As a California family with one kid at a UC and a rising 11th grader, we know UC admissions – and, increasingly, CSU – are unpredictable. We’re trying to learn more about WUE schools – especially firsthand experiences, strengths and weaknesses and total costs on the ground (factoring CA’s usually comparatively higher housing costs). It’s been surprisingly hard to get that sort of direct take, particularly about non-flagships (which are not generally included, though there are some exceptions).
Specifically, my kid is interested in environmental studies, environmental sciences, “soft” (not math-based) biological sciences and visual design/art (graphic design, typography). He is specifically seeking schools contiguous to backcountry opportunities, hiking, with likeminded peers and robust outdoors clubs and programming. Loves the wilderness - being outside - and doesn’t want to be in an urban area since he grew up in San Francisco, but will want a campus culture and something of a college town.
We have been looking closely at: U of Montana (Missoula), Montana State U, U of Alaska Fairbanks, Utah, Boise…ideas?
Also University of Colorado Boulder: Not WUE, but do OOS ever get merit there? Lewis & Clark also of interest.
Any personal experience with schools that fit the bill appreciated!
Not personal experience but just my own research- take a look at Northern Arizona U as well if you haven’t.
Also Western Washington U. which has access to water and Canada nearby as well. I have been to WWU and I thought it’d be great but it turns out my kid wanted sun and a more urban environment.
My older D is a Sr at Western Washington. Seems like it could be a great fit for your student. Some apartments/dorms have a view of the nearby Puget Sound. My D was a docent at a local river one summer. The freeway stretch right before Bellingham is one of the prettiest I have ever seen (trees, Lake off to the side, slightly windy road). Bellingham is big enough to have the basic amenities (Big Target, movie theater, breweries, some good restaurants, plenty of coffee shops and grocery stores) but much smaller than nearby Seattle and Vancouver (both roughly 1 1/2 hr away, Vancouver is closer).
My D has had some class registration issues but not the nightmare of a UW.
yes, my eldest actually applied to NAU! she was accepted to the honors program there. we were very impressed with its offerings. and flagstaff is a fantastic town. WWU sounds intriguing too. we looked at it and couldn’t get a sense of the academics.
We visited Lewis & Clark with my D24 in February, and were happily surprised. Gorgeous campus in the woods, some newer facilities including dining hall, academic buildings and residence halls. Students seemed engaged, involved and happy. Strong LGBTQ support. Great outdoor club with huge gear garage to borrow anything you would need for hiking, climbing, kayaking, snowshoeing, etc. Removed from DT Portland but not hard to access city via school shuttles or personal car. Robust study abroad program. They have many CA applicants and seem to give enough merit aid to compete with in state UC tuition, was what we heard from folks in our group. We did a tour and were the only ones from the PNW in our group, others in our group were from TX, CA, CO. We liked it a lot and my D24 added it to her list. If small size and LACs appeal, you might look at Puget Sound and Whitman, too, both have outstanding outdoor programs (esp Whitman) and strong environmental sciences.
ETA: we also have friends with a smart kid who did full IB in HS, now at WWU in their honors college and they are challenged and happy, chemistry major able to get involved in research even though still a sophomore, smaller classes, etc.
Another vote for NAU, WWU.
NAU is a great school. Beautiful location. Lots of California students. Lots of outdoor life. It’s an hour from the Grand Canyon and less than 30 min from a ski resort. Tons of hiking.
Utah has a ton of outdoor life. Utah state, or University of Utah.
Also University of Wyoming. The price is great, and they have an outstanding study abroad program. Not too far from Denver also.
we visited L&C with our eldest too! really liked it! i would say some of the happiest students i’d seen. my son will definitely apply there when the time comes. his older sister got a competitive merit offer. he doesn’t seek a smaller LAC per se and would be fine at a large, diverse public too. will look at UPS and W too. very glad to hear you know of a kid enjoying the honors college at WWU! will look closer!
As a Californian, I was struggling to figure out the vibe and environment of the different colleges in the Colorado system. Or their relative departmental strengths.
CO State is much more like Wyoming or Montana than CO Boulder. Smaller, more country/western. More laidback we all thought. I can’t compare to Boulder since that was never an option due to $$. I think @twoinanddone knows the Colorado schools well and one of her daughters went to Wyoming.
Another poster has / had a child at Fort Lewis College in CO. A liberal arts college, so smaller but outdoorsy vibe I think… can anyone remember the poster??
