Looking for Outdoors Colleges - Average GPA

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Hey! So I'm a rising senior from California, and I'm looking for colleges that are located around a forest and offer geology and environmental science. Right now the only schools I'll definitely apply to are University of Oregon, UC Santa Cruz (loved it), and Humboldt State. I'm willing to go anywhere in the US and maybe even Canada so long as the school takes two or fewer flights from LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) to reach. </p>

<p>I've got a 3.0 UW GPA and a 3.4 UC GPA. I earned a 31 ACT score and a 1940 SAT (740 Critical Reading, 530 Writing, 670 Math).</p>

<p>My parents are very rich and will pay for any school in the country which will probably help me out admissions wise. </p>

<p>I'm also considering applying to Sonoma State, St. Lawrence University, and Whitman College (probably a super reach). Anyone have any other suggestions? Also, no religious or super conservative colleges please.</p>

2

<p>Warren Wilson near Asheville NC.</p>

3

<p>I read your post and immediately thought of Evergreen State in Olympia, WA:</p>

<p>[The</a> Evergreen State College - a public, liberal arts & sciences college in the Pacific Northwest](<a href=“http://www.evergreen.edu%5DThe”>http://www.evergreen.edu)</p>

4

<p>Warren Wilson looks awesome, but it doesn’t look like it has geology, although it does have a geospacial analysis minor. I might apply. Thanks for the suggestion. Anyone else?</p>

5

<p>How about University of Puget Sound? I’ve heard really good things and it does have geology.</p>

6

<p>Evergreen State looks really interesting, but it doesn’t seem to offer a good geology program as most of the course titles seem only nominally related to the science behind the earth. </p>

<p>Also, bopambo, University of Puget Sound looks awesome, but it says that the average GPA is a 3.51, so I doubt I’d get in :frowning: I’ll definitely apply though.</p>

<p>Does anyone have other suggestions?</p>

7

<p>College of environmental science and Forestry in NY. [SUNY-ESF</a>, SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry](<a href=“http://www.esf.edu/]SUNY-ESF”>http://www.esf.edu/)</p>

8

<p>I just plugged your stats in here:
[College</a> Search Tool & University Selection Guide](<a href=“http://www.collegeview.com/collegesearch/index.jsp]College”>http://www.collegeview.com/collegesearch/index.jsp)</p>

<p>The main problem is the discrepancy between your GPA and ACT score. </p>

<p>Look-into schools: </p>

<p>Large universities:
University of Maine*
Texas A&M
University of Illinois UC
University of New Hampshire
University of Connecticut
Washington State University*
Central Michigan University*
Miami University Oxford Ohio*
Southern Oreogon University*
CSU Stanislaus*</p>

<p>Appalachian State University
central Washington University*</p>

<p>LACs:
Allegheny College
Skidmore College
Willamette University
Evergreen State College*
Whittier College*
Adrian College*</p>

<p>These are, according to CollegeView, in rural /semi-rural settings, offer your majors, and are safeties/matches in terms of your test scores and reaches in terms of your GPA.</p>

<p>I marked the “safer” options with a star.
I would suppose that as a full-pay Out of state student, you would have better chances at many of the out-of-state publics. </p>

<p>If you plug your wants into the search engine, you will probably find many more colleges that fulful your criteria. Many state directionals in Maine, Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin etc. fulfil your criteria as well. I would greatly encourage you to do that!</p>

<p>Excuse the randomness of my list, I couldn’t identify any further criteria like size, location etc. to narrow it down.</p>

9

<p>Below is a list of LACs and the number of PhDs each school’s alumni earned in Earth Sciences between 2002 and 2011, based on NSF/webcaspar data. This is a crude indicator of academic strength. I’ve only included colleges whose alumni earned 5 or more doctorates in this area. I’ve also marked which of these schools are members of the Keck Geology Consortium ([Keck</a> Research Opportunities for Undergraduates | Keck Geology Consortium](<a href=“http://keckgeology.org/]Keck”>http://keckgeology.org/)).</p>

