond hotels, and restaurants…just ask. Am heading out of town for three days but will check when I return. </p>

<p>Also, just for the record, University of Vermont is UVM for short, not UVT. And I would say Champlain College is CC but that will confuse you with CollegeConfidential. I have actually taught briefly for both these schools.
Soozie</p>

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<p>:cool:, soozie. What did you teach?</p>

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<p>PS…we are trading places…I am heading to Pennsylvania tomorrow ;)</p>

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<p>For UVM…graduate level course in Education (for teachers)…and for CC, Early Childhood Education for undergraduates. (that was the field, not the names of the courses)</p>

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<p>So why is the University of Vermont UVM and not UVT? Sue, hope you and your daughter enjoy your visit here. Got your e-mail - thanks!</p>

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<p>Sorry, kathiep, but I was not able to get much info from them. Mostly, I just heard about how their car broke down in 20 degree weather! :eek:</p>

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<p>kathiep – I graduated UVM centuries ago. UVM stands for, in Latin, University of the Green Mountains (Univresitas Viridis Montis) – one of the very first things you learn as a freshman.</p>

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<p>Kathie…I’m back, belatedly. Had to spend an extra night in Pittsburgh. </p>

<p>Anyway, I could not have answered the UVM vs. UVT question so am glad that 3boyNJMom was able to. I should have known that by now, having been in VT for almost 24 years!</p>

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<p>Glad your back, Susan. In my old stomping grounds this weekend. Where did you stay in Pittsburgh? Glad you are back safely and it is getting near the end of the line now, finally!</p>

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<p>Jamimom, while in Pittsburgh, I wanted to stay as close to CMU as I could and I got this great rate for what I got…at Shadyside Inn…was more than I needed but it was a two bedroom, living room, dining room, kitchen type of suite for just $125/night with a parking space included! It was less than a mile from CMU. Also it was three blocks off of the main “drag”, Walnut Street, in Shadyside with places to eat, etc. </p>

<p>Our trip to both Penn State and CMU was jam packed 24/7, with the auditions, people we met up with in the programs, seeing shows, and travel. Auditions went as well as one could wish for but the odds are so long shot, so have low expectations even so. </p>

<p>Though you asked where we stayed…let me add…well, I stayed a second night in Pittsburgh, unexpectedly. (I was thinking of you when there, actually). Remember on another forum we talked about how CMU would accomodate you if you had a flight? Before I made the flight arrangements which were the only flights out to where we live (two planes), I worried it might be tight with the auditions. They began at 1 and were supposed about three hours long and we had to be out of there by 4 in order to drive to the airport, return the rental car, etc. I called CMU ahead of time and asked about this and they said no problem, just inform them at the auditions about the flight and she would be “prioritized”. So, when she signed in she told them and they also said they would make that work for her. She was in the first dance group. But then we waited in the waiting room for a very long time as many kids were called to do their acting and singing auditions, but not her. Current students were monitoring this room. Eventually, when it got so late, I asked them about it and the student asked me my D’s name (which made it obvious to me she forgot as she was the only one who had a flight issue…as they also had asked that of the entire group at the presentation), and so she said, ok, we’ll make her next but by then it was very very late. She was in there so long that I knew it was going to be highly unlikely we would ever make the plane. While I waited for her to come out, I was getting ready to call the airlines and did not have the number and the monitor students were online on their laptops and I asked if they could look it up for me and then a student said he would check how long my D would be and I asked him not to as I did not want to affect her audition after all the time we spent to travel there (and the expense!) and please not to say anything. According to my D, students did come into her auditions and mentioned how she had a flight to make but my D told the auditors/faculty it did not matter and she kept on because she ended up being seen by various people and it took a long time, doing various things. So, we still made a go of the airport when she finally got out, because I thought at least we’d be able to show the airlines we tried to make it, I was not sure what to do. We got to the gate right before the last person walked onto the plane and the airline person said the flight was overbooked and they had given away our seats even though we were there before it left and in fact, had checked in at the airline counter 25 min. prior. That was a bummer but actually this person was very nice and gave us two free tix to use for any roundtrip in the future (kinda like being bumped) and had I not made a run to go there, that would not have happened. We also got hotel vouchers and meal vouchers and so I actually stayed another night at the Holiday Inn near the airport (no longer had my car) and it was not so terrible because we got there just in time to watch the Oscars which my D had lamented she was to have missed otherwise. Plus we are on an 11 day school vacation and don’t go back to school until tomorrow so she was only missing ballet yesterday, but not school. </p>

<p>However, they did not book us out until late yesterday and then we ran into the snow and it looked precarious if we would ever get home last night as we also flew through NYC and it was snowing there too. It had not yet started here in VT which was lucky for us though we have the storm now. We did get home very late last night. The upshot is that I MAY be seeing if I can use the free tix to go next week to see my college freshman daughter in the National Championships for college ski racing out in Idaho. So, I might get something out of this mishap. The down side is that we did not get our luggage and I surely hope we do. Thankfully my D’s music and dance stuff was in her backpack as she does have Boston Conservatory auditions this weekend, though we need everything else in our bag which still has not been located. I am sure this snow is not helping. </p>

<p>Susan</p>

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<p>Though I always say not to read anything into all of the time they spend in auditioning and reauditioning, from what I know about CMU, Susan, that is really a good sign, particularly at their last auditions, as they tend to roll in the acceptances and will be really careful with those last spots. (yeah, I have an inside source–no “in” but mucho info). So it may well have been worth the extra night in Pittsburgh. I love the Shady Side Inn, though I have never stayed there as I always stay at the Holiday Inn there or on McKnight Rd because I can usually get a discounted rate at those places. </p>

