I am putting together a list for college visits for the youngest, with the focus being entirely on targets and ‘probable admissions.’
Would love suggestions based on what S is looking for:
Small to mid size (2,000-7,000)
Place where students are highly engaged in academics
Good environmental studies program
Likes a self-contained and safe feeling campus
Likes a collaborative environment
Does not want a party school - preferably minimal Greek life.
Does not want a religious school.
Does not want to go to school in the South
Doesn’t care much about athletics; does not want a pervasive football culture
I am looking for:
Schools that fit S’s preferences
A school that is financially stable.
S has a 4.0 uw; 4.63 weighted. Unhooked. Strong ECs with leadership but nothing that will shock and awe. Has not taken the SAT or ACT. Practice ACT was a 34. PSAT 1480 (plans to study for the SAT).
This might be a bit of a wild idea, but it fits everything on your list if you are willing to go a bit further north and east that you might have expected. It is definitely not in The South.
Acadia University in Wolfville Nova Scotia might be an option. Given your youngest’s stats I think that it is essentially a safety. It is also more affordable than you might expect, even at full pay for an international student. The last time that I looked it had a very good environmental studies program, and also had a separate very good environmental sciences program. Of course these are not the same thing and should be separate, but I did get confused once looking at the web site because I was looking at the wrong one. It is one of the better “small primarily undergraduate universities” in Canada.
I don’t have specific schools to suggest, but definitely make sure he knows the difference between environmental studies and environmental science. They emphasize different things and can set you up for different kinds of careers.
Edit 2: And it’s on your list! Well! Excellent! Will share what I was writing anyway …
I’d be more than happy to write more on it, but I believe William & Mary meets all of your son’s “needs” in a campus and would overdeliver on his “wants”. My 2025 twins are there now (as out-of-state students) and are loving it. One of them went in planning on Ecology and Evolutionary Bio, but is possibly shifting to do more Environment/Sustainability, (though she also really enjoyed her geology and philosophy classes this fall, so who knows; they don’t have to declare until the end of sophomore year). She’s doing research in a lab as a first semester freshman, and is really enjoying her time at the school. (The other twin is also loving it, but his interests are less aligned with your son’s — history, pottery, social justice.) Her academic record looked similar to your son’s, with a very strong GPA (4.0 UW with high rigor) and SAT (1560), and several interesting ECs, but nothing that stood out EC-wise compared with HS classmates.
As I pointed out in an earlier post, W&M is in a unique position in that it has a very “academicky” student body — 1520 75th percentile SAT (34 ACT) — but with an admit rate around 30% (I think OOS is around 28%?), so it’s much more accessible than just about any other high-academics school out there. Even if your son applies to other schools as reaches, I would highly recommend he look at W&M as a target he might absolutely fall in love with.
Per the “in the south” aspect of it, my very-Bay-Area kids love it, and find it to be far more “mid-Atlantic” than “southern”.
As for other schools that resonated with our kids, the main one I’d recommend would be Carleton (as a high target), but I’m guessing that might already be on your list as well.
Okay, just bookending this by stepping back out of writer mode. I’m glad your son’s going to take a look at it! I’d be happy to answer any other questions you or he might have.
It may depend on the student’s reasons for not wanting to go to school in “the South”. The reasons could determine what “the South” means for the student’s anti-preference.
Oberlin: campus not entirely self-contained but integrated with small, charming college town that has a surprising amount to offer. Felt very safe. Decent endowment for a school this size, a good # of environmental science majors, and I think for your student (if you demonstrate interest) this could be a strong match, even verging on a likely, probably with a nice chunk of merit aid.
If you go visit Oberlin, and I think you should, I recommend you also check out Case Western Reserve, Kenyon, Denison, and maybe the College of Wooster. The latter would be a likely. Charming LAC with maybe a sleepier/more regional feel. Required research sets them apart. Denison should be a match but their admissions have been getting more competitive and they seem to favor ED candidates. Preppier/sportier feel than Oberlin, but similarly safe (even smaller town walking distance from campus) and they have a gorgeous research preserve right off campus. Kenyon is gorgeous, might feel too isolated? very safe, academic-feeling. Case is an outlier – larger undergrad student body in a city with research labs etc. Cleveland gets a bad rap but the area around Case was basically museums/parks/symphony hall and the campus felt more connected than, say, Pitt or BU or some of the other more urban schools. I think if you demonstrate interest it’s a solid match. I think the size of the school and the flexibility of their program makes it appealing for well-rounded students who aren’t sure what they want to do yet. e.g. if your kiddo ends up wanting to do engineering, he can, and he doesn’t have to apply to the engineering school ahead of time.
