<p>Of course the Adirondacks are not exactly the same as the Cascades, the Rockies or the Wasatch. Those are all alpine or glacier mountain ranges (snow covered all year round).</p>
<p>hmmm, that seriously helps a lot and i appreciate your comment!!</p>
<p>i guess it is kind of difficult not to get caught up in the rankings and such…</p>
<p>no one seemed to address it, but i am also interested in the university of Utah…does anyone have any positive or negative things to say about Utah. From what ive heard, they have a surprisingly good academic programs for the price.</p>
<p>Utah is a fine school. The reason that you are getting no info…the Mormon issue. Everything in Utah used to be dominated by Mormons. That is changing as the Mormon percentage in Utah is declining. Apparently, the university is now only about 50% Mormon. But Utah is still a very conservative state. Many people from the midwest and east would probably feel uncomfortable living and/or going to school there.</p>
<p>My guess is that most of the OOS students that go to Utah are Mormon. OOS students make up only about 7% of the U Utah student population. It is also apparently known as a commuter school.</p>
<p>I think Montana State has somewhere around 30% of its students from OOS with quite a few from the midwest and east.</p>
<p>This may be (definitely is) a biased opinion: you should go to Binghamton, for the following reasons:</p>
<p>1) IT COSTS 7x LESS THAN OOS/PRIVATE SCHOOLS. Tuition is 5k/year and dorming is ~8k/year. You’re looking at schools that cost 50k/year. Save yourself student loans, or if your parents are paying - tell them to put that money towards grad school or your first apartment.</p>
<p>2) There will be something outdoorsy for you to do. We have a 900 Acre Nature Preserve you can explore ([Binghamton</a> University Nature Preserve and Natural Areas](<a href=“http://naturepreserve.binghamton.edu/]Binghamton”>http://naturepreserve.binghamton.edu/)). We have clubs that do something outdoorsy every weekend; skiing, hiking or whatever. Or you’ll be able to find a group of friends who are as outdoorsy as you and you can do stuff on your own.</p>
<p>3) If you want to go to Grad School, as long as you have a sufficently high GPA and GRE scores, it doesn’t matter how renowned the undergrad geology dept is (or whatever you want to major in). Save yourself the money!</p>
<p>hmmm, yeah a lot of my family has warned me about going there because of the Mormans, but the academics, skiing, and price are all there for me! (but mostly the academics appear better then MSU) im going to apply and hopefully make a visit/ski trip out there.</p>
<p>and im sorry to rain on your parade dude, but i simply dont want to be in New York. I know it makes financial sense. But i’ve spent my last 6 years dying to be out west, i cant give up on that. I can do outdoorsy stuff anywhere, but not on the level that i can do it on out there!!</p>
<p>as a photographer, videographer, skier, all around outdoorsman, and an interested geoscientist…the location of my college experience has to be a little bit more exotic as far as terrain and landscape goes. The west coast will give me a chance to learn AND play in the environment that i aspire to work AND continue to play in.</p>
<p>Just some quick comments on Utah, since it hasn’t been addressed much here - </p>
<p>Out of your list of affordable schools, Utah has by far the best reputation in the geosciences. For a list of graduate school rankings in the earth sciences, try this link: </p>
<p>[Best</a> Earth Science Programs | Top Earth Science Schools | US News Best Graduate Schools](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/earth-sciences-rankings]Best”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-science-schools/earth-sciences-rankings)</p>
<p>Although the grad:undergrad quality is not 1:1, it should give you a better idea of how these schools compare with one another in a way that is specific to the field. Many schools you’d think would be great at geology just because they’re great at everything are actually…not so much. Let’s be honest, geology is the only ranking you’ll ever see where my university, UT-Austin, ties with Princeton. </p>
<p>Anyway, Utah has excellent programs in geophysics, geochemistry, and a number of other fields as well. Although I didn’t attend school there, I’ve done some work in one of their geochem labs, and the resources they have available are top-notch. Plus, the mountains around the university are to die for. To my mind, Utah is one of the most beautiful and under-appreciated parts of the country.</p>
<p>As for the Mormon thing, Salt Lake City is the least Mormon part of the state. There are still certainly some strange parts about it - it’s kind of hard to describe, other than being very clean, and maybe a little Stepford-ish. And no one walks on the grass, haha. But there are some decent pubs (serving mostly 3.2% when I was there, but liquor laws have loosened considerably in the last few years, so I’m not sure if that’s still the case), and coffee shops, and other things to cater to the non-Mormon crowd. </p>
<p>The point about grad school is an important one though, and you should be careful not to gloss over it. A B.S. is rarely a terminal degree in geology, as most professional work will require at least an M.S. So it matters…less…where you get your undergrad. However, I will tell you straight out that at my graduate program in geology, we hardly even get applicants from Montana State, much less accepted students. Decent representations from the UC schools and UW, as those schools have specialties that closely match our own. A few come from Utah/BYU, Mines, and Wyoming, even though there are fewer overlapping fields. Not much from Idaho/Montana, or even CU-Boulder, although the latter likely reflects a very different academic focus. As much as people like to say otherwise, where you go to school will have some bearing on your grad school potential. GPA and GRE scores are a minimum hurdle to entry, not a guaranteed ticket. However, as was mentioned previously, you will not pay for grad school - they pay you a small stipend (it’s not much, but enough to live on). If they don’t offer you funding, look elsewhere.</p>
<p>You can substantially improve your grad school odds anywhere you go by putting yourself out there early and often to get involved working in labs wherever you end up. It will feel strange, but see if you can get a work-study position doing low-level lab work. Failing that, there are almost no professors who will turn down someone willing to volunteer to get some experience on their resume. You’ll only have about 2 or 3 semesters before you should start thinking about grad school applications (assuming you can finish in 4 years total), so get on this sooner rather than later.</p>
<p>Sorry for the barrage of advice - this is all the stuff I wished someone had told me before I dove into geology and grad school preparation.</p>