<p>My DS is VERY interested in this school. He is VERY outdoorsy and loves that they have a Outdoor Studies minor and also the Adirondack semester. It looks like he would never run out of outdoor stuff to do there. What is the down-side of this school besides the obvious... that it is a small COLD Winter school in the middle of nowhere? My S would LOVE that. He just went backpacking and ice climbing up a huge mountain last week. I have pictures of him getting into his tent covered in snow. It seems perfect for him.....3.4 GPA 2100+ SAT's.. rigorous college prep school... plenty of atypical leadership EC's. Haven't visited yet.. we live in CA. He is looking for a small, inclusive, unpretentious student body that embraces his love of the outdoor and environmental passions.</p>
<p>My son has applied and it is one of his top choices. Beautiful campus and he & DH were very impressed when they visited. From what I understand from kids who have gone there - not much to do in Canton but none of them seem to mind and Ottawa is only an hour away if they need a dose of civilization. </p>
<p>The other thing I have heard from several people who are grads is that their alumni network is second to none and on a par with Harvard’s. Extremely involved and committed to helping get jobs for students after graduation.</p>
<p>I don’t know a whole lot but can add that when DS#1 was applying to schools, my brother and his wife talked to him a <em>lot</em> about SLU. They know a fair number of graduates (brother lives in CT, works on Wall Street) and they are without exception friendly, outgoing, athletic, smart, successful people. I guess their impression of the people who go there is that it’s really a great bunch of guys!</p>
<p>My daughter and I visited SLU and loved it. She, too, was looking for a school where she could pursue her passion for the outdoors. We loved the Adirondack Semester! It ended up being her second choice school, and she got into her first place school, where she got a larger merit scholarship.</p>
<p>Honestly, the only possible downsides we saw were those you mentioned…the cold and the remote location. But I don’t think we really saw those as great negatives. We are both certain she would have been very happy there.</p>
<p>Great - we just added St. Lawrence to my daughters list and her Guidance Counselor thought it was a great match but now, outdoor emphasis? Might not work for her! She enjoys the winter but only because she can build creatures in the snow, not for skiing or ice climbing or camping or any warm weather outdoor stuff either. Hmmm, better re-visit the website! Thanks.</p>
<p>I am not all that familiar with the school but recently I received a brochure in the mail from National Geographic promoting adventure trips worldwide for teens and while reading the bios of the guides I noted several were St. Lawrence grads - all had grad degrees from impressive schools as well - seems like a great fit for your son.</p>
<p>WOW!!! Thanks so much everyone!! Looks like it is what i thought… an amazing place. I was looking at their CDS last night and the financial and merit aid look REALLY good as well. It looks like my S might qualify for some merit aid… and that is pretty important to us. The small rural/bucolic setting is exactly what my S wants… I think it promotes closeness in the student body and forces you to interact and come up with creative ways to have fun. It looks like everyone just does stuff together in big groups… i.e. go up to Ottawa for the night.</p>
<p>Another thing that impressed my S is that they have an early admit to Albany Med school for students interested in rural medicine… which is EXACTLY what my S wants to do. It looks like this school is edging up to #1 on my S’s list… I just wish it wasn’t so far from home:-((</p>
<p>There’s a poster here known as SLUMom…I think that alludes to St. Lawrence…if you can find her I’m guessing she’ll have good info. My grandmother went to SLU, graduated in 1930, talked about how wonderful it was for the rest of her life. Not what you’d call current info! Still, fwiw, I report it.</p>
<p>5boys, I live near Albany and SLU is even a big PITA for us to get to! Probably easier for you to fly to Ottawa from CA and drive to Canton then for us to drive up from Albany! ;)</p>
<p>Two lane highways through the mountains is no fun - especially in the winter!</p>
<p>Interesting about the environmental angle. ALL I know about St. Lawrence is they kept sending my D mailings, even though she had never expressed any interest whatsoever. We used to joke about the forests they must have cut down for all those brochures!</p>
<p>5boys, that’s exactly what I hear, that the sense of community is strong because the students generally are on campus. My daughter’s school is similar, though not quite as remote, and she loves it. Also loves having the opportunity to do an organized outdoor activity almost anytime. </p>
