Champlain College

Date: Jul 11 2018
Major: Computer Science (This Major's Salary over time)
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.