Johnson State

Johnson State is the 18th, and final, college I'll be visiting in Vermont on this trip. I believe I have now seen every traditional residential college in the entire state. Located in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, it's a well-kept state school that might be a great fit for students coming out of high school with less than stellar grades.
It also has a working television studio and puts on it's own newscast 5 days a week. For students interested in this field, it's a hands-on program that allows students to easily get involved. Education is it's largest major and the Hospitality & Tourism department is popular. Outdoor Recreation is offered as a major. An interesting option is the Wellness and Alternative Medicine program.
Visual and Performing arts have a major presence around campus. A large percentage play varsity sports here as well. Behind one of the dorms is a hill that students use for skiing and snowboarding in the winter.

Sterling

New England’s only work learning service college and the smallest of all colleges that I will visit, Sterling has just 100 students. There is no cell phone service on campus and no shopping nearby. Students dine together at the lone dining room and get to know each other and the faculty very well. This is a place for those who love the outdoors. The only majors offered are in Conservation Ecology, Outdoor Education or Circumpolar Studies (which focuses on studying the northern hemisphere). Students can also design their own major. Regardless of major, each student must supply their own axe!
Sustainability is a focus for everyone. Each student also works for the school in some capacity. There is a working farm on campus with pigs, chicken, sheep, horses and cows that students care for. They might also work in the kitchen, with maintenance, or in an office.
Experiential learning is stressed. The classroom is often in the field; be it a river, a mountain, the farm, or some other venue.
There are no varsity sports teams or school music groups. There are weekly meetings on Wednesday afternoons to discuss everything going on around campus. About half the students live off campus or commute, so on weekends, the remaining students often camp or hike or cross country ski.

Lyndon State

Located in Northern Vermont in an area known as 'The Northeast Kingdom' for some reason, LSC is a reasonably priced option with fairly easy admissions standards. They are probably best known for their meteorology department and also produce a nightly news show 5 days a week at their very own television studio. TV Production is another popular major as is Mountain Recreation Management. Other majors include Music Industry, Exercise Science, and Sports Management. Burke Mountain is adjacent to the campus and students make good use of it. There are a few Associates degrees, but, for the most part, students here are pursuing Bachelor's Degrees. It's a clean, modern campus with small classes where sports, theatre, visual and performing arts all seem abundant. Many opportunities to travel abroad exist as well.

New England Culinary Institute

NECI (pronounced 'necky') is similar to the CIA in it's mission and offerings but does differ in many ways as well. There are few majors here; mostly baking/ pastry/ culinary and hospitality & restaurant management. Students can obtain either Associates or Bachelors degrees here and many non traditional, adult aged students do attend classes. There is housing available for all students. NECI runs 3 restaurants in Montpelier, Vt. Students are required to complete a 6 month residency and a 700 hour intership for each of 2 years prior to receiving a degree. Students who want to attend can begin their studies at 4 different points in the calender year. There are many internship opportunities and graduates have a 98% placement rate in their field.

Landmark

Landmark specializes in teaching students with learning disabilities and ADD/ADHD. Students can study and receive an Associates Degree in Business, Liberal Arts, or General Studies. Many transfer to a four year college upon completion of the Associates, or even after just one year and achieve far greater success than they likely would have had they not first gone to Landmark. They also get in to many places that they would not have gotten in to right out of high school.
The campus is quite nice looking and modern with the main quad consisting of several buildings connected by covered walkways surrounding a large soccer field. There are collegiate sports here as well as choir groups and clubs.
It's quite expensive to attend, but it's hard to put a price on what they can do for a student.

Marlboro

Simple, rustic and informal is how the president of Marlboro described her school. The lone cafeteria on campus where students eat nearly all of their meals has metal folding chairs and seems to have been retrofitted from an old gym from an even older barn. The school is writing intensive and has no majors. Instead, students must create a plan of study that takes nearly all of the last 2 years to complete and involves a rigorous oral defense of the project. There are also no clubs or varsity sports. Instead, there are comittees and intramurals. A regular town meeting is held to discuss issues on campus, make policy and plan events. Each student that attends (and it seems like many do) gets an equal say. There are only about 320 students here and, given it's remoteness, they must get to know each other very well.
My biggest critcism has to do with their financial aid policies. A student with a lot of need probably can't afford to attend without acruing massive amounts of debt. And since their degree typically doesn't lead directly to a career, grad school might require even more loans. Students who can afford it may be turned off by the lack of creature comforts and amenities.