<p>Unfortunately, some of these are out-of-reach for your stats.<br>
Schools that might be in play and seem to meet your criteria include Colorado College (big reach), Whitman (big reach), Sewanee, Guilford, Hampshire, and Puget Sound.</p>

<p>Sewanee sits on a 13000 acre tract called “The Domain”, which sounds like Hog Heaven for an outdoorsy person ([The</a> Domain | About Sewanee | Sewanee: The University of the South](<a href=“About Sewanee | The University of the South”>About Sewanee | The University of the South)). Median GPA is 3.3-4, SAT-CR 580-680, SAT-M 560-650, average ACT=29. About 24% of students had HS GPAs below 3.25 (according to their 2012-13 CDS). A relatively low percentage of Sewanee students (~23%) gets need-based aid; I suspect that being a full-pay applicant may be a “hook”.</p>

<p>



School   Earned PhDs
Carleton College (KECK) 61
Colorado College (KECK) 25
Williams College (KECK) 22
Amherst College (KECK)  20
Colgate University (KECK)   20
Macalester College (KECK)   19
Franklin and Marshall College   (KECK) 16
Oberlin College (KECK)  16
Whitman College (KECK) 16
Wesleyan University (KECK)  14
Hamilton College    13
Middlebury College  13
Pomona College (KECK)   13
Smith College (KECK)    13
Bowdoin College (KECK) 12
Bates College   10
College of Wooster (KECK)   10
Juniata College 10
Bucknell University 8
Lawrence University 8
Allegheny College    7
Augustana College   7
Beloit College (KECK)   7
Colby College   7
Dickinson College   7
Union College (NY)  7
Eckerd College  6
Furman University   6
Gustavus Adolphus College   6
Hope College    6
Sewanee (University of the South)   6
Bryn Mawr College   5
Guilford College    5
Hampshire College   5
University of Puget Sound   5
Washington and Lee University   5
Wellesley College   5
Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL)   5

</p>

10

<p>University of Vermont … if you wouldn’t mind a winter … great college town on a lake and at the foot of mountains and national parks</p>

11

<p>Take a look at Willamette.</p>

12

<p>Wow, I wrote a huge reply and College Confidential decided to log me out. Well anyways, thanks for all the replies! </p>

<p>BeanTownGirl, it doesn’t look like SUNY ESF has geology although next door Syracuse does. Would it be more beneficial to apply to SUNY ESF and then take classes at Syracuse or just apply directly to Syracuse. Given how the school attracts a very specific type of student, I feel that ESF kids would be more to my liking than the Syracuse ones, although if I can’t get geology classes, I’ll apply directly to Syracuse. Do you know which one is less of a reach for someone with my GPA/ACT combination?</p>

<p>SophieIsabel, while some of the schools you’ve listed such as New Hampshire, Maine, UConn, and Allegheny look like great fits, the others don’t match my criteria or have particularly poor offerings in geology. Thanks for the heads up on those four institutions!</p>

<p>Tk21769, that list was incredible. Thank you so much! Do you know what Carleton does that makes so many students decide to pursue phDs in the Earth sciences? I was checking out the admissions stats and it looks like getting into Carleton isn’t going to happen, so finding out how the school manages to produce so many future geology doctorates would certainly help when evaluating the programs at other, more feasible universities. Also, for schools which don’t actively recruit poor students, such as the UCs, how much of a hook is full pay for the colleges that aren’t impossible dreams? Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t the ability to help a school balance its books so to speak supersede concerns about prior under-performance?</p>

<p>3togo, I actually initially looked at University of Vermont since I love Ben and Jerry’s, but it will take 2 layovers to get to. I’m fine with that, but my parents aren’t.</p>

<p>Based on the recommendations here as well as my own research, here are the schools I’m considering applying to, broken down by safety, match, and reach. After I do more research on them, I’ll narrow my choices, but for now I want to be able to keep all of my options open.</p>

