Champlain College

I wanted to love Champlain, I really did. However, every time I tried to love it, the college kept pulling the rug out from under my feet. I am going to be a senior next semester, and I have gotten to the point where the only thing I want to do is get my diploma and get out. I am done with this college. This comment will not be entirely negative, as there are some things about Champlain College that I like. However, I definitely feel as though I would have done better at a different college.

I am going start with something positive. The professors in this college are excellent. They encourage faculty interaction outside of class, provide very good information about the subjects they are trying to teach, and have effective means to get their points across. I really do not have any problems with the Champlain College professors. However, this is the only truly positive thing about Champlain that I can say.

My honest opinion on Champlain College is that it feels like the college does not care anymore. The majority of the students there are very depressed, and the ones that are not depressed come across as mean-spirited. I have found some of the students at Champlain to be very manipulative as well. I have gotten into a couple of incidents where they tried to mess with my brain, only to fail, and sink into an even deeper depression.

The Resident Assistants at Champlain also leave a lot to be desired. Sure, some of them are nice. However, most of them qualify as the mean-spirited type of student that I talked about earlier. They just don't care about their job, and only use it as a means to make money. Many students described incidents that occurred in their dorms which could have been avoided had their RAs been more competent. I have even had to deal with incompetent RAs from time to time. Because of this, I do not feel entirely safe at Champlain College, especially not after last year.

Champlain College also does a terrible job with resource use. I found out last year that most of the money that goes into this college gets used on a club called CHAMP. I used to be a part of CHAMP, and I can tell you that it is not worth the expense. They claim to be a club that puts on events for Champlain College, but all they really do is create, in this website's words, "Pro-Champlain Propaganda,". I quit CHAMP once I realized this. I also believe that Champlain might need some help with maintenance. It is not the cleanest college, and I have noticed that some of the buildings are not in the best condition. Sure, they did refurbish one building while I was there, but that was only one building.

I have already spoke quite a bit about the social life at Champlain when I described the students, but there are even more things to discuss. For one, the extracurricular activities at Champlain are not very good. I am going to be the president of the Video Game Club next semester, so that will be okay. The only other fun club I can think of at Champlain is The Grind, which is basically a singing club. I almost never had time to sing there, but when I did, everyone loved it. However, almost every other club at Champlain needs work. I already described CHAMP as being terrible, so I do not recommend joining that group. Also, if you are looking to do college sports, do not go to Champlain. They barely have any sports teams aside from Rugby. Champlain even falsely advertised to me at one point, saying they had a cross-country team. I believe they did have one once, but it is gone now. They clearly have not had one since 2012.

Another big problem with the social life at Champlain was that I did not really feel like a person. I just felt like another cog in its machine. To restate what I said earlier, Champlain College just doesn't care anymore. The only people at Champlain who really care are the professors. No one else does.

On a lighter note, Champlain is in the city of Burlington. There is a lot to do in Burlington that does not involve the college. Champlain's aesthetics are also all right. They are not perfect, but they are not terrible.

With all this being said, I am honestly shocked that I have to write a negative review of Champlain. However, when I look back on it, I really feel like I had a bad experience at this college. I also strongly believe I would have done better someplace else. Anyone reading this review might think "But you still have one more year!". All I can really say to that is, "I have already had to put up with Champlain for three whole years. Do you really think it is going to get better in just one? Even if some of the problems get fixed, there will still be plenty more lingering,". This is why I am probably going to spend most of my senior year in my dorm room playing video games until I finally get my diploma. It is also why I recommend you take your money, and spend it on a different college. I really do believe I made a mistake going to Champlain, and now I have to live the rest of my life with it hanging over my head.

3rd Year Male -- Class 2019

Education Quality: B+, Individual Value: D-

This school is advertised as an accepting and tolerant college. This was definitely not the case in my situation. I have Asperger's and am somewhat socially awkward. The students in my dorm rejected me and half of my professors were completely belligerent when I requested help with accessing my group for group projects. Overall very depressing place unless you are "normal".

1st Year Male -- Class 1920

Campus Aesthetics: A, Useful Schoolwork: F

I started college in 2009, and wanted to attend Champlain. The cost was high and I was told to start at CCV and then move into Champlain after I acquired my Associates. I want to say that I have ADHD, and I did not use the "disability card" at CCV. I went through without any extra time or assistance than what any other student would receive. I was setup on a program through Champlain to have the most of my credits transferred for my major of choice. CCV was an amazing experience, some rough edges with teachers but the faculty that were not teachers were always 100%. While at CCV I would have classes with Champlain students who left Champlain due to issues with the financial aid office, advisers, teachers or admissions. This was a good sign in the beginning, but I figured they were just lazy students. When I finished and contacted Champlain my adviser through Champlain had quit, and with it my setup to transfer. The adviser did not set me up on the path for the most credits to transfer, and I lost out on more than 20 credits. I should have taken this as a queue to not keep going, but I didn't.

First thing is first, when I applied to Champlain after my Associates was acquire it was relatively easy to get in. I then met with the admissions office and asked cost, scholarships and books. I signed up for the accelerated online courses because they were cheaper at almost $600 a credit. One 3-credit course is $1500, so you are still paying a pretty penny. I was informed that books were included in this price and they are digitally supplied by the school. I also signed up with a friend for the same program, and their experience has been just as bad. Yet, another friend has not reported any issues to me so it's a bit confusing.

I started my classes, and low and behold books are typically not included. Awesome, admissions either lied or she didn't know as much as she should. Either way, she should have checked instead of telling me something that wasn't true. My adviser seemed to always be there in the beginning, and then she just wasn't there at all. I guess the online advisers either were lost, or they just didn't care. You would have to wait 30 days for a reply, and when registration time came around they weren't any better. You would email and call, but no one would answer or call you back, and like I had said earlier it took 30 days for a reply through email. You would receive an email reply at some point, but they wouldn't even tackle all your questions. It was simple and asking you what classes you are thinking of applying for in the next semester. In your head all you see is,

"Hi, this is me replying to you. I didn't read your email and here is some answers to what I skimmed. By the way, what will you be signing up for next semester? money money money, that's all I'm looking for instead of assisting you."

One semester I had taken a class at CCV to pay less and just have it transferred to Champlain. After filling out all the paperwork needed, I was set. At the end I received a letter from CCV saying the class wasn't paid for and my credits will be on hold until paid. The financial aid office never paid CCV, and never took the credits. In the end they sorted out the payment to CCV, but not the credits, the credits were never transferred. I then kept contacting my adviser for the address or fax number to send my CCV transcript with that class for those credits, and to this day have never received a reply to that question. Champlain pretty much screwed me on 3-credits while attending their college, and I'm still fighting this.The teachers are pretty decent, but you will get several teachers that half-ass explain the course and what they expect. Champlain is considered one of the best schools in Vermont to go for a degree in IT, which is sad because there is not much here and this school is far from good. Save your money and just go out of State, there is no benefit to going to Vermont schools as a Vermont resident. move out of State and realize that most other colleges will be less money with just as good of a degree. This school does not sit down with you to go over scholarships, it's just a straight forward FAFSA and you are on your own. If you are assisted with scholarships, then congrats to you because you we favored among so many students that weren't.

1st Year Male -- Class 2016

Innovation: B+, Individual Value: F