What colleges/universities are good both in setting and classes for kid interested in the outdoors
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Anonymous
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(I know this is a broad category, but my kid is only going into 8th so I'm just starting out.) DD is extremely athletic (more than any other girl I know) both in sports and in hiking/outdoors and swims in the ocean. She said that she doesn't want to go to a college in the city; she wants to be in nature (doesn't have to be near a body of water, but something nature-y).
She is someone who would be in misery doing a desk job. Although she has high grades, she hates sitting. So just wondering if you could offer advice on either of these two things--what college or what kind of major, to look towards. Thanks! |
Anonymous
| Not sure of the major but I would suggest University of Colorado. |
Anonymous
| Sounds like my DD. Still only in 9th grade but she wants to go to Virginia Tech because it's in the mountains (we visited during a roadtrip last yr) and study something like environmental science/natural resource conservation/ecology. VT has an excellent Natural Resources program. |
Anonymous
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UWisconsin Madison. Trees and lake
UC Santa Cruz Mountains and ocean both have interdisciplinary bio-related programs that build on their locales. My kid is somewhat similar. Majoring in ecological and evolutionary bio and gravitating toward approaches that combine field work and mathematical modeling. Has been spelunking, birdwatching, doing animal studies at the zoo, in hip waders taking samples from a pond, etc. in conjunction with classes and other departmental programming. All this at an urban Uni (so I’m not recommending it for your DC), but that should give you an idea of what major can involve. |
Anonymous
| University of Utah also a great choice. |
Anonymous
| UNC-Asheville. |
Anonymous
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University of Vermont
-Burlington, VT is absolutely gorgeous. Mountains, Lake, adorable walkable town and a great outdoors club that has outings every weekend. Skidmore College - Saratoga Springs, NY, another adorable walkable town, beautiful wooded campus, near saratoga spa state park |
Anonymous
| Dartmouth |
Anonymous
| Most of the new england SLAC are in small, naturey settings, Middlebury etc. |
Anonymous
| Your DD might be a perfect fit for College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor, Maine. It is an incredible little school. |
Anonymous
I actually don’t know anything about that school except that’s where we got the boat for Diver Ed and I thought of it when I read the OP! |
Anonymous
It is such a neat school. Here’s a New York Times story on it: https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/01/business/energy-environment/tackling-climate-change-one-class-at-a-time.html |
Anonymous
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Check out the Eco League schools. They aren't prestigious or well-known, but they are full of students who are passionate about being outdoors, environmentally-focused, and majors that lead to jobs that don't involve desks.
Alaska Pacific University (Alaska) College of the Atlantic (Maine) Green Mountain College (Vermont) Northland College (Wisconsin) Prescott College (Arizona) Dickinson College (Pennsylvania) Backpacker Magazine recently did 20 Best Colleges for Hikers: https://www.backpacker.com/skills/the-20-best-colleges-for-hikers |
Anonymous
| Berry College in Georgia, although a fairly small school has the largest campus in the world. Lots of forest and trails. |
Anonymous
Yup. The Outing Club is incredible. https://outdoors.dartmouth.edu/doc/ |