In the Upper Midwest, do consider visiting Macalester. They have a large contingent of environmental science majors. I wouldn’t exactly describe the campus as self-contained – it’s small, not quite as charming as most of the other LACs that we visited, and tucked into a pleasant, tree-lined neighborhood of St. Paul. It’s definitely not a big sports/frat school – more academic/artsy. They do a decent amount of merit aid for with strong stats and offer EA.
If you want my color commentary on our tours of some of these schools, read more here and here and here. (FWIW, our son did end up applying to/being accepted at Macalester and St. Olaf as well as Oberlin and Case. Despite my LAC and small university advocacy, he chose UW-Seattle for engineering, west coast vibes, and proximity to Asian and Middle Eastern restaurants. It seems to be working out well so far…)
Places we didn’t end up visiting but they might be worth checking out:
In the Pacific NW, both Lewis & Clark and University of Puget Sound seem to have decently sized environmental science departments and I believe would meet your other specifications as well (both would be likely admits). I’m not sure actually about how completely financially solid either school is (and this might go for many LACs where your kiddo would be a likely admit?) Disclaimer: we never ended up visiting either.
In California, Occidental seems like it could be a match. (And if it seems exciting and you end up visiting, might as well check out the Claremont Schools. All are reaches but Pitzer maybe a bit less so – and it’s got a strong environmental science bent.)
In the Northeast I’d check out Bates, Skidmore, and maybe Vassar and Wesleyan. (disclaimer: these are reachier schools.)
Hope this is somewhat helpful – it’s fun to make the list! and there are so many terrific schools out there.
When you say that he doesn’t want a religious school, does that mean a school with absolutely no religious affiliation? Or does that mean a school where people of all faiths (or no faith) feel comfortable and that any religious influence is more about treating others with kindness?
One reason I ask is because one of the schools I’m thinking of is CC-favorite St. Olaf. It has about 3k undergrads, a popular environmental studies major, and a reputation as a friendly academic school. It is affiliated with the Lutheran church, though, and I don’t know if that’s a dealbreaker (for St. Olaf or other similarly religiously-affiliated schools).
Dickinson (PA ): Seconding this school of about 2200 undergrads
Oberlin (OH): Seconding this school of about 2900 undergrads
Skidmore (NY): Seconding this school of about 2700 undergrads
For lower, but not low, probability schools (20-40% chance, IMO), I’m seconding Vassar (about 2500 undergrads) and Wesleyan (about 3800 undergrads).
Here are a couple of schools that are just over the 7k mark, but that I would feel remiss in not mentioning:
U. of Montana: About 7600 undergrads at this school with some robust offerings in its college of Forestry and Conservation: https://www.umt.edu/environment/ .
U. of Wyoming (about 8300 undergrads) and U. of Idaho (about 9300 undergrads) would also be worth considering, if he’s willing to consider slightly larger schools.
If places with religious affiliations are okay when it’s more along the lines of a St. Olaf level of affiliation, then I’d also look at Gustavus Adolphus (MN) which has about 1900 undergrads…but if you’re looking at St. Olaf or Macalester, this is an easy one to add and it’s the likeliest of the three for admissions.
As this is not your first rodeo, don’t forget that honors colleges can also impact a student’s experience at a school, and I suspect your son would qualify for the honors programs at any of the public schools listed.
@bass2022 my kids (and I) also really liked St. Olaf. I was going to suggest it earlier as well but held off because of the “does not want a religious school” stipulation. But I would suggest considering it, especially if you end up visiting Carleton, which is in the same town.
I can comment a little about these two. I grew up in Point and for a small town it has a lot of culture and outdoor activities. There is a town symphony and the college has a very nice theater, music, art department. The town and city bring events to town. There is a very nice golf course that hosted the Senior Open a few years ago. There are 3 rivers that pass through town for boating, kayaking, canoeing, fishing, swimming, etc.
Wyoming is also in a nice place for outdoor life with hiking, skiing, hunting all available just outside campus. The people are so nice and if you happen to call the wrong department on campus they’ll get you to the right place and even follow up on whether you got the answer to your question. They have a lot of money to fund extra research projects, study abroad, participate in the program where you can spend a semester or year at another school for the Wyo tuition (or your instate tuition, whichever is less). It’s windy, that’s for sure but a very casual environment with students who work hard academically. They have fun at football and basketball games and love their rivalry with Colo State. Once you are on campus, almost everything is included with the student fees - D1 football and basketball, some concerts, Friday night shows and activities.