@lamom thank you. Unfortunately as @oneofthosemoms points out, Redlands definitely doesn’t meet his geographical criteria.
As we move through this and look at actual curricula, we are finding that we also need to be looking at Energy Engineering options, as that may well be a better fit than Environmental Engineering. Most of the LAC’s are falling off the list completely as a result.
Which means our spring break touring plan is now completely back up in the air.
I found the following websites. Some of these schools were discussed and others are outside the geographic area:
http://www.aashe.org/resources/academic-programs/discipline/engineering/
http://energy.gov/eere/education/colleges-and-universities
The following website offers a nice discussion on seeking a renewable energy degree: http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2010/09/getting-greener-when-to-seek-a-renewable-energy-degree.html
Another option is to get a masters in environmental engineering with a bs at an LAC.
I would have also suggested Prescott. It’s mountainous, but if the OP’s son is determined to have a wetter climate, and viscerally opposes AZ, it might not work out.
Thanks, I have looked at all of those. Right now, based on his criteria and after doing a deeper dive into the curricula, we may really be looking at an Energy Systems program instead of Environmental. Most of the LAC’s are falling off the list. He is less of a soils, water kid then a systems kid. although the policy end of things is also of interest. Right now we are at schools that ideally offer all 3 as options, which makes a short list (but an interesting one).
Humboldt State
Oregon Institute of Technology
Colorado State
University of Wyoming
Oregon State - (he’s not keen on this one though)
We will still tour Western WA and Reed but program wise they really aren’t the right fit, at least for what he thinks he wants right now. All of these have pro’s and cons but are likely worth touring.
I’m just not really sure what this means for a spring break tour. We had planned to hit Humboldt and CSU later as he knows he wants to apply to both and thought we’d hit Portland area schools to weed out. He is in love with the idea of Reed (but chances are miniscule at best) but I think I’d rather just send him on a non school day for an overnight with his friend that goes there than a trip just for that. With the deeper dive into curricula, right now Lewis and Clark has fallen off the list as well as Portland State so that trip doesn’t really make sense. I guess the good news is we can hit CSU and Wyoming on the same trip so that’s something.
@woogzmama as we’ve looked deeper at programs, he is really focused more on the engineering side of things, particularly energy. Location aside (and yeah, he is very opposed to considering Arizona at all), Prescott doesn’t offer quite exactly what he is looking for program wise but has some really great ENVS options. It also may be a tad smaller than he wants.
Northern Arizona has some options that would work but it’s an uphill battle on that locations. I figure we can revisit if needed though so both are in the back pocket.
Update. S has decided that it doesn’t “have” to be west coast, but just wants to avoid sun/beach dessert. He does still want rain, trees and mountains if possible but might take 2 out of 3.
As he’s dived deeper, he really does want energy (alternative, sustainable, renewable) either engineering or perhaps policy or some combo. The bulk of the environmental programs are soils and water. SUNY ESF is back on the list and I feel like we need to go back to the drawing board and see if there is anything else that might fit.
I’d love to find an LAC or 2 that had the energy engineering aspect but what little I can find that fits him, is environmental and usually at religious affiliated schools which he won’t consider. We do have a friend that is “training” to be a college consultant and she is using S17 as a practicum student. It will be interesting to see what she comes up with independently and how it compares to what I have found.
Spring Break is scheduled and we will visit CU Boulder, Colorado State, University of Wyoming. We will then visit Western Washington University in May. He will definitely visit Reed, it’s still his dream school although I question the program fit and other things but I won’t stop him from applying. He knows it’s a minuscule shot at best and that unless aid is offered, it won’t happen.
They all have elements that might work although CU Boulder is out of my price range and likely not the right campus fit for him at all.
Quick update in case it helps anyone else! We toured CU Boulder, CSU and University of Wyoming over spring break. Of these, only University of Wyoming is still on the list, which was a shocker. They showed S a lot of love and we were incredibly impressed all around.
Except, it’s in Laramie. Which may be just too small, too conservative for my tree hugging focused on sustainables/renewables west coast liberal. Still, enough good to stay on the list. S has expanded his geography a bit, at least conceptually though did confess while in Wyoming that he may really want to be closer to home than that.
Boulder was a positive in the sense that S actually liked it quite a bit, which allowed Oregon State to go back on the list. At CSU we learned that he really does not want a flat spread out modern campus, he really likes that traditional collegiate feel that he saw at Boulder, and at Wyoming.
Right now here is what we are looking at. Basically the state schools that made the cut have some kind of engineering that will work as well as either an ENVS or an ENVSC program, or some other related program that is connected to Energy/Renewables/Sustainability etc. Did add in a few that are basic Mechanical as he could go that route and get where he wants to go. It’s still a big debate engineering or not. He still won’t consider our flagship but that’s ok. All of these except U of OR do offer some merit at his stats. There are a few that may come off as the gap is far too large to believe it could be bridged (Kalamazoo, L&C, U of OR) and on the rest, while there is a still a gap, I’m keeping them in the running as on a few, a slight bump in S’s stats will move them into the safe list and many of the others have the potential for small music $$ that would bridge the gap.