Bennington College

If you're looking for a great sports school with a Greek life, this isn't it. Their most competitive athletics are co-ed soccer. However, if you are creative, motivated, passionate about learning and have the ability to structure yourself, Bennington might be of interest. There's just over 600 students here, most live in campus housing; don't call them dorms, they're not. About 30 students each live in the houses with either heated floors or hardwood floors. Males and females sometimes live right next door to and share bathrooms with each other.
Here, there are no majors, no general education requirements and no tests. Students design their own program and receive written evaluations rather than grades. There's lots of creative and performing arts classes but students are encouraged to pursue and learn about whatever they can imagine. Additionally, during each winter break, students must do field work- again, in an area of their choosing. It's a very interesting place that competes for students with Sarah Lawrence with a big difference being where each is located and the type of student that would prefer rural over urban.

Southern Vermont College

Another very small college with only about 500 undergrads, SVC offers both Associates and Bachelors degrees in areas such as Nursing, Sports Management and Radiology Technician. Their Creative Writing degree is a strength and a new program called BTE stands for Building The Enterprise is a concentration in entrepreneurship. Lots of construction is currently ongoing so the landscaping around the dorms is a mess right now, but the new building is just about complete and should no longer spoil the fantastic views next year. Students take all of their classes in a stunning stone castle that is shared with college offices and administration.

College of St. Joseph's

An extremely small school with only about 260 undergrads. Everyone here will know your name; other students, faculty, the president and even the cafeteria staff! Students live in 2 converted motel buildings which are very ugly on the outside but normal looking dorm-type suites inside. Tuition is guaranteed all 4 years, nearly everyone who applies gets accepted, there are no classes on Fridays and Killington Mountain is nearby. Education, Psychology and Business are their most popular majors, but interesting choices include sports management and substance abuse counseling. The opportunity to play sports at the D2 NAIA level is also a plus.

Castleton State

One of the few state colleges in Vermont, Casleton is, in many ways, like SUNY Cortland or Springfield College. All have as popular majors choices like Phys Ed, Athletic Training, and Exercise Science. Castleton will be starting a football team, marching band, and cheerleading next year. Easier to get in to and much smaller than Cortland, less expensive and a nicer town than Springfield but with less impressive facilities. Skiing is nearby and they have a varsity team. Nursing and music are interesting major options but communications and business are more popular choices.

Green Mountain

Less than 800 students go here. The focus and overall theme of the school is the environment. There are many majors related to or having 'Environmental' in the title. Right along with that, sustainability is another emphasis. There is a working farm with livestock on campus. Outdoor Education/ Adventure Recreation is another cool and popular major. Music performance groups are also big here. It's a place for outdoorsy types. Skiing, camping, hiking, biking are typical activities for most of the students.

Middlebury

Perhaps the most beautiful campus in all of Vermont, and also the most selective admissions criteria, Middlebury is known for it's outstanding faculty and strong Liberal Arts curriculum. There is both a golf course and ski slope adjacent to campus and the athletic program is very strong at the D3 level. Most students go on to graduate school after graduation and most study abroad during their junior year.
Their calender is known as 4-1-4 with the 1 class in the middle takn during January.
Your advisor here will know you. Partly because there are only about 2300 students, but mainly because he or she will also teach your freshman seminar.
Because so many juniors are studying abroad second semester, many applicants are offered February admission, rather than the traditional Fall entrance.

Vermont Technical Institute

The main campus of VTI is in Randolph, Vt.- a very rural area. The school offers both Associates and Bachelors Degrees in a small variety of technical fields such as engineering, diesel & auto mechanics, construction, as well as health care fields and equine studies. Only about 1100 students attend the Randolph campus, half of them commute, and many of the residents go home on weekends, so it's probably very quiet here on Saturdays and Sundays. I see Cobleskill as a big competitor for students, but for students who would like to be a bit further from home, VTI might be worth a look.

Norwich

Located in a more remote part of Vermont, Norwich is a private military school. In fact, 60% of all students are in there corps of cadets. Many, but not all, will eventually receive the ROTC scholarship and/or enlist in the military. However, there are 40% of students here not in the corps. Called civilian students, they too live by the honor code and have the traits of leadership and character stressed to them. Nearly 2/3 male, the students here have opportunities to enroll in very much in demand majors such as engineering, architecture, phys ed, athletic training, nursing, and computer security. There is also a communicatio major with ties to ESPN for internships. The placement rate for most majors is extremely high.

St. Michael's

Just outside of Burlington, St. Mike's is another small private liberal arts & sciences college with about 2000 students. Almost everyone lives in the very nice residence halls on this very lovely campus. Since most kids are from states other than Vermont, there are lots of peers to do things with on the weekends. Skiing possibilities are very nearby as is the lake and many other outdoor activities. The athletic facilities are quite nice as well. Classes here are small usually, volunteerism is big. Two religion classes are required. Many students study abroad at some point. D2 sports.