NYU is only in Manhattan... you're thinking of either the SUNY or CUNY schools. All of those schools are very different. UMich is more "typical" in terms of a college, NYU is more artsy and rich kids, and UVM is a bunch of wannabe hippies who go there to party rather than go to a good hippie college where they actually learn something. That's just my perception at least.
Reed, that's in Washington State. Amazing school. If you have the grades to apply to NYU or UMich, I don't understand why you'd settle for something like UVermont. UVM has some hippies of course, but that's the "cool" thing to be there. Por ejemplo- a good family friend went there and she would drive her friends around in her massive SUV to go to alternative energy protests. And she was part of the more activist contingent. When I toured, I got that kind of vibe too.