"Hippie" Colleges

College Search & Selection
1

<p>What are good school with a hippie reputation and also an access to the "great outdoors."</p>

<p>Lets say I live in PA, but I don't mind going far. I want to be some type of engineer, most likely Environmental Engineer or Aerospace (I know they are loads different). </p>

<p>I have a 4.0, am ranked number 1, and will probably get somewhere a little above 2000 on my SAT. I wouldn't mind going to a school where I could get excellent financial aid even if it wasn't the best. </p>

<p>I am not a hardcore "party dude", but I do like a social life.</p>

<p>Some schools I was thinking Colorado School of Mines (But is it too nerdy?), University of Vermont, and Cornell.</p>

2

<p>Emerson comes to mind. Reed, Sarah Lawrence, Smith, lots of colleges in Colorado and Vermont, Bard.</p>

3

<p>man, if I could only have found a “Disco” college… :)</p>

4

<p>Evergreen State</p>

5

<p>Humboldt State, CA</p>

6

<p>Bates in Maine or Colorado College, but you’ll have to do 3-2 engineering to get an Aerospace Engineering degree. Middlebury isn’t really hippie, but the town leans more in that direction.</p>

7

<p>Can someone give a quick explanation of the difference between a hipster and a hippie. I just think “far left” when I hear either, but I don’t know the difference.</p>

8

<p>UVM is definitely what came to mind for me first.</p>

9

<p>The environmental or aerospace engineering criterion will trim off a lot of these schools.</p>

<p>Evergreen State, Reed, Sarah Lawrence, Bard, Bates, Colorado College, and Middlebury do not have any engineering. Note that few students going in intending to do 3+2 programs actually transfer to the “2” school.</p>

<p>Humboldt State has one ABET accredited program, environmental resources engineering. Non-resident list price is relatively low as a CSU (about $30,000 per year), but do not expect any financial aid other than federal aid.</p>

10

<p>you said aerospace and hippie and I thought of my alma mater, UColorado-Boulder, which has put more than a dozen people in space, but you will not get much FA at Boulder. Of course, if you could kick that SAT up considerably, you might qualify for bigger merit. the largest merit oos package is still only 55K over 4 years, and it goes to the top 1-3% of oos applicants.</p>

<p>[Scholarships</a> and Funding | Undergraduate Admissions | CU-Boulder](<a href=“http://www.colorado.edu/admissions/undergraduate/finances/scholarships]Scholarships”>http://www.colorado.edu/admissions/undergraduate/finances/scholarships)</p>

11

<p>[Best</a> Colleges For Hippies In 2013-14 Ranked By Princeton Review](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>Best Colleges For Hippies In 2013-14 Ranked By Princeton Review | HuffPost College)</p>

12

<p>Wow, this is a true dilemma. You want a hippie school that also offers engineering. There are only a handful of good ones. UC Santa Cruz is the ultimate hippie school, but alas no Environmental Engineering or Aerospace. Pitzer is also a great hippie school but no engineering at all except at its sister school Harvey Mudd. One school that might give you what you want is Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. It has one of the highest ranking undergrad engineering programs in the country and is a leader in both Environmental Engineering and Aerospace. I wouldn’t call it a hippie school, but the city of San Luis Obispo and the Central Coast qualify for sure. Lots of organic farming and vineyards in the area. It is also one of the country’s top surfing schools and very, very outdoors. You’ll find plenty of hippie activities if you scratch the surface. Check it out:</p>

<p>[Cal</a> Poly - Welcome to California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, California](<a href=“http://calpoly.edu/]Cal”>http://calpoly.edu/)
[Home</a> - College of Engineering - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo](<a href=“http://ceng.calpoly.edu/departments/]Home”>http://ceng.calpoly.edu/departments/)
[Civil</a> and Environmental Engineering - Cal Poly - San Luis Obispo](<a href=“http://ceenve.calpoly.edu/]Civil”>http://ceenve.calpoly.edu/)
<a href=“https://aero.calpoly.edu/[/url]”>https://aero.calpoly.edu/&lt;/a&gt;
[Cal</a> Poly: National Honors, Ranking and Recognition - A Constantly Growing List](<a href=“http://www.calpolynews.calpoly.edu/rankings.html]Cal”>Cal Poly's National Honors, Rankings and Recognition: A Constantly Growing List - Cal Poly News - Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo)</p>

<p>Also, jkeil911 mentions U Colorado, Boulder. This would be a match for sure. Check it out: </p>

<p><a href=“http://www.colorado.edu/[/url]”>http://www.colorado.edu/&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/EnvEng/prospective.htm[/url]”>http://www.colorado.edu/engineering/EnvEng/prospective.htm&lt;/a&gt;
<a href=“http://www.colorado.edu/aerospace/[/url]”>Ann and H.J. Smead Aerospace Engineering Sciences | University of Colorado Boulder;

13

<p>The problem is, you want a school with excellent financial aid, engineering, and a hippie environment. Most of the OOS schools listed by various posters fail in this regard since they either lack engineering and/or do not have adequate financial aid for OOS students.</p>

