Looking for input on colleges/Universities on East Coast with strong Engineering programs. My son is a ski patroller in Pa and LOVES it - so staying close to skiing and drivable to PA is key. 3.5+ GPA, AP and Honors. Does not want city life. Would prefer to have a car on campus - He’s a responsible kid, doesnt gravitate to big parties, Greek life etc. Thanks for any suggestions
East coast + rural + skiing + engineering says Clarkson to me. But maybe it’s a longer drive from home than you want?
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I’d consider RPI. Lots of slopes within 1-2 hrs.
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Drivable to where in PA? Pittsburgh or Harrisburg? They are hours apart.
Are there any colleges in PA that are near enough to skiing that would work?
Union College, which is in a small city, may be of interest.
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If you are avoiding party schools, I’m guessing Lehigh is not high on your list nor is Dartmouth. Dartmouth has its own ski slope, but it probably doesn’t need a lot of ski patrol staffing. Personally, I wouldn’t pick Dartmouth for engineering, but at least it’s a school with skiing.
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University of Maine? It’s a long drive to Eastern PA, but doable.
RPI?
It’d be helpful to know what you want to prioritize.
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UVM. Near some of the best skiing in the East. Clarkson could also work.
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We are 30 NE of Philly. His home mountain is Blue Mountain in Palmerton Pa. Thanks all
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He doesn’t know what he wants to prioritize. We are just trying to identify schools that may be of interest… so we can help him back into a few options…
SAT scores? He will have done a traditional math sequence through Calculus when he graduates? Bio/Chem/Physics with labs?
No sense just throwing out names of East Coast colleges with engineering near skiing without some sense of the rigor of his HS transcript and what colleges are reasonable admits for him.
Hi! Great insight.He will take his baseline SAT on 4/1.He will have taken math thru Honors Calc, Honors Statistics, Chem, Physics, Bio with lab and an Engineering elective by the time he graduates…
University of New Hampshire. University of Massachusetts. UMass is close enough to a few ski areas where he could patrol.
Will he have a car to get to these ski areas?
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Yes. He commutes now to work at Blue Mountain… about 1 hour away.. Although will need to be able to take his truck to school as a freshman… and finding many schools dont allow that…. I dont want to pull back on the Independence hes earned this last year…. Its tricky.
can you afford UMass if he gets accepted there? Great engineering. Berkshire East Ski area is about an hour away.
You son should apply Early Action if he applies to UMass.
This is the second mention of Clarkson. Potsdam, NY is quite flat, and the nearest ski area, Whiteface, is about two hours away.
It’s actually a quicker drive from RPI (or Union) up to Gore or several places in VT like Mt Snow, Stratton or possibly even Okemo.
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The mountains near WPI are small, more like very large hills, but there is skiing within 30-45 minutes. The school has a ski team https://wp.wpi.edu/wpiskiteam/ and I think also a club Home - Ski & Snowboard Club | Worcester Polytechnic Institute . Vermont and NH are definitely better for close distance to better skiing. But if he just wants to get skis under him on a mountain, then he can do that from Worcester pretty easily, and WPI is an excellent option for engineering.
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RPI has a great ski club, good ROI!
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Titus is about 45 minutes from campus.