So now we start touring what we can, easily, and then narrowing it down further.
Safeties
Oregon State - Environmental and Energy Engineering/ENVS/ENVSC
Western Washington University (Financial Safety) - ENVS/ENVSC - Energy Policy options
University of Wyoming (Financial Safety) - Environmental and Energy Engineering/ENVS/ENVSC
Humboldt State (Financial Safety) - Environmental Engineering/ENVS/ENVSC, limited energy focus
Linfield College - ENVS/ENVSC
Matches
Gonzaga - Civil Engineering with ENV Emphasis, Mechanical Engineering. ENVS
University of Puget Sound - ENVS
Ithaca - ENVS/ENVSC
Kalamazoo - ENVS
Muhlenberg - ENVSC
Bennington - ENVS
UVM - Environmental Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, Sustainable Business, ENVS/ENVSC
Far Reaches
Lewis & Clark - ENVS
Reed - ENVS
Back up Safeties (will likely come off either due to cost or location). All offer a related engineering as well as either - ENVS, ENVSC or both.
University of Oregon
University of Montana
Washington State
U of O offers engineering? Who knew? Most of the kids around here choose OSU because the engineering department has a wide range of choices. Plus, it’s cheaper. But YMMV.
U of O does but, the options at OSU are a lot better at least in S’s fields of interest and a lot less expensive. If he can hit the gpa target (possible, maybe even probable but not a sure thing) it will move to a financial safety as well. Which means U of O is really only an academic safety and not really worth even touring…other than it is so close to OSU we could easily do so lol. Not to mention Duck fans up here are far more rabid than Beavers which is a plus for the Beavers. I’m not allowed to say Oregon State or University of Oregon or he gets confused which is what. It’s just Ducks or Beavers.
I like OSU quite a bit for the variety it offers him and actually think it will be a good fit. Right now just happy he will even consider it. He really won’t consider WSU so I don’t know why I list it as backup but…it’d be cheap!
I really liked Oregon State when we toured it with my D16, and she definitely preferred it to Oregon (my husband’s alma mater). That tour was the worst one we had - the guide and the dorms were terrible.
I’m still pretty surprised that D16 didn’t apply to Oregon State - I really thought she would end up in Oregon or Washington (maybe even Vancouver), but instead her applications included Humboldt, Cal Poly Pomona, Indiana, Minnesota, Eckerd College in Florida and Colorado State. Go figure. She’s still getting emails from Oregon State telling her it’s not too late to apply!
OSU is on the list for schools with open seats, so I’m not surprised they’re still emailing her. U of O is also on that list. I guess football isn’t everything…
If you have University of Montana on your list, consider also Montana State. Good in engineering, and can be generous to OOS kids.
My wave energy conversion speaker yesterday mentioned Oregon (and Scotland) as being the leading areas for developing ways to get electrical energy from ocean waves. You’ve probably already looked at it, but I found this: http://nnmrec.oregonstate.edu/
@eh1234 where did your D end up? We were shocked that CSU got cut from the list, we all went in expecting him love it. Where in MN did she apply?
@Agentninetynine Linfield is on there as well, Oregon didn’t have a banner year it would seem, which seems odd to me. I decided to go check results from our school for the last 3 years after I saw that.
applied/accepted/attending
U of O
2016 - 7/5/0
2015 - 12/4/1
2014 - 20/14/4
OSU
2016 - 15/7/1
2015 - 18/5/0
2014 - 19/12/5
Linfield fared even worse
2016 - 6/3/0
2015 - 3/2/0
2014 - 1/0/0
Not that the numbers attending at Reed and L&C are really any better but I have to admit to being quite surprised that those numbers are as low as they are and it makes me wonder why 2014 had such a greater number enrolling compared to the 2 following years. I suppose it just speaks to the crazy number of schools some kids apply to?
@katliamom we looked at Montana State. They’ve got Civil with Environmental Emphasis…and that’s it. Which isn’t enough options sadly. Bummer as Bozeman would be a good fit for him. He loves the concept of Humboldt’s location but I really don’t think it’s the right program for what he wants. I suspect U of MT will come off the list, they don’t have the engineering but do have ENVS and a BS in Resource Conservation. Right now the other safeties beat it program wise in terms of total options.
@Ynotgo that is very cool! OSU, Wyoming, OIT and SUNY_ESF are the few that actually have decent undergrad energy programs that aren’t electrical based (at least that meet S’s location criteria and stats) and all doing some pretty cool research. OIT and ESF got booted for being “too” tech only focused, ugly campuses and in OIT’s case, location. OSU he who must not be nameds Wyo as it’s renewable/sustainable/alt focused (BS in ENVSC-Alt Energy) where poor Wyo is trying to salvage coal (for understandable reasons). I may not love some of the stats at these state schools but I do like the program options for him for sure.
