<p>RPI has environmental science and geology. It also has a pretty strong math department. No problem with snowballs there, but it’s definitely not a liberal arts school. </p>
<p>I am thinking a trip to RPI and Skidmore is in order! Maybe also Williams could be seen on that trip?</p>
<p>St. Lawrence University in Canton. NY</p>
<p>Some of the schools mentioned, like St. Lawrence above, are in the 6-7 hour drive range and not near airports. For those of you with kids that go there, how do they typically get there and back for holiday breaks, etc? </p>
<p>“I am thinking a trip to RPI and Skidmore is in order! Maybe also Williams could be seen on that trip?”</p>
<p>Absolutely, Williams is about 45 minutes from Troy (where RPI is.) You might want to look at Union while you are up here. </p>
<p>Skidmore is a lovely campus and Saratoga a really lovely, very small city. Campus is in walking distance of the downtown area - where there are lovely shops and nice restaurants. </p>
<p>My S was just on Skidmore’s campus to party the night before their last day of classes before T’giving break. I asked him about the kids and he said, pretty much the same as the kids at Bates - just in Saratoga. </p>
<p>My S went to high school in Troy (we live on the other side of the river) and Troy’s downtown has come along way since we moved to this area. Lots of nice shops, galleries, and excellent restaurants now. </p>
<p>My S applied to St. Lawrence and Hobart William Smith. They were his 2nd & third choices. A lot of the northeastern LACS are very similar in feel. </p>
<p>FWIW, he didn’t like Clark at all - but I did. </p>
<p>We had the same concern about travel realities to some colleges. For one, they passed it off as: oh you just fly to Chicago, change planes and fly to X, take a bus 45 minutes to the closest town, then a cab or local bus to campus. That’s a lot of coordinating and hoping each link runs on schedule-plus the sheer hours. We wanted to be able to visit, without much hassle, sometimes make last minute plans, keep costs down- and be available in case of an emergency. Our girls loved that we could get there easily (our drive was 3 hours.) Also, their friends often came home with them, either stayed the night, then went on to their homes. Or spent long weekends or whole breaks with us. Priceless. </p>
<p>Re: traveling from Boston to Oberlin: </p>
<p>Don’t know about getting to Oberlin from Cleveland or how easy that is, but flying from Boston to Cleveland isn’t a piece of cake. I been doing it for quite a few years–my stepD and her family live in the Cleveland suburbs and H and I go out 5 or 6 times a year, sometimes more. There aren’t a whole lot of cheap flights that are direct. Usually, the cheap flights, e.g., Southwest, have you going through BWI. You can sometimes get cheaper flights to Youngstown, but then you have to deal with getting to the Cleveland area from there. It’s also not a route where you can get deals. Unless you’re willing to take a flight at 6 am, you’ll rarely get a fare that’s below $350 and if you don’t book far ahead, it’s usually much more expensive. </p>
<p>Thanks, @Bromfield2. I feel like sometimes you can’t win. I fly from Boston to Minneapolis-St. Paul a lot. There are tons of non-stops because it is a hub for Delta, but because of that, they can almost charge what they want! It is never inexpensive, it seems. </p>
<p>I’m thinking Macalester might be a possibility since the travel seems actually easier, though not cheaper, than something like St. Lawrence. I’d really prefer within a 200 mile radius of Boston, though.</p>
<p>Agree that location can break or break a place. I wanted my kids to be close to an airport if they went far from home. RPI is a $20 cab ride to Albany airport, and I think it’s just a couple of hours from Boston. </p>
<p>14mom, count on one hour. My friends whose DD attends Clark travels to Logan,in Boston, then rents a car. </p>
<p>^RPI is not an hour from Boston. It is in New York State due west of Massachusetts. You might be thinking of WPI. (Or maybe I am just confused by the response and you meant something else.)</p>
<p>You and he may have to determine how important each criterion (availability/quality of major(s), location, snow, etc.) is, since the desired criteria may screen out a large number of otherwise good fits.</p>
<p>University of Vermont. Definitely yes on the snowball requirement. There is a geology major. No football team. Nice walkable campus near a nice small,city downtown. </p>
<p>^^ can’t agree more. UVM is a fantastic school that meets your list of criteria and is in an awesome location.</p>
<p>I was just popping on to recommend UVM. My son goes to a smaller college in Burlington and I would recommend his if it had geology. Most of the people at his college are from New England and ski. Burlington has been rated one of the best college towns from a couple of different sources and for a State College, I think they have a large percentage of OOS students and offer merit aid to them. </p>
<p>St. Lawrence has a huge percentage of kids in varsity sports but D3 except for hockey so the culture is not overwhelming and it is a lovely school with excellent academics. Perhaps one of the most overlooked schools in the Northeast. It has excellent facilities including the nicest single dormitory and student center I have seen at any school. If his grades stay in the A- / B+ range this is an excellent choice. The Geology program has a nationwide reputation.</p>
<p>NESCAC schools will be unreachable probably. Dickinson and Gettysburg are excellent too.</p>
<p>My S really liked St. Lawrence but it is a PITA to get there. It’s only about 200 miles from me, but a good 4 hours to get there and driving through the Adirondacks is no picnic. All two lanes roads and if you get stuck behind a truck it can take even longer. Not great driving though then in the winter, either. </p>
<p>Depends where you are coming from. The drive through Syracuse up 81 is not bad at all.</p>
<p>I know that, but I am near Albany so people around here go a different way. </p>
<p>90 to 81 looks about the same distance but better roads.</p>