Looking For a Specific Safety [Outdoors, Lakecountry]

FakeName1332 · July 10

Hi everyone.

I'm looking for a school to add to match or safety that has a strong emphasis on the outdoors. I have spent my past four years living at a cottage in a remote part of Canada, so I would like to have the option to do something similar at a school in the United States. My GPA is 4.0 and my ACT is 32, so do with that what you will.

Anything that is really close to lakes and has great (large amounts of) snowfall, has quick access to lake-country and has a bunch of people who love the same thing I do-- spending a lot of time on the water during summer and on the snow in winter. Mountains aren't necessary!

Thank you all!

momofsenior1 · July 10

Clarkson in Potsdam NY has a strong outdoor emphasis. University of VT comes to mind too.

taverngirl · July 10

St. Lawrence in Canton has an active outdoor club and offers a semester at a yurt village in the Adirondacks. Seconding Clarkson and UVM.

NJWrestlingmom · July 10

Castleton U and Champlain College both in VT

Twoin18 · July 11

The University of Utah has many very outdoorsy students. The best downhill skiing in the world is within 30 mins drive, while in spring, summer and fall a typical Sunday or weekend trip is to the nearby lakes, hot springs or national parks for hiking, backpacking, canyoneering, climbing, rafting, etc. Within 4 hours drive you have 6 national parks (Zion, Bryce, Arches, Canyonlands, Capitol Reef and Grand Teton) and it’s very common to go to those for a day or overnight trip (my D has been to all of them this year, several on multiple occasions, including for class trips). But hiking is big part of the attraction so few students would say “mountains aren’t necessary”.

FakeName1332 · July 11

Thank you for all the suggestions! Quick notes on them all:

Clarkson actually checks a ton of boxes (entrepreneurship/innovation + product design) that I didn't even mention in the thread, so kudos to you!

Vermont seems really awesome for what I am looking for. Castleton is in the "lake country" of VM, so that seems like an awesome option for me to explore. I'm doubtful about Champlaign because I think the other Burlington option in UVM would be better for me.

Utah seems pretty awesome, but my parents label it as a really Mormon state and say I might have troubles finding people similar to me there. But you made an extremely compelling case that I will relay to them. Also, I know they have a great Games Design school which is something that I am pretty interested in.

P.s. I said Mountains not necessary because I don't live anywhere near the mountains, so it isn't something that I need. Lake country in Wisconsin or Minnesota could provide me the same joy as something like Colorado or Utah. Either or is fine!

Twoin18 · July 11

“Utah seems pretty awesome, but my parents label it as a really Mormon state and say I might have troubles finding people similar to me there.”

Salt Lake City is more cosmopolitan (and less Mormon dominated) than rural Utah. It depends what you mean by “people similar to me”, but you wouldn’t have a problem finding non-religious and/or liberal students. However, the mix of ethnicities, political views, etc. is inevitably different than a state like California. The best thing to do is visit (eg as part of a skiing holiday) to get a better feel for the place, the campus is very impressive.

NJWrestlingmom · July 11

Actually, if you like Games Design that's pretty much what Champlain in known for.

joecollege44 · July 11

Williams is great for outdoor rec but really hard to get in. Same with Bowdoin and Middlebury.
I would check out Colgate.
It's easy to recommend schools like Univ of Oregon and Colorado, Montana State for outdoors stuff. But for some less obvious choices, maybe Univ of Georgia, Reed College, Davidson?

happymomof1 · July 11

There are several in Minnesota that could work for you as back-ups. Check out the whole state system there: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=MN&ct=1&ic=1

momofsenior1 · July 11

OP asked for safeties.

FakeName1332 · July 11

Regarding Utah:
Okay cool. Yeah, I don't really know anything about Utah, so I'll research it before committing to applying. My parents seem to think that people there would be extremely [no idea what word to use here, but like cautious and more like the BYU atmosphere where ppl cant drink, dance, live in coed dorms, etc.]

I'm definitely going to check out that link, @happymomof1. I think I'd absolutely love Minnesota (honorary member of Canada, if I do say so myself).

I was checking out some of those schools in Maine and they seemed to be really outdoorsy, but I'm not sure how similar it is to what I am looking for. I really like lake-country, so something like Minnesota or Wisconsin. I pretty much just want the ability to go to a lake to go boarding for a weekend or the ability to go out for a snowmobiling backcountry trip in the winter. Not necessarily a school that goes for tons of hikes and has many camping trips, water rafting, etc. I should have been more clear with that-- my bad.

I hate politics and I really, really don't want to go to some hippy school or SJW campus. So I ruled out Reed and I think this is why I ruled out Middlebury as well.

@momofsenior1 I did also throw in the possibility for match schools, but I'm honestly fine with any responses at this point.

happymomof1 · July 11

North Dakota might work for you too. So take a quick look at these: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=ND&ct=1&ic=1

momofsenior1 · July 11

Your snow mobile comment made me think of Clarkson's snowmobile design teams: http://internal.clarkson.edu/speed/speed_teams/snowmobile_challenge.html

Also based on the location preference: UW Green Bay and Michigan Tech

FakeName1332 · July 11

I was actually laughing at how incredible that program is, @momofsenior1. I'm not too big into that green-wave (the best part of snowmobiling is that BRRAAAPPP noise), but it's something I will absolutely consider moving forward. Thanks for that information.

Added UW Green Bay and Michigan Tech on my list to check out. North Dakota is a no for me-- I've been there and was not a fan.

momofsenior1 · July 11

Here's the link to MT's recreation page: https://www.mtu.edu/recreation/

Note that the students can downhill ski for free.

merc81 · July 12

Look into the Finger Lakes region and Hobart and William Smith.

hop · July 13

Try University of Minnesota - Twin Cities, or their Duluth campus, for lot's of lake and river action.
In the west, Quest in British Columbia has outdoor/water options, as well Evergreen in Olympia Washington, which has tons of kayaking and other beach and water sports on Puget Sound.
University of Montana has some of the best river sports, as well as robust outdoor programs in general.
University of Wisconsin - Madison is near lakes and rivers, as is Michigan State U.
University of Vermont could also fit the bill, as it's Lake Champlain adjacent and students their also have a strong outdoor orientation.

MYOS1634 · July 13

Look into St Olaf (more of a match), and for safeties Concordia-Moorhead, UWisconsin Eau Claire, UWisconsin River Falls, Carthage, UMN Moorhead, St John's/St Benedict.
Seconding St Lawrence, Hobart/WS, Champlain, UVT.
What about Ithaca college? SUNY Plattsburgh?

Looking For a Specific Safety [Outdoors, Lakecountry]

Replies to: Looking For a Specific Safety [Outdoors, Lakecountry]

Recent Activity