<p>Reach:
Carleton College (basically the I’m not going to get in, but the app is free, so why not apply school)
Whitman
UC Santa Cruz
Colorado College
Colorado School of Mines (maybe. Worried about changing my major)
Colgate</p>

<p>Matches:
CU Boulder
Syracuse/SUNY ESF
Appalachian State
University of Puget Sound
University of Connecticut
Franklin & Marshall
University of Oregon
Oregon State
Smith College
Sewanee
Hampshire College
Sewanee
University of Georgia</p>

<p>Safety:
Humboldt State
Sonoma State
Allegheny (I know a very successful geologist who went here and loved it)
College of Wooster
University of Montana/Montana State (which of the two is better for geology and environmental science?)</p>

<p>While I know this is a long list, does anyone have any suggestions for medium sized schools with good geology and environmental science programs in or near wooded areas? I go to a large high school (~2800 students) and am somewhat concerned that a liberal arts college might feel too limiting, while a big state university will be overwhelming.</p>

13

<p>3togo, I read your message but since I don’t have 15 posts, I couldn’t reply. Anyways, I used a different flight finding site and found a few flights from LA to NYC and then to Burlington so UVM is back on my list. Thanks for the message.</p>

<p>Also bumping this to find out if anyone knows of any good medium sized schools that offer geology and environmental science that I have a reasonable chance of getting into. The other suggestions have so far been great.</p>

14

<p>

</p>

<p>Carleton has high PhD production rates across the board (not just in geology). As one Carleton administrator said of the school’s students,
“These are really high-achieving kids, and they come in PhD-prone”.
For some reason, it seems to do a relatively good job of encouraging young women to be successful in the physical sciences (<a href=“https://apps.carleton.edu/voice/2006summer/feature5.php[/url]”>https://apps.carleton.edu/voice/2006summer/feature5.php&lt;/a&gt;)</p>

<p>LACs as a class tend to have high PhD production rates. I’m not sure exactly why. It may be due to smaller classes and closer engagement with professors. It may reflect differences in the kinds of students who choose LACs over larger schools. It may reflect the fact that LACs channel all students into the arts & sciences (with few or no pre-professional majors).</p>

15

<p>Tk21769, that answer was similar to a response I received on the Carleton page. However, given that Williams is the best liberal arts college in the country, I’m surprised that it trailed Carleton in that regard. I figured that there was something about the culture of Carleton that promotes getting a doctorate rather than simply the academic inclinations of the students themselves. When I asked the question, I was trying to tease out what Carleton in particular did to make students strive for the highest degrees possible. I’d imagine that Williams students come in just as motivated for their phDs as Carleton but given the huge 40 person difference in earth sciences, it seems that Carleton does much more to fan the flames than Williams.</p>

16

<p>I don’t think you can say categorically which LAC is the best in the country. You can say that according to a specific set of criteria, in a specific year, some schools score higher than others. However, even by that standard, no college will be #1 across the board. Schools with top 10 PhD production rates aren’t necessarily top 10 in the USNWR pecking order.</p>

<p>Why does Carleton generate so many more geology PhDs than Williams? According to the Carleton site, in each of the past 5 years they’ve graduated about 20 geology majors. The Williams site indicates geosciences have “about 20 junior and senior majors”, which is ambiguous to me. Does that mean 20 juniors and 20 seniors? It sounds like 20 altogether, including both juniors and seniors. That right there would explain Williams’ lower number (if it’s a much smaller department.)</p>

<p>It may be that Williams students choose law school, medical school, business school, or immediate employment more often than Carleton students do. In a Wall Street Journal “feeder school” study done a few years ago, Williams was #5 in the rate of graduates attending certain prestigious professional schools. Macalester was #38, Grinnell #44. Carleton did not make the top 50.</p>

17

<p>Ok. I was mostly going off of the rankings and what my father (an Amherst alum) has said about Williams. By the way, how do to sort phD production for larger schools? I’m curious to see which medium sized schools or larger schools have the greatest percent of students go on to earn a phD in the earth sciences. Though I almost certainly don’t want to pursue that path, it would be interesting to see which of the less selective universities are the most successful in that regard. I figure Cal Tech and Berkeley will dominate, but I’d like to see how schools such as CU Boulder and Syracuse fare, as well as get ideas for slightly larger schools to look into.</p>

