<p>I am a rising senior from Texas who has no idea where to apply! So here's my stats...</p>
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<p>Rank: 149/613(24%ile), low rigor, only 2 APs, other preAPs though</p>
<p>SAT: 2190- 690M, 760CR, 740W</p>
<p>EC's- 4 yr basketball(2-year letter), 4 yr Cross Country, NHS, measly 100 hrs comm service</p>
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<p>I want a good school with great outdoor recreational opportunities, but without the typical hippy accompaniment. A few hippies here and there are okay, but I just don't want the population to be too granolaey.</p>
<p>lets say money is not an issue just so i can see whats out there.</p>
<p>Safeties, Matches, Reaches anyone? I have very limited knowledge and any help would be greatly appreciated!!!!</p>
<p>Check out University of Vermont. great outdoor opportunities, but a lot colder than texas obviously. UVM has the hippie reputation, but i am a freshman here and i really do not think that hippies are very prevalent in the student population.</p>
Only you can know. You definitely have a chance at admission, although I can’t say for sure what will happen. Mines has the disadvantages of a tech school (M/F ratio, lack of diverse majors, etc.), but I have a friend who went there and he claims that it can be a very fun place if you are active and like the outdoors. They do have a great geology department (as the name would suggest) and it is extremely reputable.</p>
<p>[New</a> Mexico Tech](<a href=“http://www.nmt.edu/]New”>http://www.nmt.edu/) is similar to Mines, except that it is much more remote and the area is more of a desert. The geosciences are good but I would give Mines an edge. Good for outdoor recreation, but there isn’t much going on in that town. Still worth a look though.</p>
<p>You could check out [U</a> Hawaii - Manoa](<a href=“http://www.uhm.hawaii.edu/]U”>http://www.uhm.hawaii.edu/) as well. There are tons of things to do outside in Hawaii if you like warm weather (it gets cool on the mountains too) and they have strong geosciences (largely thanks to the active volcano in the area). Not everyone there is a serious student, but it might be a good fit.</p>
<p>For a REALLY different choice, you could look at [U</a> Alaska - Fairbanks](<a href=“http://www.uaf.edu/]U”>http://www.uaf.edu/). I am usually the first to pick on my state flagship, but geoscience is one of the few things they do well. They sometimes do some insanely cool stuff (field trips to Denali, etc.). Be careful before deciding on UAF though - Fairbanks is a brutal place to live, and the reputation isn’t all that great outside Alaska (although the geology program is pretty well known in the field).</p>
<p>Other than geology and outdoorsy, have you thought about other factors: size; region of the country? There are outdoors places near water; near skiing; near small mountains; etc</p>
<p>Kind of sucks about no girls and I suck at math so if I change majors I don’t want to be stuck there.</p>
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<p>Do you guys think I could get in? And is it really not overly hippie?</p>
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<p>I enjoy lots of outdoor activities and I can appreciate different climates and geography so I am more about the quality of school first, and then get pumped about the region.</p>
<p>From what I’ve heard, Whitman can be pretty hippieish (if that’s an adjective ;)). But you should do more research anyway.</p>
<p>It’s hard to pick good “outdoor” schools without knowing the kinds of activities you enjoy. Some Midwestern states offer good cross-country skiing. On the other hand, you won’t find many mountains in Minnesota.</p>
<p>You should also look at Penn State, U Arizona, U Utah, and Oregon State. Good natural areas and quality geology programs without the tech-school vibe.</p>
<p>Thanks noimagination. Well right now i fly fish, mountain bike, skimboard, and waterski but that is just because I live in texas. I have gone skiing before and loved it so I have a hard time narrowing the activities down because the ones i currently enjoy are just because of where I live, you know?</p>
<p>Colorado School of Mines has notoriously rigorous academics so that is deterring to me unfortunately.</p>
<p>onthefly, we’ve talked about Colorado College which seems to fit your stats as a reach. It has excellent outdoors programs and a strong geology department. In case you’ve become concerned about the “hippie” factor, that might have been a legitimate concern a few years ago, but I think the place has been moving away from that. At freshman orientation last month, the students did not strike me as any more hippie-ish than those at many other LACs. You are likely to find a mix of hippies, preppies, jocks, etc. at just about any good LAC. Colorado College does have D1 sports (men’s hockey, women’s soccer); this alone is likely to draw a few red meat conservatives to balance out the alpine flower child types. Colorado Springs, by the way, has a reputation for being a conservative city as it is home to many organizations such as Focus on the Family (though I don’t think this dominates the town’s identity as much as some folks might think.)</p>
<p>Students who like “outdoorsy” schools like Colorado College might also be drawn to Dartmouth, Middlebury, or Whitman. Since you are out of the top 25%, with low course rigor, Dartmouth or Middlebury would be very distant reaches (I’d have to say out of reach, realistically). You’d probably still have a shot at Colorado College or Whitman.</p>
<p>UC Boulder is another possibility. Yes, there would be more of a hippie element there than at Mines, but it’s big enough that you’re going to find a wide range of personality types. Unless you are absolutely committed to geology/engineering, I suspect you’d find Boulder a much more appealing college town than Golden.</p>
<p>Outdoor Magazine has published a list of the country’s best schools for outdoor rec. Google for it.</p>
<p>lol that article is like my college search bible. But it seems like everywhere is either a big reach for me or a safety… any matches for someone like me?</p>