<p>My son was accepted at ithaca and is considering it, but it looks to him (and to me) like virtually everyone is there for the performing arts, film, communications, etc etc. He’s probably going into environmental studies and is wondering if all the non-arty departments are step-children to the arts.</p>
<p>Thanks.</p>
<p>I can’t tell you if IC is a reasonable choice for someone interested in environmental sciences. I would doubt it. About 25% of IC students are music majors. Another 25% major in communications. These programs are the strongest offerings at IC. Of the remainder, business and social sciences are most popular.</p>
<p>Ithaca C. is known to be strongest in the arts, and has a reputation for music and performing arts. I am not sure if it is the right fit for your son, and his interests.</p>
<p>The draw is that one of the varsity teams has shown an interest and they’re very good in his sport. Of course that’s not a good enough reason to select a school. (Or is it?) Unless someone has differing informed opinions to contribute, looks like he better re-think this.</p>
<p>This is not a good choice in my opinion. Let me share a short anecdote that may show you how this is setting up for disaster. My dad’s best friend and law partner’s son, Chris, attended a great high school, but was so dedicated to his baseball team (he was a great player) that he somewhat ignored his academics. When it came time for college acceptances, both Johns Hopkins U. and University of Massachusetts- Amherst wanted him. JHU, Chris new, was known for their high quality academics and overall education and reputation (but had a good, not great baseball team), but UMass-Amherst had a fantastic baseball team (but lesser academics and overall reputation). Because Chris was planning a career in baseball, he chose the latter over the former, despite the advice of many. Although Chris was one of the top players in his home, due to the influx of better players, Chris was asked to leave the team. Without his baseball, Chris resorted to taking more classes, but due to lack of motivation and stress of being off the team (something he had worked for since he was a very young child), he found the somewhat lacking quality of classes, etc. just that, and had a great deal of trouble getting passionate about his future, and finding what he wanted to do. Chris told us that he really wished he had matriculated to JHU, and dealt with a lot of undue depression and even some mild drug use over what was in his mind, a very bad decision. Although Chris has found some solace in UMass-Amherst now, and has overcome his depression and bout with drugs, I hope you consider his story when you and your son are deciding his college plans. Although this could very well not happen to your son, it is a viable possibility that should not be overlooked in the heat of the outwardly fortunate looking situation. Having said that, I would only seriously take up Ithaca’s offer if your son is THE ABSOLUTE BEST in this sport, and wishes to pursue this as his future. If not, I suggest your son attends a school that specializes more in the field(s) he wishes to pursue. I hope this helps you both, and enlightens you a bit.</p>
<p>He didn’t happen to apply to near-by, and vastly superior for enviro. studies, SUNY-ESF did he? The app deadline was Jan 15 for them, but with this note: *Applications received after this deadline will be considered on a space available basis.</p>
<p>I thank you for the story–one thing I’ve said to him repeatedly is to consider whether he will like his choice even if he couldn’t play his sport. I’m not liking what I’m hearing so far about Ithaca and his area of interest.</p>
<p>As for ESF—I can’t get him to consider it. He thinks (and not without some merit) that he wants a school with broader areas of study just in case. As a side note, I’m troubled when I see so many kids ‘deciding’ on a major before they even get to college. Unless a kid has a clear and defining passion, I think it may take a year or two of good old-fashioned liberal arts to find his/her strengths and interests. But I was an English major, so what do I know?</p>
<p>Thanks for the opinions. If there is some environmental scientist/planner, ecologist, forest ranger, marine biologist, etc. out there who thinks Ithaca is AOK, I’d sure like to hear that too.</p>
<p>I find it hard to take the story of the kid who chose UMass over JHU seriously. Sure, JHU is a great school - but UMass can be made challenging & academically stimulating. I think the problem there was that the kid realized the path in life he had chosen for himself maybe wasn’t what he wanted. That kind of struggle doesn’t have to do with what school you go to. But you’re right, he should like the school regardless of whether he can play sports there.</p>
<p>There are a lot of colleges on par with Ithaca as far as selectivity goes that have stronger programs in environmental studies (like the College of the Atlantic). I suggest maybe taking a look into some of those. I think whether or not the school is recruiting him and offering him a spot on the team is definitely something to consider, but how “good” the school is at that sport is NOT important if he is not considering playing professionally.</p>
<p>You can use <a href=“http://www.enviroeducation.com%5B/url%5D”>http://www.enviroeducation.com</a> to search for schools with a program in his desired field of study. Schools with big ag programs often have good environmental study options, and also schools in environmentally unique areas (i.e. University of Hawaii understandly has a strong marine science department, even though overall it’s not the greatest school academically).</p>
<p>jazzcar: I totally hear you about the “deciding a major too soon” thing. On the other hand, I know that kids can truly blossom when immersed in a school that has a particlurly strong program in something that they are interested in. So that’s a hard one to call.</p>
<p>I think it’s extremely easy to transfer from a place like SUNY ESF to Syracuse University - the two places pretty much share a campus, dorms, facilities, etc.</p>
<p>I’ve passed along all this info to my son who is going to look more closely at the env studies program–on paper it looks good, but that’s on paper. The big state universities seem to have much broader programs, especially if he ends up veering off towards oh…agronomy or forestry or something. He’s been accepted at UColorado, Boulder. His only hesitation is that it’s got a rep as such a major party school (not to mention all the sports scandals). I tell him that, for the most part, any college can be a party school if that’s what a kid chooses–it is what he makes of it. Like what groovinhard said about UMass. We’re still waiting on 3 schools, but Ithaca and Colorado are interested in him for sports as well, which is a pretty big plus when a kid loves those sports. And no–there’s no pro future in either of them. I think he just can’t imagine no longer doing things that have been his passions since he was little. And maybe just a little…either can I. Boy, it’s sometimes hard to separate out what we want for our children and what they want for themselves, isn’t it?</p>
<p>jazzcar- happy to help out!</p>
<p>groovinhard- i can’t vouch for the 100% truthfulness of the story (this is how it was told to me, and others) but Chris did say he regretted JHU because he didn’t favor much about UMass except for the great baseball.</p>