How does this list look? [NY resident, environmental science]

College Search & Lists
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US citizen, NY resident, competitive private high school. Ethnic minority, but not first-gen. no hook to any of the listed schools other than a sibling at one of the reaches and parent is a professor at one of the non-reaches.

Full pay, no cost constraints

Intended major: Environmental Science (BS) or equivalent

GPA: School doesn’t calculate, nor is there class rank. All A/A- after Freshman year (a few B/B+ that year). Have taken all honors/accelerated courses offered, finished BC calculus as a junior. School does not have an AP curriculum. Taking a college course in environmental subject online this summer as part of a competitive environmental internship.

SAT 1570

Extracurriculars: completed a competitive and well-known research program, published group’s findings and the work was written up in national-level publications as being of interest. Environmental internship this summer, and also interning with a green power company executive in project research and strategy (hopefully will yield an excellent LOR). Write a blog weekly on innovation in environmental solutions. Write for my school’s publications on both environment and policy. Active in school’s green club, not a leadership role. Theater tech, queer club, and club sports for fun.

Essay will be about identity, what drives me, hopefully a little fun and quirky and authentic.

Schools

ED - not chosen yet, likely Dartmouth Tufts or Middlebury. Just starting to tour.

Reaches:
Dartmouth
Tufts
Cornell
UC Berkeley
Northwestern
Carnegie Mellon
UMich

High-targets:
Middlebury
Colgate

Targets:
Lehigh
Binghamton

Safeties:
University of Rochester
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rutgers

So - thanks in advance for any thoughts or advice. How does this list look? Glaringly missing or sillily included schools?

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Your student attends a private high school. IMHO your best source of information will be from the college counselor at that school. They will know how kids have done in the past in terms of admission at these schools…students who are similar to this student.

This student is a strong student. The reach schools are…reach schools. But they certainly have a chance at them.

Is this student happy with the sure things on their list? If so, you are fine.

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Thanks - and yes we’re getting input from the school, but it can be helpful to get some crowd-sourced feedback for hidden gems or reality testing or both!

Hopefully happy with targets and safeties, certainly is on paper - fingers crossed that tours are reassuring to all of us!

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So b4 you ED, make sure you have a favorite. Don’t ED for a boost because you have four years and you want to be happy.

It seems you are name picking vs actually looking at curriculums and seeing what schools offer. Some will be climate focused, some water, some forestry etc especially in this major, I’d look at schools of interest in curriculum vs just a name. And be prepared for grad school or a low paying job.

When you have Middlebury and Michigan, it’s such a contrast - it just makes me wonder about the big name thing.

So do you want big vs small, urban vs rural, sports or not ?

Why would you pay for a bureaucratic UC - overpriced. And why Berkeley vs Davis which would seem a better fit forget the major (in my opinion). Why Bing but not ESF which is tailor made for you - and has the benefit of Syracuse U backing it.

Your reaches are as are your high targets but full pay helps as they are need aware. Rochester is a target

I wonder, depending on your interests, if the LACs will be limiting. Interests meaning - water, weather, space, geology, etc?

If you’re ok with Rutgers, Bing and RIT, your list is fine.

But I’m guessing it’s not well thought out in how it should be. I hope I’m wrong.

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I think it’s OK at this stage for this student to have a variety of colleges on their list. The student isn’t graduating HS today. I’m sure some of this will tease out before all applications are sent.

But for reference…one of my kids top choice had only 5000 or so undergrads, and no football. The second choice (and it was close) was a large flagship university with a big sports scene.

Some kids apply to a variety of colleges, also…because things can change perspective wise between when applications are sent and May 1 of senior year.

@matadorski have fun on your tours. Perhaps this will help your student narrow down what they actually want in a college.

What year in high school is this student?

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That’s fine and fair but they could do that locally first to save time and efficiency later b4 traveling the country.

But yes - those are things to feel out.

But they can find schools that focus on areas of interest up front. Some schools are great for space, others for hydrology, etc

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I don’t understand your comments here…

UCB is a top school for environmental science.