I’m just glad he will finally even look at OSU.
I’m thinking maybe it’s the OOS tuition that turns off Washingtonians. Why pay for OSU when you can go to Western Washington or WSU without OOS tuition? WUE is only good for a few schools between the two states. And we’re just not funding higher ed or much of any ed really, so tuition is going up, up, up.
Linfield isn’t cheap and I’m not sure how generous they are with merit. I’m wondering about the financial health of many of the smaller independent colleges. Pacific is another one.
Well fabulous. It looks like OSU dropped out of WUE as of this year, as in within the past few months! The site info has changed since I last looked. They still show an Evergreen State Scholarship but it’s cut in half from the WUE level that was showing prior to 5/1 and the next level up has gone away entirely.
One wonders how much that has to do with their low yield. It also makes me wonder if those were the offers kids got for this year and their site was out of date? Site says it is for fall 2016, check back in August for 2017. Major boo.
I’ve been looking at the financial health aspect for several of the schools on the list, one was cut already for that reason but I need to look further. Linfield is allegedly generous with merit, their NPC comes in the lowest of the privates on our list. Still a gap though but not horrible. Not sure it’s worth paying for a gap though.
UGH. U of Montana may go back on the list.
@eandesmom She ended up at Colorado State’s Warner College of Natural Resources. She had a wonderful tour and the campus just felt right to her (she loves Boulder but didn’t like the CU campus). I think Humboldt might have been a good place for her because of its smaller size, but the logistics of getting there, plus the distance from a city, was not appealing. I wish we had looked at WWU too. (Heck maybe we should have driven up to Wyoming, but I just can’t see her as a cowboy). I liked that CSU is only halfway across the country and there are a variety of majors in the college if her science-focused one is derailed by chemistry or Calculus.
She was admitted to UMN - Twin Cities but she couldn’t see herself waiting for a shuttle from Minneapolis to St. Paul when it’s 2 degrees outside. I honestly don’t think she would have made it to class between November and February even though it was technically the “best” school she was admitted to with her less than stellar stats.
@eh1234 if CSU had environmental science or studies we would have made him take another look. Sadly they only had environmental engineering, he’s more interested in energy which would mean mechanical and that’s impacted there, he might well not get in. And their mechanical didn’t have an energy track.
So given all that, just not enough options and flexibility. We did feel the school got shortchanged by only doing a program tour and adore Fort Collins.
My recommendation would be to look very closely at where grads from the smaller schools end up. Does the school keep stats on % of graduates who find jobs. Where specifically are those jobs located? Not to harp on Gonzaga again, but they had a ready list of the companies who hire their engineer and other STEM graduates, along with a list of graduate schools that their students matriculated. After chatting with a physics professor she rattled off all kinds of success stories. That’s what I want to hear when I’m investing thousands of dollars into an institution.
Too bad about Fort Collins. Everyone I know who tours there loves it.
Agreed @Agentninetynine. Wyoming was pretty fabulous in that area. Their stats at an overall level might not indicate that but program wise, very nice numbers and solid info. There is the cowboy issue standing in the way.
Harp away on Gonzaga, preaching to the choir. I’ve been after S to consider it from day one. He’s agreed to, finally, but is entirely unconvinced that it being Jesuit won’t be an issue for him and doesn’t love (at all) the idea of any theology classes. Quite frankly I think he’d eat them up and gain a lot and adore the curricula for his area if not engineering but there are engineering options there for him as well. I also think it’s one of his best bets for an affordable private option, or one that might be worth a small loan. No music scholarships per se but could get private lessons covered with ensemble participation and that’s a huge carrot in my book. Kind of bummed as there is a Jesuit college night next week but I’m out of town and he’s in the middle of the play anyway. I am thinking a late summer weekend, stay at the Davenport, hang by the river…might help open up his mind. LOL!
We would absolutely be pushing for a second look at CSU if the overall programs had better options. I’m pretty frustrated at the moment. While he is not at all sure he wants engineering, between his narrow requirements, stats and my budget the pickings are slim. I really don’t want Humboldt even on the list to be honest so the loss of OSU as a possible option financially really kind of bites as it largely leaves us with schools he will not consider. And honestly, Linfield, as charming as it may turn out to be…is not worth any kind of debt for in my book so it would have to be a really nice offer to compete with Western. Which I really should be more behind than I am I suppose.
We will see how this weekend goes with 2 visits. We will have a lot of car time so if nothing else will get through reviews of Ithaca, Muhlenberg and Kalamazoo. I really want him to take a hard look at the first 2 in particular.
Ds attends a Catholic prep school and he is an atheist. He actually likes the theology classes because they’re easy and he l-o-v-e-s to argue. Plus there’s a ton of history woven through and that’s one of his biggest interests. While he wouldn’t actively seek out a Jesuit school (other than Georgetown) he’s made peace with the thought that others value religion. So it can be done 
The Jesuits must be touring the PNW because they’ll be here on Tuesday.