Please chance my artistic, physics-loving, outdoor-bouldering son who loves experiential learning, is a fantastic artist but would rather direct his creative energy towards engineering. He wants to attend a school where the local rock climbing community is somewhat connected to his current region.
Demographics
Domestic US student
State/Location of residency: Massachusetts
Type of high school (or current college for transfers): Public, rigorous high school with good reputation
Other special factors: Recruitable for collegiate rock climbing, but those teams are rare.
Cost Constraints / Budget n/a
Intended Major(s)
Mechanical Engineering or possibly Engineering Design
GPA, Rank, and Test Scores
Unweighted HS GPA: 3.65
Weighted HS GPA: 4.33
Class Rank: n/a
ACT/SAT Scores: 1360 SAT
List your HS coursework
English: 4 years of honors English
Math: Geometry, Honors Alg. II, Honors Precalc, AP Calculus BC
Science: Honors Physical Science, Honors Biology, Honors Chemistry, AP Physics I, AP Physics C
History and social studies: 4 years including AP African American Studies and AP European History
Language other than English: 3 years of Latin (through Latin 5)
Visual or performing arts: Drawing I & II, Animation, Metalworking
Other academic courses: AP Computer Science Principles, Wilderness Survival
Awards
National Honor Society
Town of Arlington Street Banner Art Competition - 1 of 12 students selected out of 200
Extracurriculars Rock Climbing:
Outdoor bouldering: First Ascent of a V9, most challenging known route in Middlesex Fells State Park; Other notable outdoor ascents include V10 and V11
Indoor: Top 10 (in region) competitive indoor bouldering
2 seasons as a counselor at International Rock Climbing School, Rumney NH
1.5 year of part-time work as Event Staff at Metrorock Boston Indoor Climbing Center
5 seasons of volunteering as a Endangered Herring Monitor for the Mystic River Watershed association
2-3 times volunteering as station leader at Science & Engineering Fest at local elementary school
Other extracurriculars incl playing electric guitar, drawing, tinkering.
Essays/LORs/Other
Essays: estimating 7/10?
LORs: estimating 7/10?
Schools
Assured (100% chance of admission and affordability): UMass Lowell
Extremely Likely: UMass Amherst
Likely: Worcester Polytechnic Institute (attended 2025 summer program there in robotics)
So I wouldn’t apply to Cornell, Tufts, or Northeastern. I don’t think you’re in range.
I do think UMASS happens but looking at the stats (59% accepted), it is harder than other departments. They don’t give GPA and SAT stats for engineering.
I do think WPI, if you can afford it, is an in. I think RIT is also an in.
Given his love of bouldering and given the stats, the first school I thought of is UT Chattanooga. Stat wise - it’s a match and I know someone who bouldered there - so that’s sort of a local pick - living in Tennessee. MechE is ABET accredited. There’s lots of rock climbing in the region. Tennessee Tech won’t have as robust opportunities as UT Chatt but also is accessible for climbing.
Now for bouldering - is RIT, Umass, or Lowell the right place?
UT Chatt definitely is and shows up on a list of top rock climbing adjacent schools.
Others to consider (if distance isn’t an issue) - Montana State, Utah, Colorado State,
In all honesty, engineering is an extremely competitive field. I would not consider UMass Amherst to be “extremely likely” for a student with a 3.65 gpa. I’d certainly give it a shot, but I’d also look at colleges with well established Schools of Engineering but which are not as competitive, e.g. University at Buffalo, Manhattan University, and University of Vermont. RPI might be worth a shot, but it would be more of a toss up as I think is WPI.
I should have clarified geographic constraints of staying in the Northeast. But I will definitely look at the academic profile of Chattanooga to find its local equivalents.
Agree that Clarkson would be really good to look into, or RIT and the University of Vermont if he wants something bigger.
If you want a larger list of schools that are roughly in that window, here’s a filtered list at College Navigator, but I agree that those listed above would be great to home in on.
So helpful, as a total non-engineer here! Will definitely add UVM to the list. We have been going off of our school’s Naviance recommendation engine, which feels … broken.
The first school that came to mind when reading the description of your son is SUNY New Paltz. It has about 6500 undergrads with a definite artsy population but it’s also ABET-accredited for computer engineering, electrical engineering, and mechanical engineering. New Paltz has also been called a cute town. But, to top it off, it is in the middle of the Gunks, and though I’m not at all a bouldering enthusiast, I have heard that the Gunks are a fabulous location for boulderers. And although the budget seems to be unlimited, there’s an added bonus that the tuition will be the same as at UMass-Amherst due to the SUNY Tuition Match program.
Okay, here’s another option. Alfred University (NY) has about 1400 undergrads, but there’s also an affiliation with the SUNY College of Technology at Alfred (about 3700 undergrads), so there’s a bigger student population here than might be assumed if only looking at Alfred U.’s population.
This is another school with an artsy population, but it also translates that into some innovative programs. According to its website, it has the country’s only glass engineering science program (and it’s ABET-accredited) and one of the two only programs in ceramic engineering (also ABET-accredited). It’s also ABET-accredited for biomaterials engineering, materials science and engineering, mechanical engineering, and renewal energy engineering. Additionally, the major in Performance Design and Technology sounds like it might be worth investigating as well. And here is some info on the bouldering opportunities in the area: Rock Climbing near Alfred, New York
Thank you for these additional options! The ABET lists are an incredible resource. We’ll cross-reference all with the bouldering forums, since the collegiate bouldering momentum at a given school is just as much about the people as it is about the rocks.
First off, RIT is one of the best places I can think of for anyone who is interested in the intersection of art and science. But in my quick internet search, posters didn’t seem to think there was much in the way of bouldering anywhere nearby. If that’s not an issue for your son, then I think RIT (which is on your list) is a terrific option.
Syracuse is one that I was thinking about, but posters don’t seem very positive about the bouldering near there either. If that’s not a deal-breaker, then it could be an option. U. of Vermont and U. of New Hampshire would be two others I would look into, with Vermont having more of a reputation for an artsy student body than UNH.
So I guess the question is, how close do bouldering options need to be, and of what quality?