My daughter, currently a HS junior, is looking for universities with strong environmental science programs. She’s interested in being in a beautiful natural setting and is looking for a college with greater than 7k or so students. No upper limit. She is also interested in places with strong honors colleges and a strong sense of community / spirit. Budget is $60k per year but looking for merit to bring this figure down. She has a 4.0 unweighted and 4.7 weighted gpa, 1470 sat and good extracurriculars (newspaper photo editor, DECA leadership, volleyball captain, summer internship at Smithsonian National Zoo). Thanks for any help!
Maybe Cornell? No merit but will meet need.
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UC Berkeley has the College of Natural Resources which has an excellent environmental science program, but it’s tough getting any aid, if you’re out of state. (UC Berkeley is not really a “beautiful natural setting” in itself, but there are some fantastic places, including beaches and hiking trails, easily accessible from campus).
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The California UC’s will not meet budget and offer no need-based FA and very competitive merit aid which is a drop in the bucket when compared to OOS fees currently averaging $67K+/year.
If considering CA schools, then Cal Poly SLO with a COA of around $50K might be an option but again little to no FA for OOS students.
The UC’s and Cal states are also test blind. With her stats, I am sure there a plenty of wonderful schools where she would get good merit and not break the bank. What is your home state and how far is she willing to travel for school?
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U of Colorado. She should get merit, honor college, and it is very beautiful.
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These sites may offer you ideas for colleges to research further:
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I second Cal poly SLO. Great school, beautiful setting, beach is right there and tons of outdoor rec opportunity. She sounds like an excellent student!
University of Oregon would be a great safety. Enviromental Science is strong, and access to an incredible outdoor recreation scene. It is a small-ish state flagship. School spirit is very strong.
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Maryland and will go anywhere. Don’t qualify for need aid.
I’d take a look at these schools:
- Appalachian State (NC)
- Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
- Cal State - Monterey Bay (a residential Cal State…rare)
- Colorado State
- Montana State
- Oregon State
- San Diego State
- U. of Arkansas
- U. of Montana
- U. of San Diego (just under the size minimum)
- U. of Utah: Good honors college and has super easy access to great hiking and skiing and other outdoors pursuits. Also easy to get in-state residency after the first year.
- U. of Vermont
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Virginia Tech students seem to be out in the field quite often for enviro classes.
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UVM was my first thought - great environmental majors, gorgeous setting and great college town, and would be in budget even before merit, with merit likely.
SUNY ESF could be worth a look. It’s smaller than you want in its own right, but it’s very closely connected to Syracuse University (ESF students can participate in SU extracurriculars, take SU classes, and avail themselves of other SU resources) so the larger-school aspects are available, in addition to the small-school environmentally-focused camaraderie.
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You should seriously consider Berkeley especially if you qualify for in-state tuition. Hands down one of the top environmental science programs in the world in a state that provides plenty of opportunities for climate/environment minded students.
D18 just graduated in Environmental and Sustainability Studies from Utah. She loved the outdoor lifestyle (skiing, backpacking, climbing, rafting etc). Merit aid is good for 4.0UW students with good rigor, net cost for tuition, room and board could be ~$50K in total for 4 years: ~$25K year 1 then <$10K is subsequent years after establishing residency)
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