Saint Michael’s College
Ask anyone to name the best college town in the U.S. and you’re likely to hear Burlington, Vermont as a top contender. With a population of around 42,000 it’s home to three colleges: Champlain College, Saint Michael’s College, and University of Vermont. I’ll visit Champlain and UVM in future posts; today is all about St. Mike’s.
Located about five minutes from downtown Burlington (and offering free bus transportation to downtown to ensure students can enjoy the city), Saint Michael’s is a small liberal arts college (1600 students) that is known for its friendliness and community. While it is considered a Catholic college, only about half the students identify as religious. Its campus comprises 440 acres looking out over Vermont’s Green Mountains and the state’s tallest peak, Mount Mansfield, as well as the Winooski River (a tributary of Lake Champlain). The campus is built around a central quad and features mostly red brick architecture, which many complain is a bit dated. Students are required to live on campus in the residence halls for all four years, ensuring a community focus for everyone who attends.
Professors generally get high marks for their enthusiasm and engagement, and a low professor-to-student ratio keeps class sizes small (over 55% of classes have fewer than 20 students, facilitating discussion-based classrooms). The core curriculum requires students to complete four courses (First-Year Seminar, Fundamental Philosophical Questions, Study of Christian Traditions and Thought, and Junior Seminar) as well as general requirements in liberal arts and experiential learning.
Saint Michael’s offers a diverse array of majors and minors. Among their strongest and most popular are business and marketing; biology; psychology; media studies, journalism, and digital arts; and environmental studies. Students are impressed by the academic support services, highlighting the Writing Center and Peer Tutoring offered through the Academic Enrichment Commons. In addition, there are opportunities to cross-register for classes at Champlain or study engineering at UVM (in a unique 3-2 program where students earn a BA from Saint Michael’s and a BS from UVM). There is also an Honors Program where strong applicants are invited to participate beginning in their first year. Enrollment in the honors program includes specialized housing and coursework, and requires a senior thesis. (About 15% of students are in the honors program. Students are also invited upon completion of their first year if they achieve outstanding academic success.)
Saint Michael’s believes in preparing its students for a changing and challenging world, and as part of this encourages students to participate in study abroad. As a result, these offerings are fairly popular with over one third of the student body heading out to one of more than 100 programs. Some of the most popular take students to Argentina, Tanzania, Thailand, New Zealand, and Denmark.
Saint Michael’s is DII for athletics, and most of its teams compete in the Northeast-10 Conference. The most competitive teams are alpine skiing (men’s and women’s), men’s ice hockey, men’s basketball, and lacrosse (men’s and women’s). Athletes in other sports do complain about outdated training facilities and athletic fields. Students who choose not to participate in team sports are still active, keeping busy with intramurals and various outdoor pursuits (the Adventure Sports Center organizes outings throughout the year including white-water rafting and rock and ice climbing).
Saint Michael’s is a small liberal arts college in a beautiful location with an exciting city only minutes away. It attracts students interested in doing good in the world and has a loyal-- and very generous-- alumni network. If you’re interested in learning more or wondering if it might be the right fit, give us a call (617.447.0186) or send an email to info@yourmayfirst.com and let’s chat.