UMich is also a big public university, and costs even more than UCB, but you don’t seem to have a problem with how much it costs…

OP says no cost constraints and the cost of these public universities is no worse than full-pay privates. Both UMich and UCB are great schools and it’s solely up to OP whether they are worth the cost… just like the other schools on their list.

Edited to add: As for your comment about “bureaucratic,” note that environmental science at UCB is in Rausser College, a relatively small college within UCB. From what I hear, advising is good and students feel well supported.

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Make the same comment for Michigan. OOS - both are - hmmm Overpriced for what you get IMHO. Why pay a premium price for a very large public?

I’m mostly concerned with following interests - and given the major- saving $$. So I’d first figure out the area of interest to ensure the chosen school has the breadth to support me. If one had interest in water, for example, the list would look different. Same with space or geoscience etc.

UCB is highly rated in the major but personally, while I would choose ESF over any UC, I’d look into Davis.

But all are entitled to follow their chosen path.

Edit to add - I spoke before about “value” as I often do. From UCB career placement - I don’t know the last date when it was - usually 6 or 9 months after graduation but it doesn’t say:

54% working, 20% grad school, 26% still looking. This was 46 students. Median salary of those working $46K - and those who say - well you can’t trust career stats. If anything, they’re over inflated because perhaps some who don’t have a job don’t report. 61% of those working had just one offer.

So yes, given the major, I don’t see the value in a UCB or UM or even the high priced LACs.

But again, that’s to each his own. Some have no cost constraint and they don’t look at ROI. Others have no cost constraint but do look at ROI.

Cornell - a bit higher with a median of $52K - and a higher percentage in jobs. I chose three majors there as they don’t have env sciences per se in their dashboard - they include sustainability.

UNC - just to add another, lower in cost public - $57K.

Again, I don’t know the focus of the curriculum, the students, the interests, etc. - and that’s likely more important here…is what i’m getting at.

The question was - how does this list look and are there any others to maybe think about - so that’s what i tried to address.

Thanks

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I think the kiddo is still figuring out what within climate science is going to be the focus. There’s varied interests around the subject but generally relating directly or indirectly to climate change. Interdisciplinary stuff floats the boat, as does access to engineering options even if it’s not going to be an engineering major.

Some states are off limits due to identity stuff. Blue states are in, red states out.

And yeah still figuring out big vs small. Pros and cons, as they see it, to each. I am hoping that the tours will be clarifying as to which environment of learning is best suited. Agree 100% that UMich and Middlebury offer drastically different experiences.

Thanks all! Appreciate the conversation and thoughtful answers so far.

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You can calculate it yourself by converting A=4, B=3, C=2, D=1, F=0, adding up all of the numbers from academic courses, and then dividing by the number of academic courses.

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So your comment on access to engineering options - really eliminates some of your list.

Dartmouth has engineering but for accredidation, it’s a year longer. Midd and Colgate are LACs and don’t have engineering.

Now, Environmental Engineering - if that’s an option - that’s a small set of schools that are accredited - just looking at blue states - there’s 63 - and I put the list at the bottom for you - but for example, an LAC, it looks like only Bucknell (and Clarkson but they have big financial cuts).

In regards to engineering, the school name is less impactful - it’s accreditation that you want. While your student won’t be an engineer per se, you noted access to classes - but then you need to check pre-reqs. Having an engineering curriculum doesn’t mean access to it as a non-engineering student. So you’d have to check school by school.

Here’s a list specifically related to climate science. Given the non great outcomes (you saw the salaries and success I posted), and the current government, you might want to look at other factors beyond pedigree.

Hope this helps.

