18 University Of Vermont Hacks To Make Your Life Easier
College is a beautifully stressful challenge of balancing fun and work on a daily basis. Let’s be honest, college is not always ‘the best time of our lives.’ Well, kitty-cats, if you are looking for an easier way to get through the day, you have come to the right place. Here are 20 tips, hints and life hacks that will make your life here at the University of Vermont easy-breezy. These are the best University of Vermont hacks.
1. Make friends in all your classes!
As tired and fed up as you might feel every time you walk into the classroom, making friends could be the best grade booster you can get! Having a friend to take notes for you when you miss class or study with you for the dreaded final is truly underrated.
2. Take the tunnel
As some of you freshman might not know yet, there is a tunnel that runs from the basement of the Davis center out to the other side of Main Street. If you have a class or live on Athletic or Redstone campuses, this tunnel could save your fingers and toes from the brisk Vermont winters! We all know that the wait to cross Main Street can feel like 3 hours rather than 3 minutes when snow is on the ground…so if you are in a rush to get a burger from Brennan’s before class, take the tunnel!
3. Use the Mr. Delivery discounts
Underclassmen, after a couple weeks of nothing but dining hall and cafe food, you can start to grow very sick of it. Mr. Delivery is the perfect solution. This service delivers food from many different Burlington restaurants and is highly rated! Download Mr. Delivery, check your email for discounts, and order! With the discounts, it could be cheaper than your daily trip to the Marché!
4. Pearl Street Beverage is for 21 and over
As some of you probably learned the hard way, Pearl Street Beverage can spot a fake from a mile away. So, unless you are 21 and over, steer clear of the fake-napping establishment.
5. Buy a planner!
UVM is a very busy and active school. Many people load up on classes, meetings, clubs, sports and social activities and forget what they have to do each day. Buy a planner, you’ll never miss a deadline, practice, meeting or date ever again!
6. If you go to the gym, know when a good time to go is
The gym is a facility used by people who live on and off campus, making it a popular place to be 7 days a week. Figure out when the busiest times are and make sure you don’t schedule gym time poorly, otherwise all the ellipticals will be taken!
7. Get a Gmail account and use Google Docs!
Sadly, UVM email accounts do not provide you access to Google Docs, but Google Docs is still the best way to take notes, share, comment and edit your work. Google docs makes it much easier for your friends to share their notes with you! Microsoft has many software and saving issues, and Google Docs auto save feature could save you from spending your whole Sunday night rewriting that paper due Monday morning!
8. Parking is not as awful as you might think
Whether you are an upperclassmen with a house and an accompanying parking spot, or a freshman desperate to find any spot, there are plenty of options to park your car in Burlington. Despite UVM’s notoriously terrible parking options, the Gut garage and faculty lots are open to anyone all week nights and weekend long. In addition, the Sheraton as well as some Greek life houses offering parking spots for money to underclassmen are great options as well!
9. Split the fare and use Uber to carpool!
I mean really…$10 to get to the bar on Church street is a little bit steep sometimes! Best tip to travel cheap and comfortably is taking an Uber XL with lots of people. Split the fare and get there quicker than the bus! This is not just one of the University of Vermont hacks but life hacks!
10. Make upperclassmen friends so they can hold classes for you!
This may seem stupid, but so many underclassmen have classes that they really want or need to get into for their major, and by the time registration rolls around, all the spots are filled! Having an upperclassmen who can register for the class, then drop it when it comes time for you to add it can ensure that you have all your top choices for the semester!
11. Become friends with the University professors, dining and residence hall staff
Being friendly to the UVM staff will really make a difference in your life. They will treat you right when it counts and having that friendship could really work to your advantage when you need it most. If you don’t already know this as one of the best University of Vermont hacks, now you do.
12. Steal green Eco ware silverware for your dorm
Tired of walking down the hall to clean your silverware everyday of the week? Next time you are in the Marché or any café, snag a couple sets of the green silverware at the check out so you can eat, toss, repeat!
13. Take a day off, avoid Friday classes!
If you are the type of person who likes to go out, then at this point I’m sure you can tell that Thursday night life in Burlington is very lively. Avoid Friday classes and the effects of your Friday morning hangover from Thursday night’s trip downtown will be much less. This is one of those University of Vermont hacks everyone knows!
14. Find a secure but easily accessible place for your Cat Card and room key
At $25 and $50 for replacement, it is important to keep your enemies close and your Cat Card closer! We all see the Facebook posts of people taking pictures of other people’s ID’s that they have found on the ground walking through central campus, don’t become one of those people! A phone card holder is ideal, or hole punch the top of your Cat Card and put your key and Cat Card on a lanyard, whatever it takes!
15. Rent books, don’t buy!
Textbooks are outrageously costly nowadays, and renting books is not only cheaper, but there are often annotations and notes from the previous owner that can help you breeze through your classes a little easier. Just don’t forget to return them at the end of the semester!This is a great one of the University of Vermont hacks.
16. College of Arts and Sciences Foreign Language requirement? Take American Sign Language.
For those of you like me who hated taking Spanish with your ignorant high school teacher, ASL is the perfect language for you to take at UVM. With many great professors and class blocks offered is a no brainer. It’s a fun, easy and different language that will help you easily fulfill that pesky foreign language requirement will giving you 4 credits per class!
17. Night classes are better than morning classes
Now, the kids down south can’t really complain about morning classes, because at least it’s warm outside when they are walking to class. At 7:30am on a cold morning in Burlington, Vermont, there is nothing worse than the harsh cold air pounding your face as you trek across campus, completely alone, to get to your 8am. Night classes are much better, and if you can avoid morning classes, do so at all costs!
18. Live a Groovy life at Groovy UV!
UVM is filled with so many different types of people, classes, professors, clubs, activities, social events, sports and much more! Get involved may sound cliché and over-used but seriously, GET INVOLVED. Go out, make friends, make mistakes, have fun, and stay Groovy!!! Hopefully these University of Vermont hacks help you out.