18

<p>I’m a bit shocked that nobody has said this one yet. </p>

<p>Northern Arizona University. The whole school is centered around what you’re looking for and I believe that they automatically admit people with a 3.0 or above (don’t quote me on that, though). Flagstaff is a lot greener, if you will, then say, Tucson or Tempe.</p>

19

<p>check out Appalachian state Lewis and Clark University of Montana or Clemson</p>

20

<p>I’ve only listed universities with 5 or more alumni who earned PhDs in earth sciences during the 5-year period 2007-2011. Northern Arizona University alumni earned 4.</p>

<p>Berkeley, with 29, is a distant second to Carleton’s 61 (even though Berkeley has more than 12x as many undergraduates). UC Boulder alumni earned slightly fewer than Colorado College alumni (even though Boulder has more than 12x as many undergraduates).</p>

<p>Source: <a href=“https://webcaspar.nsf.gov/[/url]”>https://webcaspar.nsf.gov/&lt;/a&gt;
Year: 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007<br>
Carnegie Classification (standardized): Research I, Research II, Doctoral I, Doctoral II, Master’s/Comprehensive I, Master’s/Comprehensive II<br>
Academic Discipline, Detailed (standardized): Earth Sciences </p>

<p>



School ............ Total
Brown University    29
University of California-Berkeley   27
California Institute of Technology  23
University of Colorado at Boulder   21
University of California-Santa Barbara  19
University of Michigan at Ann Arbor 18
Cornell University, All Campuses    17
Harvard University  17
Colorado School of Mines    17
Pennsylvania State U, Main Campus   16
University of Florida   16
University of Texas at Austin   16
University of Washington - Seattle  15
College of William and Mary 14
Michigan State University   13
Stanford University 13
University of Arizona   13
University of California-Los Angeles    13
Rice University 13
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign  12
University of Rochester 12
Brigham Young University, Main Campus   12
University of California-Santa Cruz 12
Dartmouth College   12
University of Wisconsin-Madison 11
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State Univ   11
University of Nebraska at Lincoln   10
SUNY at Buffalo 10
Arizona State University Main   9
Boston University   9
Princeton University    9
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities   9
University of Oregon    9
Colorado State University   8
Ohio State University, Main Campus  8
University of California-Davis  8
University of Chicago   8
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill 8
University of Tennessee at Knoxville    8
Yale University 8
University of Oklahoma, Norman Campus   8
University of Missouri, Rolla   8
Indiana University at Bloomington   7
Massachusetts Institute of Technology   7
Northwestern Univ   7
Purdue University, Main Campus  7
Tufts University    7
University of Kansas, Main Campus   7
Syracuse University, Main Campus    7
Washington State University 7
Michigan Technological University   7
Montana State University - Bozeman  7
University of Montana   7
Columbia University in the City of New York 6
Duke University 6
Florida State University    6
Georgia Institute of Technology, Main Campus    6
Oregon State University 6
Tulane University   6
University of California-San Diego  6
University of Cincinnati, All Campuses  6
University of Maryland at College Park  6
University of Virginia, Main Campus 6
University of Delaware  6
University of Notre Dame    6
Bowling Green State Univ, All Campuses  6
SUNY College at Geneseo 6
Rutgers the State Univ of NJ New Brunswick  5
SUNY at Stony Brook, All Campuses   5
University of Massachusetts at Amherst  5
University of Miami 5
University of Pennsylvania  5
Washington University   5
Kent State University, All Campuses 5
University of California-Riverside  5
University of Idaho 5
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee   5
Indiana University of PA, All Campuses  5
University of Texas at Dallas   5
Western Michigan University 5
University of New Hampshire 5
California State Polytechnic U-San Luis Obispo  5
Trinity University  5
University of PR Mayaguez Campus    5
University of Texas at El Paso  5

</p>