<p>Colorado School of Mines, CU Boulder, and University of Vermont rarely give more than token merit aid, that is enough aid to bring the price down to more sensible levels, but not low enough to make it actually affordable for those who can’t just drop $25k+/ year. If you’re willing to consider schools which have an environmental engineering option as part of the civ. engineering program, your choices expand. From the Env. Engineers I’ve spoken to, admittedly only those in oil and municipal waste management positions, it doesn’t seem to matter if the Environmental Engineering degree was an option or a separate program. </p>

<p>Syracuse University might be a possibility as it shares a campus with SUNY-Environmental Science and Forestry. I’m not sure how the financial aid will be for a top level student, but it could be a possibility. </p>

<p>Your own state flagship, Penn State, which unfortunately generally gives poor financial aid, is a leader in many subfields of environmental science/ geology and seems to have a well connected CEES program. Go on a hike with some of the members of the outdoors club, or just join an organization devoted to environmental sustainability, and you’ll likely be able to find an appropriate number of faux-hippies.</p>

<p>Cornell is a good idea although it’s obviously very competitive, especially for engineering admission. </p>

<p>Northern Arizona University offers quite a bit of merit aid, and is considered the hippie school of Arizona (well second to Prescott). I was in Flagstaff a few weeks ago and the area was gorgeous. Great hiking, some skiing opportunities, and a decent college town. </p>

<p>Another ultra competitive possibility is Duke, which although generally not associated with the hippy moniker has excellent outdoors opportunities and a strong environmental program meaning there might be a decent population of those whose views resemble some of the better ideals of the hippy movement (actual hippy ideals and going to college do not mesh well with one another). Stanford may also be worth an application although you’ll probably get rejected (like the overwhelming majority of strong applicants).</p>

<p>Depending on how much you can afford, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology may be worth considering. Soccorro, while somewhat run down and very isolated, does have a number of opportunities for hiking, mountain biking, and IIRC, rock climbing. Some of its facilities have seen better days (I was there last Saturday and less than impressed by its geoscience department) and it’s not a hippy school, but it is pretty cheap and well respected in relevant circles. </p>

<p>You may also want to consider Clarkson.</p>

14

<p>I would look at the U Wisconsin and U Iowa. Both Madison and Iowa City are former ‘hippie towns’ with lots of local organic farms, natural food stores, and still maintain a counter culture vibe although that vibe has diminished in both towns over the past decade but still exists in pockets near campus. No mountains around either but ample places to go mountain biking, kayaking, etc.</p>

<p>Both have environmental engineering.</p>

<p>Both are on this list…</p>

<p>[Outside</a> University: The Top 25 Colleges for Outside Readers | Adventure Travel Guide | OutsideOnline.com](<a href=“http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/Outside-University-The-Top-25-Colleges-for-Outside-Readers.html]Outside”>http://www.outsideonline.com/adventure-travel/Outside-University-The-Top-25-Colleges-for-Outside-Readers.html)</p>

15

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<p>Since they were primarily creatures of the late 60s and early to mid-70s, there are very few true hippies around these days. And those who do claim to be hippies are ususally either posers or anachronistic relics. By contrast there are tons of hipsters these days. </p>

<p>Definitions fron an online dictionary:</p>

<p>Hippie: “A person who opposes and rejects many of the conventional standards and customs of society, especially one who advocates extreme liberalism in sociopolitical attitudes and lifestyles.”<br>
Photo: <a href=“http://www.workingclassheroes.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/hippie-with-long-hair-making-peace-sign-thumb18789953.jpg[/url]”>http://www.workingclassheroes.me/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/hippie-with-long-hair-making-peace-sign-thumb18789953.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Hipster: “One who is exceptionally aware of or interested in the latest trends and tastes, especially a devotee of modern jazz.”
Photo: <a href=“http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/361/4/0/hipster_trek_by_deliciousnewyork-d2lxbdt.jpg[/url]”>http://fc06.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/361/4/0/hipster_trek_by_deliciousnewyork-d2lxbdt.jpg&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

16

<p>In addition to environmental engineering often being a subarea of a civil engineering department, aerospace engineering is often a subarea of a mechanical engineering department. However, you need to check whether offerings in that subarea exist at any given school.</p>

17

<p>UVM and Boulder were the first schools that came to my mind, too, but as others have pointed out, neither is known for offering good merit dollars.</p>

<p>How about Union College in Schenectady? </p>

<p>[Engineering</a> - Union College](<a href=“http://www.union.edu/academic/majors-minors/engineering/]Engineering”>Engineering | Union College)</p>

<p>I understand they want to see some serious “demonstrated interest,” but for those with the stats, they offer generous merit awards.</p>

<p>Can you give us some indication of your family’s financial situation?</p>

18

<p>Hippies were genuine in wanting to save the world. Hipsters do things ironically.</p>

19

<p>Comparing hippies and hipsters brings to my mind Marx’s statement that history repeats itself, “the first as tragedy, then as farce.”</p>