<p>I was wondering if anyone might like to chime in on helping with a college list. My older son was looking for an entirely different type of school in almost every respect, so I feel like I am starting from scratch. </p>
<p>My younger son has the following requirements for colleges:</p>
<p>1) A place where he can engage in a snowball fight
2) Does not have a strong sports culture
3) The campus does not take overly long to walk across*
4) Geology or Earth Science is offered as a major</p>
<p>And I have the following requirements:</p>
<p>1) within a 3 hour drive of the Boston area
2) if not in the Boston area, then easy to get from college to a major airport with non-stops to Boston, and east of the Mississippi</p>
<p>Student is currently a junior, A-/B+ average, takes honors classes at competitive public school in Boston area (ours does not offer tons of APs intentionally), has good/quirky ECs (band, radio, fencing), hangs out with an alternative but non-partying crowd. (He has not taken any standardized tests yet except PSAT and results for PSAT are not yet available.) Any ideas? </p>
<p>*I think I scared him once by making him walk from the medical campus to State St. at UW Madison, which is probably a couple of miles. :-)</p>
<p>No cost constraints. No “best known” constraints either. He is not unwavering on the major, just should have it, as it is a strong possibility. I am really thinking LAC is the way to go for him.</p>
<p>I love his list of requirements! Also his extracurrculars. He could be a strong candidate at many schools I would think :)</p>
<p>I might suggest reading “Colleges that Change Lives” by Loren Pope, or looking at the website, or attending a CTCL fair. Also Pope’s book “Looking Beyond the Ivies.” (If he does want an Ivy, would suggest Brown)</p>
<p>Tufts, Clark U, maybe Hampshire in MA; UVM, Marlboro or Bennington in VT (the latter two are more alternative or artsy in vibe); Hamilton, Bard, Skidmore, Hobard William-Smith in upstate NY; Goucher in MD; Oberlin, Kenyon, Grinnell, Carleton, Macalaster, Lawrence, College of Wooster in the midwest. Maybe Davidson in NC. Dickinson in PA.</p>
<p>For starters: others will have other ideas. Sounds like a great kid.</p>
<p>True, the best places for earth science and geology are far west of where you are looking. Are finances something you are concerned with? In the “good earth science and geology programs” there is alot of field work so place is somewhat important. My second son graduated with an environmental studies and geography double major (think GIS which he thought was fun and he’s pointed toward environmental law and specifically water resources ) but he went west and there was quite a bit of field work even for environmental studies (as opposed to environmental science). I would presume environmental science would have even more field work. Many of his friends were geology majors because there were quite a few overlapping classes. </p>
<p>What kind of kid is he? Does he love the outdoors and all things outdoors? </p>
<p>University of New Hampshire
University of Connecticut
UMass</p>
<p>For smaller places…I did not check for the majors!</p>
<p>Marist
Ithaca (bit further than 3 hours)
Bates or Colby (without knowing stats it’s hard to say if these are reachable)
Stonehill
Vassar
Lafayette
Lehigh
Villanova </p>
<p>The most obvious small schools for geology are the three “mines” schools, but they are outside of your geographic constraint (CO, NM, SD).</p>
<p>Since geology is not as common as some other majors, checking the faculty rosters and course offerings would be a good idea when checking the suitability of the school.</p>
<p>Thanks so far! A lot listed here I had not yet considered! </p>
<p>He is not super-outdoorsy, in that he seems to prefer playing video games to exploring the back yard, but he is a ready and willing backpacker/camper. When we’ve done family trips to the mountains (e.g. Glacier National Park) he is very enthusiastic about all he sees.</p>
<p>I would really prefer he no go all the way west (nothing against the West – we have lived in CA and loved it there – just logistically, I would prefer not to have him go so far, plus, there are SO many schools here in our area, and there is, after all, the snowball requirement I am hoping if he does go into Geology, he can do some summer programs or field studies in other places besides the northeast. I am also mainly looking that the major exists. If it exists, I am confident there are enough faculty to teach it reasonably well. I also don’t expect CCers to check if the major exists for me. He/I can certainly do that legwork, but having a list to start from is very helpful indeed.</p>
<p>Be careful with that assumption. There are cases (not necessarily specific to geology) where a school offers a major, but the number of faculty is too few to offer a complete set of expected courses for the major (e.g. computer science at Tulane). There may also be issues with courses being offered too infrequently (once every two years or less frequently).</p>
<p>And alttle easier to get into would be Wyoming and Western State University Colorado formerly a public LAC, so smallish 2500 students so an LAC feel with a strong history in geology and environmental studies: <a href=“http://www.western.edu/news/western-grad-donates-25-million-petroleum-geology-program”>http://www.western.edu/news/western-grad-donates-25-million-petroleum-geology-program</a>
but if he isn’t a rock-climbing, mountain-biking outdoorsy sorta guy I would not recommend Western although I’m sure there are students that rarely venture into the wilderness that go to school there. I’ve heard decent things about UofU, too. Sorry, I’m not familiar with the east coast programs other than Penn State. </p>
<p>Bates has Geo. But also some sports influence. Work hard/party hard. This is an interesting show of how Bowdoin is broadening the study- and may give an idea of how you can look for his interests even if not labeled Geo.</p>
<p>^Thanks, I like Bowdoin, and happen to know it is precisely 2 hours from our house (because we go to that part of Maine a lot. A particular intersection in Brunswick is actually precisely 2 hours away.) It’s a great school and would certainly fit the geographic criteria Probably a reach, but not an out-of-reach, reach, I am guessing.</p>
<p>Bates and Colby are a wee bit easier to get into. Also love that part of Maine With his interest, it would be good to have some related experiences, when he applies. There’s a variety of things kids can get involved with, especially volunteer. It adds up. </p>
<p>If his choice of major and interest in geology (really studying it in person) become stronger than his interest in staying in NE, then he might want to check out the University of Montana’s International Field Geosciences major. <a href=“http://www.cas.umt.edu/geosciences/ifg/”>http://www.cas.umt.edu/geosciences/ifg/</a> The students do lots of field work in beautiful Montana, and spend a year abroad in Europe (mostly Germany and/or Ireland with trips to other places) doing field work there as well. Within geology, there are other amazing study abroad programs, e.g., one involves a year in Iceland studying their unique geologic features, so if he does stay in the NE, he might look for an opportunity to study away a semester or year to get the field work experience. Some universities have programs where a student can study at another college in the U.S. a semester or year, and he could also get some field work in out West in the U.S. that way. Also University of Idaho has a semester in the outdoors program that students from other colleges can apply to. He may also want to consider petroleum engineering – it’s the most lucrative application of geologic knowledge. </p>
<p>@mommyrocks, are you a geologist or simply a mommy who rocks? I do hope if this is what he ends up doing, he is able to do some exchange or abroad semesters. I know UMass has exchange programs with other US universities, but have not seen the list.</p>
I am hoping if he does go into Geology, he can do some summer programs or field studies in other places besides the northeast. I am also mainly looking that the major exists. If it exists, I am confident there are enough faculty to teach it reasonably well. I also don’t expect CCers to check if the major exists for me. He/I can certainly do that legwork, but having a list to start from is very helpful indeed.</p>