What are some colleges that have cool locations? I’d like to go to school somewhere with plenty of things to do outdoors. Nearby (as in less than 30 minutes away) mountains or beaches are a plus. I’m looking for schools that might have similar locations and things to do as Black Hills State University, Humboldt State University, and Sierra Nevada College.
What are your stats and budget?
I have a 3.4 GPA and 29 on the ACT. I am taking 1 AP course this year. I don’t have a budget. At this point I am just looking for colleges with cool locations, so I don’t really have any preferences about the school type, size, etc.
I would highly suggest St. Lawrence. It is between the Adirondacks and the Thousand Islands region. You have good stats for that school.
I would also suggest University of Vermont and St. Michael’s College in Burlington, Vermont on Lake Champlain. Burlington is like Greenwich Village on a lake. 90 minutes from Montreal. Both mountains and beaches.
University of North Carolina Asheville.
University of Hawaii.
Pepperdine on Malibu coast.
Plymouth State University in NH
Appalachian State University in NC
Colorado schools:
Colorado College (a reach for your stats)
University of Colorado - Boulder
University of Colorado - Colorado Springs
Fort Lewis College
University of Denver
Western State
St. Lawrence.
University of Hawaii-Hilo has a magnificent location. So does Northern Arizona University, Montana, Montana State, UC Santa Cruz, Utah State, Utah, Weber State, Michigan Tech, University of Alaska-Southeast (in Juneau), and many others.
Colorado was the first place that came to mind. It’s as if OP’s description had that in mind. Also consider Virginia Tech. which is a beautiful school in a totally student oriented town with all kinds of great outdoors activities. Virginia’s state system is excellent. If you have not seen VT, take a look at associated images. It has a lot to offer. It isn’t the top of the Virginia system-it’s not UVa but it would surprise many people who are unfamiliar with schools from states with excellent schools. New Yorkers who have not spent time in flagships of other states would be blown away by what VT offers. It is more similar to private schools than what New Yorkers are offered by their state system.
Definitely Sewanee for outdoor hiking. Excellent LAC near Chattanooga. The college campus is an entire mountain top that the college calls “The Domain”. 13,000 acres, I think.
Many Southern California schools would work. You could reach the beach in under 30 minutes from several. And many you could reach the mountains or the beach or even the desert in an hour or two.
University of British Columbia or Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. Beaches AND mountains are accessible within a few minutes.
University of Victoria on Vancouver Island.
Prescott College, in AZ? I also second UNC-Asheville.
Whitman is a bit of a reach, with your stats, but not out of the question.
UC Santa Cruz. Nevada (Reno very close to Tahoe). Montana State–ski study ski.
I agree with UNC-Asheville. UNC-Wilmington is on the beach.
Definitely Pepperdine. It’s literally on the beach, and in the Santa Monica Mountains! Azusa Pacific & Chapman are near the mountains, & less than an hour from the beach. Also:
-Biola University
-Loyola Marymount University
-Point Loma Nazarene University
-UC Santa Barbara