<p>Also, we thought the campus was beautiful!</p>
<p>GwenF… Yes, I do think that SLUmom is an alum from SLU… I will pm her if she doesn’t happen upon this thread.</p>
<p>EB…LOL!!! My S and I are headed to Vermont next week to drop him off at a school he will be attending for the semester. I am taking a taxi… I have never driven in bad weather in my life and I don’t want to start now. We hope to visit SLU at the end of March when my S will be on Spring Break… I think it is only 1 1/2 hours from Burlington.</p>
<p>mommusic…I think most of the schools do this… I can’t believe how much mail my S is getting already from colleges… and most he is neither qualified for or has no interest.</p>
<p>I didn’t know about SLU outdoor emphasis. But DH and I went to college at Clarkson down the road in Potsdam (where there is also a NY state college). We loved it in the North Country, but the winters are long and COLD and dreary. </p>
<p>SLU sounds like a good fit for OP. But be forwarned about the difficult transportation. My son would have received a nice scholarship for him, but we never seriously considered … partially due to travel logistics. </p>
<p>Travel logistics are only one factor is decisions. But I can say that I love the fact that my can fly direct to Logan airport and take the T (train) directly to campus. When I lived in Poughkeepsie NY it too 6 to 7 hours to get to Potsdam. I think son gets from house to dorm in 9 - 10 hours. (Of course it does cost more than my college trips, where we each threw in $20 for gas).</p>
<p>It’s a great school, wonderful professors who care about their students, need-based & merit aid, Division III Athletics, the hockey teams for Men & Women are D-1 Teams. </p>
<p>Must like snow, yes! Nice quality of life for the students. </p>
<p>About 1.5 hours to the Ottawa Airport. (allow time for customs). About an hour to Watertown, 2 plus hours to Syracuse. Most students & faculty use the Ottawa airport. </p>
<p>Noted alum include actors Kirk Douglas & Viggo Mortenson. </p>
<p>Yes, there is no easy way to get there, very true! “A Candle in the Wilderness” as it has always been called. </p>
<p>Alumni networking very strong as well.</p>
<p>When I was in Potsdam, I don’t remember any transportation available to Ottawa airport. But it was VERY easy at the time to get from the Syracuse airport to Potsdam (and maybe Canton too). I used the bus to get to job interviews in Rochester and Binghamton.</p>
<p>I would definitely have a CA kid spend a weekend in the winter. That’s not a campus with a little cold, it’s that kind of long, freezing, brutal winter that many Californians can’t imagine.</p>
<p>I’ll always remember the shock of CA kids on my much milder college campus.</p>
<p>colorado_mom, I did not state there was transportation available to Ottawa airport, just that is the airport that students & faculty usually use, either for SLU-related trips or personal transportation. All students may own cars at SLU as well.</p>
<p>Not to highjack but you might want to take a look at Sewanee in Tenn. if your son loves the outdoors, doesn’t mind remote and may be concerned about the cold weather. Its hard to be outdoors when its below 20 degrees all winter long, Upstate! Sewanee has similar programs and is 40 mins outside of Chattanooga.</p>
<p>Hey everyone, I wanted to touch base one some points here about SLU.</p>
<p>-Location: Yes SLU is in a rural town of Canton, NY. This really encourages a strong sense of community on campus and is one of my favorite things about the school. It is required to live on campus all 4 years which also supports the strong student life. I truly believe that the strength of community on campus ties over into our alumni network and is one of the main reasons why it is so strong. </p>
<p>-Transportation: Ottawa is the closest major airport to fly into. We provide transportation to and from airports for our students. There is a bus that runs through town and can connect into Syracuse where students can then jump on the train or head to the airport. This is how I used to get home when I was a student (2002-2006 and lived in Buffalo). </p>
<p>-Outdoorsy? Well we are in the foothills of the largest state park in the nation (Adirondacks) so we attract a lot of outdoorsy kids for that reason. However we have a lot of different groups on campus and if your son or daughter is not into the outdoors they will not feel left out as there are tons of campus events (80 events on campus last October alone). A very active campus overall, I think that is the best way to describe the atmosphere, everyone is on the move in their own way.</p>
<p>If anyone has any questions please feel free to message me!</p>
<p>-Tim</p>
<p>Thank you, Tim, for clarifying the transportation issue! :)</p>