I’m looking for some very good colleges that have different seasons. I love winter so I don’t want to be somewhere where it it is always warm. I love mountains also. What are some really good colleges that I should check out? My ACT is a 31. So I don’t want a Colorado Boulder(even though it’s a good school) I want something that is going to be challenging academically and push me. I would like to study business, specifically finance, so anything with a solid business program would be excellent.
Have you looked into Utah State University?
I also want somewhere that’s near mountains. My ACT is a 35 but I have kind of a weird philosophy on college searching so yeah. Right now, I’m thinking UC-Davis, Univ of NV-Reno, Colorado School of Mines (mostly engineering but they do have economics), and Univ of WA-Seattle
The top schools associated with snowy mountains are probably in New England, particularly Dartmouth, Middlebury, and Williams (in fact, the Williams school song is “The Mountains”). However, they all have extremely competitive admissions, and a 31 ACT is going to be on the low side.
You might take a look at Lehigh. It’s located on a forested mountainside overlooking Bethlehem, PA. The mountain really defines the campus; there are stairs everywhere. You have to go up and over the mountain to get to the athletic facilities, which are on the other side. There is snow in the winter. ACT range for enrolled students is 29-32, so 31 should be a solid score. Well regarded undergraduate business school, strong placement into NYC and Philadelphia markets, offers a number of business-related majors, including finance. Good for combining business study with engineering or computer science.
Note that the business school at Boulder has an honors program for top students. You need a 30+ ACT to qualify, so your 31 should be eligible. http://www.colorado.edu/business/honors
Colorado School of Mines is primarily focused on earth science and engineering, but they also have an Economics and Business Major. Located at an elevation of approximately 5,800 feet. So it is higher than Boulder, and also more selective overall; it could be the most selective school in the Mountain Time Zone. ACT range 29-32.
@Corbett any schools similar to lehigh I should check out? I have heard of Lehigh also.
People who apply to Lehigh commonly apply to schools like Bucknell, Lafayette, Villanova, or Colgate. These are all smaller universities or larger liberal arts colleges in the mid-Atlantic region, with generally comparable selectivity and good reputations for business or economics education.
However, Lehigh is the only one that that has a mountainous location.
“The mountains! The mountains!
We greet them with a song,
Whose echoes rebounding their woodland heights along,
Shall mingle with anthems that winds and fountains sing,
'Til hill and valley gaily, gaily ring.”
That is the alma mater of Williams College. The nearest hiking trail up a mountain is just past the tennis courts.
Alas, no business major-- just pure liberal arts. But the grads are well represented on Wall Street.
Skidmore, near the Adirondacks, has a business major.
You mentioned Colorado. How about the excellent Colorado College?
U of Utah (not state) is right there at the bottom of mountains. 31 ACT isn’t putting you in very competitive schools or programs safely or getting merit of significance, so what other criteria might you have? No cost constraints?
St Lawrence in NY; University of Denver; University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA (has great business program); Western Washington in Bellingham; Allegheny in PA; Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA;
Boulder’s elevation is 5430, so not different than Golden (Mines). But OP doesn’t think Boulder will be challenging. U of Denver has a very nice business school, but it is only at 5280’, so way down in the low lands.
Many of the east coast LACs don’t offer business as a major.
Weather isn’t very ideal but Virginia Tech is by the appalachians
Some wild thoughts: UVM (Vermont), Calgary (in Canada), anything in Western Massachusetts (Umass Amherst, Amherst College, …), anything in Utah.
There are of course large differences here wrt location, cost, size of the school, size of the mountains, and difficulty in getting accepted. Knowing your unweighted GPA would also give some idea what might be appropriate (I tend to ignore weighted GPA because it is calculated so differently at different high schools).
@DadTwoGirls @Sybylla I would prefer something in the Rockies. Is Utah a good school? I don’t really know much about them. how is their business school?
Your original post indicated that you “don’t want” Colorado-Boulder because you “want something that is going to be challenging academically and push me.” Well, Boulder is usually regarded as the top state school in the Rockies (with the exception of Mines for engineering). So if Boulder doesn’t meet your standards, then there may not be any state schools in the Rockies that will work for you.
That leaves private schools. The top privates in the Rockies are probably BYU, Colorado College, and U of Denver. BYU may not be acceptable if you are non-Mormon. Colorado College is a highly ranked LAC, but it doesn’t offer a finance major. Denver has a finance major, and it is much smaller than Boulder, so you might get more personalized attention there. On the other hand, Denver’s overall academic reputation is not that much different from Boulder’s. For example, USNews currently ranks Denver tied with a group of other schools at #86, and ranks Boulder in the very next group of schools tied at #92.
Basically the Rockies (unlike, say, New England) are not known as a part of the country that has a lot of elite schools. So your options in this area may be rather limited.
Boulder and Utah (Elon) are similar enough in terms of undergrad business school ranking and great choices if you want to ski/be in the mountains. If you are OOS for Boulder it’s very expensive, while Univ of Utah is a value with first year merit and instate residency after year 1.
For mountains and skiing, UBC in Vancouver is a really good choice. Sauder Business Program is highly ranked, and you have Whistler 1 1/2 hours away.
Nephew is at UC Boulder in the business school. He has an internship at Deloitte this summer as a rising senior. He has had a fantastic experience. Sometimes it is good to stand out from the crowd. He applied to transfer to Ross (U Mich), was accepted, and decided to stay at Boulder.
Lehigh seems like a good choice, as others have pointed out. Middlebury, Williams, and Dartmouth are all terrific and rigorous but extremely hard to get into. You might want to look at U of Vermont, though the academics are middling. Same with U of New Hampshire. The New England states have surprisingly mediocre public universities. Not sure why this is…do all the private colleges snap up the best profs and students in the area? In any case, Boulder is a very solid state school. It’s one of those places where an enterprising student can get an excellent education, despite the intense party atmosphere. You should investigate it a bit more – visit? – before you dismiss it.
Not sure of your gender but if female and you’d go all girls’, take a look at Mount Holyoke (solid match). My D also wanted to be near skiing and had a 31 ACT as well. Colby (high match/low reach) in ME is fairly close to the mountains, UVM (potential academic safety) I think would be a great choice. Skidmore (solid match) is half hour away.
Also take a look at University of Scanton, if I remember correctly, they have their own lodging at a mountain about 30 minutes north of there. Nice school and a solid match as well.