Great Colleges for Climate Action and Environmental Studies - College Kickstart

School Name City State
Cal Poly Humboldt Arcata California
University of California, Davis Davis California
University of California, Irvine Irvine California
University of Southern California Los Angeles California
University of California, Merced Merced California
University of California, Riverside Riverside California
San Diego State University San Diego California
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo California
University of Colorado Boulder Boulder Colorado
Metropolitan State University of Denver Denver Colorado
Colorado State University Fort Collins Colorado
Colorado School of Mines Golden Colorado
University of Connecticut Storrs Connecticut
University of Delaware Newark Delaware
Northwestern University Evanston Illinois
The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore Maryland
Northeastern University Boston Massachusetts
University of Massachusetts Lowell Lowell Massachusetts
Tufts University Medford Massachusetts
Worcester Polytechnic Institute Worcester Massachusetts
University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan
Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan
Michigan Technological University Houghton Michigan
Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant Michigan
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities Minneapolis Minnesota
St. Cloud State University St. Cloud Minnesota
University of Nevada, Reno Reno Nevada
Stevens Institute of Technology Hoboken New Jersey
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New Brunswick New Jersey
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology Socorro New Mexico
University at Albany - State University of New York Albany New York
University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Buffalo New York
Cornell University Ithaca New York
Columbia University in the City of New York New York New York
City University of New York, City College New York New York
Clarkson University Potsdam New York
Manhattan University Riverdale New York
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry Syracuse New York
Syracuse University Syracuse New York
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Troy New York
United States Military Academy West Point New York
Oregon State University Corvallis Oregon
Portland State University Portland Oregon
Lehigh University Bethlehem Pennsylvania
Gannon University Erie Pennsylvania
Bucknell University Lewisburg Pennsylvania
Saint Francis University Loretto Pennsylvania
Drexel University Philadelphia Pennsylvania
Temple University Philadelphia Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh Pittsburgh Pennsylvania
The Pennsylvania State University University Park Pennsylvania
Wilkes University Wilkes-Barre Pennsylvania
Brown University Providence Rhode Island
University of Vermont Burlington Vermont
University of Washington Seattle Washington
University of Wisconsin - Platteville Platteville Wisconsin
University of Wisconsin - River Falls River Falls Wisconsin
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Deleted.

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You’re a NY resident. No love for SUNY ESF? If you can save a bundle in undergrad, you’d have some $$ for graduate programs.

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The school advisor was very negative on ESF - I kinda thought that would be one of the safeties but he was very dismissive. Again, just one person! Is it a better option than, say, Bing? Or either of the Rochester schools?

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It could be that your private school counselor sees that there are other options for your student than ESF. But go visit. It’s possible that your student will think it’s terrific.

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I don’t know if it’s “better”, but it seems like it should be on your list for a target/safety and then do a visit and some research to decide for yourself vs. taking the opinion of one school advisor.

Maybe I missed it, but what is your dream career? What is the average salary of that career? It may be worth thinking about whether it’s worth going to a high dollar college when you’re in-state for SUNY ESF or Binghampton. Will these other programs really give you that much more of a leg up in environmental science/climate careers to warrant the price difference? Even though money isn’t an issue, it doesn’t necessarily mean you should spend the max just because you can. Much of your list is reach-heavy so I’m not sure if you see any merit-based scholarships to offset high costs (even though you seem to be an excellent student).

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This OP has clearly stated that cost is not an issue, and I think we should respect that. Believe it or not, some parents are willing to fund a college education at any college, which is a true gift to their student. And they are willing to do so for potential careers that don’t have high salaries.:woman_raising_hand:t3: and at any college of the student’s choosing. We need to be very grateful for well educated students in these careers.

Undergraduate school is four years of learning, and thinking, and growing. Yes, some families do need to put price restrictions on applications, or choose to do so. That’s fine. But this family, like ours, has said this isn’t an issue.

And in terms of future careers…there are some careers that will be happenings when this kid graduates from college that aren’t even a glimmer in anyone’s eye right now.

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Last time I checked, it’s permissible to offer other perspectives on CC.

If the OP has in-state SUNY Binghampton on the list, it makes sense to also check out SUNY ESF, given that the “ES” stands for “Environmental Science”.

The OP is free to take or leave any advice he or she receives on this site.

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I agree they should check out ESF. And I said so above. They should see for themselves if this school is a good fit for their student.

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Have you considered Wesleyan?