WUE Schools [WA resident, 3.7 GPA; English/writing or medieval history major]

College Search & Selection
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Good point wrt U Nevada Reno :slight_smile:

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First school I thought of - close to skiing, close to an airport, and hits all this to a tee:

  • Access to the outdoors for hiking, biking, camping, and other excursions.
  • He is politically moderate-mildly conservative and religious. So an environment where that would be socially acceptable/tolerated.
  • Traditional campus with lots of activities, intramural sports, clubs, exchange programs, and all the other fun things.
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UNR checks all the boxes. Itā€™s 25- to 45-minute drive to a half-dozen ski resorts. And if your kid is interesting in more serious alpine pursuits (e.g., ski mountaineering), the Eastern Sierra is a 2- to 4-hour drive, and itā€™s as good as it gets. UNR now offers students the option of living and studying directly in Tahoe for a semester or year: https://www.unr.edu/lake-tahoe. Itā€™s also good for all the other outdoor activities mentioned.

My other thought was the University of Utah. It also checks most of the boxes. That said, Salt Lake City is now somewhere between a big city and a massive suburban sprawl.

I love Flagstaff, and itā€™s great for general outdoorsy options. But I wouldnā€™t go to NAU if skiing is a priority. Ski Bowl is the only real option, and itā€™s okay at best.

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Thanks for your response.

Yes, good point. Heā€™d have to fly out of Wenatchee, to SEA. Ugh. That would be crazy.

I think weā€™ve all decided he needs to be within driving distance so he can come home to visit his family and friends, and so we can visit him. :slight_smile:

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Thank you for this info! I am not at all familiar with Montana schools, so am checking out Fort Lewis and U of Montana Western.

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Thank you all so much for your responses! Weā€™ve spent hours looking at all of these amazing schools, only to realize that we really should stick with the original plan: within driving distance.

We are visiting University of Idaho, WSU, and University of Montana next month. (Weā€™ve already visited Gonzaga, Whitworth, OSU, and CWU.)

(PS Whitman is a lovely school, but WhitWORTH is my sonā€™s exact vibe.)

Thank you again!

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If Whitworth is the vibe and Iā€™m just throwing a dart here but you might want to look at Carroll College in Montana.

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If Whitworth is your sonā€™s exact vibe, has he looked into George Fox?

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Great idea.:+1:
@kittyhox would have to run the NPC because they donā€™t meet need and donā€™t have big endowment for scholarships.
Seconding Carroll College, too. In Helena so in a city but within easy access to the outdoors.

What about Canada? Simon Fraser for instance - is that too far?

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FYI: Medieval history is not an undergraduate major (itā€™s a field within the discipline). So youā€™re not going to find that unless thereā€™s a school out there with a very unusual specialization. In any history major, students will be expected to take a range of courses to allow them to explore the histories of different times, places, and cultures, and theyā€™ll also be able to choose additional courses in fields of interest. So youā€™ll want to be sure to look at departments to make sure thereā€™s a medievalist, or at least courses in medieval history in the catalog, so your son can take a concentration of courses in that area if he wishes. But the major would be history. Alternatively, there are some colleges that offer an interdisciplinary medieval studies major, which would combine history with languages, literature, art and architecture, religious studies, maybe music, etc. I wouldnā€™t recommend choosing a college just for that major (interests can change), but it could be something to look for.

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My daughter was/is (undergrad and now a masters) in history at Wyoming. I donā€™t think any of the professors specializes in medieval history, but they are very into allowing students to study whatever they want. They also have a pretty nice study abroad program (subsidized by the Cheney family) and participate in the program where students can do an exchange program at other participating US colleges for the lower of the Wyo tuition or the other schoolā€™s tuition.

My daughterā€™s thesis is on the presentation and display of Tibetan art, and none of the professors specialize in that!

As for how close it is to Washington, well it isnā€™t, but Iā€™m sure there are a lot of students driving that direction all the time and could get him close to home. Wyoming is so big that a lot of students have cars on campus JUST to drive home when they need to as it would be 8-10 hours. They drive to campus, park in an outlying lot and pick up their cars only to go home. My daughter had a friend from Denver who went to school in Idaho and she dropped my daughter in Laramie and traveled on to Rexburg. All kinds of arrangements to get to and from school. The first trip is the hardest, but after that it works out.

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32

I donā€™t know what they offer for your sonā€™s specific interests but if heā€™s interested in small schools close by maybe check out Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma. Itā€™s more inline cost wise to Whitworth but could be worth checking out.

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