Overall favorable but has had some issues with certain professors. Covid was really tough on everyone so a little unfair to compare to how it is now/going forward.
She had a great study abroad experience in Thailand and Vietnam.
Size wise, CSU (30k)is much closer to Boulder(30k) than Wyoming (12k), but ‘personality wise’ it is more similar to Wyoming. Wyoming and CSU are in the same athletic conference and only 45 minutes apart so the rivalry is real. Wyoming has WUE but it is called the Brown and Gold scholarship and is available to all OOS students (not just WUE states). Lots of outdoor activities, great environmental studies in both engineering and school of Arts and Sciences. It has an outstanding study abroad and governmental studies program with extra money from the Cheney family. There are lots of scholarships available outside the Brown and Gold too, and they stack. Department scholarships, alumni scholarships, ROTC, engineering. Dorms are cheap and living in Laramie is also cheap. Daughter currently pays $400/mo for a room in a house, and that includes utilities. Student fees include athletic tickets and a lot of other activities like concerts, movies, entertainers (comedians, magicians). It’s a cheap place to live.
Another school you might consider is Colorado Mesa in western Colorado. It is WUE and the skiing, hiking, biking is top notch. From my kids’ small California hs, I think 6 kids went to Mesa, mostly for sports (baseball and lacrosse); it is Div 2.
Remember, NAU has rolling admissions. If your child applies in June, they will likely receive an admission decision that month. It is nice for students to have an acceptance in hand and takes some of the pressure off when applying to other schools.
Years ago one daughter was offered merit aid at UC Boulder. My recollection is that at the time the aid was enough to bring the total cost of attendance down to about $40,000 per year as an out of state student.
Yes. WUE is the undergraduate part of WICHE. Colorado State is a WUE/WICHE school. My understanding is that WUE in some cases has some restrictions (such as which majors are supported) but I do not know the details. Colorado State is one of three public universities that have WICHE discounts for some DVM students (Washington State and Oregon State are the other two). Colorado state has a superb DVM program with very good facilities. I do not think that this would make much difference for an undergraduate student, although it does mean that there are some very strong faculty and some very strong graduate students roaming around the campus.
totally agree, and this strategy worked well for our first. it really helps with the psychology of waiting and the framing of the entire search process around “fit.” she ended up with great offers from NAU, WWU, Lewis & Clark and SDSU before the season really began in earnest. took the edge off. i suppose she was a fairly high-stats candidate with a nice spike (went to public arts magnet so had a strong film background). perhaps she applied to a few more “safeties” (for her) than she really needed to, but coming out of covid with so many class of 2020 having deferred now competing with class of 21 and exponentially increasing competition for UC spots, it seemed prudent. she ended up at cal but quite a few qualified students we know did not get UC spots, did not apply to enough UCs and CSUs, and did not look hard enough at WUE options.
thanks for the WUE-WICHE details…you highlight something i’ve always thought but hadn’t articulated, which is the role graduate programs play on campuses also serving undergrads – how that may impact undergrads positively or negatively. people will sometimes say things. like, UCSB is better at serving undergrads since it has fewer grad schools than many other top UCs, or UCB sucks because classes are huge and you’ll never know your professors (not really true in our experience, and, besides, the GSIs have been overwhelmingly good). or “better research opportunities for undergrads because no grad students”…besides the resources and resource allocation question, there are so many subtle forces that go into instructional quality. like, in my generation of UC students – i attended cal and UCD and my siblings both attended UCSB – UCSB was thought to have better professors than its then-stature would indicate because, quite simply, it was an attractive place to live and attracted ivy league-educated profs. when i attended berkeley, it was sort of thought that the school rode a little bit on the rep of its graduate programs, and certain departments (but isn’t that true anywhere?). ymmv, i guess. wrt honors colleges at WUE and/or moderately selective schools, i’ve always wondered how to nail down if having a cohort like that makes a big difference in scholarship.
my 11th grader will definitely be applying to humboldt. (several kids in our group this year enjoyed almost instant admission, which was great to get in hand prior to the regular season’s results!) he found UCM’s proximity and programs with yosemite enticing, but air quality might be a dealbreaker. (he has asthma, and having gone to high school in CA’s central valley myself, i know that climate change and fire season are making that sort of thing really serious for some people.) and CSUMB is too close to home for this adventurer : ) . but, yes, all three have excellent programs and are, i think, grossly underrated.