<p>I think it’s great you have those tickets to see D1 ski. I know about those audition expenses. S got a lucrative singing waiter job offer for the summer which does not excite him, but I think he could pay back some of those big $$ we expended. I had planned to swing by Pittsburgh this month but the friend I was going to meet there could not do it as her son is still on the audition circuit as their early auditions did not mete out good results and he decided to throw in 10 more schools to do. They were at Penn State last week, but did not head on down to Pittsburgh as they originally planned. Otherwise I would have been in Pittsburgh this past weekend as well. Friend has a son at CMU but he is not in theatre, though very active in the school. He and S auditioned at the first CMU auditions which was how I ran into her after many years, and we saw each other in Michigan as well. </p>

<p>Good luck to D2. I am sure she will have some choices next month. It is looking good, I think.</p>

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<p>Jamimom, hi, thanks, things go well at these auditions but we are very aware of the incredibly difficult odds. At least she can walk away feeling she did her best and that she got to do as much as you could do so to speak. It would be great to have a choice. She is lucky at this juncture to be in at one place. CMU said they would only be taking 10 MT students and do not take more than the number of slots. However, they then go to a waiting list if someone does not take the offer (my D’s friend, a current freshman MT there got off the waitlist in May after putting a deposit down at CCM). They said they will see 1200 for BFA in MT or in Acting (did not break down how many try for which). Hard to fathom these kind of numbers. Yes, missing the plane felt worth it. My D does not want me to talk about her admissions results as they come in and all this stuff on the MT Forum. I wish I could email you. I’ll just say that with CMU, she got to do four monologues for both the head of the dept. and then for the other faculty member, two different times, got to sing her songs for three different people and some other vocal stuff, extra songs, etc. At least several different people got to know her or talk to her so that was nice.</p>

<p>At PSU, she got to do the callback which is kinda like a “cut” there (if you are not asked to stay for that, then you are not admitted, they said so) and all that also went well. But I have tried to never read much into these things…what she got to do, didn’t get to do, etc. etc. While logistically it makes sense to think they would not bother to do extra stuff if they were not interested, by the same token she got in some place that did not do extra things. Also, even IF you get to do lots of extra things or be seen by more people, more kids likely get to do this than they truly take, so there still will be a narrowing down among kids they may be interested in and then you kinda have to fill a slot or type within their building of very small classes. Dance has always gone well for her at auditions but she has the dance training and we find that some kids may sing or act but have no dance background so I guess that is a plus but then again, sometimes I think they do not count dance that heavily, who knows. She got in some place that did not even make you dance at auditions. I know there are tons of very talented and experienced kids out there…we run into them, we even know many who are auditioning, so we know this is gonna be very very tough odds. My hope all along was that she would get into at least one BFA MT program. Having a choice, would be gravy and very nice. I find that all the programs seem very good but they differ quite a bit. I am thankful that my D is more open to looking at each one without narrowing her view to favorites any longer. By going to these auditions, she has come to really like some programs she really did not know so well when the year began. </p>

<p>While I am trying to look into going to Nationals for my other D, I just spoke to her and within the last hour there is a “snag” at her college about even letting the team go to the Nationals! Apparently they are concerned about them missing a week of school but the team has missed a week of school every year for Nationals and I imagine other sports miss classes too (her team has only missed one day this year). Other colleges are traveling there so obviously this is not a rare thing to do. I can’t imagine at the 11th hour if they do not let the team go. I am glad I did not book the flights for myself this AM like my hubby wanted me to. So, I am in a holding pattern over that (not nearly as bad as what the team must be feeling at the moment) but they are apparently in talks at the moment over this. It is always something!</p>

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<p>Yeah, it always is. Don’t blame you for not letting loose on the particulars. I have details that I am reluctant to release as well. And you are right, the dance does not count for much, though they do look for anyone with jerky, uncoordinated movement, and cut for that. It is truly a culling process. I am hesitant to say on the MT board, but I know that the grades/SATs make a much bigger difference than you would think. If you could do a poll on what numbers they have at CMU (and they say it is only a small part of the process), you could see that the MT kids are not pulling down any averages, and so it is in many of the schools. I had gone into this like many parents whom I have met, thinking the MT would be a hook, well, it is a cull, not a hook, and that is the surprise to me, but mentioning this has not been well received by anyone, so… But I do know that my son’s SATs were a subject of interest at some auditions, when they should not have been. My friend’s son who does not have the stats but has a really beautiful voice and stage presence is having problems with the academic profile. Some of the programs are under pressure to keep those stats up. But I think your D is probably in at CMU. IF the voice made the cut, she’ll get MT, otherwise acting. </p>

<p>Sorry about the nationals. We’ve gone through this sort of thing as well. Any changes in schedule really gets us crazy as I have to meticulously schedule. And this year has given me whiplash. My son’s sports schedule was changed several times which really caused some pain, and he could not go to the voice audition at Juilliard because of the time assigned. The acting, he made with a great deal of difficulty for everyone for an on the spot cut. That’s just the way it goes. We could not have possibly done the auditions in Jan and Feb, with his schedule as it is. He is in 3 major performances in the next month-one coming up soon,and with the sports, he is busy non stop. But speaking to my friend who is going through this at the 11th hour, she feels that for whatever reason, the auditioners seemed to be more receptive, as they seem to be looking for something to fit whatever spots. She wishes she had not scheduled the big guys in the fall where she feels that the auditioners are more “wait and see”, unlike the the boost I truly believe being early gives in regular college admissions. All feelings, of course, and who knows what really happens, but my source at CMU says that they do give the kids they are seriously considering a heavy workout, and a quick audition is not a good sign at that school. The exception to the early disadvantage, I would say is the CAP21 option. All opinion, and I don’t want to go MT on it because I cannot back it up. Just coffee klatch talk with you in a corner post.</p>