Green Mountain College

Date: Oct 29 2008
Major: PreMed and Medical (This Major's Salary over time)
Green Mountain is the best kept secret in Vermont. By this, I mean that if parents and the College Board of Accreditation really knew what went on in this school, it would be disbanded and the administrators put in prison. You might argue that everyone in Vermont is caring and accepting, but is this the real reason why 96% of applicants are accepted? What academic standards does this admissions department require? Students have confessed to me that they never took the SAT and/or never wrote the admissions essay. Students with multiple felony convictions have been accepted here without the blink of an eye. The only requirement of the admissions department is that you must be a living, breathing person—and this is completely understandable considering the 46% retention rate! So many people transfer out of this college, and I will list the main reasons why:

1. Academics

2. Atmosphere

3. Safety

4. Cost Effectiveness

The academics of this school are terrible. Sure, the professors are approachable and the class sizes are small. Any admissions counselor will tell you that, but at Green Mountain, nobody gives a shit about anything. And nobody means professors, students, administrators, etc. Few students actually attend class, and for good reason. The professors have no idea what they're talking about! Why bother attend class when a professor is just going to read a textbook to you? You can do that on your own. I'm convinced that many professors don't even have a degree in what they teach, and from the information I've gathered, many of them don't. For instance, in a statistics class I took in my freshman year, the professor claimed to be an expert on the subject because he took statistics in high school.

The campus atmosphere is somewhat alarming. The buildings look quaint and regal from a distance, but as you approach them, you realize how badly they are in need of repair. Bricks are cracked, pillars are crumbling, windows are broken—it looks like the maintenance budget was exhausted fifty years ago—and this is just on the outside. The inside of the dorms are in an equal if not worse state of disrepair. Take a campus tour and make sure you take a good look at all of the campus halls. Don't make up your mind with the photos that are provided on the college's website—they do not show anything that is typical of the campus. Especially, they do not show students that are typical of the campus. This school is full of hippies and stoners—chock full. I expected a campus full of bright and passionate students devoted to the environmental mission of the college. This is certainly not the case. I heard a rumor that in a survey conducted by the Wellness Center, over 90% of students consume some sort of illegal substance regularly. I was apalled by this. This school is full of hippies and stoners who don't care about anything except getting high and/or getting naked in public and/or doing something stupid. Don't base your opinion of the people at this school off of the tour guide or the people they talk to during the tour. They are trained to say hello to the most upstanding and normal looking people on campus. Instead, look around at the kids smoking a hooka on the lawn and pay close attention to the smell that eminates from it.

This brings me to another point. The is one of the most dangerous campuses in the country. Obviously crimes such as consumption of marijuana and illegal consumption are happening by the minute, but the amount of burglary, sex offenses, and harassment are also quite alarming. I would encourage you to look up these statistics. The doors are without a peephole, and there is no type of electronic keycard to let you into the dorms. The locks on the dorm rooms are absolute shit. They can be picked with a paperclip or bobby pin. I've done this myself hundreds of times. People's rooms are robbed all the time. I was robbed twice in one year, and nearly everyone has been robbed at least once. I won't go into detail about the sex crimes and harassment on campus, but I do suggest you take that into account when making your decision. In addition to this the RA staff and Campus Security Officers are extremely corrupt. Understandably, the RA's don't want to bust their classmates for doing something illegal, but the manner in which the CSO's conduct themselves is completely unnacceptable. They are occasionally intoxicated while on duty. One of my friends saw an Officer smoking marijuana while on duty, and another friend was actually given marijuana by a Campus Security Officer. Many of my female friends will contest that they have been inapproptiately touched by a Campus Security Officer.

In the end, is Green Mountain really cost effective? Only one Green Mountain Student has gone on to Medical School (in the history of the College)! They are the most expensive school I applied to, and what I took from there was pretty meager. Room and board is far to expensive for the services that are provided. The food, which you pay a good deal for, is an absolute disgrace. Don't be fooled by the meals they provide at open houses—it is genuinely disgusting. As I stated before, the dorms are in a constant state of disrepair. I am convinced that the school does not employ any maintenance personell. Again, as I stated previously, the knowledge of the professors does not warrant the extreme price of tuition. In the end, is Green Mountain College truly cost effective? I think not, and so do many others who have transferred.

So in the end, why would someone stay at Green Mountain. The reason why I hung on for a year was because of the friends that I made. You will make close friends at any college, but because of the diversity of this campus, your friends will seem a lot closer to you. If I may offer a word of advice, visit the campus. Don't listen to the admissions bullshit, just look around and take in what you see. Talk to some hippies and stoners, and that will give you a pretty good feel for the school. Seriously, look at some of the other comments that have been left for this school. Why type of derelict does it take to actually enjoy four years here?